Maybe that’s why the six of us had survived when so many relationships succumbed to the competition. At the heart of it, we were friends before we were colleagues. At least . . . that’s what it used to feel like. The traditions? Now they just felt like chores.
Marcus downed his drink and groaned. “The semester ends, you blink, and the summer sessions start.” He stared longingly at the ice. “One of these years I’m going to get a break.”
“It sucks that Dr. Eckersley went on sabbatical. I know you were gunning for a real vacation,” Caitlin said.
Marcus sighed. “Can’t all be as lucky as Hawthorne.”
I preened and sat a little taller in my chair. But as much as I wanted to enjoy my first summer off since I graduated high school, I couldn’t stop thinking about Joel.
Will I be able to win a hundred grand in less than a week?
Will they actually leave him alone if I clear his debt?
And what if I don’t?
The meager lunch I had choked down churned in my stomach.
Joel had, thankfully, agreed to go to the emergency room as soon as we left Atlantic City last night. I had a feeling that the doctors and nurses hadn’t believed the lie he peddled about how he acquired a shattered kneecap. Shot point-blank in the knee by a fastball in a batting cage? Seriously? He couldn’t come up with anything better than that? Joel really was a terrible liar.
Honestly, I didn’t care. After the last thirty hours, I was just glad to get a little sleep while he had been in surgery. Even if that sleep had been while I was upright in a vinyl chair.
I had almost bailed on this lunch, but Joel had come out of surgery and was immediately being put through his paces by the hospital’s physical therapist. He had insisted I go out—whether it was because he knew I was exhausted or because he was feeling guilty, I didn’t know.
I glanced at my watch as I cupped my hand over my mouth to hide another yawn. I really needed to leave for Atlantic City. My first night at a blackjack table hadn’t gone too badly. I’d squirreled away nine thousand dollars and held on to one thousand to play with tonight.
I didn’t just need to win big tonight. I needed a fucking miracle.
And since miracles required time, I needed a full night at the blackjack table, not just a few hours. With how tired I was, I had packed a bag and planned to get a cheap hotel room before playing again tomorrow night.
Right now, nothing else mattered.
Once I got Joel his money, I was going to play one more epic round and then take myself on vacation somewhere warm and sunny.
From the seat beside me, Jake tipped his chin in my direction. “You alright?”
Thankfully, we had already paid the bill and were free to go. As much as I wanted to stick around and shoot the breeze, I needed a catnap before I made the drive . . . again.
“Just tired,” I said, forcing a smile. “Late night.”
He draped his arm across the back of my chair. “Do you have plans after this? I was gonna hang around town for a little bit.” Jake cracked the familiar smile that had gotten both of us through late-night study sessions and frustrating months of dealing with egotistical professors and crushing workloads. “I thought maybe . . . we could get a drink or something.”
I glanced at the table full of cocktail glasses. “We just had drinks.” Well, they did. I had a polite sip of one. I had to stay sober for tonight.
Jake blinked for a moment, then chuckled under his breath. “Or coffee?” His hand slid up from the back of my chair to my shoulders. His touch was gentle, and I’m sure to everyone else, he just looked like he was stretching.
But after all these years as friends, I knew better. Just like every other man or woman who had ever touched me in that appropriately flirtatious kind of way, I felt absolutely nothing.
“Or maybe we could go on a walk?” His hope was endearing.
“Why?” I blurted out. It probably sounded like I was appalled at the idea, but I was just exhausted and didn’t have the social aptitude to mask it.
But Jake didn’t mind. He was used to how I got when I was running on very little sleep. “Because I missed you this semester.” Concern warped his eyebrows. “And you’ve barelysaid anything since we got here. I was hoping we could catch up. There’s . . . something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
“Did I miss a text or something?”
“No.” The accompanying laugh was nervous. “It’s not really the kind of thing you want to text someone.” His thumb grazed down the slope of my shoulder, stroking back and forth as Vaanya, Courtney, Marcus, and Caitlin began to gather their bags and to-go boxes. “Can we go somewhere quiet? Just the two of us?”
My stomach sank.
