Loud: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Male Romance) (7 page)

As the noises grew more and more intense, I felt the
same uncomfortable flush of emotions washing over me as I thought about Emerson
having hot, passionate sex with the bleached blonde floosy, as my granny would
have called her.

I decided not to tell Les. She was way too fiery, and
she'd almost certainly get in their faces and turn the situation into a
confrontation, which was definitely not something we needed. Also, there was no
way I could face them after revealing that I was privy to the extracurricular
activities going on. It would be way too awkward. I couldn't leave a note, either.
While it wasn't as direct as talking to them about the commotion, it would still
make for more awkwardness, considering I'd have to see Emerson regularly for
chemistry.

With a resigned sigh, I headed to the kitchen for a
glass of wine to take my nerves back down a few notches. I needed a good
night's sleep to get through all the classes I had to face the next day, and
with what sounded like
Horny College Sluts 3
being filmed in the room
next door to mine, there was no way I'd be able to sleep without something to
help.

I poured a glass of wine and washed it down, then made
my way back to my room, slipped in my earphones and put on some soothing tunes.
I crawled into bed and tried to focus on the ambient vibes of the music,
allowing it to drown out the muffled sounds from next door, and waited for the wine
to kick in and work its magic.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Emerson

I woke up with a pounding throb hammering pulse after
pulse through my head. My mouth was dry as a desert in midday sun, and my
stomach felt like it was twisted in knots. I struggled out of bed and hobbled
over to the bathroom, where I dropped to my knees in front of the toilet,
expecting to puke. I hovered there for a while, but nothing happened, so I
pushed myself to my feet and stumbled to the shower to get cleaned up.

The shower made me feel a little better, but it wasn’t
enough. I needed a breakfast that wasn’t going to leave me praying to the
porcelain gods and a powerful shot of caffeine to get me back to something that
resembled a human. I couldn't believe I had been weak enough to let Chris talk
me into drinking. Hell, it had been a
Monday
night. I'd felt bad for turning him down on Sunday. Still, Monday night
drinking of any kind was a terrible idea. He'd said it would just be one quiet
beer, but I should have known better. The promise of
just one
beer had quickly turned into an arm twisting — just one
more, then after that, just one more. When ten o’clock rolled around, I finally
put my foot down and called it quits. When I texted Chris at midnight, he
hadn't even left the bar yet. Because we'd started early, I hadn't even eaten
dinner, so I now felt ravenous.

I opened the fridge and groaned. There was absolutely
nothing aside from a bottle of ketchup, two bottles of Gatorade, and a takeout
tub of Chinese food that had been in there longer than I cared to admit. I was
pretty damn desperate, though, so I took out the tub and gingerly opened it —
and then immediately regretted the decision. An unearthly stench blasted my
senses. I would almost wager that whatever had been living in there was on the
verge of creating a new civilization. I quickly tossed the tub into the trash.
With my stomach paining for food, I rifled through the rest of the kitchen —
nothing. We were totally out of things to eat. So much for leaving it to Chris
to pick up the groceries.

I considered going to get something, but that would
make me overly late for class. The way I saw it, I had two options: be late for
class or appeal to the kindness of my new neighbors. Maybe if I offered to cook
them dinner in exchange for breakfast, they’d take mercy on me. I could also
use the opportunity to maybe chat with Brooke about chemistry class. That is,
if she’d talk to me. I got the impression she wanted to avoid me for some
reason. She’d acted rather strange in class, shoving her email address into my
hand and then pretty much running away. Asking my neighbors to help me out
might end up being awkward, but I was desperate enough for food that I was
willing to risk it.

I pulled on a shirt, walked over, and knocked on their
door. A few moments later, Leslie opened it.

“Good morning, Emerson,” she said with a smile.

“Hi, Leslie.”

“What can I do for you? Are you here to talk to Brooke?”

“I…um…no. I need a favor. We have absolutely nothing
to eat in our place because Chris is an idiot and didn’t get the groceries like
he was supposed to and uh, I was wondering if you had anything to spare, maybe
some fruit or yogurt or something. I promise, I'll make you guys an epic dinner
if you can help me out.”

