Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Come on,” Ian said, jerking his head in the direction of the kitchen and dining room. “Let’s get something to eat. You look like you could use a break.”
That was exactly what I wanted right now—a break. And a chance to spend time with him.
He got water for himself and a glass of soda with my favorite nugget ice for me. I got us a bowl of popcorn to share, and then, because he was a health nut, I chopped up an apple and some carrots for us.
It felt weird having just two of us in the huge dining room. I couldn’t quite imagine what it would be like here in the fall when all the guys were back. And when I wouldn’t be here.
That spoiled my mood a bit, but Ian still looked happy.
“What are you smiling about?” His smile was contagious.
“I had a really fun encounter with a good friend yesterday.” His smile turned a little devilish, and I blushed.
“By an odd coincidence, I did, too.”
“What are the odds?” He grinned.
“But today, crawling around on the floor and cleaning under the sofa was pretty exciting too.”
“So I noticed.”
God, he was practically radiating happiness. It couldn’t all be because of our naughty activities yesterday, could it? “What’s with you?” I asked. “Did you get an A on a test or something?”
“Sort of. But I don’t want to bore you with school talk after I already told you so many stories about my advisor.”
“How’s he doing by the way?”
“Pretty well. I’m going to go visit him tomorrow.”
I nodded. “So go ahead.”
He frowned. “Go there now?”
“No, bore me with school talk.” I rubbed my leg against his under the table. “I’m ready to be bored.”
He grinned. “If you truly mean that, you read some of those medical books I’ve got upstairs. But anyway, I was about to tell you about the other thing.”
“Other thing?”
“Yeah. I got some good news. A while back, I applied for this special grant, and this morning, I found out I got it.”
“Congratulations!” That gave me an excuse to reach out and squeeze his hand. “Did you get a Bennett, too?”
He looked genuinely confused. “A what?”
“Well, you said you got a Grant, so I was wondering if you got a Bennett, too.”
“Oh, I get it.” He laughed. “Grants are more fun.”
“Have to agree with you there.”
He grinned. “I’m still kind of excited about the lowercase grant though. It’s a stipend, really, enough to cover my rent here for the entire school year.”
Shock filled my mind. “It’s—it’s a housing stipend?”
“Yeah. I applied for it last month. I worked my ass off on the application, so it’s nice that it paid off.”
“Yeah. Congratulations,” I said again, because honestly, I didn’t know what else to say. I’d had no idea that he’d applied. Had Theo told him about it, too? But why would Ian even need to? That stipend was supposed to be for people like me who didn’t have enough money for housing. Of course, he didn’t know I was a student, but still…
I needed time to process this, away from him where I wouldn’t be in danger of revealing my secret or telling him off. “You know what? I should get back to work.”
His face fell as I stood up. “Was it something I said?” he said it jokingly, having no idea it was true.
“Nope. I’ve just got a lot to do.”
“Want me to lift some more sofas for you?”
“Nope,” I said. “ I’ve got it.”
21
THEO
Grant, Ian, and I sat out on Bennett’s balcony in the evening, enjoying the night air and the peace and quiet. As fraternity members, we were allowed to use this balcony whenever we wanted, but we usually didn’t if Bennett wasn’t here.
But he wasn’t here tonight. There was some bigwig who knew his father passing through town, and they’d met at a restaurant.
It was nice, the three of us. But I kind of wanted it to be the four of us. But the fourth person I wanted to join us was definitely not Bennett. “Hailey couldn’t come out?”
Ian shook his head. “She said she had something to do.” He shook his head. “She seemed down about something.”
“Wait, she didn’t believe all that crap about her not being allowed out here, did she?”
“That’s the rule,” Grant said. He had one of his beers from Luxembourg. Someday, I needed to order some for myself so that I could find out what they tasted like. Grant was so possessive about them.
“We don’t have to follow the rules all the time,” Ian said. “Especially ones like that. Would it really be so bad if she were out here with us?”
“I think it would be nice.”
Grant snorted. “You two are like little boys with crushes.”
I shrugged, unbothered by his taunt. “She’s a nice girl.”
“Agreed,” Ian said. We clinked our bottles together.