I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,49

moved to the door and waited for him to speak.

“Kresley? You in there?” It was Chris.

Shit. I’d never texted to let him know I couldn’t come by.

I opened the door, half expecting Tristan to be frisking him, but Chris stood alone and Tristan’s door remained closed. He must’ve been in the shower because caveman Tristan would’ve been out there if he knew Chris had come by. I looked to Chris hoping he could see the regret on my face. “I’m so sorry. My driver was having a bad day and refused to take me over. I came in here and…fell asleep.” I was a terrible liar.

His eyes narrowed, clearly not buying my excuse.

“Come in.” I stepped back. “You wanna watch a movie or something?”

His lips pulled into a smile, my indiscretion quickly forgotten. “Sure.”

I closed the door and moved to my bed, straightening the comforter where I’d thrown myself down earlier.

“How was volunteering?” he asked.

“Good. There’s a new dog that’s super cute.” I sat down on my bed with my back against the wall and my legs stretched out in front of me. I patted the spot beside me so he knew it was okay to sit on my bed. “What should we watch?”

Chris slipped off his shoes and sat beside me. We skimmed through the titles on Netflix on my laptop. “Oh, have you seen Money Heist?”

I shook my head.

“It’s dubbed, but it’s awesome. Totally binge-worthy.”

We turned it on and spent the next three hours watching it. He was right. It was awesome. But I couldn’t shake the emptiness in my chest about what happened with Tristan. And I couldn’t shake the thoughts that I wished it was Tristan beside me doing normal college stuff instead of Chris.

“You getting hungry?” Chris asked. “We could get a pizza.”

“Sure.”

“How do you feel about Hawaiian?”

“Never had it. But I’m open to trying new things.”

He ordered the pizza then we watched one more episode of the show before there was a knock on the door.

“Who are you?” Tristan’s deep voice carried through my door from the hallway.

Shit.

I jumped off the bed and hurried to the door, throwing it open.

Tristan looked to me with daggers as he held the delivery guy’s arm. “Forget to tell me something?”

I ignored him and looked to the delivery guy. “Jeff!” I was so glad to see a friendly face, but he looked totally confused. “I’m so sorry about him.” I took the pizza box from Jeff’s hand. “How much do we owe you?”

“We?” Tristan asked just as Chris stepped into my doorway. His gaze dropped to Chris’ bare feet and then cut to my eyes. Anger stewed in his gaze.

Jeff’s eyes jumped wearily from Tristan to Chris to me. Then he burst into laughter. “It’s already paid for,” he assured me, his wide eyes showing intrigue.

“Oh. Great. I’ll see you Monday in class,” I said, shooting him a look that hopefully conveyed that I’d fill him in then. I spun around and walked into my room.

Chris followed me in, shutting the door behind us and leaving Tristan standing alone in the hallway. “What’s really going on with that guy?”

I grabbed a slice of pizza from the box, took a bite, then sat cross-legged on my bed. “Do we really have to talk about him?” I asked with a mouthful.

Chris sat in my desk chair, the one Tristan usually occupied. “No.” He grabbed a slice. “But I’m starting to have some questions.”

I nodded, understanding why he would.

“It’s more than just your parents being cautious, isn’t it?” he said.

“Yeah.”

“Are you in some kind of trouble?”

I shrugged. “I could be.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I think I’ve got it covered in that department.”

His eyes drifted to my closed door, as if looking to Tristan’s room.

I nodded my answer to his unasked question.

And then that was it. He let it go. At least for the time being.

We shared the pizza then he moved back onto my bed, where we watched another couple of episodes of the show.

Somewhere around midnight, my eyelids became heavy, and I found it difficult to keep them open. My head tilted onto Chris’ shoulder, and I felt myself slowly drifting off. Maybe I didn’t need Tristan. Maybe I just needed to know someone was there…

Visions of my apartment in France manifested. I saw myself standing alone in my room. Blood covered my shaking hands. I called for Andre but he didn’t come. Tears fell from my eyes. A masked man stepped into my doorway. His heavy