“Coming to beg from your new neighbors, huh?” she
chuckled. “No worries. Been there. We have yogurt, a few donuts left over from
yesterday, and a couple of bananas. The donuts might not be too fresh, but if
you're hungry, you're hungry, right?”

“I'll take 'em! Damn, Leslie, you're a lifesaver, a
total lifesaver!”

“No problem! I’ll grab something for you.”

Leslie went to the kitchen, leaving me standing at the
door. I craned my neck, peering inside the apartment trying to see if there was
any sign of Brooke. My heart sank a little when it seemed she wasn't there. I couldn’t
help but wonder what was up with her, why she seemed to want to avoid me. I was
trying to think of a way I could bring her up in conversation without coming
across as being interested when Leslie returned and did it for me.

“Here you go,” she said as she handed me the food.
“Like I said, the donuts might be a bit stale.”

“That's alright, I'm famished enough to eat just about
anything right now.”

“You’re quite welcome. So, Brooke told me you guys are
gonna be lab partners.”

“Yeah, that's right. Totally randomized selection from
a computer program; how about that?”

“Weird, right? It's almost like fate is conspiring to
bring you two together.”

I chuckled a little awkwardly, not knowing how to
respond. Thankfully, I didn’t have to. Leslie continued speaking.

“So, I guess that means I'll be seeing a lot more of
you around here, huh? You'll probably be coming over to study and stuff,
right?”

“I guess that’s possible, depending on Brooke,” I
replied. “Okay, so,” I continued eager to switch topics, “do you guys like Thai
food? Like I said, I'm gonna make it up to you for helping me out with
breakfast.”

“You really don't have to. I meant it when I said the
donuts are kinda stale. I was probably gonna toss 'em out anyway.”

“No, I insist. C'mon, you're really gonna turn down a
free dinner?”

She laughed. “Hell no! Actually, we're both big fans
of Thai food. When should we expect this awesome dinner?”

“My afternoon is pretty free today, so I guess I can
whip up dinner and bring it by this evening if that's alright?”

“That sounds killer. We’ll both be home after six, so
you can swing by then.”

“Sounds good. I'll see you guys then. And thanks again
for breakfast!”

“No problem, Emerson. See ya later.”

“See ya tonight,” I responded as I stepped back toward
my apartment.

She shut the door as I grinned. I was pretty darn
proud of myself. I had created an excuse that was more than merely classwork to
get to talk to Brooke. Now I just had to make it to class on time.

***

I stirred the curry one last time and inhaled deeply,
breathing in the fragrant aroma of spices. I'd nailed it, even if I did say so
myself. Just to make sure, I dipped a spoon into the curry and blew on it to
cool it, then gave it a taste.

The flavor sent chills down my spine.

I
had
nailed it.

I poured the curry over the chicken and vegetables and
turned the stove all the way down, putting a lid on to let it simmer for a
while to allow the flavors to intensify. I checked my watch to make sure I was
on schedule. Five minutes until six o' clock.

Once I’d double checked my appearance in my bathroom
to make sure my hair was acceptable, I took the pan off the stove and headed
out into the hallway to go deliver the red curry chicken to Brooke and Leslie.

I knocked on the door and felt a slight sensation of
butterflies in my stomach as I waited for someone to answer. I was hoping it
would be Brooke.

It was.

I beamed a huge grin at her, but she only smiled
politely back and seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me. I was going to
kill her with kindness and at least get her to talk to me if it was the last
thing I ever did.

“Hey!” I said. “How's it going?”

“Good,” she replied, keeping the door half closed.
“Leslie told me that you'd be bringing us dinner. This is it?”

“Yeah. Thai Red Curry Chicken. I hope you like it.”

“It smells great.”

I handed it to her and moved forward, but she stayed
in the doorway, blocking me from entering.

“Well, thanks,” she said coolly, still avoiding eye
contact. “We'll wash up the pot when we're done and bring it over to your
place. I'm sure this will be delicious. Thanks so much! See you later.”

With that, she stepped back into the apartment and
closed the door gently in my face.

I stood there for a moment, feeling like I'd just been
kicked in the gut. What was that? I'd gone through the trouble of making her
dinner, and she just took it and didn't even bother to invite me in! What was
with her? What was I missing?

