“I know, it’s because he’s?—”
“A dumb jock?” River interjected. Lola grinned cheekily as she nodded, and River rolled his eyes. “I accept my title.”
The smug smile on Lola's face began to dissolve into a frown of concession. “Well… I guess you can’t be that dumb. You did your part in acing the project.”
Shock and pride mixed in my gaze as I narrowed my eyes at River. “You guys aced it?”
His brown eyes gazed deeply into mine. “Somehow. I thought it would be impossible without you doing it for me.”
“The professor was so impressed with our presentation that he wants to use it as an example for his classes next semester!” Lola announced with enthusiasm.
Lola and Carson exchanged a high five as we all burst into cheers and congratulations. Even though their group went from three to two after I left, which was a major disadvantage, they still came out on top.
“Bull. We would have gotten an A+ had we had you there.”
Lola rested her head on Carson's arm. “I agree.”
“But you know who else could have used you there?” River asked cynically. “Rory and his group. Their presentation was worse than I would’ve done by myself. Serves them right.”
“It was embarrassing to watch,” Lola added as she cringed at the memory. “You should see the video River took.”
River had the secretly recorded video of Rory, Andrew, and their partner's presentation on his phone a few seconds later. The whole thing was a three-minute train wreck of confusion, messed-up slides, and a giggling audience. Not only was it shorter than required for the class, but it also failed to answer half the key questions. That monstrosity was a great pick-me-up.
The romance movie Lola ended up picking was, in her opinion, the absolute best piece of media she had ever seen. It turned out that River and Carson weren't new to rom-coms; I never would have guessed. After Lola teased them about it until they begged her to stop, she and Carson went to the kitchen to whip up more popcorn since one bowl didn't cut it for the four of us.
River yawned, and then his arm moved casually behind me.
I hummed. “Smooth.”
My head rested against his shoulder, as it normally did, but this time I hugged him extra tight. I was pretty sure the action tipped him off, and he raised a brow. “Everything good?”
A sigh escaped me. I couldn't quite tell him I was unnecessarily jealous of his best friend—not now, at least.
The bergamot in his cologne was a familiar and soothing smell as I snuggled closer. “Perfect now that I know you like romantic comedies.”
His head cocked to the side. “Who doesn’t like romantic comedies?”
“Plenty of people, but I like them.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of my head. “And I like you.”
I spoke before I could think. “How much?”
My first instinct was to take back what I said and rephrase the question, but I stopped myself. I wanted to hear it. I was looking for some peace of mind, however dumb that was.
River paused, taken aback by the question. It was almost like he expected me to backtrack before he had to answer.
But then he looked at me with that look, the one that made me feel like the most important person in the whole world. “So much that tomorrow, you’re going to be the only one in the entire stadium wearing my jersey number.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, because you’re finally mine.”
Chapter Nineteen
ALEX
“Ithink I like basketball games more than football,” Eli said as he slurped on a blue raspberry slushy.
