Rooming With the Grumpy Biker Alpha

Chapter 007

LAYLA’S POV

I wipe my runny nose. “I’ve been… I’ve been busy.”

“Busy?” he scoffs from the other end. “Anyway, I’m calling to figure out when you’re heading back to campus. I’ve got some shopping to do so I can grab a few things for your move-in. Don’t bother thanking me.”

At the mating ceremony, I honestly thought agreeing to him as my roommate was the absolute worst thing ever. But now? I’d take that over missing an entire year any day.

I swallow, forcing my lips open because I know he’s going to be pissed. “I… I don’t,” I exhale, voice tight. “I don’t think our arrangement is going to be possible.”

Silence stretches on the line, broken only by his slow, measured breathing.

“Glasses… we had a deal.” His voice is colder now. “You really think you can back out… now?”

“I wish!” My eyes water again, and I take a deep, shaky breath to steady myself. “I’m not backing off on purpose… It’s just…my dad hasn’t paid my tuition. And I don’t think he’s planning to. He wants to keep me home for a year… as punishment for… for our deal.”

This time, he doesn’t answer right away.

“He’s withholding your tuition because of our arrangement?” He asks.

“Yes. He’s not changing his mind either so I’m going to be home while everyone else graduates. Yeah, that’s my fate.”

He sighs. “Did he… find out it was fake?”

“No. It’s… it’s a long story, but I have absolutely no idea…” My voice breaks, and I start sobbing again. “I don’t know what to do… and he’s threatening to disown me, and he didn’t even believe me… and Ginny lied—everything’s—”

“Calm down, Glasses,” he cuts in. “Can you take a deep breath for me?”

My body shakes, chest heaving, like I can’t control it.

“Glasses… take a deep breath,” he says again, slower this time. “Can you do it?”

“Yes,” I squeak, then force myself to follow his instructions. After a minute, my breathing slows, and my chest eases just a little.

“You still there?” He asks.

“Mm,” I whisper.

“Okay, here’s what’s gonna happen,” he begins. “Unfortunately, it’s hard to meddle in family stuff unless it’s straight-up abuse…you know that, right?” I whisper a quick yes. “Good. I need you, like I really need that brain of yours so here’s the deal, I’ll cover your tuition and everything else.”

I jerk back, holding the phone away from my face and my eyes widen.

“Wh…what?” I splutter.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me.” He responds.

My first thought is that I misheard him. My second is that nobody does something like this just for a couple of tutoring sessions. My third, the one I push down immediately is that it shouldn’t matter, because I have no other options and we both know it.

“Do… do you mean that?” My voice is barely a whisper. “Will you really—?”

“Text me your ID and portal login,” he interrupts. My hand starts trembling as I grip the phone, my heart hammering like it’s trying to escape my chest.

“That’s not…that’s not a small thing.” I admit.

“I know what it is,” he says simply. “Text me the details.”

I part my lips, but no words come out. I just sit there on the bed, shivers running down my spine. I should be jumping for joy… but there’s so much swirling in me that I feel frozen instead.

“Why are you doing this?” The question slips out before I can stop it.

“Because I need you on campus.” He snaps. “Don’t make it weird.”

“How… how am I ever going to pay you back?” I run a hand through my hair, my nerves all over the place. “I… I don’t even…”

“Just get here in two days,” he says, sounding nonchalant. “I’ll send a driver if you want. And listen, now that we’re really in this arrangement, glasses, don’t even think about doing anything funny. Got me?”

I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Yes. I promise I’ll tutor you, get you to pass all your courses, and top the Alpha board. Thank you… for doing this.”

“Thank me with your brain,” he mutters. “I’m hanging up now. And don’t go back to crying. It’s annoying.” I bob my head again, lowering the phone, thinking the call is over…but his voice cuts through one last time. “You know… I never quite got your name.”

“Layla,” I say softly. “My name is Layla Foster.”

“Okay, Glasses. Got that,” he replies and then ends the call.

I stare at the phone for a long moment, caught somewhere between nervousness and relief, unsure what I’m feeling exactly. Finally, I hug it to my chest, and the tears I’ve been holding back spill over.

*************

Two days later, I’m up before anyone else in the house.

It’s barely past four am and the whole place is dead quiet. I move around my room in the dark, not risking the light because I know this room well enough.

I didn’t pack much but only a bag and a half containing a few things I can’t leave behind. Mum’s photo goes in last and I wrap it carefully before tucking it in, trying not to think too hard about what I’m doing.

The hallway is silent when I slip out. I pass Dad’s study and my steps slow for just a second. The door is shut, the same door I knelt outside every day for five days begging.

I keep walking. Getting the front door open without a sound takes forever but I manage it. The cold hits me the second I step outside and I pull the door shut behind me, gentle as I can.

There’s a black car already waiting at the end of the driveway, just like Edward said there would be. The driver gets out when he spots me, wearing a thick coat.

“Miss Foster?”

“Yes,” I say. “That’s me. Good morning.”

“Morning.” He takes my bag and holds the door open. I climb in, sinking into the seat. The car is warm and smells expensive and nothing at all like the house I just left.

The driver gets in and pulls away without another word and I let out a long breath, watching the streetlights slide past the window.

How did I go from dreaming about my graduation and a future with Colt… to sneaking out in the dark to live with a stranger?