“How intuitive of you.”
“Well, I like hockey but I don’t eat, bleed, and sweat it.”
“Reassuring.”
“Anyway, you’re my study buddy, aren't you?”
It’s the way he ducks his head between his shoulders, like a tortoise, that makes me realize he’s being that weird combo of shy/blunt.
It’s a welcome reminder that Callan doesn’t know how to be underhanded and I’m just being overcautious.
If he does, then he fucked it up the first time he read my ‘How Did the Roman Army Affect Modern Civilization?’ essay and told me a fourteen-year-old could have done better.
I hadn’t even had it in me to gape at him before he was tearing apart my words and helping me make sense of the topic at hand.
Honestly, he should be a teacher.
He clears his throat. “I kinda thought you were dating.”
“Who?”
“You and Zach.”
I scoff, “We’re not dating.”
His expression turns dubious.
“What?!”
“You’re not together?”
“No.” The surge in my blood pressure isperfectlynormal. “What made you think that?”
“The amount of time you spend together? You hang out at the rink with him? You attend all his games? You’re always at Dopie's together? He goes to that cat cafe in town you like when Pecan says they make him sneeze? And you’re literally wearing his name on your back as we speak.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “We’re not dating. I don’t do dating.”
And that’s the truth. 100%. I’m just not sure what’s with me right now. I have no desire for a boyfriend to derail my life like men have thehabit of doing. But… that didn’t stop me from thinking about Zach last night in the shower.
Which is so wrong.
Zach’s myfriend.
“You don’t date?”
Realizing that I need to keep my wits about me with Callan, who makes it hella easy to overshare, which is a problem for a chronic oversharer, I grace him with my full attention. The last thing I need is to blurt out the strange resurgence of my crush on Zach.
Damn Freya. Talking about him taking me to the top. And damn Zach. Always having my back.
“No offense but men suck. They either cheat or they lie or?—”
“Your best friends are guys!”
“Precisely. Who’s better placed to watch them fuck around and spout bullshit at the women who flock to them? Though, granted, neither of them stay with anyone long enoughtocheat.” I pause. “Well, Pecan’s doing great so far. I’m surprised he’s stuck it out with Hailey this long. But that’s not my point. Those two aside?—”
“Lemme guess—your folks are divorced.”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
