Luke was looking around too, eyes wide, hand still hovering near my shoulder.He looked back at me, his mouth swollen, his cheeks bright red.
“Did anyone see?”he asked, though he didn’t look sorry.
“Negative,” I exhaled, adjusting my glasses, which had been knocked askew.
Luke grinned—a reckless, blinding thing.
“Good,” he said.“Because I really needed to do that.”
“Reciprocity established,” I managed, my pulse still racing.“But we should probably de-escalate.Before any professors round the corner.”
That night, we went to trivia.
Ryan had been asking for weeks to come back.Luke had been deflecting, citing study obligations, shoulder maintenance, early practice.But with the exam behind him and eligibility secured, the excuses evaporated.
“One hour,” Luke said as we walked to Buckman Grill.“Show face.Collect on the fries.Leave.”
“Agreed.”
The bar was at crush capacity, vibrating with the chaotic energy of students celebrating the end of finals.It was warm, loud, and smelled of spilled beer—a sensory nightmare I had somehow grown to moderately tolerate.
Ryan had commandeered our usual corner booth, waving a pitcher in the air when he saw us.
“Thank God,” he yelled over the bass.“The brain trust has arrived.”
I guided Maya through the crowd.“I brought reinforcements,” I said, sliding into the booth.“Ryan, this is Maya.She’s a Humanities major, which means she actually reads books.”
“You are a lifesaver,” Ryan said, shaking Maya’s hand enthusiastically.“Miller and Johnson bailed early for their flights home, so we’re down two men.And Javier is useless with anything that isn’t sports or geography.”
“Hey,” Javier protested, mouth full of pretzel.
“I have a near-eidetic memory for celebrity scandals and literary awards,” Maya offered, stealing a fry from the center basket.
Ryan looked at me.“I like her.She stays.”
Luke squeezed in next to me, his knee finding mine, which caused everyone else to move around the table a bit to give us room.Feeling his warmth next to me was a familiar signal now—a secret, constant pressure that grounded me.He looked tired but happy, the weight of the financial accounting exam finally gone from his shoulders.
“Beer?”Luke asked, already pouring.
“Please.”
“Round one starts in two minutes,” Ryan announced.“Categories are 90s Music, organic chemistry—which is a gift from the gods for you, Austen—and current events.We need a win to close out the semester.”
We didn’t get the win, but we salvaged respectability.We came in third, mostly because Maya single-handedly swept the music category while Ryan and Javier stared blankly at the speakers.Luke laughed more than I’d seen in weeks, the tension in his jaw finally loose, and every time the table cheered, his leg pressed harder against mine.At one point, we held hands under the table.
At 9:30, Luke caught my eye.The subtle nod.The protocol.
“No early practice tomorrow, but I still need to hit the weight room before my last final,” he announced, standing up and grabbing his coat.
“Gross,” Javier sympathized.
“Austen, you heading out?”Luke asked, the script practiced.
“The library closes at ten,” I lied smoothly.“I need to return a reference book before the break.”
“Weak,” Ryan jeered, but he bumped fists with me anyway.“Good game, Lovell.Maya, you’re officially on the roster for next semester.”
“I’ll have my agent call you,” she deadpanned.“Actually, if you two don’t mind, I’ll hang out here for a little longer.”
