Still…
“So, yourgirlfriend, who has been aserious girlfriendfor almost a year now, toldmygirlfriend—yes, I said it, and I know she wasn’t then, but whatever—that we don’tdo girlfriends. Did I get that right?”
A snort of laughter from Dex. “Yeah, that about sums it up. In fairness to Philly, she liked Megan, straight from the go, and wanted to warn her.”
“About me.” It wasn’t a question. Based on Philly’s firsthand knowledge, she was right to warn any girl off wanting to be my girlfriend.
But not Megan.
“She wasn’t wrong,” Dex said, no judgment in his voice. “And let’s not forget the show Ches put on that night. Apparently, she’d been chatting up Philly and Megan about you earlier in the night, too. Wasn’t a look Megan liked, in Philly’s opinion. So, yeah, she wasn’t wrong in her warning to Megan.”
“She’s wrong now,” I added. The sting of knowing that Ches had probably put ideas in Megan’s head even before she’d seen me walk in the door was grating. And then to have the same girl burst into my room and cut off what could have been…
No. Don’t do that.It had worked out in the end. It just took longer. A journey I thoroughly enjoyed.
“Clearly. Which is why she told me about it, I think. She felt bad after seeing the two of you together. How you are together. But also, it’s obvious that Megan didn’t heed Philly’s warning.”
“Not entirely, thank God. But Philly did put some walls up for Megan. Made her more leery of me wanting more than just a hookup.” Philly’s words and Ches’s actions—a lot to overcome. But I had.
Dex studied me, then started laughing. “You know what? Good. You had to work for it? Excellent. It shouldn’t be easy, man. Not for girls like Megan and Philly.”
He was right. It was worth the work for Megan to trust that she and I were more than a few hookups. More than a budding college romance.
So much more.
Chapter29
Megan
“And as always, remember self-care,”Marlo said as we wrapped up class on Wednesday. “The basics we always go over, yes”—she directed this to Connor, who lifted up his water bottle and gave it a shake—“but here’s a few new ones, especially now, since you’ve been into this new year a couple of months and have maybe added new people to your circle.
“Limit your time on socials. I’d advise to stay off them altogether, but I know that’s near impossible for your generation, having been raised with them. But they can be very detrimental to your mental health. I can state several studies on college students’ usage of socials and connections to depression and mental health. And that’s before you throw in your particular ingredient of mourning.”
“They’re all so toxic anyway,” Bailey said.
We still didn’t know how Bailey’s boyfriend had died, and her words made me wonder if the answer could be on her socials, or those of people who knew her. I thought about looking her up later, but didn’t want to invade her privacy if she wasn’t willing to talk about it in group.
“They can be toxic, yes. But I know they’re a way for people to connect, and that can be helpful too. You just need to balance it,” Marlo said. “And also, as the weather gets colder and we spend less time outdoors, be sure that you make time to get out of the house and classrooms a little more. I know they use this saying as a put-down usually, but touch grass.”
That had us all smiling, and class broke up.
On our way to the food court, Paige caught up to Connor, Logan, and me and asked if she could join us. To which we all said yes.
I liked our little after-session get-togethers. I liked it with just Logan too, but Connor, and now Paige, gave different perspectives on what we’d just talked about, and I liked that.
Halfway through us eating our food, Chloe showed up and joined us. I wasn’t sold that last week had been an accident, and now was convinced that her coming to the Union at this day and time was purposeful. I just wasn’t sure why.
We introduced her to Paige, and they chatted for a bit—and then Chloe turned her attention to Connor.
Oh,thatwas why. Or at least why she’d returned this week. I couldn’t blame her—Connor was adorable and funny. And sweet in a “dude!” kind of way. But I felt a wave of protectiveness toward him, toward all of us in group. Like, could anyone else really understand what we were going through right now?
Which was ridiculous, of course. Everybody was going through their own shit, and it would serve me well to remember that.
“So, what’s everyone doing this weekend? Costumes ready?” Chloe asked.
“We have a home series this weekend,” Logan replied. “Won’t do anything on actual Halloween on Friday because we play again Saturday.”
“So, Saturday night? At your house, Logan?” Chloe said.
