Chapter 1

ONE

Peter

I emptied a bag of potato chips into a bowl, then ripped open another one, my gaze fixed surreptitiously on Jonas.

He had his back to me, his head bowed, exposing the elegant curve of his neck. There was a freckle low on his nape that my gaze caught on before he suddenly lifted his head and looked at me, his chocolate brown waves falling into those captivating eyes of the same colour.

He stared at me for a moment and then laughed like I'd done something stupid, and I glanced down, realizing I was spilling half the chips onto the counter next to the bowl.

Cheeks burning, I poured the rest where they were supposed to go— inside the bowl—and avoided looking over again while Peter finished pouring milk onto his cereal.

He spooned some into his mouth as he left the kitchen, but I swivelled around to stop him.

"You going to stay in your room?" I asked.

He paused and glanced at me, looking guarded, and I realized how it sounded at once.

"I mean, not that you have to . My friends are nice. You can come hang out with us."

I didn't think my recovery was too bad, but the way he was looking at me—like he would like nothing less—made my face burn even hotter.

"I have some work to do," he finally said. He gave me a polite smile and left.

I stood there for a moment before letting out a long breath, trying to keep my cool.

Jonas was... something . Much like his brother, he was handsome. Okay, Charles was handsome. Jonas was on the pretty side. I could admit that he was good-looking, but his personality wasn't .

I was still kicking myself for getting into this situation. Rooming with the coldest guy on the planet had been far from my game plan, but at the last minute, my best friend, Charles, had backed out.

I'd already had the lease signed, and I'd been freaking out and the next thing I knew, Charles, feeling bad, had offered his brother to take the room instead of leaving me hanging. He’d needed a new place to rent, anyway.

Jonas had always been a bit of an oddball. He was quiet and constantly gave me looks that said he was quite clearly that judging me.

He was the type of person who made me feel like I couldn't be myself. Like I had to watch every step I made because if he saw, he would laugh at me when I wasn't looking.

Honestly, I had foolishly thought that I could somehow convince him I was alright. That we could get along.

Instead, for two months now, Jonas had stayed locked up in his room, only coming out or interacting with me long enough to make my skin crawl.

He was such a fucking weirdo.

Groaning softly, I finished cleaning the chips and went to the living room, making sure the place was decent.

A group of college friends were coming over. I had cups ready for beer pong, Jell-O shots in the fridge and three bowls of chips. What more could they expect?

Glancing at the time, I saw I had a few messages saying that any minute now, people would be arriving.

Swallowing, my eyes flew to Jonas' door.

For some reason, even having him home was making me nervous. I always wondered how much he could hear from in there. Like, if I watched a show that he thought was stupid, was he in his room listening and rolling his eyes? And if we were talking too loud tonight, would he hear us?

It shouldn't matter. I knew that. Jonas was far too stuck up. He was the problem, not me. Yet I couldn't help this overwhelming regret that he just didn't likeme.

Despite myself, I wanted him to.

The doorbell rang, and I pushed the thought away, hurrying to let my first arrivals in.

As soon as I opened the door, my mood swung upwards because Angie and Celeste were both here, looking hot and done up and in great moods.

They both held up their bottles, laughing in greeting, and I couldn't help falling into the inside joke with a dramatic shout.

"No! Not the Kraken! You two are insane!"

"Obviously," Celeste said, coming inside and giving me a quick hug on her way past me.

"That's why you love us!" Angie added, pushing one of the bottles into my hands. "That one's for you."

I shook my head emphatically.

"Nope. I am never drinking Kraken again," I said. "I'd rather not end up on the washroom floor crying tonight."

I paused just after saying it, realizing I was right outside Jonas' door. I cringed, following them inside while they started to tell me about their trip to my place on the SkyTrain.

"You need to move closer to campus.” Celeste was saying by the time the doorbell rang again.

Within twenty minutes, my small apartment was packed with friends, and we were well into our drinks already.

Music buzzed through the walls.

When Charles walked in without knocking an hour later, already tripping over his feet, he headed straight over to where I was spread out on the floor and practically threw himself on top of me.

"Hello to you, too," I said, trying to shove him off me, to no avail.

