“You would.”
Morgan, also in my English class, grunts. “Less talking, Juniper. Please, dear god.”
Pecan glances over his shoulder. “Still can’t believe you drank me under the table, Morgan.”
“Small but mighty.” She massages her temples. “Anyone have any aspirin? Heroin? LSD? I’ll take anything at this point.”
Juniper snorts. “You’re so melodramatic. Want some too, Pecan?”
“PLEASE.”
“TOO LOUD.” Morgan groans.
Unsurprised when she tucks in AirPods, slides on some shades, and zones the rest of us out, I quirk a smile at my BFF. “Some party, huh?”
“God, yeah. It was brilliant. You should have hung out with us.” Pecan moans as he slurps down some coffee with the meds Juniper tosses at his head. “I swear Dopie’s burgers and Callan are the only reasons I’m not flunking.” He pauses. “Maybe you’re right about paying Callan, D. He could probably use the extra cash.”
I flick him on the forehead. “How many times do I have to tell you? No slurping!”
He wrinkles his nose but takes a quieter sip. “It’s early!”
“It’s not. You’re hungover again.”
“Barely.”
“You better not get drunk tonight. We have a game tomorrow,” Zach warns. “I have to prove myself on the ice, Peeks, and I can’t do that if my goalie is dopier than usual.”
Pecan hunches over his coffee like Gollum with the one ring. “I won’t drink tonight,” he sulks, simultaneously reaching for the saltshaker as he dumps a ton in the glass Juniper left for Callan.
Used to their nonsense, I heave a sigh.
I’d help Callan out, but in the bizarre love language of men, this means Pecan likes him.
Smirking, Zach tips up his chin. “Callan’s here.”
Notice I said Pecan.
“You don’t like him?”
His lips twist. “Nah, it’s not that.” He cuts a look at Pecan. “I’ll tell you later when he’s not about to sit down with us.”
“Sure.” I wave at Callan when he sinks into the booth beside me after placing an order at the counter. “Hey.”
Callan rubs a hand through his hair, making it flop forward onto his forehead. Honestly, he’s super cute. Kind of a geek but with a sense of humor that spares him from teasing while among a crowd of jocks. And man, he’s intelligent.
I’d have a crush on him if I hadn’t been hung up on Zach recently and he didn’t have ‘hands off’ vibes.
“Almost missed my alarm,” he greets around a yawn.
“You’re not used to early mornings?”
“I’m used to earlier. Since I got here, my sleep’s out of whack.” He rubs his eyes. “Did you finish that essay for computer science, Pecan?”
When he hunches his shoulders even more, Callan grouses, “That better be a ‘it’s at 75%, Callan,’ because it’s due on Tuesday and I know damn straight you’re going to get nothing done tonight when there’s that party at Below 0.”
Pecan’s back to pouting. “It’s more like 45%.”
Callan hisses. “I don’t believe you! I went through the whole exercise with you twice.”
