Page 49 of Frat House Fling

“Hi.” This was the first time I’d been alone with him since the condo.

“Hey.” His beard was neatly trimmed, and his light gray eyes, as usual, seemed like they were looking right through me. The outline of the tattoos on his pecs was faintly visible under his white shirt. “We need to talk.”

That didn’t sound good. Did he misinterpret our encounter the other day? Or did he perhaps think that I did?

Worry made me start babbling. “It's OK; I understand. We’re just friends. I don’t expect anything of you after what happened…” I trailed off, unsure what else to say.

He landed against the back of the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not about that.” Then his smile faded. “Wait, do we need to talk about that?”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I’d certainly been thinking about it a lot. Finally, I shook my head.

He studied me. “We can if you want.”

I shook my head. “What did you want to talk about?”

He came over and took my hand, leading me to a little table by the window. We both sat down, and I waited to hear what he was going to say.

Hopefully it wasn’t anything bad. That was nearly always my first thought these days.

“Thank you for telling me about your situation.” He glanced towards the door, to make sure no one was around, and continued. “I won’t tell anyone about it, but you might consider it. There are some good guys around here.”

His voice was so serious that I felt an undeniable urge to make a joke to cut the tension. “There are a few bad ones, as well.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. It’s your call to make, but…” He trailed off and shook his head as if to clear it. ”But that’s not why I’m here. I don’t know everything about your situation, but I heard about something, an opportunity that I wanted to share.”

Then he told me the most amazing news. He told me about a stipend offered by the university. They were going to pay for the housing for one lucky student for the next year. I had no idea there was a chance at a stipend like that. Langley wasn’t really known for reducing prices for students. Most of them didn’t need it.

“I don’t know all the details, but I can send you the website, “Theo continued. “Or you can just find it on the homepage of the registrar’s office.”

“Thank you,” I said as sincerely as I could.

He held my gaze. “Just to be clear, it looks like a very competitive thing. And I’ve heard the application process is very long and involved. It’s due by the end of this week.”

His words registered, but I knew I would do everything I could to make my application as strong as possible. Even if it meant more sleepless nights, and temporarily neglecting my work from my classes. This was an amazing opportunity that could solve my biggest problem. I’d researched what it would cost to move into an apartment with several other students, like Tori had, and the prices started at $5000 per semester and went up from there.

Even with all my jobs this summer, I was nowhere near that amount. I had to go all out on this opportunity. If I could get housing for the whole year, and save the money I was earning this summer, I wouldn’t have to watch every penny during my sophomore year.

Theo reached over and took my hand, squeezing it lightly. “I hope you get it, but it’s probably best not to get your hopes up.” I nodded rapidly.

He stared into my eyes and then broke out in a smile. “You want to go back to your room right now and start working on the application, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I admitted, returning his smile.

He scanned the room and then gave me a thumbs up. “This looks pretty clean to me, so I’d say you should do just that.”

And that’s what I did.

Theo was right; the application process was long and involved, but I was eager to get started. But first, I had a phone call to make.

“How come we didn’t know about this before?” Tori asked after I called and told her the news.

“Maybe because we’re working our asses off and don’t have time to browse the school website.” Plus, the information was pretty well hidden. I had no idea how Theo had heard about it. He definitely didn’t need the housing stipend.

“I can’t believe all the stuff they want you to fill out and submit. I bet a government security clearance check would require less info.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it’s a lot, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. And I want you to, also.” If I didn’t get it, I hoped that Tori did.

“Uh-oh.” Her voice sounded strange. “Crap.”

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