Lodged (Kinsmen Billionaires #2)

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ruin MacAllister

“ D umb, Ruin, you’re so dumb.” I berate myself as I step into my apartment. I live in one of the campus housing villages with three other roommates.

“Hey, Ruin, what’s up?” Evelyn, one of my roommates, greets me from the couch in the living room as I walk in.

“Ooph, I didn’t see you. Hi, Eve,” I say as I grab my chest with my hand, startled by her unexpected presence.

“So, why are you dumb?” she asks, a huge grin on her face. Evelyn is my closest friend here at school—she’s majoring in business administration, while I’m majoring in Forest Management.

“Nothing, I just left my favorite pen at the dining hall. By the time I went back, it was gone.” I pout for good measure, and Eve cracks up.

“Oh, your lucky pen? It’s okay, I’ll get you a new one, and since it’ll be a gift, it would still be the lucky one,” she states as if she has solved a huge mystery and is content with the result. She then turns her back to me and unpauses the movie she was watching when I came in.

God, I’m going to hell. Now I will have to toss my pen so she doesn’t realize I was lying. There’s no way I’m telling her that my new lab instructor makes my insides melt. Gio Bianchi is an angel on earth. He’s tall, with just enough muscle to show he takes care of his body, but not in that gym-rat way. His blond hair flows effortless, in soft waves on top, shorter on the sides. Blue eyes as clear as the Caribbean and a sharp jaw I’d love to lick and nip at in equal measure.

My stomach decides to make an unholy sound, yanking me back from my daydream. I try to cover it with a cough. Great—besides being dumb, I’m also the worst liar. Sigh . I quickly go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water from the fridge before disappearing into my room. I don’t want Eve to continue questioning me, so I run and hide in my private solace.

The apartment is nice and comfortable; the common area is the kitchen and the living room. It might feel crowded at times, but I love living here. The kitchen is the first thing you see as you enter, with a breakfast bar dividing it from the living area. We have a huge TV—a present from Michaela’s dad. Her family owns a tobacco farm in the eastern part of the state; needless to say, they are loaded. Each of us has our own room, and there are two bathrooms—Evelyn and I share one, while Michaela shares with Charlotte, our other roommate. Even though I’m twenty-four, I get along with the girls pretty well. They’ve never questioned why I started school later than everyone else.

Once I’m in my room, I toss my backpack on the floor and flop onto my bed. Like the creeper I am, I pull out my phone and look up Gio Bianchi on the university website. According to the info here, he’s in the last year of his PhD. He came from Argentina and has won numerous teaching awards while excelling in his research. Wow, he’s the whole package: smart, dedicated, and hot. After swooning a little bit more over his official picture on the school website, I get a text notification from my twin sister, Rain.

Rain : What’s up, loser? You still coming home this weekend?

I chuckle at her endearment. It never fails to make me smile.

Ruin : Hi, love. I don’t think so *frown emoji* I already got a ton of homework for next week.

Rain : What? This is your first week of school. I knew you should have stayed at the community college here. *smh emoji*

Ahh, there it is. My family loves me—I know that—but they never waste a chance to tell me what they think about my decision to come to Raleigh to finish my college degree.

Instead of getting into a never-ending argument, I switch topics.

Ruin : How’s Mama doing?

Rain : She’s good. She’ll be bummed you’re not coming, though.

Ruin : Fall break will be here before you know it, and I’ll spend a whole five days at home.

Rain : Yeah, yeah. Two more months… I miss you, sis.

Ruin : It’s only been three days since I came to Raleigh *laugh emoji*

Ruin : But I miss you, too. You sure you can’t take a weekend off and come visit?

Rain : And who would help Mama with the diner? You know I can’t do that to her.

I hate that our lives changed so much after Daddy passed. Rain quit college so she could help Mama run our family diner.

Ruin : I know, I know. I love you, sis.

Rain : Love you too.