Chris shakes his head and motions around the half-empty lot. “We would’ve seen them.”
“What can they possibly be doing?” I groan.
Damon snorts. “You don’t have a girlfriend, and it shows.”
“Dick,” I mutter under my breath.
“He’s not wrong,” Jace says, scrolling through his phone. “When chicks get ready together, it’s like a free-for-all. They’ll try on each other’s clothes, do each other’s hair, bitch about us or classes or world peace, and the drink of the week at Java. Nothing’s off-limits, and it can either take them five minutes to get ready or five hours. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
I sigh, sinking further into my seat.
“I still can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” West says from the passenger seat as he stares down at the worn-out novel he’s reading, not even bothering to lift his head. “I mean, don’t you think spying on them, and then following them is a little fucked up?”
Chris tears his gaze away from the entrance long enough to shoot him an incredulous look. “Dude, you make it sound like we’re peeping in their windows or some shit. All we’re doing is watching a car.”
“A car belonging to girls who specifically didn’t invite us to hang out with them,” Damon points out.
“Details.” Chris waves dismissively, then rips open a bag of Skittles. “They love us. So, why wouldn’t they be thrilled to spend more time with us? It’s not like theyneverhave girl time. We’re crashing just this once.”
Jace snorts while Chris digs into the bag of candy, and the car falls silent save for the sound of Chris’s munching, which I try my best to ignore while staring out the window and thinking of what I’ll say to Tatum when I get the chance. She can’t stay mad at me for long, especially not over this.
Could I have handled myself better? Sure.
But Ethan had it coming.
Everything I did was to protect her. Everything I’ve ever done has been because I’m in love with her.
I sink further in my seat, praying she’ll forgive me, but the loud crunch of Chris’s chewing makes it hard to think. Every smack of his lips, every crinkle of the candy wrapper, feels like sandpaper against my already frayed nerves.
Crunch. Smack. Crinkle.
“Do you have to eat those so fucking loud?” I snap, glaring at the back of his head.
Chris meets my eyes in the rearview mirror, purposely shoving another handful in his mouth with exaggerated chewing. “Sorry, am I bothering you?” he asks, around another lip-smacking crunch.
“That’s it.” I lunge forward, snatching the bag from his hands, vindicated as rainbow-colored candies spill across the back seat.
“What the hell, dude?” Chris twists around, making a grab for the bag that I hold just out of reach. “Give those back!”
“Not until you learn how to eat like a human being instead of a garbage disposal with a microphone.”
Damon snickers beside me, and West just shakes his head as Chris’s face contorts with indignation.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Chris drawls. “Is the sound of me enjoying a snack too much for your delicate sensibilities? You’re just hangry because Tatum won’t talk to you.”
“That makes no sense. Hangry means hungry and angry, so Tatum ignoring me is entirely different.”
“Nope. You’re hungry for Tatum. You’re lohangry. Love hungry, and angry.”
“That’s not a thing.” I shake my head and hold the Skittles further away when he makes a lunge for them.
“Oh, it’s definitely a thing,” Chris says, shouting now. “You’re the literal definition of love hungry. Look at you. Your face is all flushed, and the muscle in your jaw is all twitchy. You’ve even got the angry bulging forehead vein thing going on,” he says, motioning to my forehead.
“Fuck off.” I shove the bag of candy back at him, because he’s probably right. I am love hungry.
“Children,” Jace says with a sigh. “I’m sitting in a car with actual children.”
“Says the guy who cried when Brynn beat him at beer pong last weekend,” Damon chimes in with a smirk.
