Page 5 of Fostering Chemistry
My mood shifted to horror as Aaron called to the RA and motioned him over.
My eyes were gluedto the floor as Diego neared, but still, I got a sense of his height. He was taller than I thought. Of course, last time he’d been sitting down, and I’d been straddling his lap, putting us eye to eye… or, rather, mouth to mouth.
“Mia, this is Diego.”
“Hi,” I said in the direction of his shoes.
“She’s a little nervous, but I told her she has no reason to be,” Aaron explained.
“Hi, Mia. Sorry I wasn’t around when you moved in, but I had a three-hour lecture today.”
“No problem.”
“And Aaron’s right, there’s no need to be nervous, but we’ve all been in many new situations, so we know what it’s like.”
The silence grew, and I realized that these two men probably thought me crazy for not looking at them. And… I guessed I had to eventually, right? I couldn’t avoid eye contact for the entire school year. Unfortunately.
Finally, I took a deep breath and looked up into Diego’s dark eyes.
“Hi,” he said again, now that I was finally looking at him. Then his head cocked to the side as he studied me. “Have we met?”
“No!” It was practically a shout, and I blushed, my heart hammering in my chest. “I mean, I think I would remember you if we had.”
Great. Now he probably thought I was flirting with him. Judging from the slight crease between Aaron’s eyebrows, he thought so, too.
“I mean, I’m happy to be here.”
Diego gave me a soft smile. “It’s okay, Mia. You may not feel it now, but soon you’ll feel perfectly comfortable here. And if you don’t, we’ll work something out. Just come talk to me.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. But I mumbled my thanks.
Diego studied me for a moment longer, patted Aaron on the arm, and walked away.
“I’m fine,” I said, before Aaron could ask me for the millionth time if I was okay. Because the answer was an empathic no.
“See you around,” I said as I made a beeline for the stairs. As soon as I was in my room with the door locked behind me, I was going to call my friend Tori and tell her about Diego.
Then I needed to find out if she or any of the hot men she lived with had an idea for a disguise I could wear for the rest of the year.
3
MIA
“Why won’t this move?”I complained, huffing out an exasperated breath.
“Pushing a boulder up a hill again?” Tori asked, her voice coming from the direction of the desk, where I had her on speakerphone.
“I’m trying to turn this stupid mattress, but it’s just too heavy.” I braced one knee on the edge of the bed frame and shoved with both hands, but the mattress barely budged. It felt like it was filled with concrete.
“What size bed is it?”
“Queen. I’ve never had a bed this big before.” The rooms here came furnished. The bed had been comfortable last night, if you didn’t count the sagging part that kept trying to swallow me whole.
“Well, since it’s just you, can’t you just sleep on the other side? Of course, maybe it won’t be just you. After all, you’ve got your hot RA just down the hall, right?”
I glanced at the door, but it was closed and—hopefully—reasonably soundproofed. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“But you said he was gorgeous.”
