It turned out Nick actually wasn't hot. I figured it out as we left Lucy's office. I had been really excited about maybe experimenting at college, so I had convinced myself he was really attractive when he was actually just tall.

I absent-mindedly rubbed my wrist where he had grabbed me earlier. Yeah. Just tall. And a dick. Unfortunately, that also meant he took really long strides, and I almost had to jog to keep up with him on the walk back to our room.

My room. That I was oh-so-generously agreeing to share, despite accusations of being a spoiled brat.

We were met outside my room by the RA, a nervous, sweaty guy named Patrick. It seemed like he had been told about the screw-up, and was afraid he was gonna catch some of the blame for it somehow.

"Hiya!" he said too loudly, "Uh, I mean, hey. Ms Collins told me you were coming. Big Dom and Little Dom, right?"

"No," said Nick.

"Uh..." Patrick's eyes flickered back and forth.

"Please don't call us that," I said, "I'm Dom. He's Nick. And he's just staying in my room until Ms Collins get his sorted out."

"Wrong," said Nick, "It's the opposite of what he said."

"Oh, uh, okay. Great," Patrick rubbed his neck, "Maybe I should just show you the room?"

The room was actually pretty nice. For a dorm room, anyway. Compared to my room back at home, or at our beach house, or even any of the hotel rooms I had stayed at, it was pretty lacklustre. It was pretty narrow, presumably to make space for the little en suite bathroom on one side. On the other side of the room was a loft bed, raised up on a metal frame, right against the wall. Underneath the bed was a desk, and perpendicular against the far wall was a shabby looking couch.

There wasn't a shoe cubby, but I took my shoes off anyway. Nick didn't bother.

Patrick explained that, although my room only had one bed, the couch had a pretty ingenious transforming function. If you took off the back cushions, it turned into a couch with no back cushions, which meant there was technically enough room to sleep on it.

The actual bed was already made, but Patrick offered us another pillow and set of blankets.

"For whichever one of you wants to sleep on the couch," he explained.

I looked up at Nick. He looked down at me.

"So, uh, whoever's not using the bed, you can, uh, take this," said Patrick.

He held out the bedding, I waited for Nick to take it from him, but for some reason, he didn't.

"Are... are you sharing the bed?" Patrick asked.

"Fuck no," said Nick.

"Ew!" I said, "No way. No earthly way."

"It's okay if you do!" Patrick said hurriedly, "Or if you don't! I'm not, uh, judging your lifestyle choices. Uh, not that it's a choice. Lifestyle... genetics. Uh. I'm just gonna leave it on the desk."

He squeezed between us, threw the bedding down on the desk, and hurried to the door. He stopped and took a deep breath, then turned back to us.

"Um, Big Dom, disability services will be in touch, and if you need help with—"

"I don't," Nick said icily.

"Okay! Great! Bye!"

Patrick practically sprinted down the hallway. I put a hand on my hip and turned to Nick.

I hadn't made the best impression of myself at Lucy's office, and it was time to correct that. Nick was abrasive, presumptuous and arrogant, but we were both adults, and we could share a room for a few days without getting into an argument. I was ready to be mature.

"So—" I began.

"It's my bed," said Nick.

"Excuse you?" I sputtered, "In what possible world is it your bed? It's my room!"

"It's my room!" Nick snapped, "I earned it. I didn't just get my dad to buy it for me "

"Well!" I didn't really have a comeback for that, "I'm not sleeping on a couch, for God's sake."

Nick snatched the pillow from the desk and tossed it to me. I squealed and caught it reflexively.

"Looks like you are," he said.

"Am not!" I threw the pillow back at him, but he easily batted it to the floor. I huffed and sat down heavily on the couch. Unfortunately, I underestimated how plush the cushions were, and my butt thwacked right into the metal frame.  I yelped.

"Fucking hell, what?" said Nick, "You hurt yourself sitting on a couch?"

"I hit my... I hit the frame!" I whined, "The cushions are really thin!"

"Oh my god, you're such a pussy," Nick groaned.

"Sorry I actually have standards!" I said, "If you're such a big, tough guy, why don't you sleep on the couch then? Show me how it's done!"

"Fine!" he said, "I'll sleep on the fucking couch, if it'll get you to shut up."

"Good!" I said.

"Good!" he said.

I got off the couch, glaring at him. I couldn't really think of anything else to say other than an icy "Thanks."

"Whatever," he sighed, "Look, man, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. It's just a shitty situation, you know."

I shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry, too."

"At least it's just for a couple of days," said Nick, "Until Lucy gets you out of my room."

"Gets you out of my room," I said.

Nick rolled his eyes and picked up the pile of blankets from the desk. He folded them over his right arm, then reached up and took the pillow from the bed.

"Wait," I said, "What are you doing?"

He looked at me like I was an idiot, "I'm making my bed."

"Don't take that pillow," I whined, "I don't wanna use the other one. It's been on the floor."

Nick sneered, "You're seriously complaining about a pillow touching the floor?"

"It's a dirty floor!" I said, "You've been, like, walking all over it with shoes on!"

Nick stared at me with utter disgust. He very deliberately held out the clean pillow, and dropped it on the floor.

"Don't you dare," I said.

Without breaking eye contact, he took a step forward, landing his dirty shoe directly onto the pillow. He kept walking and picked up the other pillow, then turned around.

"Don't!" I said.

He stepped right on my pillow again.

"Ugh!" I yelled, "You are so freaking immature!"

"I'm immature?" said Nick, "I'm the one who's sleeping on the couch! In my own room!"

"It's my room!" I said.

"It's my fucking room!" said Nick.

I wanted to smack him, but instead I grabbed the twice stepped on pillow off the floor and tore the pillowcase off. I tossed the pillow up onto my bed, which would sure as hell continue to be MY bed, and looked around.

"Where's the laundry chute?" I snapped.

"The what?" asked Nick.

"The laundry chute!" I said, "So the maid can—"

I stopped myself, but it was too late. Nick's eyes went so wide that I thought they were going to burst open.

"So the fucking WHAT?" he laughed, "So the MAID can clean it up for you?"

I balled up the dirty pillowcase and hurled it at his head.

"Shut up!" I yelled, "Screw this! I'm buying a new pillowcase!"

I grabbed my shoes and stormed out of the room, Nick's obnoxious laughter rang out behind me.

Yes, I decided. Definitely not hot.