“Reid, you good?” Cole called out from behind me. I squeezed the pieces in my palm so hard they stabbed me. Annoyance built with each of his footfalls closer. I’d never cared before about Cole showing up. He was one of my best friends.
He was also notorious for being an unreliable wingman—there was a 25% chance of him leaving with whoever you were talking to. For some reason, the thought of that happening with her really fucking sucked.
“Just helping our new neighbor,” I shouted back, hoping he’d go inside the house.
He walked around the front of the car. “Oh hey, new neighbor. I’m Cole.” He’d deepened his voice a hair.
“Leona.” She smiled and held out her hand.
Shit. I hadn’t even asked for her name or introduced myself, but Cole had.
I glared at him. “I’m helping Leona pick up some stuff she dropped.” I gave her a wink, and she snorted like we already had an inside joke. It tempered some of my annoyance.
“Okay, some stuff I made her drop.”
“This looks like a Millennium Falcon mix.” He dropped to one knee.
I glared. Maybe I could push him into the slowly rolling traffic. Since when had he become a Lego expert?
“Close, it’s the Death Star.” She poured more into the box and flashed him a smile.
“You don’t have to help. We’ve got it.” I pointedly stared at him and tilted my head back toward the house.
He looked at me and back to her. “I don’t mind.” His smirk was punch-me-in-the-face gloating.
A bolt of annoyance streaked through my chest. The last thing I needed was Leona wandering down the stairs of The Zoo after a night out with Cole.
“Griff and Hollis were looking for you. They said to have you find them once you got home.”
He glanced back at the house. “Really? Okay, I’ll go check it out.” He dusted his hands off on his jeans and stood with a wince and groan. “Nice meeting you, Leona. Are you coming to Welcome Wagon tonight?”
I slammed my lips shut, clenching my teeth. I wanted to punch him in the dick. I’d been working up to maybe asking her, and he’d swooped in and done it himself. Not that I wanted to go with her, but just make sure she knew it was happening and maybe have a friendly face to see if she went. I was being neighborly, and she was new.
“Is that a place or an event?” She folded over the flaps of the box, sounding more distracted than when she’d been talking to me.
Some of the tightness in my chest loosened.
Cole walked backward across the street. “It’s the unofficial kick-off to the school year. It’s over by Poe Pond behind the Arboretum. There’s an old covered wagon statue even though Pennsylvania isn’t exactly on the Oregon Trail. It’s tradition.”
“Sounds like it could be fun.” She lifted the box and rocked back and forth, shifting the contents and smiling. A small wave was all she could manage with her arms around the box.
I would not beat the shit out of Cole. I repeated that in my head over and over and glared at him until he was on the other side of the street.
“Are you going too?” She peered over at me, and I froze like I’d forgotten how my muscles worked.
I cleared my throat. “Most of my roommates would drag me there against my will no matter what.” Shrugging, I tried to play it cool. “I’ll probably be there.”
“Cool, then maybe I’ll see you there.” Her smile brightened, and I couldn’t stop my goofy grin in return.
“Maybe you will.”
Her gaze lifted to the slamming door to The Zoo. “Is that one your house?”
“Yeah.”
There was a flicker in her gaze, but I had no idea what it meant. “I guess we’ll probably see each other pretty often then.”
“Probably.” My mouth felt dry. I cleared my throat. “Did you need help with the rest of your boxes?” I reached for it.
“I’m good. This was the last one. I’ll see you around, neighbor.” She turned and walked toward the brick archway that led to the center of the apartments built around a central, common grass area.
“See you, Leona.” I backed away, this time checking behind me to make sure I wasn’t going to ram into someone else. Somehow, I didn’t think if I did it again that it would be nearly as enjoyable as it had been with her.
Inside the house, I kicked off my shoes.
Cole tossed a wrapped sandwich at me that he’d most likely stolen from the cafeteria. “If you wanted some alone time with our new neighbor, you didn’t have to lie about Griff wanting me, you asshole. And after I got this for you on the way home.”
“I wouldn’t have had to lie if you could take a damn hint.”
“You know that’s not one of my strong suits.” He cracked open his soda and gulped it down like it was juice. “I’m going to sleep. Practice wrecked me.”
“What did Mikelson have to say to you?”
Cole stiffened. “More of the same bullshit he always does. I can’t wait until he’s not riding my case like this anymore.” His tone was more hard-edged than Cole usually managed. He reserved that for people on his absolute shit list, and I’d only ever known one other person to sit there outside of Mikelson—Kennedy Campbell.
“But then we wouldn’t have a common enemy.” I unwrapped the turkey and cheese sandwich.
“There’s a certain Philly rival team we could direct all our hate to.”
Irritation blistered along my skin. A loss to Fulton U was not an option again. “We do that anyway.” I devoured half the food in what felt like two bites without even tasting it. “Is everyone else already asleep?”
Cole nodded. “This shit is only going to get harder once classes and study halls start. I’m not looking forward to it.”
He dragged his hands down his face and up through his hair, pulling the dark brown mass up in odd angles. “I know one thing you’re definitely looking forward to though. Seeing your new friend Leona.” He sing-songed her name. “So close, right across the street.”
He flicked the blinds open to peer at the brick building across from us, sending bright light streaming into the room. “She was pretty.”
Beautiful. “Just chill with that. It was one conversation.”
“If it was just one conversation, why were you trying to keep me from talking to her?”
I tensed, shifting my gaze. “I just didn’t want you bothering her. She’s new and doesn’t need you hovering around her. Weirding her out.” I chomped down on the remaining half of my sandwich.
“She didn’t seem weirded out. She seemed to like it a lot actually. And if she’s coming to Welcome Wagon, maybe I’ll—”
My heart pounded so hard that my brain throbbed. “Would you stop! What did I say before about distractions? No distractions, right?”
“No distractions, hmm.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “If you say so. I’m going to go pass out. Don’t leave without me.” He ran up the stairs, shaking the whole house.
I finished my sandwich and couldn’t stop myself from checking out the window again.
Leona came back outside and jumped into her car with her phone pressed against her ear. Where was she off to? I shook my head. I needed to get some sleep and stop fixating on my new neighbor. Although maybe I’d see her later—later tonight.