Page 22 of Out of Bounds

"Ask.Now."

"How’d you know I live at Roman Forest?"

In two seconds, I gazed back at her, mind whirling away with the question. How did I know that she stayed in the shittiest dorm that counted as Marrs University student housing? I’d scrolled all the way through her secret art account, down to the very bottom when she’d posted a picture with her roommates, posing in front of their door together, freshman year.

Fuck. Think of something.

I grunted. "It’s on your paperwork. In the folder."

"Oh."

"Kassie," I tried again. "Ask."

No part of me believed it. The same woman who didn’t hesitate to give me a lashing, fumbled with her words when asking for a raise. Well, my team wasn’t going to be responsible for underpaying her.

"Cleo? Kassie has a question."

"Yes?" Cleo glanced up

"Bastard," Kassie swallowed her whisper. "No, I…ah…."

"Just imagine you’re yelling at me," I suggested.

"Shut up. No, um, Cleo…I was wondering, see…school’s so…expensive, and sometimes the bar tips…." Her words falteredand she crossed her legs, running a hand up her thigh in a nervous twitch I couldn’t help but stare at. "See…."

"Another seven thousand added to the salary," Cleo amended with a knowing glance sent my way. "That’s my final offer - on one condition.Allof the paperwork is signed today."

Kassie blanched. "Paperwork?"

I slid her the folder. "These are the kind of propositions we have non-disclosure agreements for."

"We don’t want anything leaked or it’s a visit from the Marrs' lawyers." Cleo wasted no time walking over and pushed more stapled packets to us. "Full name, full signature. Nothing more, nothing less."

Side by side, Kassie and I took our time before the mountains of papers. I picked up two pens and passed one to her.

"Now, Kassie," I cleared my throat, "I hate to say I told you so but—"

"Shut up, ball dribbler."

9

Kassie

Responsibilities

Draped over a chair in the student center’s hallway, I double-checked campus housing in Florida and tried to ignore Zariah. Which was next to impossible. The dorm quotes for January were atrocious and my roommate wasn't one to be ignored.

She dragged her hair back to smooth against her head. "Arealfakerelationship."

"You look like you’re having an episode." I swatted her and went back to dream apartments.

"A realfakerelationship," Zariah repeated in a revered whisper. "Do you add tongue to a fake kiss? Ah…faketongue."

"Your RA application's due Thursday. You told me to spray you with a water bottle if you fuck around with it."

"Kass,please. I have a constitutional right to make a big deal about this."

"Sure you do." I rolled my eyes and winced when my laptop popped up with another notification.

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