since everyone was either hanging out at a bar or getting drunk at a frat party.
Here it was quiet, and they were open until late at night.
I could’ve gone home, but I got sucked into one of the history books and forgot about the time.
The coffee left in my cup was cold, but I wouldn’t get another one.
It was getting late, and I still had to eat dinner.
I packed all of my things into my backpack and reached for the cup to bring it to the counter as someone stepped up to the table, standing in my way.
“Leaving already?”
As I looked up, AJ was who was blocking my way.
“Hey. Yeah, I haven’t eaten yet. Need to get home,” I explained.
His gentle smile and tilt of his head made me look at him for a little too long, but once I got over his handsome face, I cleared my throat and took a step forward so he would move.
If I were Evie, I’d definitely would’ve kept lying to myself about what I really felt for AJ just because of his looks.
He was tall, muscular, and his bright, hazel eyes were striking in contrast to his dark, olive skin.
Sadly, looks didn’t really do much for me.
Sure, he’d be nice to look at if he was my boyfriend, and girls would definitely be jealous, but who was aiming for that anyway?
“I haven’t had dinner yet either. Wanna get something on the way home?” he asked.
I studied his face for a while, then shook my head. “I actually went grocery shopping yesterday, and I got a few things I wanted to cook. But…you’re welcome to join.”
Why?
God, Rooney, you’re not helping yourself if you invite your ex—whatever he was—back to your apartment.
“I’d love to. Here, let me put this back for you.”
He grabbed the cup out of my hand and carried it over to the counter, then he came back and reached for my backpack.
“You don’t have to carry it, AJ,” I said, sighing.
“I want to. Now, stop whining and let’s head to your apartment.”
We started walking across campus to reach the main street which would lead us to the apartment complex.
I didn’t feel like talking, but since we were friends, I couldn’t just ignore him and let Evie take over once we reached home.
“How are classes going?” I asked.
“Uh, pretty good. I can take a little bit of a breather next week as we need to train for our first game of the season.”
AJ was a football player, but although most of his friends liked to brag about it, AJ most times seemed to not actually enjoy being on the team.
Not sure if he was just trying to impress others, or his family, as they were quite focused on having athletic children.
AJ’s brother was still in high school and he was being called one of the best young athletes in history.
And his older sister competed in the Olympics a few years ago, winning a silver medal for whatever it was she did as a gymnast.
It’s clear that I had no clue about sports, and they didn’t really appeal to me either.
I was happy holding a brush in my hand and getting paint all over my clothes.
“Haven’t seen you much around campus the past week and we missed you on quiz night too,” he told me, looking at me with concern in his eyes.
“I was busy, that’s all. Maybe next week I have a little more time.”
“You have time. I think you just schedule your week wrong.”
I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. “I don’t think that’s what it is. There’s homework, studying, assignments, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and sleep that I need to all somehow manage to get through in just a week. It’s not as easy as you think, frat-boy. Not everyone is lucky enough to have people around you who schedule the week for you.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault if those freshmen pay to be our personal assistants,” he said with a laugh.
“Pretty sure that’s illegal anyway,” I replied with a grin.
“No, not illegal. Just a little degrading when you look at how other guys treat them. I was thinking of letting Marie go anyway. She’s a sweet girl, but she’s mostly in it for the parties she gets invited to since she plans most of them with the other girls.”
I nodded once, although I also didn’t understand why they would ever give up their spare time which they didn’t have much of in the first place just to be seen