Page 3 of Unfix Me

Brooks whistled. “Shit. Living it up.”

“You have your own apartment,” West pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I’m special.”

“Special little rich boy.”

“Excuse me,” Leilani shouted, putting her hands on her hips.

We all looked at her and West snickered beside me. She did look sort of comical, but I didn’t want to make fun of the girl. She was… nice. A bit of a hard ass for a junior, but there were worse things to be.

“Sorry,” I called, discreetly swatting West when he started to say something that I knew wouldn’t help the situation. “We’re just exhausted after our flights and everything. Think we can get to the dorm portion of this tour soon?”

Her eyes narrowed at me, then moved to West and Brooks. “The tour isn’trequired. If you’d like to go-”

I swore when West grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the group. Brooks followed with a glint in his eyes. I looked back at Leilani and found her frowning in our direction. Well, she did say it wasn’t required. I was sure I’d be able to find my way around when I needed to.

“Where’s your room?” West asked.

“Mine?”

“Yeah, Sen. You’re the one with a single.”

“Brooks has an apartment,” I pointed out.

“Off campus,” Brooks replied. “And I’m not showing you bastards where I live until I know you’re not murderers.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. “Fine. It’s in Marshall Hall, but I’m warning you right now, my room is not going to become a hangout spot. I’d like a modicum of privacy.”

West’s grin was wide and mischievous. “We get it, man. We all needprivacy.”

“Glad you get it, asshole.”

We entered Marshall Hall and were met with chaos. Students and parents were milling around like ants surrounded by cookie crumbs. There was shouting from every direction and I was pretty sure I heard someone crying. Was this a university or everyone’s first day at preschool? Suddenly, I was grateful that my parents hadn’t come along.

“Third floor,” I said, ducking to the side.

We took the stairs two at a time while we tried to avoid suitcases and frantic bodies. It was like an obstacle course. When we finally reached the third floor, it was a little quieter, but not by much. I went down the first hall but didn’t see my room number. After turning the corner, I saw it near the middle of the line of doors, on the right side. I picked up my pace, ready to be out of this hellish hallway.

The door before mine opened and someone came out just as I was about to pass. I collided with him, knocking us both to the ground. He landed on his back with a loud grunt punctuated by a shout when my knee was propelled into his groin. I barely caught myself with my hand on the floor to avoid adding a headbutt to the mix.

“Personal foul!” West shouted.

The guy below me looked annoyed and I realized I should’ve stood up already. My wrist hurt from the fall, but I was sure he felt even worse. When I got off of him, I held out a hand. He was already getting to his feet, though, so I dropped it to my side awkwardly.

“Sorry,” I rushed out with a tentative laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Guess I was too excited to get the hell out of this hallway.”

He eyed me, unabashedly running his gaze down to my shoes, then back up to my face. If he was going to be weird about it, I guess I would too. I gave him a quick once over, only pausing when I reached his face again.

His eyes were such a dark green that if we hadn’t been standing below a light, I would have thought they were brown. Hair that was nearly black covered his ears in soft waves and drew my attention to his strong features. High cheekbones, a sharp jaw, and tanned, olive skin made him look a bit like a Greek god. Apollo was allegedly the most attractive.

I wasn’t supposed to recognize if a man was attractive, so I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase and averted my gaze.

“It’s a crazy day,” he replied lightly.

His voice was deep and matched the image I’d set up in my head, but his tone was light and friendly. I’d expected him to be more intense, maybe throw a punch for kneeing him in the dick. My cheeks heated and I hoped he wouldn’t notice.

When I looked at him again, the corner of his mouth was slightly raised.

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