“Like what?”
She plucks my doughnut off the tray. “Like I’m gonna hook up with him. Although Icould, if I wanted…” She takes a bite. “Thatwasoriginally the plan. But I think I’m only going to wax his back this time.”
I had forgotten all about her side hustle.
“Anyway, why am I justifying myself? I don’t have to answer to you,” she adds.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to the two-a-day thing, but somehow the idea of her sleeping with this John dude just hours after me makes my skin crawl.
“Have you guys ever dated?”
She shakes her head. “He’s a nice person, that’s all. He was actually my first, from back in high school. I was his first, too. We just wanted to get it over with,” she explains. “Since then, we’ve been doing it once in a while.”
“Talk about a plot twist,” I snicker. “I thought you’d be the type to ‘save yourself for your one true love.’?”
She wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. “How many of those sentences did you memorize?”
“Enough.”
She lets out a burst of laughter. I like how it sounds.
“Wasyourfirst in love with you?”
“Nope.”
“See?” Her eyes are shining. “We’re not all Disney princesses sitting around waiting for our Prince Charming, you know.” She thinks for a moment. “What was her name?”
“Ana Anderson. We were in high school in DC together. She studied here, too,” I add. “But she graduated two years ago.”
“Hold up.” Carrie’s eyes widen. “You lost your virginity to Ana Anderson? As in, Ana ‘Pre-Vet’ Anderson?”
“You know her?”
Carrie shakes her head. “I never met her—she graduated beforeI started. But everyone knows Ana A.!” She giggles. “She deflowered the whole basketball team!”
I pout. “She said I was definitely her favorite.”
“She lied, dude. I heard the same thing from a friend’s brother.”
I bring my hands to my cheeks. “My whole life has been a lie!”
She laughs. Again.
My dick must be magic, or something—I’m looking at a brand-new perky version of Carrie this morning.
“You’re great when you’re like this.” I smile.
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it, okay?” She smiles back. “I need to go. Catch you later?”
And with that, she heads off before I even have the chance to say goodbye or ask what she means by “later.”
I SPEND A COUPLE OFhours down in the gym with Lewis, like I do every Friday. While practice hasn’t officially started up yet, I’m sticking to my dad’s hard-core training schedule. I could probably skip arms day—but though he’s not roaming around campus like his pre–heart attack days, I’m pretty sure this place is crawling with spies.
“Bro, throw some more weight on there?” I ask Lewis as he towels off his face.
He narrows his eyes. “Good to see you, Don. It’s been a while.”
“This year’s super important,” I shoot back. “I’m cramming in as much study as I can before the season kicks off.”