I raised my fist to knock on the door, a bit of irritation
bubbling up inside me. Part of me wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but I
stopped my fist mid-air. She must have had her reasons for doing what she had
just done. Even the Ice Queen wouldn’t be that cold without her reasons. Maybe
it was just a misunderstanding. A genuine misunderstanding. Right?

Or, maybe she was just a cold, impolite bitch. I didn’t
know. I shuffled back into my apartment and closed the door behind me. It
looked like I'd be eating dinner alone.

That was when my phone buzzed. I looked down to see
who was messaging me.

Melissa.

Hey,
good-looking, what are you up to for dinner? I'm in your 'hood, mind if I come
over and hang out for a bit?

Normally, I would have made up an excuse, but after
having just had a door literally closed in my face, I was feeling a bit
rejected. I instinctively typed in a response without thinking.

Sure. I'm
free.

Ten minutes later, Melissa was at my door with pizza.
A lot of pizza. Five minutes after that, Chris and a couple of friends showed
up.

***

I'd just stripped down to get into the shower when I
heard a knock at the door. Chris had gone bowling with some friends and Melissa
and I were going to join them after I grabbed a shower. She was on the balcony
having a cigarette and wouldn't have been able to hear the knock at the door.

The knock sounded again so I wrapped a towel around my
waist and hurried out to open the door. When I opened it, there stood the Ice
Queen herself.

Brooke’s eyes widened at the sight of my half-naked
body and a flush of red developed across her cheeks.

“Um, er, hi, Emerson,” she stammered.

I couldn't believe it. She was struggling to keep her focus
aboveboard. It was almost as if she was, as the cliché goes, undressing me with
her eyes. I felt like saying, “Hey, my eyes are up here,” but of course, I
didn't. I was kind of enjoying it. Maybe there was more to the Ice Queen than
met the eye.

“Hi, Brooke,” I responded, leaning against the
doorframe and subtly flexing my muscles just to mess with her.

“I, um, I brought your pot back,” she mumbled,
suddenly thrusting the pot into my hands like an awkward schoolgirl. It was
actually pretty adorable.

I took the pot just as my towel started to slip off my
waist. She caught sight of it sliding down and her eyes widened. It was about
an inch away from letting
everything
hang out when I shot a hand down
and caught it.

“Oops,” I chuckled — sorry but not really sorry. “So,
how was the curry?”

“Oh, it was, um, yeah, it was totally impressive,” she
replied, still trying — and failing — to keep her eyes from wandering. “You're
a very talented cook. Thank you so much for dinner.”

“Not a problem,” I replied. “I love cooking,
especially Asian cuisine — Thai, Chinese, Japanese. I think I mentioned it when
we first met, I've really been wanting to visit Japan. You lived there, right?”

“Yeah, I…yes, I lived in Japan for over a year.”
 
She was settling down a little and
didn't seem as flustered, but she kept sneaking appreciative glances at my body
and running her fingers through her hair while she was talking to me. Something
about it was kind of sexy.

“Cool. I'd love to chat sometime about places to see,
things to eat, you know, all that stuff I should know that a tourist guide can’t
tell me…if you don't mind.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, sometime.”

“I mean, we're lab partners now, so I guess we're
gonna be spending some time together.”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess we are,” she replied, smiling at
me for the first time. It was a great smile.

“So, I guess I'll
email
you about that,” I said with a wink, causing her to blush.

“Hey, Emerson, you want a beer? There are a few cold
ones in the fridge, right?”

I spun around at the sound of Melissa coming inside
from the balcony. When she saw Brooke at the door, immediately a venomous glare
entered her eyes.

“Oh, it's your neighbor,” she said flatly. “Is
something the matter?”

“No, everything is just great,” I said.

“I, um, I should be going now,” Brooke stammered,
suddenly appearing uncomfortable and, if I was reading her facial expression
correctly, a little jealous.

“Nice to see you again, uh, whatever your name is,” Melissa
chided as she walked off into the kitchen to get a beer.

Brooke turned around and headed back to her apartment.

“Wait!” I called out after her.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me.
“Yeah?”

Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. Why had I told
her to wait? What did I want to say? I wasn't sure, really. It had been more of
an instinctual reaction. I just hadn't wanted her to leave like that. I didn’t
want her to have the wrong impression about me and Melissa. But somehow, I
figured it may have been too late for that.