“Another word and your laptop is going toaccidentallyget broken in half,” Jace said.
“I’m usually the one making computer-related threats,” Cam said.
Jace smiled. “I’ve been studying all week. My fuse is shorter than usual.”
“Message received,” Cam said, giving an awkward salute.
I chuckled and buried my head in my textbook again.
For a while, we all worked in mutual silence. I’d grown to really like both of them, especially Cam now that he was warming up to us. I considered them my closest friends here at school.Which was crazy considering we were all sleeping with the same woman. If I could go back in time to last year and tell myself how the semester would go, I never would have believed it.
After a while, I pinched my eyes and said, “I need some caffeine. Anyone want an energy drink from the vending machine?”
“Yes please,” Cam chimed in. “Jace wants one, too.”
“No I don’t.”
“You keep nodding off,” Cam said. “Trust me, you need a boost.”
I went to the nearest vending machine and returned with three drinks that each had enough caffeine to kill a small animal. Jace and Cam were in the middle of a serious conversation.
“We were talking about Lila,” Jace explained when I sat down. “I don’t want to up the stakes too much… but I think she might be the one.”
I gave a start. “Like, theone, one?”
“Is there any other kind?” Jace replied. He looked pained by the confession.
“What do you think about that?” I asked Cam.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I freaking love her. I mean, I don’tloveher, like, dropping the L-bomb. But I love everything about her, I love being with her, I love… all of it.”
“Same,” I said. I wasn’t ready to admit that she might be the one—even justthinkingabout it terrified me—but I was already beginning to picture a future with this woman.
“Okay, then,” Jace said.
“Let’s make a pact,” I said in a burst of inspiration. “L-bombs aside, the three of us all really like this woman. We all care about her.”
Jace and Cam both nodded along.
“No matter what happens, let’s agree to never fight over her. A little playful jealousy and competition is fine, but I don’t ever want it to get to the point where we see each other as competition. We’re allies, right?”
“Right,” Jace said firmly.
“However long this lasts,” I circled my finger to include all of us, “let’s always put her needs first. Maybe it will end eventually, or fizzle out before it really begins, but while it’s going strong? Lila is all that matters.”
Both of them sat up a little straighter, treating the pact with as much seriousness as I intended. “I agree,” Jace said.
“And my ax!” Cam declared loudly.
Two tables over, a pair of girls shushed us.
“Sorry,” Cam said with a little wave. His cheeks were already red.
“Your ax?” Jace asked.
“It’s a Lord of the Rings reference,” I said.
Jace snorted. “Nerd.”
