Deserve Read Free Page B

trust. With him,
I never have to pretend to be someone I’m not.
    With my trust fund and my father’s money, I could have
easily afforded a single room. Hell, I could have demanded a whole floor to
myself, but I wanted my college years to be as normal as possible. Besides, I
was tired of being by myself all the time.
    My parents were always away at political events and
fundraisers. I had no siblings and the only “friends” I had were the sons and
daughters of other politicians. Not exactly the ideal candidates for
confidants. It was impossible to be relaxed when we were
always surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards who were ready to report the
slightest slip to their bosses .
    Thank God I had asked for a double. Thank God they had
assigned Cael Jackson as my roommate.
    The day he invited me to go home with him was the day I knew
he finally trusted me. That was spring break. The stubborn bastard took eight
fucking months to finally get to that point, but I was grateful he did. I told
everyone I was thinking about flying to Aruba, but I had planned to stay in the
dorms, as I had for all the other holidays.
    Somehow Cael knew I was lying
about my trip. The night before he was due to take the bus home, he had looked
up from his book and stared at me for a long time, as if weighing my worth. “If
you want, you could spend the week with me in Chicago, but don’t expect some
plush guestroom shit. You’ll be slumming it,” he said almost belligerently.
    I didn’t know if the invitation was given out of pity, but I
didn’t care. Going home to my father’s house was not an option and it was
lonely as fuck being in the dorms by myself. It seemed everyone had a place to
go, except for me. I could fly to a tropical island, but drinking myself
unconscious among strangers sounded depressing as hell.
    Cael looked shocked when I eagerly
accepted and offered to drive us into the city. During the ride, he kept
hinting that I shouldn’t expect any creature comforts at his house and I
realized he was embarrassed by his poverty.
    “I get it. I’ll have to eat your table scraps and sleep with
the rats. Asshole,” I grumbled, offended that he thought I was such a snob.
    But it turned out he was right to warn me. I had never seen
the kind of neighborhood he lived in except in movies. When we walked to his
building from the secured garage he insisted I park at, we saw two deals go
down in broad daylight.
    His gaze was locked onto my face when we entered the
apartment and I was glad that years of being in the spotlight had perfected my
poker face. I was shocked by how
small the apartment was. It was hard to imagine how three people could fit into
the space, but as I stood in the tiny living room, I felt warmth seep into my
skin. The furniture might be shabby and the paint might be peeling, but everything
was spotlessly clean, proudly telling the viewer that this was a loving home.
    Then a loud squeal and a streak of lightning flashed by me.
    “ Cael ! You’re back!”
    My eyes bugged out when I heard him laugh. Where the fuck
was the grim-faced asshole I’d known for the better part of the school year? Cael’s whole demeanor softened as he hugged the skinny
little girl—all red curls and pale limbs—hanging onto him like a
monkey.
    “Hey brat, it’s good to see you.” Arm slung around her
narrow shoulders, he gestured to me. “Maggie, this is my roommate, Sean Rowan.
He’s going to stay with us for the week. Sean, this is my little sister,
Maggie.”
    A little heart-shaped face turned to me with a wary
expression. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks and tight curls flew every
which way.
    Unconsciously, I gentled my voice. “Hi, Maggie. It’s nice to
meet you.”
    “Hi, nice to meet you,” she mumbled, but she didn’t sound
like she meant it. She turned to her brother and asked, “Does this mean you’re
not going to take me to the Cubs game? Are you going to take Sean ?”
    I had never heard my name infused with so