“Last night was fun,” Macie said, the exasperation in her voice as if she’d said it a few times. “Wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. But I wasn’t in full agreement.
“You looked like you might hook up with one of those guys you were dancing with,” she said, her eyes wagging at me. “They were freaking hot. Why didn’t you go home with either of them?”
I laughed. She had no idea, but there was no way she could have.
“What?” she asked.
I couldn’t admit what I’d been doing last night with those guys. Yeah, I could’ve gone home with either. They weren’t too happy when I walked away uninterested, but they’d served their purpose. I’d used them simply to make Logan jealous. My guilt was already getting the better of me without her giving me her two cents.
“Macie.”
Our food was ready. Thank God.
“I’ll get it,” I told her.
As I placed our trays on the table, Macie went to fix up her coffee at the coffee bar. While waiting for her return, I desperately tried to think of a way out of talking about last night.
My phone pinged with a text as Macie returned. Looking at it, I was surprised to see who it was from.
Logan: Where are u we need to work on our project today
“Who is that?”Macie asked as she started eating.
“Logan.”
Her eyes lit up.
“He wants us to work on our project and he’s looking for me.” He was right. We did need to get to work on it, time was dwindling. Our first attempt didn’t go well.
My attempt at making him green with envy last night backfired on me. Instead, he fell into the arms of another. Although he didn’t hook up with her, what he did was even worse.
He didn’t take advantage of her. He gave her his bed. He slept on a couch two feet too short for him.
He proved to be a perfect gentleman.
And I wasn’t prepared for that.
“Do you need to go?” Macie asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m not going to jump when he texts. We’ll get there when we get there.”
Macie’s brows furrowed and her mouth twisted. She obviously didn’t like my response. I was back to being a bitch again, but it was my only defense when it came to him.
“Well, I think you should at least text him back, Ava,” she said. “You two have to start getting along, don’t leave him hanging like that.”
I wanted to tell her about my grand gesture last night. About the look on his face as I covered him from head to toe, making sure to tuck him in. And how, as he looked at me like that, it pulled at every muscle in my chest, making it hard to take my next breath. But I couldn’t. Because if I did, I think I’d admit to her, and myself, something I didn’t want to admit.
“Yeah, OK. You’re right.”
So I shot him a text.
Me: Out for breakfast, be home later
Yet I also knew weneeded to work on this assignment. My incessant desire to annoy Logan contradicted with my need to excel in my classes. Sophomore year was when businessstudents declared their major, and finance was competitive. My GPA needed to be the best it could be.
So instead of enjoying my spinach and feta omelet, I found myself shoveling it in my mouth.
