51

Ryan

Third Season Recurring Character

I drove into Marrs campus with my phone in my hand, ringing for the eleventh call. When I'd started the drive, I didn't think Zariah wouldn't answer. What the hell else could I do? Every makeup store was closed. Roman Forest was just around the corner and I swung the car around, scanning the brick walls.

How hard is it to scale the side of a dorm?

"What?" Zariah grumbled through the phone.

"Goddamn, am I fucking glad to hear from you." I pulled the car up to the loading zone and slammed the door behind me.

"Ryan?" She yawned. "It's almost two in the morning."

"This is an emergency."

"Where's Kassie?"

" That's the emergency." I pushed through the front doors and groaned when I spotted who sat behind the receptionist's desk. That same guy who hated my guts. Fuck. Nothing was going to be easy. I dropped my voice into the phone. "It's a makeup emergency."

"What are you making up?"

"No. Makeup—the powders and liquids people put on their face. Just buzz me into the dorm!"

"She can't just call you in, sir. " The receptionist pressed his hands together and rested his chin over them. "It's past midnight. She has to come downstairs."

I stared at him. "That has never been a rule."

"It is tonight."

I took a deep breath and held the phone up again. "Zariah, you have to come downstairs."

" What? Do I have to? Is Kassie with you?"

"No. She's at UrgentCare."

" What?! "

My patience was gone. I had no idea how many more minutes I had while Zariah didn't want to come downstairs and the receptionist openly despised me behind his glasses. I stared ahead at the elevator.

"I just ate Kassie's pussy on my couch after we canceled a football obligation and when Cleo arrived to see what happened, we realized Kassie's entire fucking neck is covered in hickeys. I need all the makeup she has to cover them up. Now. Zariah . Can you please buzz me up? "

With a click, the phone call ended.

I stared down at it, speechless, and glanced back up at the receptionist.

"No resident approval, no going up." He thumbed towards the phone. "You have two minutes before I call the police."

"Can I just ask why you hate me?" I demanded.

"Your friend, the Marrs Manwhore, disintegrated my friend group." He folded his arms over his chest. "He slept with three of my best friends, one of which was in a relationship with another good friend in the group, and when—"

The elevator door opened and Zariah poked her head out. "I'm so glad you and Kassie two are fucking. It was weird without you coming over all the time."

I breathed out a sigh of relief and left the receptionist behind. There wasn't anything I could do to help out. Adam already fucked his friends. Nothing to be done now. Had to focus on the present and the present meant getting Kassie's makeup.

"Why the hell did you tell Kassie I didn't want to fuck her?" I shoved my thumb into the button for their floor. "Zariah. I thought we were friends."

"I asked you."

"You did not."

"I asked you if it'd be messed up if I slept with a twenty-one year old football player who worked at a hotel—"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Zariah held up a finger and lowered it slowly. She held it up and dropped it again. " Ryan . I am Kassie in the hypothetical situation. You are the twenty-one year old football player."

"I don't work at a hotel."

"Holy shit—forget it! I'm glad you're sleeping with each other. Done!"

I pulled up the notes app. "I have the list for the makeup stuff. This is what I need." It was a nice, concise way to have things written down too. I'd have to learn how to use that app more often.

Zariah strode out of the elevator with my phone in her hand and pushed open the door. I closed the door behind us.

"So you guys are friends-with-benefits?" Zariah whispered, holding open the bathroom door.

I frowned. "No."

"This isn't a one-time thing right?"

"She's my girlfriend, Zariah."

The light flickered on and Zariah knelt down to the cabinets below. I joined her until I saw the boxes and boxes of crap under the sink. Shit. Zariah started bringing them out to the floor and I reached in after her, dragging out everything I could.

"Like your real girlfriend?" Zariah asked finally, picking items out of boxes.

"Yes." I stared down at the color corrector. "Zariah, this is green."

"She needs it."

"She doesn't have green skin."

"Just put it in the bag, Ryan," she huffed.

"Zariah." I held up another tube for her to see. "This expired last year. She can't use this."

"Just put it in the bag, Ryan!" She sighed and tossed in a big brush. "You two need to have a conversation about this. A real conversation. Because I think sometimes you think things are clear when they're not and I'm Kassie's ride-or-die but she can be…you know…"

"What?"

Zariah grabbed some bottles from the bottom of a baggie. "Sometimes I forget you're like a third season recurring character."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a lot you weren't here for. When I first met Kassie, she was too busy working. She didn't have anybody. It took a while for her to even be comfortable with me when I moved in." She hesitated. "You need to talk to her so you two can clear all of this up."

For a couple of seconds, Zariah and I stared at each other, sitting on the tile of the bathroom in the worst dorm on campus and I thought hard on the words. I needed to have a real conversation with Kassie.

I can do that .