First Love: A Superbundle Boxed Set of Seven New Adult Romances by Julia Kent

thing Joe had about sucking up to his parents—I didn’t get it. Then again, I didn’t have to get it.
    “So...man, I’m leaving,” he said, his words clipped, his eyes barely making contact with mine.
    “I know. You told me at the gig last night.”
    “It’s sinking in, though.” He took a deep breath, as if it were foreign to him, and looked at me. “I need to leave soon.”
    “Darla OK with this?” I knew Trevor was.
    “Yeah, but Darla isn’t exactly thrilled. She didn’t even know what Penn was. She thought it was Penn State.”
    We both laughed, an evil sound of condescension. Ivy League vs. flagship state university? No contest.  
    “I can take the train—it goes straight into South Station. I can be here in seven hours. Not every weekend,” he demurred, “but, you know....”
    We resumed walking. Tourists were gathered around the little bronze statues of the Make Way for Ducklings ducks and I laughed, seeing little toddlers climbing on the momma’s back, parents geeking out and taking pictures. It was cute. There were lots of cute things when you looked around the Common on a Sunday morning: a million people with strollers, lots of tourists, a few strung out bums, but mostly happy faces.
    It was so different from the Monday through Friday grind where you walked past people who were so deep in thought, bent over their smartphones. If the zombie apocalypse ever started on a work day I’m not sure how many people would notice before it was too late.
    “When do you leave?” I asked Joe.
    “About a week and a half.”
    “You got a place? Already?”
    “The power of Craigslist,” he said, stretching his hands out wide like a guru talking before an audience.
    “You’re fucking kidding me.”
    “Do you know how cheap a room is in Philly compared to here?”
    “Not that you need to worry about that.” Joe’s parents gave him a spending allowance per month that rivaled some of the lower incomes in Dorchester and Mattapan—annual incomes, that is.
    “No, but it’s more money for fun.”
    “And train tickets,” I said pointedly.
    He mulled that over. “Yeah. Darla’s going to kill me. So,” he said after a pause, “you want to take over my half of the apartment and share it with Trevor?”
    The thought slammed into me—I knew what they paid. I knew what half of that apartment was going to cost. There was no fucking way I could afford it. On the other hand, what a luxury that would be. My own room? My own space? An actual bed? A decent roommate? And without Joe around, maybe some of the sexcapades would slow down. I thought about Trevor and Darla for a second.  
    No, they wouldn’t slow down but at least it wouldn’t be quite as crowded.
    “Let me think about it,” I said.
    We paused again. He put his hands on his hips. “It would make it so much easier for me to leave if you would just take over. Seriously.”
    “I know,” I said. I was starting to feel a sense of anger and irritation rise up in me. Maybe I hadn’t gotten as much sleep as I thought. Or, maybe, I was just aggravated that I couldn’t figure out how to be stable, without a job and without money. Miracle of miracles, it just wasn’t happening.
    “Dude, if this is about the money I can...you know, I can pay the first month, maybe even two months’ rent for you.”
    “I’m not a charity case, Joe.”
    “I know—and I’m not saying you’re a charity case. It’s just....” Those brown eyes stared into mine. I’d imagine that mine were as hard looking back as his were conflicted. “It’s just...my parents won’t give a shit.”
    I thought about that for a minute. If I had six weeks or so, could I scrape together the next month’s rent? I didn’t know. I had a call out to Liam’s job tip—maybe that would pan out. Joe was staring at me expectantly.
    He ran a hand through his hair. “Make it easy on me, Sam. Just take the place.”
    “How much time do you need? Before you need to know, I mean?” I