Tempest Read Free Page A

just screw with you. Again and again,” Lydia shouted.
    Okay, I am seriously going to strangle this chick.
    A door flew open behind us and I turned to look at the girl standing with a thick textbook cradled in her arms. “Jackson, I’m really sorry, but I’ve got to study. And Lydia, please shut up. No one cares about your angry men-hating rants.”
    The music coming from Holly’s room cranked up even louder. I turned to Lydia and shouted over the noise, “I’ll pay you a hundred dollars to hand over your key and disappear for the night.”
    I waited for her lecture about violating the dorm rules or some shit about women giving up the metaphorical “keys” in life.
    To my surprise, her dark eyebrows lifted and she said, “Make it two hundred.”
    I opened my wallet and pulled out a credit card and thrust it in her hand. “Just take this.”
    She dropped the key onto the floor in front of me and took off down the hall. I sighed with relief.
    “Thank you!” the girl behind me said.
    I snatched the key from the floor and held it to the doorknob. “Hol, please talk to me.”
    The only answer I got was the chorus of a Pink song. I put the key in the door and opened it slowly, expecting to see Holly standing on the other side, waiting for me. So she could steal the key and shove me out again.
    A red shoe flew across the room and slammed into the wall above the window. I stepped inside and shut the door before glancing around the room. Holly’s feet stuck out from the closet along with the ends of her blue bathrobe.
    I wasn’t sure if she’d heard me come in, but then again, maybe the shoe was meant for me. Wouldn’t be the first time a girl had thrown a shoe at me, but for Holly, it was a bit out of character.
    I had to dodge a brown sandal as I crossed the room to turn off the stereo. As soon as the music stopped, she quit digging through her junk, crawled out of the closet, and stood right in front of me.
    “I have good news,” I said, attempting to smile, but it didn’t quite go with the mood. “Lydia’s actually willing to turn off her angry-girl mouth for the right price. She won’t be back until tomorrow.”
    “Seriously? You paid my roommate to leave?”
    There wasn’t even the slightest hint of amusement on her face. A knot formed in my stomach.
    “Tell me what’s wrong. What did I do?” Just by saying this I had admitted that I knew it was more than just canceling a movie. Very stupid on my part. I reached out my hand, but her arms stayed folded over her chest.
    “You’re always hiding stuff from me, running around with Adam like a couple of little kids.”
    “Are you jealous? I know he was your friend first, but maybe we can work out a schedule.” Bad. Very bad. The absolute wrong thing to say. I cringed, waiting for her to shout or grab another shoe to launch in my direction.
    She turned her back on me and walked over to her desk, sifting through a pile of papers. “Fine. You’re right. It’s no big deal.”
    It would have been impossible to insert even one more drop of sarcasm into her voice. And it hit me like a gust of icy air. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to come up with something decent to say. Or to decide if I should run. Instead, I went for a change in subject. “Did you … lose something? You were digging through the closet?”
    “Yes. One of my memory cards.” She slammed a book against the desk, her back still to me. “I really need to study, okay?”
    I snatched a couple of shoes from the floor and tossed them back into the closet. “Well … maybe I could help—”
    “No,” she said quickly before hitting the power button on her computer monitor. She let out a breath and her shoulders relaxed. “Seriously, Jackson, just go so I can get something done. Please.”
    The sarcasm had dropped from her voice, leaving only an exhausted and slightly exasperated tone. She was giving me an easy way out of this argument. But curiosity took over and I opened my