“It’s difficult because I’m on two scholarships. And they are tied to my room and board. The college is super picky about the awardees maintaining a proper decorum. Roberta knows this and has threatened to tell the whole college all the ways I’m evil. She has literal fistfuls of Post-it notes with my flaws wallpapering the dorm room.” I touched my neck.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Crap.” He held out an arm and we hugged briefly, on our sides. “That’s so rough. Fuck her so much.”

“Yeah. She’s really like all of my problems right now.” I rubbed my thumb on his comforter.

“Listen, stay with me. What can they do if you just move out?” He tilted his head.

In every crush dream I had about Austin since I was old enough to fall in love, this conversation would happen over and over. “Really? That’s a lot to ask.”

“Nah. You and I can be boyfriend and girlfriend, which keeps me away from Endgame and him away from me. Plus, you can live here and not have that stress from Roberta and her revenge farts.” Austin held out his hand for a shake. A special deal. A secret. I wanted to lick his hand, but instead, I shook it.

I was going to live with my dream man and pretend to be his girlfriend. I knew the long-term damage was going to be substantial to my heart, but there was no way in hell I was saying no to him.

“You’ve got a deal.”

* * *

Sleeping was easy, and I wasn’t expecting that. Leaving a dorm room in the middle of the night was exhausting. Austin had me in a cuddle. He was a touchy guy. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time we’d ever cuddled.

I tried to etch the feeling of the weight of his arm on my hip. Too bad a feeling couldn’t be a tattoo.

The alarm on my phone went off. The trill of a pop song was like a knife to my eyeball nerves. I clamored out of bed to silence it. I stood there, trying to get my act together. I glanced down at my Wonder Woman pajamas. I couldn’t wear those, even a little.

Austin rolled onto his back and put his arms behind his head. I was distracted by him. The way he was muscled was my favorite. He was so complete and so well hidden under clothes, but when I got to see his chest, it was sigh-worthy. He had more tattoos than the last time I had been face-to-face with his bare chest at a pool party Teddi had in senior year.

“Kitten, you look lost. You okay?” He propped himself up and reached inside his end table drawer. He popped a piece of mint gum into his mouth. I covered my own mouth. I forgot my toothbrush.