Page 104 of If Our Hearts Collide

“No,” Collins and I say in unison, our eyes never leaving each other’s.

“Nice,” Luke says, not buying what we are trying to portray. Except he doesn’t say “nice” the normal way. No, instead he pronounces it—noice. “So you are single and ready to?—”

“Nope. Not that either,” I say in a hurry before Collins blows a gasket.

He doesn’t like Luke. He doesn’t need to confirm that with words. I can see the writing all over his grumpy facial expression.

Luke realizes this and it appears to spur him on. The dude thrives in drama and angst apparently.

Just wonderful…

“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to ignore Collins’s eyes which penetrate through me like knives.

Sheesh. Don’t be angry with me! I didn’t do anything wrong.

Collins walks inside the apartment, shutting the door behind him with the flick of his foot. It slams a bit harder than I expect, and I shudder at the sound. He walks in silence to the kitchen, placing the flowers down on the counter. “I’m just bringing you a housewarming gift.”

“Thank you for our gift,” Luke says, apparently for both of us.

“It’s Penny’s.”

He puts his hands up in defense. “Got it. You don’t like the share.” Then he nudges me with his elbow. “I live here too. I’ll take the right side of the bouquet. That dude can pee on your side to mark his territory.”

“Just stop,” I whisper-hush him before Collins explodes. I can tell by his jaw tics that he’s on the verge, and that’s the last thing I need right now. Collins will be the first to break in this apartment—but with Luke’s head.

My roommate leans into me, and I swear I hear Collins growl. “Now that is a sweet gesture for a non-boyfriend,” he whispers a bit too loudly to me. “Just sayin’.”

I push him back, causing him to laugh. Shit. He’s making this worse. “Thanks for visiting me, Collins.” I push at Luke when he mutters “us” under his breath. “The flowers are lovely.”

Collins just stares at us. Well, damn. I feel like I’m doing something very wrong. What? I’m not sure.

Who would have thought that moving here would put me in the middle of some…

Pissing contest?

Which is weird because Collins doesn’t want me.

“Can I speak with you in private, Penny?”

I swallow hard, rocking on my heels, all while Luke makes a dum-dum-dum-dum sound from deep in his throat, and then mumbles something about me needing to go to the principal’s office. “Sure.”

I follow Collins out into the hallway, saying a silent thank you that no one is out to witness this soon-to-be shitstorm.

Propping my hands on my hips, I wonder what Collins is going to lecture me about. I’m sure I did something to break a rule in his code of conduct book. I can already tell that whatever he’s going to say isn’t going to be what I want to hear.

“Not here.”

My eyes meet his. “What?”

“We are going up to my place.”

Butterflies populate in my stomach. “Why?”

Collins sighs. “Can you just be easy, this one time? I don’t feel like having this conversation with you out in the middle of the hallway.” He rubs his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. “For heaven’s sake, Pen, let’s go.”

My eyes shoot to my feet. “Um, I need shoes. Stay out here. I’ll be right back.”

I can’t risk him going back inside and bashing in Luke’s skull. The last thing I need is blood in our new place.

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