Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Luke snorted. “I think that might be asking a little much of them. I’m content with having a new place to live. They don’t need to bring me anything else.”
Harper huffed out a laugh. She bent over, leaning toward the ground where the birds were watching them. “You know, I could use a girlfriend. Tall, muscular so she can open things for me, nice smile, good laugh. Think you can manage it?”
With a roll of his eyes, Luke grabbed Harper’s shoulder and pulled her back against the bench. “Keep in mind, they’re just crows. That might be a big order for them.”
“Yeah, whatever. A girl can dream.” A long sigh escaped Harper, and she slumped on the bench. “Speaking of your crows and changing luck, how’s the new living arrangement working out? It’s gotta be better than flopping wherever you could manage.”
“Way better than couch surfing or catching some Z’s in the library.” Luke closed up the bag of trail mix and tucked it away inside his bag. He pulled out the fruit smoothie he’d been sipping on. With the cheaper rent and steady hours he’d been getting, he’d stashed away enough money to treat himself here and there. “Both of my jobs have been crazy, so I haven’t been home for more than sleeping and tossing in a load of laundry, but it’s nice having a home where I don’t feel unwelcome or a burden.”
“That’s awesome!”
“Except…”
“What?”
Luke opened his mouth but shut it again without speaking and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“No, what? What happened?”
“Only some small, weird stuff.”
“Like what? Has one of your roommates been rummaging through your underwear when you’re gone?”
“No! Nothing creepy like that. I just…one night I returned from work and spiders were all over the house. And—”
“Are you shitting me? And you stayed? You didn’t burn the building to the ground? Everyone knows that’s how you deal with a spider in your house. Burn it down.”
Luke arched one eyebrow at his friend. “You don’t simply kill the spider? Or better yet, catch it and put it outside?”
“Fuck, no! What’s the point?” She leaned close and dropped her voice as if she were about to share some ancient, forbidden secret with him. “Spiders always have friends. You might get one, but all his friends are hiding in the shadows, waiting to get you after you fall asleep at night.”
“You’re insane. You know that, right?” Harper tsked at him and gave him a dismissive wave of her hand. Luke returned to his story. “I dealt with the spiders without burning the house down, but not long after, I came home from work and the house was full of cats.”
“Aren’t you deathly allergic to cats?”
“I am! Thankfully, one of my roommates was there to help me get them out of the house. Apparently, a neighbor has a shit-ton of cats, and they get into the house sometimes.”
“That’s fucking weird.”
“Yeah, definitely.” Luke slouched on the bench beside Harper. “It’s like the house doesn’t want me to be there.”
“But your roommates have been nice to you? They haven’t said anything to make you feel unwelcome, have they?”
Luke was quick to shake his head. “No! They’ve all been nice. Well, the ones I’ve seen, anyway. With all my classes and work hours, I haven’t been around much, and I haven’t talked to them all that often.”
“Then don’t worry about it. Just some weird shit. Coincidence. That’s all.”
Luke grunted. What Harper was saying made total sense. It was a coincidence that those two strange things had happened so close together. The house wasn’t haunted and trying to get rid of him. His roommates didn’t secretly hate him and want him out of the house. He was being silly and paranoid.
“Hey look! It’s creepy poor Bird Boy!” Several heavy and loud guffaws followed the shout.
Luke’s head snapped up to see a trio of frat boys wandering across the green space, pointing and laughing at him. This was not the first time he’d encountered these idiots. Sadly, every time they ran across each other, crows surrounded him. It had also spread through the campus grapevine after he’d been caught sleeping in one of the school’s stairwells that he was a penniless student studying to be an ornithologist. His reputation on campus was sinking by the day.
He didn’t need this shit. Grabbing his backpack with one hand, he tried to grip the top of his drink with the other. Except it slipped from his fingers as he stood. The lid remained in his hand while the drink came loose, spilling the contents all down his hoodie and jeans. His head jerked up to see who was there to witness the mess, only to lock eyes with the sweet and sexy Matteo as he exited the library close by.
“It looks like a giant bird shit on Bird Boy!” one of the frat goons shouted between his cackles.