I Hate You, Move In: An Enemies to Lovers Accidental Roommate Romance Read online

  I Hate You, Move In

  An Enemies to Lovers Accidental Roommate Romance

  Copyright © 2019

  Jamie Knight –

  Your Dirty Little Secret Romance Author

  All rights reserved.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Tina

  Chapter Two

  Tina

  Chapter Three

  Seth

  Chapter Four

  Seth

  Chapter Five

  Tina

  Chapter Six

  Tina

  Chapter Seven

  Seth

  Chapter Eight

  Tina

  Chapter Nine

  Tina

  Chapter Ten

  Seth

  Chapter Eleven

  Tina

  Chapter Twelve

  Seth

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tina

  Chapter Fourteen

  Seth

  Chapter Fifteen

  Seth

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tina

  Chapter Seventeen

  Seth

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tina

  Chapter Nineteen

  Seth

  Chapter Twenty

  Tina

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Seth

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tina

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tina

  Epilogue

  Seth

  Sneak Peek of I Hate You, Remember Me

  Sneak Peak of My Father’s Best Friend’s Secret Baby

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  Chapter One

  Tina

  “You should be living at home,” argued my dad, even as he carried a mini-fridge into my brand-new dorm room. “Why can’t you commute?”

  “Daddy, we’ve been over this,” I pleaded. “I want to meet people. Plus, Kensington State College recommends that I live on campus for the first year. They said it helps freshmen transition to university life way better than if they tried it living off-campus. Or not at all,” I added with a note of sarcasm.

  My parents were moving me into my dorm for my freshman year in college. I didn’t ask for their help and honestly, I didn’t want them there. My parents were very old fashioned and that often equaled embarrassment. It was always a huge battle with them to let me do anything on my own.

  I couldn’t understand it. I was eighteen, not eight. Didn’t they want me to grow up and be independent? Didn’t they want me to learn how to be an adult?

  Quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to be free from their iron grip for a while. I mean, to actually have a room to myself where they wouldn’t be constantly looking over my shoulder and judging me, it just sounded like heaven.

  Not that I hate my parents or anything crazy, but you know how they can get. They crawl all up in your business until you can’t breathe, and can’t think. I wanted to live on campus just so I could meet people on my own, in my own space and without my mother running my life or seeing my father’s judgmental looks right before he locks me up Rapunzel-style.

  “So, you’ll move back home sophomore year?” Daddy asked hopefully. He set the minifridge down next to the old wooden desk that came with the room. Someone had scratched party on into the dented surface.

  “Daddy, I love you, but I need to start learning to live on my own,” I explained for the twentieth time, as I walked over and opened the dorm’s only window. “How am I going to learn if I don’t?”

  “I could teach you,” he offered, totally serious.

  “You did teach me. For eighteen years,” I corrected, putting a hand on his shoulder. “And now I’m going to put what you taught me into practice. That’s how it’s supposed to work. You’ll see. It’ll be great.”

  Mom came in with an armful of my clothes. She found the dresser and started arranging my belongings, just like she did at home.

  “I don’t see why you even need to go to college,” she muttered, her long, conservative dress rustling softly.

  “Oh my gosh, Mom,” I said embarrassed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

  “You just need to find a good and Godly husband,” she insisted. “And you could learn to cook.”

  “I know how to cook,” I corrected her, walking over to watch her organize my clothes. “You taught me.”

  “It’s just that, you’re just not that good, dear,” she said, patting my cheek.

  I sat down heavily on the twin bed. “Mom, please,” I begged. “Can we not do this? I’m already here. Do you really want to drag me away from the only chance I’ve ever had to see what life holds outside our apartment? Away from the only thing I’ve ever worked towards and pinned my hopes on? Would you seriously trade all my hopes for my return back home today?”

  “Yes,” she said determinedly, not looking up from the drawer she was organizing. “Yes, I would. I’m prepared to make that sacrifice.”

  “I’m going to move more boxes,” I said, getting up and giving up on the conversation.

  I marched outside to the parking lot to get some fresh air before I snapped and screamed at her. My parents always set me on edge, especially my very religious mother, but today they were reaching new heights. I calmed myself by thinking, They’re going home in a few hours. Just get through this and they’ll be going home in a few hours.

  After saying that about 20 times, I reached my parent’s sedan. I picked up a lamp and a box of stuff for my desk. I tried to think about my class schedule and finding time to go to the book store.

  I was already going to have to adjust my schedule. Half the things the college automatically signed me up for made no sense. History? Theatre? I was a business major, why would I need those classes? Apparently, this was the norm. We were to learn first what the world was made of, before we ran a business in it. I guess that’s ultimately what I was here for.

  We were told that it was usually chaos when the freshman arrived. The parking lot was full of other families and students and their mismatched dorm furnishings. I had never seen so many tie-dye tapestries, except in movies. I took a little comfort in overhearing some other students’ eye-roll worthy conversations with their folks. That was, until I realized how all of the parents were actually happy that their kids were going to be in college. If anything, what was annoying to these students was that their parents smothered them with too much love and support.