He let out a loud groan, saying hello to everyone without bothering to lift his head.

"Getting here was hell. I am so glad I didn't end up moving in with you, man," he sighed. "It would take me an hour to get home from work."

He lifted his head suddenly, looking around the circle of people.

"Where's Jonas?" he asked.

"In his room," I said, trying to keep a neutral expression.

"As usual," I added snarkily, and Charles snorted.

"Is he still in his shell?" he asked, finally climbing off of me and tossing his coat aside.

"Poor little turtle," he muttered, walking over to Jonas' bedroom door and banging on it.

I cringed, watching the scene unfold, knowing that Jonas hated being bothered.

After a moment, the door opened, and he stood there, glaring at his brother. A silent standoff occurred where they both stared at each other for a long moment and then Charles just said, "What the fuck? Say hi." and Jonas started laughing.

I shook my head, watching as they hugged each other, chuckling and instantly falling into a conversation.

I'd known that they got along, I'd seen them together before, but after months of living with Jonas, it was like my brain couldn't compute it anymore. Jonas didn't seem like the type who could get along with anyone .

Yet, to my shock, they were coming over here. Charles steered Jonas toward the group to join the party.

"Where has Peter been hiding you?" Angie asked with obvious interest.

"I wasn't hiding him," I muttered, kicking her foot. "He just didn't want to..."

Hang out with me, was left unsaid, but no one was listening to me anyway because Jonas was new and was doing that kind of shy smile that he sometimes did, avoiding eye contact in a way that, for some reason, made him look sultry.

"I was just trying to get some work done," he explained.

There he went, talking about work all the time. I didn't even know what the hell he did, but at least he always paid the rent on time. It was probably some boring shit like data entry.

"You can take a night off," Angie said. "Do you want a drink?"

I could practically hear the girls swooning and sighed internally, turning my attention to Charles, who was cracking a beer open next to me.

"How's life?" he asked.

I shrugged, delving into the bio class that was giving me some trouble. I couldn't quite wrap my head around endocytosis.

“It sounds simple, but when I get into the details of phagocytosis and pinocytosis, my brain stops working.”

"Jonas could help you with that," Charles said, "I'm surprised he hasn't volunteered yet. He always brags about acing his second-year classes."

I blinked, surprised.

"I thought he took history."

"That was his minor," Charles corrected, "with a major in biology."

"Oh."

I was too tipsy to even pretend that I remembered that.

Charles looked curiously over at his brother and then back at me.

I followed his gaze, seeing that he was already at the bottom of the glass of whatever hideous stuff Celeste had given him. Meanwhile, Brady was giving him an animated explanation of what happened in the last Spider-Man movie.

To his credit, Jonas looked like he was listening, laughing at whatever Celeste and Angie were interjecting.

Apparently, I was the only one that Jonas had a problem with.

And here I thought he was just an asshole.

Oh shit. Was I the asshole? Was that why he wanted nothing to do with me?

"So, how has it been living together?" Charles asked, clearly trying to sound casual.

I rolled my eyes at his obviousness.

"It's been swell, right Jonas?"

I wasn't sure what came over me, other than pure annoyance. I wanted to stand up and shout‘ why do you have a problem with me? ’instead, I chose to make it awkward for the fucker in a different way.

Jonas looked over, his gaze snapping to mine.

"What?"

"We have a great time living together, right? We're the best of pals."

He arched a brow, a touch of that haughty expression he usually wore in my presence coming to light in front of everyone.

"No one says ‘ pals ’ anymore," he informed me, his voice deadpan, and I practically wanted to cheer. He'd shown his true colours in front of everyone, and even though everyone laughed and teased me, I didn't care.

His brown eyes lingered on mine for a moment, and when he turned back to the others, he didn't seem like he could smile with as much ease. I could tell that he felt my eyes on him.

It was weirdly sadistic of me. I didn't want him to have a good time, not when he couldn't even give me the time of day for no reason.

I tried to ignore him after that, but my eyes kept flying to his face, the way they always did. Asshole had to be so damn pretty.

"And I don't even like boys," I muttered to myself half-heartedly.

"Hm?" Charles asked, leaning closer.

