He turned around, and started ushering Dane out the door when Jade said, “One last thing Reid, don’t come to us if you need sugar.”

She winked, and I knew she was kidding.

Before Reid disappeared down the hall, he yelled back, “Jade, you know I want more than just your sugar, sugar!”

My eyes widened, and I looked at Jade. She was biting her lip, and staring at the door where Reid had just left. Why she wouldn’t just step over that imaginary line and give into him was beyond me.

I cleared my throat, bringing her attention to me. “You care to explain what that was about?”

“It was Reid being Reid.” She waved me off and walked back towards her bedroom, but not before I caught the wistful smile on her face. I had the feeling something happened between them during the summer, but I didn’t want to pry. It wasn’t my business, and if Jade wanted me to know, then she would tell me.

I wanted to follow Jade back to her room, but a voice from behind slowed my steps. I turned and found a tall brunette standing in our doorway.

“Can I help you?” I asked, wishing we’d shut the door when Reid and Dane had left. Having people just walk in was getting old.

“Hi, yes, this is room four-sixteen right?”

I nodded. “It is.”

“Great.” The girl walked in, dragging her suitcase with her. “I’m Ashley, your roommate.”

Roommate? I didn’t remember anything about Jade and I having a roommate this year. It was definitely not part of the plan.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “No one told us you were coming.”

“Oh, that’s probably my fault. I enrolled late, and this was the only apartment that had an open room.”

“Who’s that, Kennedy?” Jade bellowed from her room.

“Our new roommate,” I replied, eyeing the girl. She was gorgeous. Like runways of Paris gorgeous. Her brown hair hung just below her shoulders, and made her natural caramel skin tone look darker. Her eyes were green, her nose straight, and her mouth pouty. She was tall, almost towering over me at five-nine. She looked like an Amazonian Goddess, except her boobs were fake. That much was obvious.

Jade interrupted my not-so-subtle perusal when she appeared next to me. “We have a roommate?”

“Looks like it,” I replied.

Jade stuck out her hand, and Ashley took it, albeit reluctantly. I couldn’t blame her. If anyone was difficult to live with it was Jade.

“You’re not on drugs, are you?” Asked Jade.

Surprise flickered across Ashley’s face. Here we go.

“No,” she replied. “My agent would kill me.”

Ah. So she is a model.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Ashley chuckled. “No.”

“Do you have an issue with burgers or pizza? Because I don’t think I can live with someone who only lives on rabbit food.”

I laughed. Jade was being ridiculous, but I was enjoying it far too much to stop her little game.

“We have a ‘no sex’ rule. Are you good with that?”

Okay, that’s new. I waited to see where Jade was going with this inquisition. I thought she might have been joking, but her face was impassive. Shit, she’s not kidding. Not that it was an issue for me. I had no intention of being involved with anyone in that way, at least not for my first year.

“I guess so,” replied Ashley. She didn’t seem bothered by it either. She just looked amused.

Jade looked at me, and then back at Ashley. “Meh, I guess you can stay. You room is the one on the left. I’ll draw up some chore charts, so we all keep this place in tip-top shape.”

“Sounds good,” said Ashley. She walked into her bedroom, and as soon as she was out of earshot, I scurried to Jade’s room.

It looked exactly like mine, except her walls were now covered in beautiful sketches of clothes, and fabric swatches. Her bed had a funky lime green and blue cover on it, along with a few teddies she’d always hung on to. She’d already hung up a few pictures, and unpacked her clothes, which was more than I’d done. For some reason I was stalling.

“Did you know we were getting a roommate?” I asked, taking a seat on Jade’s bed. She spun around in her desk chair.

“No. I specifically said I needed the third room for my makeshift studio. But, we’ll see how it goes. If we find that it doesn’t work for us, we’ll find a way to fix it.”

With a nod, I started fiddling with the quilt that Jade’s grandmother had made her when she was younger. It had different colored squares all patched up together, and I thought it was quite metaphoric. None of the colors fit together, and yet it still works. Kind of like how life was. Or more specifically my life.

“Are you worried about the whole Dane situation?” Asked Jade.

“Not worried, just annoyed. This was supposed to be my fresh start, you know? I knew I’d have to see him eventually, but maybe from a distance. Not because he’s our neighbor.”

Jade went quiet, and I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. I envied the way she was able to let almost anything roll off her back, instead of analyzing and dissecting it the way I did.

“You know what I think?” She said, breaking the silence. “I think you should shove all thoughts about him out of your mind, and focus on living a little. You know he’ll do and say anything to get a reaction out of you, and quite honestly, I think that boy has some major feelings for you.”

My head shot up, and I grimaced. “You can’t be serious?”

Her eyebrows arched at my response. I sounded defensive, even to my own ears. “As a heart attack. When the two of you face off the way you did earlier, the sexual tension is enough to make my lady bits tingle.”

“Oh my God,” I laughed. “You did not just mention your lady parts with me and Dane in the same sentence. That’s wrong on so many levels.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Oh please, don’t act all innocent now. You just hate him too much right now to see what I see. I have no doubt he wants to bump uglies with you.”

“Jade!” I chided.

“What? Was that too graphic for you? Would you prefer if I said he wants to ‘tend to your lady garden’? Or maybe he wants to ‘impale you with his iron rod’?”

I stared at Jade as if she’d lost her mind, and then we both burst into hysterics. I laughed until tears streaked down my face, and held my stomach.

“You read too many romance novels,” I said, wiping my cheeks.

“There’s no such thing,” replied Jade. She tried to look offended, but in the end our laughter had taken over.

“Speaking of sexual tension, you care to explain what’s going on between you and Reid?” I asked.

Jade looked down at her lap, and avoided my gaze. “Nothing.” She let out a heavy breath and then lifted her head. “He’s been my best friend since I was practically in diapers. I’m pretty sure our moms have planned our wedding already.”

Her expression was somewhat unreadable, but I knew how she felt about Reid. I also knew she was scared, and for that I blamed Reid’s inability to keep his dick in his pants long enough to be in a relationship. He was a great guy, but he was still a guy. Football, and regular dick-dipping were the only two things that seemed to register.

“It’s time to take your own advice, Jade, and live a little. Reid will come to his senses, you’ll see.”

Jade sighed. “Okay, enough about the two idiots next door. How about we finish unpacking the kitchen, and then grab dinner with our new roomie? I’m dying for Mexican food.”

“That’s actually a good idea. I’ve been itching to take a walk around campus since we arrived.”

I jumped off Jade’s bed, and turned my head before I left her room. “Just stay away from the fucking tequila. I’m not carrying you home.”

Jade’s response was to throw a pillow at my head, which narrowly missed my head when I ducked. We both chuckled, remembering how hung over she was this morning, and then I dove right back into the boxes in the kitchen.