Chapter 10

Ten

Chloe

I t's been the best summer of my life. Nick and I got an apartment together and we've been inseparable since my birthday. That's what makes today so hard. Don't get me wrong, it's an exciting day, but a bittersweet one.

"I can't believe I have to leave you here with all these dudes walking around checking you out," Nick says with a scowl as he sets a box down on the desk in my new dorm room.

I sigh and roll my eyes with a smile. "You know you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I am totally and completely devoted to you, Nick Hayes."

"You don't even know what kind of girl you're getting stuck with for a roommate. I'd make much better roommate," he grumbles.

"I know, sweetie," I say kissing him. Both of us are feeling a little pre-separation anxiety today. I'm going to miss him like crazy. Fortunately, Boulder is only about a thirty minute drive from Pinewood, so he can come and see me as often as he wants. "I wonder where my roommate is anyway," I say looking around at all of her stuff. It's obvious that she moved in earlier today.

"You mean me?" I look over to see a beautiful girl with long, dark, wavy hair standing in the doorway. "Hi," she says with a bright smile. "I'm Olivia. You must be Chloe." She comes over to me and doesn't hesitate for a second to hug me. That's my kind of girl. I'm a hugger too.

"Hi, Olivia! Yes, I'm Chloe, and this is my…boyfriend…Nick."

Olivia smiles at Nick and extends her hand to shake his. "Hi, Nick. I'm Olivia Newman."

"It's nice to meet you, Olivia," Nick says, shaking her hand and returning her smile.

"Yes, it's so nice to meet both of you," Olivia says. "So, do you have everything all moved into the room? Is there anything I can help with?"

"Everything is here. I just need to unpack these few boxes," I say.

"Okay, well I can help you do that," Olivia says.

"Crap, Ethan isn't going to make it," Nick says, looking at his phone.

When Olivia looks at me in question, I say, "Ethan is a friend of Nick's who was going to stop by today." He said he wanted to check out the campus, but I know he really just wanted to check out the campus girls. "What happened?" I ask Nick.

"He said he still has packing to do before he heads back to school tomorrow, and his dad is on his ass," Nick says with a laugh.

"Well, you should help him when you get home then."

"Yeah, I probably will."

"You won't be a student here?" Olivia asks Nick.

"Nope. I'm training in law enforcement back home."

"Oh, cool," she says with a smile.

"Olivia, I hope you don't mind on our first night as roommates, but Nick and I are going to go to dinner so we can spend a little time together before he goes home."

"Oh, of course. I totally understand. I met a couple of girls down the hall earlier. I'll just go see if they have plans for dinner. "

"Sounds good," I say, "but I'd love to get to know each other when I get back."

"Absolutely," Olivia says. "Nice to meet you, Nick," she says as she grabs her purse.

"You too," he says with a smile.

"And, Chloe, I'll see you later," she says on her way out the door.

"Bye, Olivia." Waiting until I know she's out of earshot, I say, "She seems amazing, Nick. See, I told you that you didn't have anything to worry about."

"I'll admit that she seems pretty cool. Ethan is going to be pissed that he missed meeting her," Nick says with a laugh.

"Ugh. I'm glad he did," I say, shaking my head. "I don't need him harassing my human roommate."

Nick

"Look at all this shit," I say when I walk into Ethan's room. "No wonder your dad was on your ass."

"I know. Get to work," he says, throwing a box at me. "How did it go with dropping off Chloe?"

I shrug. "It was hard, but fine. We'll adjust, and I'll still get to see her a lot."

"Sure," Ethan says. "Lots of hot girls on campus?" he asks with a grin.

"Oh, you are going to hate yourself for not showing up today."

Ethan drops a shirt into his suitcase. "Really? Why?"

"Chloe's roommate."

"No shit? She's hot, huh?"

I nod with a smile. "Hot and super nice. She seems really cool. You would have liked her."

"Fuck me, man. You've got to introduce me sometime. "

"I don't know. I don't think she'll stay single for long."

"Human right?"

"Yeah."

Ethan nods with a cocky smile. "I could win her over."

THE END