He Picked My Roommate, I Picked a PhD Instead Chapter 02
When I first met Keaton, I didn’t know who he was.
He rolled up to me in this beat-up old van. My brother punched him, thought he was a human trafficker.
Turns out his Bentley got rear-ended by a farm truck. The other guy loaned him that van while his car was being fixed, so he ended up cruising through our town.
He crashed at my place to heal up. Sometimes he’d pick random wildflowers by the road and hand them to me.
One day I was out in the field shucking corn. He came up and laughed. “You look cute doing that. Be my girl and you won’t have to deal with this crap ever again.”
I thought it was a joke. Said yes without thinking. It wasn’t until after he got better and picked me up in a Bentley that I realized he was some rich heir.
Riley put down her chopsticks. “Then what made you end it?”
“He’d always roll up to school in his fancy cars. Kids would gather around and whisper that I was just a gold digger. He heard every word and never said anything. He’d even joke to his friends, ‘Sloane literally threw herself at me.'”
I bit my lip and looked down. My nose stung again. “Last time, I worked two months to save up for a dress. Spent two hours doing my makeup. He didn’t even look at me. Just dragged me to some hotel. My dress caught on his watch, and he got annoyed and just ripped it.”
“And every time, he’d buy me some cheap plushie or necklace after, like that was supposed to make things right.”
I stared at the cold soup in my bowl.
“The longer we were together, the less respect I got. Then this time he yelled my name right in front of the whole school. Everyone was whispering that I was his sugar baby. He didn’t say a word to deny it. And that’s when it finally hit me. Eight years. I’m done babysitting him.”
Riley sighed and didn’t ask more.
After dinner she took me to karaoke. I screamed into the mic until my throat was raw. Didn’t cry anymore though.
I had a couple beers in the private room. Got a little dizzy.
Riley saw I wasn’t doing great, so she didn’t stay long. Dropped me back at the dorm a little after ten.
The hallway lights were off. I felt my way to the door, pushed it open. Saw Sierra’s bed empty, and my heart sank again.
But I was too tired to think about anything else. Took off my jacket and passed out.
…
Didn’t wake up until noon the next day. My phone was ringing.
I answered without looking at the caller ID. Some guy on the other end—one of Keaton’s buddies, sounded panicked.
“Sloane, you need to get over to Keaton’s place! He got wasted last night, says he can’t live without you. It’s bad.”
My brain went blank. Heart pounding.
I hung up, didn’t even brush my hair or change clothes, hopped on my electric scooter and sped toward Keaton’s house.
I was so rattled I took a wrong turn. A truck almost hit me. The driver yelled something I didn’t hear. I just gripped the handlebars and kept going.
By the time I got to his building, I was out of breath, running on pure panic.
Then I pushed the door open and froze.
A whole room full of people laughing around the couch. Keaton lounging in the middle. Sierra sitting on his lap, feeding him grapes. He opened his mouth and took them like it was nothing.
He used to tell me he didn’t like grapes. Made me peel mangoes for him. I’d slice them up and bring them over, and he wouldn’t eat them. Just ruffle my hair and say, “Good girl.”
Keaton saw me and raised an eyebrow. Turned to his guys and grinned. “Told you she’d come. I win the bet.”
