All Chapters of The Rogue Next Door: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Maya Hospitals have a way of making time feel fake. Five minutes feels like an hour. An hour disappears before you realize it. Every door that opens makes your stomach drop because you think maybe this is finally the person coming to tell you whether your entire life is about to change. I’ve been sitting in the emergency room waiting area long enough that I’ve memorized the stain on the tile across from me. Bree disappeared ten minutes ago to find coffee. Logan is sitting two chairs away, elbows on his knees, staring at his phone without actually looking at it. He offered to stay beside me, but I told him I needed space. Not because I wanted to be alone. Because I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel. My dad is alive. That should be enough. That should be the only thing that matters. But sitting here under fluorescent lights that make everyone look sick, all I can think about is the fact that three days ago I was standing in his apartment watching strangers car

MayaBy Monday morning, I had decided there was something deeply offensive about professors expecting you to attend class when your personal life had spent the last several weeks behaving like a badly written soap opera.Apparently, the university did not care.Professor Daniels definitely did not care.And the philosophy paper sitting facedown on my desk with a giant red B- written across the top cared least of all.I stared at it for a solid ten seconds, hoping the grade might change if I looked offended enough.It did not.“Shit,” I whispered.The girl beside me glanced over.I immediately flipped the paper facedown.Nothing to see here.Just Maya Bennet, scholarship student extraordinaire, slowly destroying her GPA because apparently having a boyfriend, a job, an alcoholic father, and approximately fourteen emotional crises at once was not conducive to academic excellence.Fantastic.I sank lower in my chair while Professor Daniels moved to the front of the lecture hall and starte

MayaI have officially become too comfortable at the football house.I realize this on Thursday night when I walk through the front door without knocking, kick off my shoes near the couch, and yell, “If anyone ate the leftover Chinese food in the fridge, I’m calling the police.”From somewhere upstairs, Jake shouts back, “IT WAS MARKUS.”“Liar!” Markus yells.I stand there with my backpack hanging off one shoulder and stare toward the staircase.This is what my life has become.A few months ago, walking into this house felt like entering enemy territory. There were always football players everywhere, girls coming and going, music too loud, somebody yelling about something stupid. I remember thinking every person who lived here shared one collective brain cell.Actually, that part might still be true.The only difference now is that apparently I love them.Not all of them.That would be excessive.But enough.I head toward the kitchen and open the refrigerator.Empty container.Of cour

MayaThere is something deeply unsettling about seeing your boyfriend’s face on a thirty-foot screen.I’m still trying to process it when Cole’s picture flashes across the stadium scoreboard for the second time, followed by his name, number, and enough screaming from the student section to permanently damage my hearing.Bree grabs my arm.“THAT’S YOUR BOYFRIEND!”“I know who he is!”“I’m making sure!”“I was literally in his bed two nights ago!”The girl sitting in front of us whips around.Oh my God.I close my eyes.Bree starts laughing so hard she nearly spills her drink.“Could you possibly say that louder?”“I hate you.”“No, you don’t.”Unfortunately, she’s right.The stadium is packed. Blue and silver everywhere, music pounding through the speakers while the cheerleaders work the sideline and the student section bounces like one giant caffeinated organism.I’ve been to games before.This feels different.Because now number twelve isn’t just Cole Ryder, campus quarterback.He’s

MayaThere are certain things a woman should never have to experience.Childbirth, probably.Being audited.And walking into the dining room at Po Folks to discover your boyfriend and half the university football team sitting in your section.I stop so fast Andrea nearly runs into me.“What the hell?”“Sorry.”She follows my stare.Then she starts laughing.“No.”“Yes.”“No.”“Oh, definitely yes.”Six football players are crammed around my largest table, and sitting directly in the middle of them is Cole Ryder.The asshole smiles the second he sees me.Not normal smiles either.Full quarterback grin.The one that tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing.I march toward the table.“What are you doing here?”Jake looks offended.“Wow. Terrible customer service.”“Not you.”“I’m a paying customer.”“You haven’t paid for anything yet.”Markus opens his menu.“I feel unwelcome.”“You should.”Cole leans back in the booth, looking entirely too comfortable.“We came for dinner.”“You have f