Page 48

The three of us had claimed one of the outdoor tables on campus while half the student body hauled boxes, mini fridges, and entirely too much shit into the dorms around us. Move-in day had apparently become free entertainment for Jude and Wyatt, who were people-watching. And by people watching, I meant shamelessly rating every attractive woman who walked past.

Meanwhile, I was doing what I seemed to do best lately: thinking about Rhodes. That was the theme of my life. Stuck. On. Rhodes.

Sending dick pics had been a risky move. I knew that. Even while I was doing it, some rational part of my brain had been waving giant red flags and screaming that maybe antagonizing the man actively trying to end things between us wasn’t my smartest decision.

Unfortunately, the second Rhodes had put his hand around my throat, all rational thought had left the room. It had made me desperate and stupid. A lot stupid.

But he’d responded. That was the part my mind refused to stop circling. Rhodes could insist this was over all he wanted, but when I pushed, he pushed back. He’d stayed in that conversation. He’d wanted me.

That had to mean something, didn’t it?

“Theodore Daniel!” Jude exclaimed and bumped into me harder.

“What?” My head popped up to stare at Wyatt and Jude. Both of them were looking at me like I’d missed an entire conversation.

“Come on, what’s your type?” Jude asked, and I sighed. There was no avoiding this conversation. Ever since the two of them had launched Operation Get Her Back, they’d become annoyingly invested in a fake woman who did not exist. Technically, they were trying to help. Unfortunately, every question they asked required me to lie.

“Give us something,” Wyatt said. “We know nothing about this girl.”

I glanced between them. Maybe I could give them just enough to shut them up.

“She has dark hair,” I relented.

“Okay,” Jude said. “And…?”

Of course that wasn’t enough.

“Blue eyes,” I replied. The look he gave me told me that I wasn’t getting away with vague answers. “But like… faded blue and a little lighter around the irises.”

Hopefully, that was specific enough. What I didn't say was that I’d spent enough time looking into those eyes to know exactly how they changed depending on Rhodes’ mood—how they seemed colder when he was tired or how they were brighter when he was happy.

“Blue eyes get me every time,” Wyatt chimed in.

“And tattoos.” That answer came much easier. I loved Rhodes’ tattoos. Not just because he was covered in them—although that certainly didn’t hurt—but because every one told a story. Some he’d told me, and others I’d been left to wonder about.

“Are we talking like… she went out for the weekend with her girlfriends and got a little statement tattoo or…” Jude asked.

“She’s covered in tattoos.”

“Damn.” Wyatt let out a low whistle. “Theo over here going for the alternative girls.”

“Alternative girls are so fucking kinky,” Jude said. I grinned, but I said nothing. Mostly because if I opened my mouth, there was a good chance I’d say something that required significantly more explanation. I enjoyed that side of him, especially the way it brought something out in me that I hadn’t known existed.

“It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” Wyatt added. “Librarians.”

“Mm, librarians,” Jude agreed.

I stared at them.

“When was the last time you two were in a library?” I demanded. I wasn’t sure whether either of them knew where the campus library was. I made a face. Did I know where the library was? Okay, maybe I wasn’t in a place to judge.

“I think I hooked up with someone in the library last year,” Jude said. “Wherever it was, it had a lot of books.”

Yup. That sounded about right.

“Probably a library,” I told him. I changed the subject because I had no desire to listen to him debate which hookup had been where. I’d been trapped in that exact conversation many times, and I wasn’t doing it again. “Opening day question: who gets to shave Jude’s head?”

That got both of their attention immediately.