I nodded.
“And they got to stay in that suite.”
I nodded and rested my chin on my folded hands as tears pricked at my eyelids. That’s what hurt the worst—getting kicked out of the suite.
“It was the nicest one I’d ever seen,” Alyssa said.
That was part of it. To no longer see the view of the mountains every day. Or have a fantastic place to study. Or to curl up in front of the fireplace. But… that wasn’t actually what bothered me the most about getting kicked out. It’d hurt because the place had been ours. Sure, Mason had been the one to snag it in the first place. And then initially, they didn’t want me to move in.
But I did, and I’d made my mark on it as much as any of them did. It was part of what had brought us together in the first place—the amazement we felt living in such an amazing place. Maybe it was a bit like little kids and a clubhouse. They could be friends without one, but if they had one, they became a team. A unit. And possibly grow even closer than they already were.
That’s what had happened to us. The suite had been ours—and now it was just theirs.
Then, of course, the other thing keeping me hovering on the edge of tears was how much I missed Jude, Mason, and Parker. Two days ago, I was with them twelve or fourteen hours a day. I didn’t doubt we’d still hang out together, but it wouldn’t be the same as living with them—not by a long shot. Plus, if I went to their place, I’d be a visitor in a space that used to be my home. But I didn’t plan on risking that. If the people from the housing office caught me there again, it just might jeopardize Jude and Parker’s scholarships.
Alyssa’s smile was gentle. “I’m sure they miss you.” She didn’t quite seem to get the relationship the four of us had, but that hadn’t stopped her from supporting it. Blinking rapidly, I managed to hold back the tears for a while longer. I missed the guys terribly. It’s probably why I fixated on losing the chance to live in that amazing suite so much. It was because it hurt—but not as badly as the thought of being away from my guys.
They’d been weirdly silent today. Yesterday, after they’d helped me pack up my things, they’d texted me several times each in the afternoon. Now, it was twenty-four hours later, and today I’d only gotten one text from Jude and one from Parker. Neither were very long.
But it was a busy time of the semester. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas break went by so damn quickly. Jude had to listen and evaluate all of the students he gave lessons to. Parker had to write up a report about the activities in his cohort and the members in it. And Mason… Well, I still didn’t understand exactly what it was that engineers did, but I knew he was busy, too.
Still… I was busy, and I wanted to talk to them. Why didn’t they want to talk to me?
And speaking of busy… “I’m sorry to drop in on you during your last semester like this.”
“It’s not a problem,” Alyssa said, sounding sincere. “Besides, you can feed my goldfish when I go to that out of state interview next week.”
I laughed ruefully. “I’d be happy to.”
The week passed slowly, although classes were chaotic and stressful. Did the professors think it was their job to load us up with so much work that we wouldn’t finish until March? But the thing that killed me was the lack of communication from my guys. I asked them if they wanted to meet for coffee. Or go out to lunch. Or even come visit me at Alyssa’s place. But the answer was always the same. They were super busy, but we’d get together soon.
I knew they were genuinely busy, but it hurt to think of them studying side by side in the suite. Or sitting on the balcony at the end of a long day. Or drinking together.
The only one of the three I saw all week was Parker, and that was because I ambushed him on Thursday when he got out of class. At first, he didn’t see me, hurrying past with his shoulders hunched, but I called his name. He walked back and led me into the first empty classroom we found. Then he pulled me in for a long hug.
Tears threatened again as he held me, but I didn’t let them fall. I was too happy being held by him.
When he pulled back, I was a bit shocked. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked exhausted.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Things have just been hectic,” he said. “But I’ve missed you.”