“Long time no see,” she said breathily.
Objectively speaking, Lindsay was hot, albeit in a very overt, heavily made-up way. Earlier this year, I made it a mission to hit it and flirted with her like crazy. We did a whole back and forth thing and got pretty close, but it never quite came to fruition.
Despite that, there was zero response in my body to the events that were unfolding now. It was like watching the entire thing happen to someone else.
“Yeah. Been a while.”
“Are we going to pick up where we left off last time?” She bit her lip, tracing a pink fingernail along my chest. “Remember?”
I craned my neck and reached around her for my beer. “Er…no, not really.”
I hadn’t seen Lindsay since sometime this summer. Between hockey, school, and James, it felt like a decade had passed since then. I had no recollection of where we’d left things. I may or may not have been wasted at the time. Odds were, I was.
“About christening the bathroom next time we were here?”
Oh. That.
I’d been half-lit at the time, trying to close after we’d been making out off in the corner next to the pool tables. Lindsay was on the hook, too, until her friend passed out at the table and she had to take her home. I’d all but forgotten about that.
She nodded to the hallway behind us, lowering her voice. “You said you were going to tear off my panties and—”
I winced and held up my hand, cutting her off. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Or…” Lindsay angled closer, undeterred. Her breath was warm against my ear and smelled like some kind of fruity alcohol. “We could go back to my place with my friend Melanie over there. She loves hockey players.” She pointed to a busty brunette standing by the pool table, talking to a few other guys from the team. Her friend noticed us, and waved at flirtatiously.
August me would have considered this winning the hookup lottery, would have been all over it, would have been booking a ride home with both of them already.
October me would rather go home and watch SportsCenter. Or text James.
Was this seriously happening?
I shot Dallas a what the fuck look.
Dallas cleared his throat, leaning over the table. “Carter’s got a girlfriend, Linds.” He nodded at me.
She turned and gaped at me, expression a mixture of disbelief and irritation. “You have a girlfriend?”
I nodded because it did seem like the simplest way to let her down easy. “Yeah. It’s new.”
“Oh.” Her glossy lips formed an O for a moment as she paused. She tossed her dark hair and shrugged. “Well, she doesn’t have to know.”
Lord help me. She didn’t know how to take a hint. Or a flat-out rejection, apparently.
“I’m flattered, Lindsay. Really, I am.” I tried to push her off me while she resisted my efforts. “But I’m going to pass.”
Lindsay narrowed her eyes. “You’re serious right now? After the big game you talked last time?”
Funny how I pursued her for a while, doing the whole sexy cat and mouse thing, but the minute I lost interest, she wanted me immediately.
“Can’t do it.”
“Whatever, Carter.” She stood up, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and stormed away in a huff.
Once she was safely out of earshot, Dallas let out a low whistle. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Neither did I.”
His eyes jumped to the pool table behind me. “Guess your loss is Tyler’s gain.” I followed his line of sight to find Lindsay and her friend hanging off Ty at the bar. Cool. More power to him.
Lindsay shot me a defiant glare, like she expected me to be jealous. I smiled back because I seriously did not give a shit.
“But dude.” Dallas lowered his voice, giving me a look so probing I felt borderline violated. “What the hell is going on? Have you even made a move on Bailey?”
“Not really,” I said, peeling the label off my bottle. “You and your fucking bookshelf made sure of that.”
His mouth dropped open. “Oh my god.” He guffawed, shoulders shaking. “No wonder you seemed off when we got home. Sorry, man. I didn’t expect you to have company that early in the evening.”
“It’s fine,” I muttered.
“But you’re going to find your balls again and make a move, right?”
I nodded, taking a sip of my beer. “Yup.”
In theory.
“Soon.” He lowered his head and gave me a pointed look.
“Soon.”
But she’d just broken up with Morrison. And what if this feeling was one-sided? Or I scared her off by pushing too soon? Or I went for it and she rejected me?
Was it fear of seeming opportunistic about her breakup with Luke holding me back? Or fear that I’d scare her off if I was flat-out wrong about things? Or was it the fear of rejection? That was something I’d never dealt with before, and it was scarier than I wanted to admit.
Maybe it was all of the above.
OceanofPDF.com
BAILEY
I was having a fantastic day. First, I convinced my astronomy instructor to let me unofficially switch class times, citing unforeseen (and nonexistent) school newspaper conflicts. I would still have to write the final exam with my actual class—including Luke—but Professor Walsh agreed to let me sit in on the Thursday morning lectures instead. I practically danced out of his office. It was like a gigantic meteor had been lifted from my shoulders.
Then Noelle drove Zara and me to our favorite lunch place off campus to enjoy overpriced but delicious chopped salads the size of our heads.
“You didn’t have to buy me lunch,” I said to Zara, and I meant it. Fifteen-dollar salads were hard to justify, but my gigantic chicken Caesar was heaven in a bowl. Somehow, salads always tasted better when someone else made them.
She shrugged, taking a bite of her spicy Thai noodle salad. “It’s the least I could do after you agreed to cover the volleyball game tomorrow night on short notice. Again.”
“I don’t mind.”
Technically, I had plans with Chase. He invited me over for Tyler’s birthday, but he understood when I told him I’d be late. It was an early game at least, so it wouldn’t eat into the night too much.
“You know I would have taken one for the team if I could,” she said. “But no one wants to read a sports article written by me. My knowledge starts and ends with the fact that the ball goes over the net.”
I laughed. “It’s okay. You have a date tomorrow night anyway, don’t you? How are things with Caleb?”
Caleb was her Tinder date from last week, a slightly older veterinarian with a three-year-old daughter. Different from her usual type, but maybe that was a good thing. Usually Zara gravitated toward bad boys, with bad outcomes as a result.
“Amazing.” Zara’s eyes sparkled. I’d never seen her so excited about someone.
“It’s their third date,” Noelle said in a sing-song voice. “Someone’s going to get lucky.”
Zara blushed, which was the first time I had ever seen her look bashful. “Well, maybe. We’re kind of taking it slow.”
I wasn’t sure it could be much slower than Chase and me, who’d yet to even establish our intentions. I was pretty sure he almost kissed me the other day, but now I was second-guessing myself. Maybe he really did see me as just a friend, and the flirting was for fun. It was hard to tell with him sometimes.
Ugh.
This limbo we were in was both exhilarating and exhausting.
“I’ll wear ear plugs tonight in case,” Noelle said.
Zara’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. “It’s not my fault the walls are thin.”
“Speaking of that,” I said. “This might seem a little out of left field, but have you guys given any thought to living arrangements for next year?”