My Rebound (On My Own #2) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,2
his throat as he walked forward. “The cold front’s coming in. That means we’re probably going to get snow or ice soon. Let’s get you guys at least unpacked and into the house where it’s warm. The place does have heat, right?”
He looked at the home dubiously, and I sighed. “Of course,” I said. “Do you think we’d find a place that doesn’t have heat? The four of us? We’re smarter than that.”
“But you had to find a place at the last minute,” Pacey said, and I ignored him. I had to do that often. He was my friend, but sometimes that British accent did things to me that I’d rather not think about. I’d always been drawn to him as a friend, even when I was with Sanders. Now, it felt as if things were weird. They were all a little strained with me. What were you supposed to do around the girl who had only become your friend because she was dating a former roommate? Their roommate wasn’t there anymore, but I was still around.
What was I supposed to do?
What were they supposed to do?
Elise clapped her hands, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Come on, let’s get the boxes inside.”
“I suppose we’ll need to be the ones to move the furniture?” Tanner asked from the side, his voice low. He never did anything quickly, never shouted—except for that one time. I had never seen him move as fast as he had when he punched Sanders and then kept beating him. Sanders had fought back, and both of them had ended up with bloody lips and bruised eyes, but Tanner hadn’t said a thing to me afterward. He’d barely even looked at me since I’d walked in on Sanders getting a blowjob from a girl I didn’t even know.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind and closed my eyes, counting to ten. I needed to focus on the now, on the future. I had a future planned. That was me. What I was known for. This semester would be amazing. I had classes that mattered and a program I would begin over the summer that I needed to plan for and make sure my grades were ready for. I had a path. I just needed to focus on that and not on my personal life.
Except for the fact that I kind of missed the whole relationship and sex thing. I wasn’t going to think about that, though. Because I didn’t need it. Not everybody needed an emotional connection or even a physical one. They lived their lives perfectly without any of that. I could be one of those people.
At least, I hoped.
“Okay, let’s get this done,” Dillon said, and then he whistled through his fingers.
“Did you just whistle?” Nessa asked, and Dillon shrugged, blushing.
“He’s like that. Positively annoying,” Pacey said and grinned down at Nessa.
Miles, the final roommate, simply shrugged. “Well, it got our attention, didn’t it?”
“We should get going. I have a list.” I pulled out my tablet and clipboard. “And I have assignments if you’ll let me.”
“You have a list? Shocking,” Pacey said as he came over to me.
I raised a brow. “Are you making fun of me?”
“I would never make fun of you, darling.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I feel like that’s a lie.”
“Perhaps. But I’m not making fun of you right now. How’s that? Now, for real, give us our assignments before I freeze my bollocks off.”
I snorted and then did my best not to think about Pacey like that. Sometimes, I couldn’t help it, though. He was all blond and blue-eyed…and British. It was a little too much with the alliteration of sexiness. I did my best not to think about guys at all like that anymore. It’d only been five weeks since I walked in on Sanders and that girl. And I had been with Sanders since the cradle, as we all joked. In reality, we had been in middle school when we started dating, and we hadn’t dated anyone else since. At least, that’s what I had thought. As it turned out, Sanders had figured that blowjobs and whatever the hell else he was doing didn’t count as cheating. He was wrong, and so, here I was, alone and on a new path. But that was fine. I would find what worked for me even if I wanted to throw up in the end.
I pushed those thoughts away and looked down at my notes. “I do have assignments.”