Midnight Muse

He snorts. “I’m running the study session.”

My jaw slackens and my cheeks turn bright pink. “Seriously?”

Apparently, Odie’s not done laughing at me because he nearly keels over as a new wave hits him. I sit lamely in my chair, tapping my foot as I wait patiently for him to finish. His laughter sounds so similar to the one in my head, the one that accompanies a symphony of ‘you can’t do this,’ and ‘you’ll never be good enough.’

“Yeah, really,” he says, wiping a fake tear from his cheek. Asshole. “I’m a history major, which means that every kind of history is my jam.”

“Oh, Odie,” I beg because that’s the best fucking news I’ve heard all day. Who would’ve thought that a hockey jock would actually be my guardian angel in disguise? “Please, help me. I’m completely useless at this shit.”

He gives me a pitying look, planting the front legs of his chair back on the ground before slinging an arm over the back of mine. “I’ll make you a deal. You write down that coffee order of yours so I can get it every time I go to the coffee shop from now on, since you’ve still never brought me one, and I’ll help you pass Doff’s class.”

I stare at him, wide eyed. “That’s it? That’s all you want?”

His smirk turns wicked and he winks when he asks, “What else are you offering me? Want to come be a cheerleader at my game this weekend?”

I elbow him in the ribs, enjoying the way my shoulders ease with our laughter. Odie has been a real saint since the day I was late to class, now so more than ever.

“Nope, no,” I cross my arms over my chest, glaring playfully at him. “You already said what you wanted. There’s no changing now.”

Odie rolls his eyes and I turn back to the book, startling when I catch sight of someone standing outside the glass to our study room, staring directly at me. I’m surprised to see Knox, dressed in a black cable knit sweater and his usual dark jeans. His brows are furrowed, onyx hair tousled in a way that makes my heart stir.

My lips part and I feel like I’ve been caught doing something that I shouldn’t be. Knox stalks away before I can even let out a breath, but it doesn’t matter because every word has eddied from my head anyway.

“You know that guy, Quinn?” Odie asks, staring after him.

I shrug a shoulder, “He’s, uh, my neighbor.” My voice comes out more nervous than it should. I blink hard, shaking myself out of the funk I’ve suddenly slipped into. Knox looked like he actually cared who I’m sitting with and he didn’t look very happy about it. Dragging my gaze from the window to Odie’s book, I ask, ignoring my confused and muddled mind, “So, what are we starting with?”

CHAPTER 17

QUINN

“Tell me again why you and Ace had to have sex on the couch?” I gripe, planting myself on the carpet, bowl of popcorn balanced carefully in my hands. I cringe just thinking about it, how pale Ace’s ass was in comparison to the rest of his summer-tanned body. I’ve learned—against my will—that Ace loves to pamper himself. It had been his expensive shampoos and soap in the boys’ bathroom. One would think that with how much he enjoys taking care of himself, he would splurge for a full body tan instead. “Your room is five feet away for fuck’s sake!”

Now I have to live with the image of his full moon in my head forever.

Rory has the movie set up, paused on the title screen while I made the popcorn and gathered the drinks. The ominous font glows crimson, painting the living room in red light. It’s a horror movie the both of us had been wanting to see since we moved in, and since it’s finally October, we figured we should kick the month off with it.

After another busy week of classes, I asked Rory if she wanted to have a girl’s night because I’ve missed my best friend. She was immediately on board with the idea, gushing over face masks, wine, candy, and binge watching the list of movies we made on her phone.

We’ve been spending a lot of time with the boys next door lately and I can finally say that I don’t think Knox hates me anymore. He even laughed at one of my jokes at lunch the other day, though he seemed reluctant to admit I’m actually as funny as Rory claims I am.

The chocolate we picked up from the local grocery after class is already half eaten; tiny balls of tinfoil tossed in a haphazard garbage pile from where we’d both dug into the bag while we waited for the popcorn and set the movie up. We’re splitting the bottle of wine, maybe more if the ‘drink whenever someone makes a stupid decision’ rule we came up with is to be followed.

Rory tosses a pillow at me that I dodge it like it’s on fire. I’ve been avoiding the couch and anything that could have been on it while they were…canoodling for days, not even so much as sitting on the other side where Ace’s ass hadn’t been.

I don’t trust it.

“I was trying not to have sex with him until I figured my shit out, but,” Rory shrugs sheepishly. “I couldn’t resist. He’s so charming.” The way that a smile cracks her mouth without her knowledge tells me everything I need to know about her feelings on this new relationship with Ace. Her grin is glowing brighter than the damn screen!

I’m not at all jealous, I’m just really happy for my best friend who has now been in two relationships during our time in college. That’s two more than I’ve been in.

Nope, not jealous at all.

I hum in agreement, ignoring the twang in my chest. I’m familiar with that silver tongue of his, and I’d thought the same of him when he was trying to sweet talk his way into my favor at the art supply—not. Ace has gotten a lot better since we’d all gone to Tipsy Canvas.

I have to give it to him for his persistence. He’s proved he’s wanted to be more with Ro despite her worries about Max, and even my grouchiness hasn’t been able to scare him off.

I do wonder if he calls her Darling, too, or if that was reserved for the ones that came before.