"Nothing," I said quickly, realizing I had spoken out loud.

Luckily, a bunch of arguing started on the other side of the living room, distracting Charles.

"Come on!" Angie was insisting.

"Please!" Celeste joined.

I didn't know what the hell was happening until a bunch of people started to groan and agree.

"That's my cue to get back to my room," Jonas said, trying to push to his feet.

I watched, amused, as he was pulled back down.

"No way!" Angie cried, still clinging to his arm. She had it bad already, but Jonas didn't seem too interested.

I had to hold back a laugh at that because Angie always came on like a vulture with her eye on the carcass. She had no shame whatsoever and rarely gave up. I'd seen many an unsuspecting guy end up hiding from her. Not that she was bad looking, she just had no sense of boundaries.

Case in point, she squeezed herself in between Brady and Jonas so that she could cuddle his arm like he was her long-time boyfriend.

He pursed his lips but remained seated while everyone shuffled around to face each other.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Truth or Dare!" Celeste shouted excitedly.

Me and Charles both groaned, having missed what was happening.

"We're not fifteen anymore," I argued. "We don't need an excuse to make out with someone."

"I beg to differ!" Celeste shouted, grinning. "Peter, I dare you to make out with me!"

"You can't just take the first turn!" I argued, and the group started to squabble over who would go first.

Finally, a rock, papers, scissors tournament had one of the guys, Jamie, going first and asking Brady if he was gay. Lame, but Brady handled it well.

"Only for Tom Holland," he said with a straight face. "Celeste, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said at once.

"I dare you to..." he thought for a moment. "Flash the apartments out there."

She stood up, swaying and giggling her way to the window, then went out of her way to open it.

"Everyone look here!" she shouted and then lifted her top, standing there for far too long while we laughed.

"That's enough, babe," Angie finally said. "Get your drunk ass back here."

She pulled her shirt down and returned to her spot before swiveling her gaze directly over to me.

"Peter! I dare you to kiss me!"

"I choose truth," I said, and everyone laughed while she pouted.

"Fine," she sighed. "Have you ever hooked up with anyone in the room?"

I instantly regretted my choice, forcing myself not to look over at Angie. Remembering that messy night two years ago was bad at the best of times, especially since we'd agreed to keep it a secret.

At the way I froze, a series of ‘ Ooooohs ’ filled the room.

"I meant dare," I said weakly, face hot as I crawled across the floor to where Celeste was sitting.

"But now I wanna know!" she pouted just before I pressed our lips together.

She hadn't said a time limit, but I gave her a good, long kiss, tongue and all, just so she wouldn't make me do it again.

I didn't look at anyone when I pulled back, not even at Celeste, who fanned herself dramatically.

"Damn," she breathed. "Remind me to dare you to do that again."

I shook my head, kind of wanting to hide. I didn't like that kind of attention. I didn't know how some people liked to have sex in front of others. I would probably die from embarrassment if I did that. Even that innocent enough kiss made me feel like I was being wild.

When I glanced up, it took me a minute to realize why everyone was looking at me. Everyone but Jonas. He had his gaze fixed on his lap and his lips were turned down in a frown.

And maybe I just wanted to torture him today, because his name slipped out of my lips without thinking.

"Jonas," I said. "Truth or dare?"

He looked at me, his gaze unreadable, then glanced at Angie, still clinging to his arm.

"Truth," he said firmly.

I thought for a minute, completely at a loss for what to ask. I didn't know him well enough to know anything he kept secret. But with the thoughts about being public still swimming through my mind, an idea came to me. I didn't overthink it. It just flew from my mouth.

"Have you ever made a sex tape?"

There was a silence, and in that moment, Jonas' eyes widened just before there was a laugh from the group.

"That's too easy," Angie argued. "Everyone's recorded themselves."

There was immediate chaos as everyone started arguing with her, but my attention was glued to Jonas, who took the time to school his expression into one that was completely neutral.

When everyone calmed down enough for his answer, he looked me straight in the eyes.

"Nope," he said, shrugging casually, but I knew the bastard waslying .

I glanced toward his bedroom, my heart suddenly racing.

What did Jonas actually get up to in there?