Jake laughed along with Ezra, then he looked around the floor with concern. “Have people been peeing in here all night?”
“Sure hope not.”
Then Jake looked at Ezra again. “Hey, um. I know you keep saying that being yourself is the problem or whatever, but you do have a lot to be confident about.” He paused. “You’re a cool guy, and if someone doesn’t like you for how you are, then they’re not worth your time.”
And, yes, Jake was absolutely thinking about Sean Campbell and his stupid sexy face.
Ezra’s shoulders slumped again, and he rolled his eyes. “Easy for you to say. You’ve got something nice to look at in the mirror every day.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s differentwhen you look like me. People aren’t as nice to you. Or they just straight up ignore you.” He pushed his Sally Jessy glasses up his nose. “I don’t want to be invisible anymore. Especially to Sean.”
Jake wanted to tell Ezra that he wasn’t invisible to him, but that obviously wouldn’t matter. And then Jake had the sudden—and totally bizarre—urge to hug Ezra. It might have been because Ezra just basically called Jake handsome. Or that he didn’t want Ezra to feel bad about himself. Either way, he worried that hugging Ezra in a closet at a frat party might weird them both out, so he let that urge slip away.
“All the advice you’ve been giving me is good,” Ezra said. “And I appreciate all of it. But I want to look different. I want to know what it’s like to be noticed. And to have a chance with someone like Sean.”
Jake’s stomach soured. He’d promised Ezra he’d make him into someone Sean couldn’t resist. And, unfortunately, Sean would probably resist this Ezra, but Jake thought he himself wouldn’t. Jake thought this Ezra was just fine, but it really didn’t matter what he thought. That was the thing. Ezra wanted Sean, so it only mattered what Sean thought. Not Jake.
And yet Jake was the one in this closet with Ezra, thinking things he’d never thought about another guy before.
The sourness in Jake’s stomach felt strange and familiar at the same time. Familiar because he knew it was jealously. Strange because he shouldn’t be feeling jealous over anything.
Or anyone.
Jake sighed. “Okay. I think I know somebody who can help. In the meantime, you want to get out of here. Go hang out somewhere else?”
Ezra grinned. “That would be awesome.”
The girl in thepink halter top, jean skirt, and platform sandals was walking in front of Jake, but he’d recognize that blonde bob and butterfly back tattoo anywhere.
“Oh, Mindy,” he sing-songed, walking up alongside her and putting his arm around her. “Mindy, Mindy, Mindy.” He sang like he was singing scales.
“No,” she deadpanned, not breaking her stride.
“What?”
Mindy shrugged his arm off her. “Whatever it is, Jake, the answer is no.” She took an abrupt turn into the dining hall.
“Aw, come on,” Jake said, walking backwards in front of her. “I thought we were pals.”
Jake met Mindy at a frat party last year. She flashed her boobs at him while he was playing beer pong. He hung out with her the rest of the night until he blacked out. The next day, he woke up in a bathtub with her bra tied around his head, and her pager number scribbled on a paper towel and stuffed down the front of his jeans.
He went to lunch with her a couple of days later. Then there was another lunch. Then there were a couple of parties. Then there was the time she was going to blow him, but he passed out drunk after she got his pants off, and she got kind of mad. He also probably shouldn’t have tried to grind all over her at another party a couple of days later, because she was still pissed. But then Mindy seemed to get over it and kindly drove him to the mall and to the country club a few times so he wouldn’t have to take the bus.
But he’d sort of promised her gas money, but then didn’t ever follow up, so…
“Pals?” Mindy snapped. “Oh, surepal, you still owe me like fifty bucks for gas and plus another fifty for that shelf you broke.”
Oh, and there was that too. Jake forgot. Oops.
He’d broken her roommate’s glass shelf feeling around in the dark for the bathroom after he and Mindy had sex. It was a complete accident, and Jake knew he shouldn’t have let it go this long without paying her back, and yet here they were.
And here he was approaching her again. He had some nerve.
But he had also made a deal.
“I know, I know.” He stopped her before she got in line for Chinese. “I’m an asshole and I owe you money.” He took out his wallet while she glared daggers at him. He had about thirty-seven dollars and eighteen cents to his name. “Here. You can take everything I’ve got right now, and I promise my entire next paycheck to you. All the money I owe you, plus a little more for interest. And…” He paused and watched her face, but it hadn’t changed, so he rushed through his next words. “A little more on top of that if you do a favor for me?”
“I already said no.” Mindy walked around him.
He followed her. “It’s not really for me.”