  Wow. That was never really a problem I’d had. I sighed at this realization and moved even quicker to shorten my time with them here.

  When I got back to the small dorm room, Dad had my bed frame in pieces and the mattress lifted to the side.

  “Dad! What are you doing?” I panicked. I set the lamp and the box on the floor and hurried over to him.

  “Relax,” he said. “I think there’s a screw loose somewhere. I’m just fixing it. I don’t have my tools, so I’m using this dime as a screwdriver.”

  “Dad, please put my bed back together,” I said, trying to sound calm. I didn’t want to start a fight, but he was so embarrassing. “We have to pay for things like that if we break them.”

  “I told you, I’m not breaking it, I’m fixing it,” he assured me. “Give me two minutes.”

  My mom came over and put her small hand on my shoulder. She drew me away from my da
d and over to the dresser. “Tina, I put your underwear and bras underneath your sweaters,” she whispered. “That way, the boys can’t see them when you open the drawer.”

  “Oh, my God,” I muttered to myself, rubbing my temples.

  “What, dear?” she asked.

  “Great, Mom, thanks. I’m going back to the car, again. Be right back,” I said.

  At this point, I really wished I had some Advil. My head was pounding, and my stress levels were through the roof. This is what my parents did to me, they made me crazy. Absolutely crazy. I went to the car, grabbed another bag and my laptop.

  I glanced towards the dozens of other students moving in too. It was utter madness on move-in day. Across the street, one of the frat houses had a bunch of guys sitting on a couch outside with a sign that said, “You honk, we drink” and a second sign that said, “Okay, dads. We’ll take it from here.”

  I hoped my father did not see that sign. He was way over protective, especially about boys. If my dad even saw me talking to a boy this early into the college process, there was no telling what he’d do. I don’t think he had actually put it together that I’m going to be stuck on campus with guys. I mean, you should’ve heard him when he found out the dorms were co-ed. I thought he was going to blow a gasket.

  This was my last trip from the car and I could feel my blood pressure returning to normal as I walked back. Unfortunately, when I passed a dorm room that was a few doors down from mine, I heard a familiar voice. I peeked in and couldn’t believe it.

  There stood Seth Foster, my least favorite person alive.

  Chapter Two

  Tina

  I would recognize his tall form anywhere. He stood among a mess of boxes, looking over the small room. He had his back to me. It was muscular and widened up to his broad shoulders. Seth had a swimmer’s body, all long lean muscle with huge shoulders. Some of my girlfriends thought he was hot. But I couldn’t see it. He was too stupid to be hot.

  When I was six years old, my father lost his management job at the steel plant to downsizing. He had to take a lower paying job on the line at a different factory, one that made auto-parts. We couldn’t afford our nice house anymore and moved into an apartment complex. Seth and his family lived in the apartment above ours. So, technically, he was my neighbor back home. We had known each other and hated each other since we were six years old, since the first month my family moved into the apartment building.

  I couldn’t believe my bad luck. This was insane. What were the odds that he would be living on the same floor as me in the same dorm? That he would even be going to the same college? I sighed with the same resignation as I’d had for the past two hours and started towards my dorm room again. After two steps, I stopped in my tracks. I knew my dad would freak right out if he found out Seth was here. And he would make an absolute scene if he ran into Seth’s father.

  I had to do something.

  My folks never got along with Seth’s parents. Both our dads worked at the auto-parts factory. Mr. Foster’s station was right before my dad’s. My dad always complained that Mr. Foster screwed up his productivity and kept him from being promoted. My dad had always resented not being able to make it into management there. I guess it made him feel like he should stand out from his coworkers.

  Seth’s parents had tried to be nice. They had brought by a casserole when we first moved in, but my parents wouldn’t even ask them inside. There were rumors about Seth’s mom that my dad had heard at work. I didn’t understand at the time, but my mom said that she was a bad Christian and if we let them in the apartment it would ruin my family’s reputation. My parents’ rudeness was noted by Seth’s dad and they had been fighting ever since.

  I rushed back into my own dorm and set down my stuff. I had to do something right away, before my parents saw Seth or Mr. Foster and freaked out and succeeded in making me even more miserable.

  “I’ll be right back, I, uh, have to go to the bathroom,” I told my folks.

  Neither one looked up from what they were doing. All signs indicated that my parents would be occupied for several minutes. So, I ducked back out to the hallway.

  On the way to Seth’s dorm, it all came back to me. I remembered what my mother said that day when the Fosters brought by that casserole. She said that Seth’s mom was a harlot. At the time, I didn’t know what the word meant. I asked, but my parents refused to tell me.

