Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
While I’d been looking at the vast room, Mason had been looking intently at me. I saw his expression change, and immediately knew why. It was a look I’d seen many, many times. I let out a sigh. “It’s called heterochromia.”
Mason was still staring at my face. Jude elbowed him. “What?” he said to his friend, then he turned to me. “What’s heterochromia?”
“It means I have different colored eyes. Less than one percent of the population has it.”
Mason’s parents had apparently never taught him it was rude to stare. “Your one eye is almost as blue as mine,” he said. I wished that were true. His eyes were gorgeous, though the rest of him was proving to be less than ideal. “And the other one is… hazel?”
“Green,” Jude said, then looked apologetic. “Sorry, I couldn’t help noticing because they’re both pretty.”
Okay, he was my favorite of my soon-to-be ex-roommates. Though Parker didn’t seem too bad. It was a bit like having an inattentive but benevolent ghost nearby. One who wasn’t participating in the conversation but wasn’t harming anyone, either.
Mason sounded frustrated. “It’s not her eyes that are the issue. It’s other body parts—namely one that she doesn’t have and we do. She can’t stay here.”
“I know that,” I said, irritated at his crassness. Well, that wasn’t actually the problem. I’d worked all summer tending bar, I’d heard a lot worse. But it was the arrogant way he said it, like he had a right to say whatever he wanted.
Then again, it was his dorm room, and not, apparently, mine.
Jude looked at his watch. “I doubt the housing office is still open.”
“It might be,” Mason countered. “It’s move-in week.”
Jude didn’t look convinced. “If it is, there are probably lines out the door.” Somehow, I got the sense that he was concerned about how this mix-up affected me, whereas Mason seemed more interested in how it affected him.
I couldn’t help giving Jude a small smile. “Yeah, all those Taylors and Jordans and Shannons complaining about the wrong-room assignments.”
His return smile made me feel more calm. Well, most of me. The dark eyes and the short beard that lined a strong jaw made part of me sit up and take notice. He had a blue button-down shirt on, and there was a tantalizing glimpse of bare chest where the top buttons were open. “Maybe if we go down to the front desk, they can let us know if there’s an empty room where you can stay tonight. There must be someone on the women’s side who hasn’t checked in yet.”
That might help—for one night. Then, once I spent all day tomorrow in line at the housing office, they’d likely assign me to a room so far away it might actually be in my hometown. Plus the thought of lugging my stuff up to a room for one night and then doing it all again the next day didn’t sound very appealing, but it wasn’t like I had a lot of choice. I definitely didn’t have money to spare for a hotel.
Biting back a sigh, I said, “I doubt I’ll end up in a room as nice as this one.”
“You won’t,” Mason said. All right, he was officially starting to piss me off. But then he actually backtracked. “I just mean, there isn’t any another suite like this one.”
I frowned at that. “I thought there were a dozen or so four-person suites on each floor?”
“There are—but none like this,” Mason said confidently.
“It’s a corner suite on the top floor,” Jude said. “It’s got more space than the other suites.”
It did look freaking huge, so that was hard to argue with. But then I frowned. “But then aren’t there four suites like this—one at each corner?”
Mason shook his head. “Across from us there are two long, narrow dorms for two people each. At the end of the hall is another one split into two also, and a study room across from it.”
“That’s weird.” And very asymmetrical. “Guess you guys lucked out getting it.”
Mason snorted. “Hardly.”
Jude cut in, which was good. He had a low, lyrical voice that was pleasant to listen to. Plus, the things he said didn’t raise my blood pressure like the things Mason said did. “Mason got us this suite. He’s been planning to get it for years.”
“Using very Machiavellian techniques,” the man in question added with an evil grin.
“The competition was pretty steep,” Jude confirmed. “It’s not just the size of the suite. Would you like a tour?”
“Sure.” Why the hell not? I was curious about what would make a man like Mason go gaga over a dorm room. Then again—he looked like he might be the type who thrived on competition.
As we all stood, I realized I was still holding the nearly empty water glass. Then a soft voice said, “I’ll take that.” I’d almost forgotten that Parker was there. I handed him the glass and smiled, but all I got was a brief nod in return. He seemed so unconnected to the other two—or anyone, really—that I wondered if he had been friends with Jude and Parker before or if he, too, had been assigned here randomly.