Page 7 of Cheater and the Saint
“Can you not talk so early?” he asked before groaning and putting his face in his hands. He stayed that way for a few moments, and I wondered if he’d fallen back asleep. When the machine started brewing, he looked back up and stared at his empty mug. “There’s not enough coffee in the world to help me today.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have stayed up so late fucking that guy then,” I said before I could stop myself.
Damn. I’d never really been great at keeping my thoughts to myself. I might’ve been a bit awkward, but I was blunt, too. Two things that didn’t exactly help me in the friend department.
Leo scoffed. “Jealous much?”
“Not even a little,” I answered truthfully.
His dark eyes focused on me, and something about the way his gaze held mine made me inwardly squirm. I turned and faced the miracle machine, watching the last bit of coffee drip into the pot. After grabbing my favorite mug—one that held up to four cups of coffee—I filled it to the top and went to sit at the table.
Leo’s face scrunched. “God. You’re one of those weirdos who drinks it black aren’t you?” To answer his question, I took a drink of it as I held eye contact. “I knew it. You’re a demon.”
“What class do you have today?” I asked, somewhat surprised at myself.
Conversation didn’t normally come to me so easy. Maybe it was because I didn’t care to be friends with this messy and promiscuous pretty boy. That made the nervousness I carried around most other people dissipate.
“Fuck if I know,” he grumbled, grabbing his empty cup before standing. He went to the coffee pot and poured himself the last of what I made. After adding some sugar and a bit of milk, he came back over to the table. “I think it’s some bullshit English class. All I know is it starts at nine.”
I grinned around my mug before taking another drink. Yet another difference we had; he clearly hated school, whereas I loved it. I loved learning and working my brain.
As he went back to trying not to fall asleep at the table, I sipped my coffee and scrolled through my phone.
In real life I didn’t have many friends, but I had quite a few online ones. Too bad most of them lived in a different country or halfway across the United States. A message chimed from Chris, my best friend, and I rolled my eyes at his early morning vulgarity. Well, it wasn’t early morning for him since he lived in the United Kingdom, but still.
I typed back a response before drinking more coffee.
It wasn’t until I felt a prickling at my nape that I looked up. Leo was staring at me.
“What?”
“You don’t like me, do you?” Leo asked, narrowing his brow.
“Can’t really comment on that, since I don’t know you,” I answered. “This is the longest we’ve ever been in the same room together.”
It was the most we’d talked since he moved in last Thursday, and I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be having many more conversations, other than the occasional small talk.
“Yeah, but that’s because you avoid me.”
“I don’t avoid you. I just don’t like being around a lot of people, so when you invite the whole damn college into our dorm, I prefer the solitude of my room.”
A twitch started in his cheek. “Sothat’swhy you don’t like me. Hate to break it to you, man, but I’m not gonna apologize for my social life. This is the party building. Get used to it.”
“You could be more considerate,” I said with a snap in my voice. “Especially now that classes are starting. You might not give a shit about your studies, butIdo, and I’ll be damned if I let you screw up my plans.”
“Ah, so the quiet blond who keeps to himself has a fiery side. And here I thought you were a pushover.”
“Don’t mock me.” I’d never been a violent person, but I had the urge to punch his too perfect face. “I may be quiet, but I’m not afraid to kick your ass if I have to. Bullies have given me crap ever since I can remember, and I refuse to take it from you, too.”
I stood from the table and carried my near-empty mug to the sink to rinse it out and place it in the dishwasher. When I turned back around, Leo was a few feet from me. Standing so close to him, I noticed he was several inches taller than me, but I glared up at him anyway.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a softer tone. His brown eyes mirrored that gentleness. “I never meant for you to think I was a bully.”
“Then don’t act like one,” I retorted before brushing past him and grabbing my backpack from the counter. Not wanting to stick around and hear anything else from him, I left the dorm and walked out into the hall, slamming the door behind me.
There weren’t many people in the hall of our wing, but once I got downstairs, there were students hurrying out of the building to go to their classes, and some were walking leisurely to and from the dining hall right outside the housing.
Since I hadn’t eaten anything before storming out of the dorm, I went into the dining hall. The food was included with the tuition fees, so I was able to just walk in, grab what I wanted, and go sit at a table in the corner. There was a huge buffet of various foods, but I didn’t have much of an appetite and settled with a blueberry muffin.
My sociology class didn’t start until nine, and it was only a quarter past eight, so I’d eat and try to calm down before heading that way.
If there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that Leo and I were going to butt heads alot. That morning was only the beginning of what I was sure would be a year of hell.