  Two weeks later, Seth and I were alone on the complex playground. I had just come down the slide to where he stood, kicking the gravel rocks into haphazard piles. My mother had said over breakfast that morning that Seth’s mom left her family a few nights earlier. “Left for good to go a-sinning” was her actual phrase.

  After sliding down, I walked up to his newest gravel mound and watched him for a little. I remembered that he seemed sad. I figured I’d be sad too, if my mom left for good. Then I asked Seth if his mom had left his family because she was a harlot. He turned quick and gave me a hard shove, knocking me down. Then he was standing above me on the ground. He pushed my face into the soft dirt left exposed by his gravel gathering before walking back to his apartment. I had hated him ever since.

  Now, I slipped inside Seth’s dorm room and shut the door behind me. He turned around at the noise.

  “Tina?” he asked, his deep brown eyes wide with surprise.

  He was dressed in an old ratty blue t-shirt and jeans. Seth’s family was poor, even poorer than mine. Yet, his black hair had a new cut, short on the sides with the long top slicked back, something a bit more fashionable. I wondered if he’d learned how to do it himself or saved up to get it done.

  I walked over and immediately got in his face. He was taller than me by a good four inches, but he stepped back to try to get away from me and my determination. I put one hand on his muscular chest and my outstretched index finger on his lips in a shushing gesture.

  “Please, not another sound,” I whispered, looking desperately into his deep brown eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  Seth pulled my hand away from his mouth and held it away from his face.

  “Me? I’m going to college,” he whispered back. He rolled his eyes and then glared at me. “What are you doing here and in my room? Why are you putting your hands on me?”

  “You wish,” I said, dropping my hold on him and stepping back a step. “My parents and your dad and step-mom don’t exactly get along. And my parents are stone cold crazy. They don’t even want me going to college and learning the devil’s business.” I paced a little in his tiny room.

  “So? How is that my problem?” he asked, turning brusquely from me and bending down to open the large box he just brought in.

  “Um, hello? I’m moving in down the hall!”

  He stood quickly, another old blue shirt in his hands, and stared at me in shock. I met his glare and nodded, eyes wide to mirror his horror. He dropped the shirt and put both his hands in his slick black hair. He ruffled it slightly.

  “No way,” he breathed.

  I walked straight up to him and poked him in the chest with my index finger. “Yes way. This is happening. And I think we need to figure out a way to keep the peace.”

  I took a couple of steps away from him as I focused on solving the problem. In two steps, I whirled around back to his chest in the same poking gesture I’d just abandoned. “Can you maybe keep your parents out of the dorms for the next two hours? That would give us time to get settled and get my folks out of here, so my parents don’t see your parents?” I asked.

  Seth backed up. He turned away from me and back to the box of clothing. “Why don’t you all get lost and let me get settled? And why should I even care if our parents meet?” said Seth, annoyed. “You’re the one that needs the favor.”

  “My father is down the hall rebuilding my bed from the screws up. I don’t know how long his latest macho dad obsession will last. He could take an hour,” I hissed. “C’mon, do me a solid. We used to be neighbors.”

  “Yeah, those were jus
t such great days back then, like when you called my mother a harlot,” jeered Seth.

  I paled. “I was six years old. C’mon. I didn’t even know what the word meant when I said that,” I insisted. “I’ll buy you a beer or something. Please. This would really, really help me. And probably help both our dads’ blood pressure if they don’t see each other. C’mon, we’re going to be neighbors. Again.” I laughed awkwardly.

  “I can’t keep my parents out of here for two friggin’ hours,” he said, hanging one of his shirts in the small closet the dorms came with. “One hour. Just hurry.”

  “Fine,” I relented and turned towards the door.

  “And, you have to buy me four beers,” he said. “Because one is lame.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “You’re lame,” I shot back. “Two beers.”

  “Three.”

  “Two!”

  “Fine,” he resigned, voice grating. “I don’t see why it should matter, but I’ll go.”

  He started to leave, moving around me to get to the hallway. I grabbed his arm, and was instantly surprised at how thick and hard his muscles felt in my hand. But I shook it off. I pulled him back inside by that arm and checked the hall first for any signs of my parents, then I motioned for him to leave and hurry.

  “Go-go-go,” I whispered.

  He rolled his deep brown eyes and then did as I asked. When he was out of sight, I sighed.

  I couldn’t believe it. I would have to live near Seth for the first semester. Of all people. Neighbors, again! What are the odds? Plus, he was a jerk. That was made perfectly clear back in high school.

  Ugh, high school. It’s like I can’t escape the hold of my stupid past, which is all I want to leave behind. So I can actually start having a life.

  “How did it look?” asked my mother when I came back into my dorm room.

  “How did what look?” I said, suddenly forgetting our previous conversation.

  “The bathroom, silly,” she said, still putting away my clothes. “Was it clean?”

  “Oh, that. Yeah. Super clean and white,” I reported. “Should be able to do all my business there. No problem.” I finished with a military salute.