“Nah. He’s getting all stressed about exams and wants a few days to focus on studying.” She pouts, but her lips quickly rise into a grin. “He’s promised to be free this weekend so we can hang out.”
“Nice.” I nod. “How’s your studying going?”
“Yeah, pretty good. I think.” Her little pixie nose wrinkles. “Kind of hate studying, so it’s probably a case of me needing to do a shit ton more but hoping I can just wing it during finals week.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Well, that’s, uh… one strategy.”
She grins, her cheeks flushing red before she narrows her eyes at me.
“What?”
“I don’t know.” She tips her head, studying me closely, like she’s a sniffer dog at the airport and senses something is off.
I ping up straight, scratching my collarbone and trying to look unaffected by her assessment. “Okay, well, I’m gonna?—”
“Wait.” She points at me. “Something’s different.”
“Nope,” I lie, grabbing my mug and spilling hot tea over the side of it. I hiss, quickly wiping my hand.
“Run it under cold water,” Nix tells me.
“No, I’m good.”
“What is up with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Something is definitely up.” She turns on the tap and starts muttering, “Making tea at one in the morning and trying to distract me, asking about studying and—” She gasps, her eyes bulging as she grabs my hand and shoves it under the cold water. “Did something happen with you and Ty tonight? Oh my gosh, it was good, wasn’t it? You’ve got this glow about you. Oh shit! Did you have sex with him?” She practically yells the last part, and of course within a second, Jed and Tobin’s door is popping open, and I’m soon surrounded by curious roommates.
I glare down at the girl who is still holding my hand under the cold spray. She gives me an unapologetic smile until I nudge her away from me and claim my hand back. Drying it off, I let out a sigh when Jed leans his elbows on the kitchen counter with a bemused smirk and Tobin gives me a red-nosed smile.
“You should be back in bed,” I mumble, hanging the dish towel back up. “We can discuss my love life in the morning.”
“Your love life?” Nix’s laughter is sparkly and filled with delight. “You totally slept with him!” She gives me a friendly slap on the butt.
“We need details.” Tobin sniffs, taking a seat next to Jed and letting out an involuntary groan.
Jed steadies him and Tobin sighs, resting his head on Jed’s shoulder.
“Seriously, dude. This germ-fest of yours should not be in the kitchen.” Nix wrinkles her nose. “Take your snot back to your own room.”
“Hey.” Jed gives her a sharp look. “Leave him alone. He just needs to get out of the space for a minute. I’ll take him back to bed soon.”
“What, so you can get sick too?” Her disgusted look remains firmly intact.
Jed gives her a deadpan stare. “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
“Whatever, dude. You’ve been hanging out in the germ zone all freaking day. You’re gonna get sick.”
“He is not.” Tobin’s blocked nose and croaky throat make him sound funny. “My man is as strong as an ox. He hasn’t been sick once since we got together. As long as you don’t count the food poisoning incident, which I still blame my mother for. That woman should not be allowed to cook Thanksgiving meals.”
“She was trying to be nice.”
“She was trying to impress you, and it was an epic backfire,” Tobin argues.
Jed laughs. “She’s a sweetheart.”
“Yeah, well, the fact that you forgave her won you some major brownie points. I think she likes you more than me now.”
