In Too Hard (Freshman Roommates Trilogy, Book 3) (28 page)

We couldn’t go to Billy’s place, being underage students who would be drinking. Which was fine with me. We could do the countdown thing and take off. Go back to his place to be alone, not having to wait for everyone to clear out like Lucas and Lily would. Although, Stick’s apartment was in the same building, just down the hall, so he and Jane wouldn’t have much of a journey home.

I guessed the apartment we were partying in tonight used to belong to a friend of Stick’s who had been pregnant. When she got married to the baby’s father, she’d moved out and Lucas had moved in, his mother well enough to be able to take care of his little brother on her own.

That meant that our apartment would be available later tonight, but I hadn’t offered it up to Billy when he’d picked me up. I loved staying at his place, being surrounded by his book collection (even though he mostly read on an ereader), seeing his notes all over the place, even slipping back into my old ways and organizing them for him from time to time. But it wasn’t years’ worth this time, only a day or two. And they weren’t from different scattered ideas, but all pertaining to his current work in progress.

His apartment turned out to be not far from ours, easy walking distance. A quick walk home in the morning to shower and change, say hi to the girls (and sometimes Stick or Lucas if they’d spent the night), and then an easy walk to campus. Jane had her car with her, but seldom took it to campus since the commuter lot was almost as far away from her first class as our apartment was. Mostly she used it to visit Stick on the other side of Schoolport or when we had to get a load of food, though her sporty Corvette wasn’t a great grocery-getter.

I spent most nights at Billy’s place, but I didn’t move in nor did I keep my clothes there, though he’d asked me to both. Just a toothbrush. I thought we both needed some boundaries. Plus, he’d been making noises about looking at a house, using some of the advance he’d received for
Down in Flames
. He’d put his Manhattan apartment into a long-term sublet. It seemed like he was content to stay in Schoolport and at Bribury for the foreseeable future.

A decision I was obviously behind. At least for the next three years, then we’d see where we were at. I was certain we would still be together, and would be for a long time, but I wanted to see what opportunities existed for me after school.

Billy had disclosed our relationship to the dean of his department and to Bribury HR when they’d negotiated his long-term employment. They hadn’t been thrilled to know he was dating a student, but they did appreciate his candor, and the fact that he and I hadn’t started dating until I was out of his class. As I was no longer his employee, they agreed to, in essence, look the other way where we were concerned.

The reality was, news of his record-breaking deal had just hit the papers when they’d offered him a chance to stay. It was a huge feather in Bribury’s cap to have such a renowned author on staff. I thought he could have demanded free sexual access to the entire incoming freshman class and they probably would have said yes.

But he hadn’t asked for it. He’d asked only for access to me.

And I honestly think he was prepared to walk if they’d said no.

I’d been worried that teaching as a profession (rather than a just year-long experiment) would cut into Billy’s writing now that he was back on track. But that wasn’t the case at all.

“About time, I’m starving,” Jane said, taking the pizzas from Billy’s arms and setting them on the kitchen table. “Booze is on the counter, beer’s in the fridge,” she said.

“Beer?” I asked Billy. When he nodded, I handed him my coat to put with his while I grabbed two beers from Lucas’s refrigerator. By the contents of said fridge, I’d say Lily spent a lot of time here with him and it was stocked with all her favorites.

Billy handed our coats to Lucas, who took them down the hall and into a room. Stick and Billy did the handshake thing. They’d met several times and got along fine, but Billy had certainly not become the third musketeer to Stick and Lucas. Not with his full schedule of classes and writing. And me.

We ate and drank and talked, with the television tuned to Times Square as background noise. At one point I caught Billy watching the show and he turned to me with a smile, both of us remembering last year at this time when he’d sat on the terrace of his parents’ apartment and we could hear the city behind us as we FaceTimed.

As we neared midnight, I saw Jane nudging Stick and him giving her a face. Not exactly new behavior for the two of them. “If you don’t, I will,” Jane hissed at Stick. “Fine,” he said back to her.

She left the room and went down the hall, coming back with her backpack in her hands. She pulled out a book and brought it over to where Billy and I sat. I recognized the cover art for
Down in Flames
right away. The newly added “#1
New York Times
Bestseller” printed large at the top.

“Here,” she said, pushing the book at Billy. “I got this for Stick for Christmas. Will you sign it?”

“Uh…yeah, sure, of course,” Billy said, somewhat flustered. Jane pulled a Sharpie out of her bag and handed it to him. “Just…to you, Stick?”

As Stick was nodding, Jane said, “Sign it to Patrick.”

“Christ, Jane,” Stick said under his breath.
 

Jane only gave him her lethal smile and pointed to the book. “Patrick,” she said again to Billy.

Not willing to get in the middle of it, Billy quickly signed the book and handed it back to Jane. She put it back in her bag, thanked Billy and put her bag in the corner of the room, next to some kids’ toy that must have belonged to Lucas’s little brother.

“Thanks for thinking of the book as a gift for Stick,” Billy said to Jane as she grabbed another slice of pizza.

“Sure thing. I don’t think he’s read it yet, though. I told him
Down in Flames
was about some nutso pyro who burned everything to the ground, just so Stick would start it, but he caught on pretty quickly.”

“Ha. Ha,” Stick said, glaring at her.

