"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 like me.

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.