“Hey,” he greets, and Keri gasps.
“Dude, your eye.”
Jack chuckles, leaning back in his seat. “Someone threw my phone at me, and I caught it with my face.”
I wince, trying not to stare, but I got him good. I hadn’t even realized it because I was so flustered from everything going on, and Macy is a fucking demon in the morning.
“I bet that someone is sorry,” I say, and he shrugs.
“It’ll be fine in a couple days, and it gives me an excuse to go as Rocky Balboa for Halloween,” he says, his smile widening enough for his dimple to make an appearance.
“What were you going to be?”
Jack laughs, shaking his head, but his gaze drifts to my forehead, and the humor fades. “Classified, but I will say it was better my eye was hit than my nose. I’m not sure I could pull off a crooked nose,” Jack continues, lifting a hand to brush his fingertips over my bruise, and my heart jumps in my chest. “You okay?” he asks, his eyebrows knitting in concern.
“All good. Just a little clumsy,” I say, giving him a smile so he knows we’re okay. It was an accident.
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Keri says, and Jack drops his hand.
“Nope,” he answers, the picture of nonchalance.
“Al?” she asks, and I look at her and shrug.
“I don’t think you’re missing anything.”
She purses her lips, narrowing her eyes at us in scrutiny. “No, there’s a weird vibe here—especially with the matching bruises.”
My legs are sore from my workout at the gym this morning, but it doesn’t stop my leg from bouncing. “You’re imagining it,” I say, feeling a little bad I’m gaslighting her, but there is a weird vibe and I’m not sure how to explain it to her. I want us to go back to normal. “How was morning skate yesterday?”
“Thanks to Macy sending the face mask photo in the group chat, I’ve gone from Schultz to Your Highness.” He groans, and I can understand why. I notice he doesn’t mention the photo Ellie took of us on the couch.
Ellie and Macy went back to sleep after Jack left, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going back to sleep, so I went to the gym and worked on my core and upper body strength.
“What picture? Stop talking about vague shit I don’t know anything about. It’s rude,” Keri complains, and I whip my phone out, showing her the photo of Jack with his green face and headband on.
Keri’s dark eyes widen for a moment, covering her mouth to smother the sound of her laughter since class is about to start. “That’s amazing. Seriously, your best look yet, Jack.”
“Al,” Jack grumbles, and I nudge his arm with my elbow.
“You’re the one who said you were secure enough in your manhood you didn’t mind,” I remind him, but my face still burns because now I don’t need to wonder why he was just fine. I felt all his business pressed up against me, and Jack wasn’t lying.
“No offense, Keri, but it’s bad enough the whole team has seen it. Pretty sure Dylan shared it with Coach because he called me princess last night at our team dinner.”
That’s hilarious.“Why don’t you try channeling your big dick energy again, princess?” I tease, and his neck flushes a scarlet hue, creeping all the way to the tips of his ears.
Jack sticks his tongue out at me like the mature adult he is, but our professor walks in, and the room falls quiet.
Halfway through class, Jack pulls his phone out and I look at him, curiosity getting the better of me because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pull it out during class.
My phone vibrates a moment later.
Jack
we good?
I send back a thumbs up, and he lets out an audible sigh of relief. I squirm in my seat, trying not to think about how he moaned in my ear yesterday.
It’s fine. I’m fine. This doesn’t have to be a big deal at all.