“Well, uh, thanks anyways,” Billy said.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Besides…it’s not the
only
gift I gave him.” She looked over her shoulder at Stick who quickly lost the glare, his whole face softening as he returned Jane’s grin.

“As always, Fun with Stick and Jane,” Lucas said. He and Lily shared a look like indulgent parents of misbehaving children. Then their look turned heated, intimate, and I looked away.

Midnight came and we did the countdown and kisses, keeping it clean. Mostly clean. There were some roaming hands and shuddered breaths in the room, but we all kept it to a minimum.

“Okay,” Stick said once the kissing was over. Or, over…for now. “Let’s get going,” he said to Jane. To Lucas and Lily he added, “Thanks for everything. I’ll come over tomorrow and help clean up. Or at least to eat cold pizza.”

“Not too early,” Lucas said.

We all started to rise, when Lily gave a little chirp. “Oh! Oh, wait. I totally forgot. I wanted to do this right before midnight. Hang on, don’t leave yet.” She walked down the hall and into what I assumed was Lucas’s bedroom.

Jane and I gave each other questioning glances, but it was obvious neither of us knew what Lily was up to. Until she came back into view carrying what looked like envelopes.

“Oh, shit,” Jane said. “Lily, we are not—”

“Yes we are,” Lily said. It came to me just as she handed me the envelope with my name on the front.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about this,” I said. “I can’t even remember how the sentence started.”

“This time next year I will be…” Lily and Jane recited together.

“Right.”

“I’ll go first,” Lily said, ripping open her envelope and pulling out a sheet of paper, which she quickly unfolded.

“We are
not
reading these out loud,” Jane said defiantly, but Lily kept going.

“This time next year I will…” She smiled down at the paper. God, she was a beautiful girl. “Still be madly in love with Lucas Kade.”

“Oh, gross,” Jane exclaimed.

“Lame,” I added.

“Boo,” from Stick.

Billy just leaned back and spread his arms along the back of the loveseat we shared, keeping quiet.
 

“Damn straight you are,” Lucas said. “And right back at you.”
 

Lily leaned over and kissed him, then looked up at me. “Who’s next? Syd?”

“Man, I can’t even remember what I put,” I said. We’d done this little exercise the night before Montrose had asked me to stay after class, so I was sure there wasn’t anything embarrassing about him on my paper. I opened it up and read, “This time next year I will…not be afraid that I don’t fit in at Bribury.”

Silence. “Who’s lame now?” Jane finally said. “Of course you fit in at Bribury. You always did.”

I gave a grateful look at Jane who just rolled her eyes at me. “Get a grip,” she said.

Billy rubbed on my back. “And? Did it come true?” he asked.

I nodded, then smiled at him. “Yes.”

“Good,” Stick said. “Still, kind of anticlimactic. Here’s hoping you’ve got a good one, Jane.”

“Yeah. No. I think I’ll just keep mine private, thank you very much,” Jane said.

“Oh, come on,” Lily said. “It’s just for fun.”

“Is it about me?” Stick said, grabbing at her envelope, which Jane held out of his reach.

“Don’t be an idiot. We did these last year.”

“Yeah, but we danced at your sister’s wedding before New Year’s.”

“But we filled these out before we left for break.”

“Oh,” Stick said, sitting back in his seat.

“Come on, Jane, read it. We all read ours,” I said.
 

She looked at me and quirked an eyebrow, then ripped open her envelope, looked at her paper and read out loud, “This time next year I will…have finally banged Montrose.” There was a tiny gasp from Lily as she looked over at me, trying to gauge my reaction. “And he’ll beg for more,” Jane finished reading and looked at me with a “happy now?” look.

There was an awkward silence and I could see Stick clench his hands, as if making fists. I felt Billy fidget next to me, and a small “Jesus,” escaped under his breath.

But Jane, Jane who had learned a thing or two about diplomacy this past summer on the campaign trail (where she’d helped her father win), while still staying true to herself, stood up, and walked the few steps across the small living room to where Billy and I sat.

“Let me see yours,” she said, holding her hand out. I gave her my piece of paper. “Envelope too,” she said and I complied. She took a cursory glance at them, not even being able to read them as I’d handed them to her face down.

“Oh, Lily,” Jane said, not looking behind her at Lily. “You beautiful, beautiful fool.” As Lily was saying “Hey!” Jane continued. “You got Syd’s and mine mixed up.” She handed me her paper and envelope, clearly labeled “Jane” on the front. “Here Syd, this one was yours. You had mine.” She turned and waltzed back to the large, overstuffed chair she shared with Stick. Sitting on his lap, she slung an arm around his shoulders. “See, just a mix-up. All is right with the world.”

Everybody smiled and then outright laughed.

“Yeah, that sounds a lot more like it,” Billy said as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close to his side. “I have definitely begged Syd for more at times.”

We all laughed, and the party went on until the three of us girls decided to call it a night.

And go home with the men we loved.

Indeed, all was right with the world.

~*~

Have you tried Mara Jacobs’ Worth Series?
 

Read on for an excerpt from Book 1

Worth The Weight

“G
od, I love the smell of theater popcorn, there’s nothing else like it.”
 

Finn Robbins heard the female voice from behind him. He couldn’t say the same. The smell of fresh popcorn made him sick. It seemed the aroma stayed with him wherever he was, the buttery stuff burning into his nose with every breath. It was enough to make him puke.