Alex
Shit, is it actually weird?
Biting my lip, I weave through the tables in a hurry until I reach the one my group prefers for its optimal position three spots away from the big arched windows stretching from the first floor to the third. While I carefully line up my phone, books, and annotation supplies I draft and discard several potential responses.
It is strange. Not because it’s romance—the genre is amazing and deserves so much more recognition than it gets. I’m torn by my love of my favorite books and the confusion that I’m talking about them with a hockey player.
Lainey
No. Romance is for everyone. I was just surprised someone like you would be interested in it.
Alex
Like me?
Lainey
You know what I mean.
Alex
Your boyfriend?
Heat races across my cheeks.
He’s not my?—
“Hey, you beat me here.”
I hide my phone against my chest, emitting an embarrassing shriek. The yell echoes through the quiet library, drawing the eyes of other students here to study.
Caught out, I peek over my shoulder to face Maya Donnelly. She’s a freshman I’ve grown close to since we share an advisor in the psychology department that paired us up.
She huffs out a friendly laugh, joining me at the table. “Whoa, deep breath, girl. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Sorry,” I stammer as I cram my phone into my overstuffed bag. “I was in my own world. I didn’t hear you coming up behind me.”
“All good.” She checks her phone and sets up a focus timer before unpacking her study materials. “Is it just us today?”
The pounding of my heart relaxes.
“I think so. Kelly said she had a meeting with her professor when I saw her before my last class.”
She hums, pulling her chestnut brown hair back with a blue flower claw clip. We settle into a comfortable silence and begin studying. It takes me longer than usual to absorb the key points in my notes, but once I make it through a few pages I manage to lose myself in the methodic drag of my highlighters.
When Maya’s phone vibrates, it signals the end of our first twenty minute productivity block. She shoots me a smile and stretches. I set aside the notes I reviewed, then reach for my phone to check the reading assignment for another class. There’s a message waiting on the screen.
Alex
Still there?
How am I supposed to face him tonight? It was crazy enough for anyone to think we’re together when he proposed the idea yesterday, when I thought he was just another hockey player. Now he’s a hockey player who’s buddy reading a cowboy romance with me.
The two Alex Kellers don’t fit in my mind. Both are my complete opposite. And fake relationship or not, I definitely don’t belong next to him.
Lainey
I’m studying. My group meets in the library at the end of every week. Actually, I might miss tonight. I should’ve told you before you bought the tickets for me. We have a lot of work to get through.
