Page 76 of Exactly What I Needed
Slowly, I slipped from the sheets, my feet hitting the navy rug beneath the bed, and paused.Crap… Of course I would have to wear the same clothes today as I did yesterday, and my students were going to one hundred percent comment on it. But what choice did I have?
Pushing myself up from the mattress, I wandered to the foot of the bed and gathered the pile of wrinkled clothes Asher had tossed carelessly aside last night. With a soft plunk, my cell phone slipped from the bundle and landed against the floor. The moment I rammed my finger against the power button, the lack of an alarm made complete sense. As quietly as I could, I found an empty charger on Asher’s nightstand and plugged my dead phone in to hopefully give the battery some juice before school. I tiptoed across the wooden floor and opened the bedroom door, leaving Asher sound asleep.
Padding further down the hallway, I paused at the bathroom door just as it swung open. Nova stepped outside, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She wore nothing but her underwear, and I blinked, trying to look anywhere else.
She gave me a lazy smile and ran her eyes up and down my figure. “You’re up early,” she purred, her voice a little raspy.
“So are you.” I clutched my pile of clothes closer against my body.
“I had to pee, but you look like you’re about to do the walk of shame.” She lifted a brow, her eyeliner smeared down her cheek.
“Oh, I have work actually.”
“This early?”
“I teach high school English,” I replied, and she rubbed her eyes, smearing more of her makeup.
“So, that’s Asher’s type. Well, his stuff is in the black container on the right side of the counter.” She smiled lazily and winked. “You can borrowsome of my makeup if you need, clean towels are in the linen closet, and when you’re done getting ready, come find me. You’re not going to school wearing the same outfit as yesterday. Those teenagers can be brutal.”
I raised my brows, shocked. “Oh, uh. Thank you. I mean it!”
She chuckled. “Us girls gotta stick together, you know. It’s not like anyone else can really understand our situation.”
I nodded. “That’s an understatement.”
“Close call for you last night, too.” She leaned against the doorframe.
“You heard about that?” I asked, and she gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Of course. Kieron’s ex-girlfriend tried to make those accidental reveals happen for clout all the time. Security found one of those tracking tag things on Asher’s bike that she must have put on before Kieron dumped her ass.”
“Is that why they really broke up?” I gasped, and she nodded. “If I never run into that situation again, I’d die happy.”
She chuckled. “You and I both. I like going to their concerts and feeling like any regular fan.” Pushing out of the doorway, she smiled once more. “I’ll let you get to it.”
“Thank you, Nova!” I spun around as she walked quietly down the hallway.
“Of course!” She waved without facing me, and I quickly disappeared into the bathroom. It was a simple design—the tub and shower combined into one, black and white mosaic tile beneath my feet with matching white tile along the walls as well.
I rushed through my shower and had to accept the fact that I was using a man’s shampoo and conditioner and my hair would end up still beingdamp by the time I made it to school. Once finished, I wrapped a fluffy towel around my body and walked toward the steamy mirror above the vanity.
The counter had six boxes, three on the right stacked on top of each other and three on the left. Nova had said his was black and on the right, so I pulled the middle one out and popped it open. Furrowing my brows, I pulled out a small sticky note with horrendously scribbled handwriting on it.
I don’t know the kind of shit that girls need, so I had Ava tell me what she buys. Sorry if it’s not what you normally use.
Ibit down on my bottom lip, unable to stop the smile from erupting on my face. How sweet was that? Even if it wasn’t the stuff that I used, he’d gone out of his way to try and make sure I had some of my toiletries here. After school, I would swing by the house and grab a few things before coming back. If I was going to end up sleeping here more often than not, why not at least bring some makeup.
And my own soap because I smelled like Asher at the moment. Though that wasn’t entirely terrible…
Digging through the container, I borrowed his hairbrush and swiped on some mascara. It was a brand I normally never used, but I didn’t care. He’d even gone so far as to buy some eyeliner, lip gloss, and even some eyeshadow.
It was minimal, but I wasn’t one to wear much anyway. As I was walking out of the hallway carrying my old clothes and Asher’s shirt, Ipaused halfway down the hallway, not knowing which room Nova was in. She would presumably be in Drake’s room, but I also didn’t know which one that was.
I stared at the four closed doors in contemplation. Okay, so it wasn’t the middle one on the right. That was Asher’s room. But that still left three others, and I wasn’t about to go knocking this early in the morning.
A doorknob quietly clicked, and I glanced to my right. Asher’s door creaked open, and I saw his face peek out into the hallway. “What are you doing?” he whispered.
“What are you doing? Go back to sleep,” I replied with a glare, and he rolled his eyes.
