PEACHES: CALL ME
ME: I can’t. I’m in class. Then after class Austin said we’re getting my stuff.
PEACHES: I wanna come visit soon.
ME: Pffft
PEACHES: Soon, TAYLOR.
I put my phone on airplane mode and tried to focus on class. I couldn’t let my grades slip during this upheaval. My scholarships depended on it.
I used my phone’s camera to check my hair and redid my messy bun. Then I wondered if that’s how Austin would style me. God, how I wanted him to style me.
After I got my backpack together and wrangled up all the butterflies in my chest that were excited to see Austin again, I headed out. The door was being held open for me.
As I thanked the guy for the service, he tipped his chin in my direction. “No worries, pretty girl.”
I felt myself glow at the compliment. I’d been in this class for months, and this cute guy picked today to talk to me? Maybe thinking about Austin was making me put off welcoming vibes.
I’m sure the blond clean-cut guy was just being nice. I hustled back to the front of the building, and sure enough, Austin’s car was waiting for me—double parked again.
The passenger side opened up and I saw that the car was packed. Three people in the small backseat and one in the passenger side. The beautiful woman patted her lap for me to sit on her.
I gave Austin a confused look. He had clearly gotten his friends and returned ready to storm my old castle.
He patted the beautiful woman’s lap, too. “This is Tinsley. Have a seat. She’s stronger than she looks and only bites on the weekends.”
Tinsley threw her head back and howled with a cackle. The horns started up again. I didn’t have time to question it. I hung onto the roof and swung into Austin’s low-set car. This wasn’t a safe way to drive anywhere.
The introductions started as soon as Tinsley and I settled into a very cozy situation.
“I’m Fred.” Fred was a girl as well, but she was built in a way that I was pretty sure she could punch straight through the roof of the car if she wanted to.
“I’m Caesar.” Caesar held out his hand and I awkwardly tried to complete the shake. I felt his lips kiss my knuckles. He was a beautiful man.
“I’m Fiona.”
I waved to her.
“Fiona is our ninja. She’s in on all the details,” Austin offered. “So, is your roommate home now, do you think?”
I let myself rummage through my memories of Roberta’s schedule. She seemed to always be in the dorm with her dumb boyfriend. “I honestly don’t know if she even goes to her classes. It’s terrifying.”
“Okay, no problem. We’ll plan on them being there. Let us know what’s yours and we will bag it up and be out in ten minutes. I have another friend coming with their truck. You didn’t have any furniture, did you?”
“Just my TV and my mini fridge.” I thought about how Teddi had gifted me the fridge, personalized with my name and cutesy characters hand-painted on the side.
Tinsley pulled her phone out and held it in front of my chest. “I’ll tell Parker. What’s the room number?”
“408.” This was happening. Austin and his crew of friends were going to help me get my shit.
Tinsley used voice to text to compose a message to Parker. “Do we have to sign in?”
“No. Roberta always makes sure the back stair door is propped open for her boyfriend.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound fucking safe.” Caesar scoffed.
“It’s not. She couldn’t care less.” I shook my head.
Austin reached over and squeezed my knee. “It ends today, okay?”
I felt my body go boneless when I met Austin’s eyes. “Okay.”
When Austin and Fiona started talking about where to park the vehicles, Tinsley whispered in my ear, “I saw that.”
I turned my head toward her.
“The way you react to him. Hell, I think everyone in this car has reacted to him that way at some point.” She twirled my blonde hair around her finger.
“So obvious?” How did this chick read me so quickly? Then I looked back at Austin. He was effortlessly cool and welcoming. Maybe everyone fell in love with him as he made his way around the planet.
“You’re only human.” She laughed a bit and let my hair go, a single spiral lock left as a memento in her fingers’ place.
Austin parked his car next to an old white truck. He got out, then I got out and reached back to help Tinsley extract herself.
“Sorry, I smooshed you in there.” It was the first time I noticed her five-inch heels.
“Oh, you can sit on my lap, sit on my face, whatever you need, baby doll.” My eyes went wide and Tinsley started laughing.
That distinctive laugh caught Austin’s attention. “Behave. She’s not even been with us twenty-four hours, guys.”
Caesar flopped the passenger seat forward and Tinsley and I helped pull him out. Austin had Fiona, the ninja, and Fred didn’t need anyone to help her.
Parker, the driver of the truck, was leaning against it. “We kidnapping a college kid?”
If I found out Parker was a movie star, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Austin held out a hand to me and I took it. “She’s a willing captive. Hell, she’s damn near a family member. Taylor, this is Parker. He’s one of my models.”
I held out a hand and Parker’s gleaming white teeth caught the sunlight like he was filming a toothpaste commercial.
Then the passenger door of the truck opened. First, a cloud of smoke, then one old beat-up boot. I looked to Austin just in time to see his face fall.
Endgame.
Endgame tossed the butt of the cigarette onto the ground. “You don’t even text me when you send out an all-call?”
The whole atmosphere changed. The tension stilled the laughter.
Austin pressed my hand, but I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not. Endgame had sunglasses on, but I felt like his gaze was burning through me.
“Well, let’s go!” Tinsley bounced forward and linked her arm in Endgame’s. “Room 408.”
As we walked up the stairs, the whole group of us sounded like a slow SWAT team. I felt the need to fill these people in.
“My roommate is probably naked. She’s always naked.”
“Oh, baby. We know how to handle that. Fire with fire.” Austin put one hand in the air and swirled his index finger.
As I was walking behind them, the party of people in front of me started shedding their clothes. I felt my jaw drop as Tinsley and Parker draped their pants on the stairway’s handrails.
Fred snorted and pulled her shirt off.
“Oh, we going all the way?” Austin was stripping like this was always the way he and his friends walked upstairs. “Kitten, you keep your clothes on. That’ll be the power move.”
Endgame was not getting unclothed, but every single one of Austin’s friends and Austin were butt ass naked by the time we got to the fourth floor.
And yeah, I looked. I had to look. It was right there.
Then I glanced away. How were these people so comfortable with nudity? They weren’t even drunk. Well, maybe Endgame was, but he was clothed and surly.
Austin opened the hall door for me and I became the grand marshal of the most unusual parade of my life.