glowered, and I fought back a smile. I stuffed my hand in my bag and pulled out his phone charger. “Here you go. Thank you for letting me use it.”
I handed him the charger and waved for him to go. “I’ll see you tonight. You’re going to be late for your next lecture. Go!”
“I'm always coming to your rescue.” He tsked with a slight grin. Maddox gave me a finger salute as he started to backtrack. “Always at your service!”
“I don't need a knight,” I said, loudly enough for him to hear a few feet away.
“I know you don't. You're not the damsel in distress who I need to save.”
My heart warmed, and my lips twisted in a smile. “You're right. I guess I am more like the dragon, eh?”
“A cute and sexy dragon,” he called out.
Maddox jogged across the open field toward his building. Since our programs differed greatly, his classrooms were on the opposite side of the campus while mine were on this side.
He faded away in the distance, and I strode away to our apartment building, which was only about a ten-minute walk through the campus.
I took the elevator up to our apartment, which was on the third floor. I found Colton at the door with a girl in his arms. They were kissing, and by the look of it, they were about to fuck in the corridor.
I cleared my throat, and he peeled himself away from the chick, his eyes hooded. “Sup, Lila?”
My eyes narrowed on the girl beside him. Her mocha skin glistened with a sheen of sweat, and she flushed. It appeared like they had clearly already fucked on the way here.
“Are you coming over for dinner or…?” I asked.
He gave me a half shrug, his gaze moving to the apartment next to him. “She didn’t invite me.”
I grimaced and smiled sheepishly at him. Things were tense between Colton and Riley – well, tense was an understatement at this point in their ‘relationship’ or whatever they had.
To put it simply, they… hated each other.
But that story was for another time.
I opened the door to my apartment, the one I shared with Riley, which also happened to be next to Maddox and Colton’s; we were neighbors.
“Baaabee, is that you?” Riley called out.
Colton’s jaw clenched at her voice, and he grabbed the chick, pulling her into his apartment. The door closed with a bang behind him.
“It’s me,” I said, walking inside.
Her back was to me as she stood in front of the stove, humming a song under her breath. She had sweatpants and a shirt on, her blonde hair up in a messy bun. Riley spared me a look over her shoulder. “Did you get the garlic sticks I asked for?”
I lifted my arm up, showing her the grocery bag I was holding. “Gotcha. It smells good in here.”
She brought the spatula to her lips and blew on it. “Wanna taste?” she asked, cheekily.
I nodded, and she offered me the spoon. The richness of the sauce hit every one of my taste buds, and I moaned. “Yummy!”
We set up the plates, and she placed a bottle of wine on the table. “Is it just us? Is Maddox coming?” Riley asked as she took her seat at our small dining table, opposite of me.
I shook my head, piling some ravioli on my plate. “No, he missed his lecture this morning, so he’s attending a later class today. Isn’t it too early for wine? It’s not even six yet.”
Her lips curled up. “Lila, it’s always time for wine, and we’re celebrating today.”
Riley loved to drink – wine and margaritas in particular. She had been obsessing over red wine lately. It was her favorite and now my favorite as well. We were besties for a reason, right?
Riley swallowed a bite of her dinner and then gave me an inquiring look. “How’s it going with Landon?”
My heart stuttered. Landon, my boyfriend of five weeks.
“Good,” I said, moving a piece of my ravioli around in my plate.
Riley sighed, carefully placing her spoon on her plate, before leveling me with a look. “Lila, don’t give me that shit.”
I chewed on a piece of ravioli before swallowing it down with red wine. I drank half of my glass before slamming it back on the table. “He’s not replying to my text.”
Riley let out a curse. “Did you call him?”
“I’m not that desperate,” I snapped.
“Lila,” she sighed. I refused to look at her because I didn’t want to see the sympathy on her face.