I hadn’t thought of needing a run. “True.”
“Well, it’s settled.” Jacob glanced at me and snapped.
“Make yourself at home.” The girl placed her weight to one side, causing her right hip to jut out as she waved her hands around. She was different from the girls back home. Unique. She wore dark makeup with several layers of eyeshadow, which made her eyes pop. She wasn’t even trying to go for the natural look.
And unlike most women, she didn’t have any interest in Jacob. We might get along fine after all. “Okay, then.” I used our pack’s mind link to connect to him. She’s different.
Yeah, she kind of reminds me of you. She marches to the beat of her own drum. He shrugged as he walked past me and placed my stuff down on the vacant bed to the left.
The room wasn’t huge, but we each had our own bed and desk. She’d picked the side with the window, and I couldn’t blame her. If I’d gotten here first, I’d have chosen it as well.
“So, I’m Beth,” the girl said as she held out her hand to me. “I’m from a pack in Alabama.”
It was nice that she focused on me and not Jacob. That wasn’t the normal response I got from most girls. “I’m Emma, and this is Jacob.” I pointed to him.
“Her boyfriend.” He moved closer to me.
She raised her eyebrows so high they disappeared under her short blue bangs. “Okay.” The corners of her lips ticked upward as she nodded.
I placed the box that contained my sheets and pillows on the ground while Jacob rolled my two large suitcases over to me. My duffle bag and backpack stayed at the foot of my bed.
“Where do we start?” He clapped his hands, looking at the pile.
Yeah, no. This was something I wanted to do by myself as my first act of independence. “I appreciate your eagerness, but you have your own room to set up.”
His face fell ever so slightly. “But…”
I had to word this carefully. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, or Lord knew I’d be getting a call from my mom. “Maybe when you’re done with your room, you can swing back here, and we’ll grab something to eat.”
“Yeah.” His eyes warmed. “We can definitely do that. I’ll be back here after I drop off my stuff and check in with the coach.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” He kissed my lips briefly before walking out the door.
“That guy has it bad for you.” Beth sat on her bed and shook her head. “It was hard to watch.”
“We’ve been together for a while.” I wasn’t going to open up to someone within the first five minutes of meeting them.
“How long?” Beth asked as she watched me make my bed.
“A little over two years.” It was two years after Aidan had broken my heart. Jacob had escorted me to my sixteenth birthday party, and my parents and his dad had gone on and on about how good we were together. He’d asked me out right in front of everyone. Sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder if it had been calculated. He knew I wanted to please my parents.
“It’s obvious you aren’t fated.” She blew out a breath. “I hope to find my fated one day, don’t you?”
“No, a chosen mate would be my preference.” I couldn’t risk what was left of my broken heart. Hell, I’d rather be alone, but my parents wanted grandbabies, and through Jacob, our pack needed to grow. If I’d been hurt that badly by my first love, I didn’t want to imagine how excruciating it would be from a fated.
“Really?” Beth pursed her lips. “What happens if Lover Boy finds his?”
“First off, you make it sound like fated mates are a common occurrence. They aren’t.” I glanced over my shoulder at her. “So, it’s not something I need to worry about.”
“Well, okay then.” She shrugged and lay back on her bed, her head pillowed on her arms as she watched me.
I decided to focus on setting up my room, not my nosey roommate.
A knock on the door startled me out of my daydream.
“It’s just your man.” Beth snorted and glanced my way.
I’d just got situated a few minutes ago and had lain down to calm my racing thoughts. Of course he’d be back here already. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t breathe with him beside me. “Yeah, I was just thinking about something.” I stood and headed over to the door to open it.
“Hey, you.” He grinned as he entered the room, and his gaze landed on my roommate. He nodded at her. “Beth.”
She nodded back, laughing. “Jacob.”
He paused, and his brows furrowed. He wasn’t used to someone making fun of him.
I glared at her. “Be nice.”
“What?” She lifted both hands in the air. “I was being polite.”
“Do you want to join us for dinner?” The question had left my mouth before I’d thought it all the way through. However, it’d be nice to have more than Jacob and his friends to keep me company.
Beth looked at Jacob. “You don’t mind?”
“No, it’s fine.” He took my hand. “Some of the guys were heading down to the Student Center anyway, so the more, the merrier.”
“Okay, sweet.” Beth jumped to her feet and pulled her black shirt down over her jeans. Then, she slipped her sandals on. “Let’s do this.”
The three of us headed to the stairs and walked down to the student lobby.
I squeezed Jacob’s hand. “Did you meet your roommate?”
“Sure did.” He walked past Caroline and Jules without looking in their direction. “His name is Prescott Jones, and he transferred here like me to be on the football team.”
“Prescott?” Beth bumped her shoulder into mine. “Must be old money.”
“Actually, he is.” Jacob pointed at her with his free hand. “You hit the mark. His grandfather was an oil investor.”
“Sounds about right,” she muttered.
I couldn’t keep from grinning. Her bluntness was refreshing to be around.
We walked past the business center, and everyone appeared to be out and buzzing around. People were still lined up to learn more about fraternities and sororities. In general, wolf shifters didn’t join things like that because growing too close to humans risked them learning about us, which was against supernatural law. That was one reason why I wasn’t too upset about my wolf shifter roommate.
“What did your football coach say?” This past summer, he’d left for a couple of weeks to practice with the team. Surprise, surprise, he was the quarterback. Those two weeks had been way too short. I actually got to breathe for once. Sometimes it felt like I was trapped, but I wasn’t sure what I needed to change to feel free. I still hoped that college would be my salvation.
“Nothing, just glad that I’m here.” Jacob grinned proudly. “And he told me that though you’re a student, he can get the best seats in the stadium for you, even for the away games.”
“Great.” I hoped my voice hadn’t fallen flat. I hated going to football games. If I left to get a drink or go to the bathroom and missed something, Jacob would complain the whole damn night. As the alpha heir, he needed the perfect attentive mate, but he didn’t seem to care that it wasn’t me.