“Yes!”she squeals. Her arms fly out toward me, like she’s about to pull me into an aggressive hug, but she stops herself just shy of my body, letting them fall to her sides instead. “You can pick your name, and species, and—it’s like you’reactuallyin the Fellowship. Ornot,if you want to do something else! We’re totally relaxed on the rules. Not like the group Jamison runs.”
I have no idea who Jamison is, or what the rules of their role-playing group might be, so I just flash her an awkward smile. As I do, my eyes catch on a small, rectangular object dangling from her backpack zipper. I narrow my gaze, realization flooding in.
“Is that a mini version ofPride and Prejudice?” I gasp. At first, Bailey looks confused. But when she follows my line of vision over her shoulder, her eyes widen excitedly, and she spins around so that her back’s facing me, presenting the keychain.
“Isn’t it great?” she gushes. “I got it over at the romance bookstore on Blanchard. They have, like, amilliondifferent versions.”
My jaw literally drops. “You read romance books?” I ask.
Bailey spins back around to face me. “Uh,yeah!” she says, the “duh” implied. “Romance books are the only PR men have left.”
A laugh spills out of me, and I clasp a hand over my mouth to suppress the giggle. I think back to what Peyton said in thelocker room that day. How she thought Bailey and I would get along great.
I’m starting to realize Peyton is right a lot more than I give her credit for.
We continue down the hallway, side by side. Now that Peyton’s on my mind, I don’t think I’m going to get her out of it. There’s no cure for Peyton Clarke. When she’s not around, my thoughts chase her. And when she is, they scatter.
“So,” I say, already knowing that this isn’t going to come off nearly as indifferent as I want it to. “Peyton isn’t part of the campaign by any chance, is she?”
Yeah, I could not have worded that worse.
Bailey’s eyes flick to me, knowingly, and a sly smirk tugs at the corners of her lips.“No,”she says, drawing out the word and flicking her tone up at the end. “She’s not into the whole role-play thing.”
She pauses, drawing her gaze from my feet to my head.
“In the game setting,”she clarifies, and heat floods my body at the implication. “Otherwise, no clue. You’d have to ask her.”
I don’t even know what to say. A strangle noise slips from the back of my throat, and I quickly snap my mouth shut.
“Shit!Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” she says, scrubbing a hand over her face. “For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure she’d do anything for you. You’re like, one of her favorite people.”
A flustered half-laugh tumbles from my mouth, and I look away, inhaling slowly to soothe the flare in my cheeks. “Yeah, well,” I say, tucking my hair behind my ear. “You know. She says that about everyone.”
But Bailey shakes her head, her brows drawing together. “No,” she says slowly. “Not like this. Not likeyou.”
My eyes flick up to meet hers, heart thudding mercilessly in my chest. She continues.
“Look, I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” she says, wetting her lips. “But the only reason Peyton hasn’t said anything is because she thinks you’re like—” She stops, tilting her head. “What’s the word for celibate, but for like, relationships? Whatever that is.”
An awkward laugh slips out of me, and I clear my throat. “Um…”
Bailey’s eyes go wide. ”Which is totally fine if you are!” she adds, almost frantically. “I mean,trust me, I’ve been there.”
I shouldn’t open up to Bailey. Even spending a whole season with the woman, I hardly know her. But that’s kind of how you make friends, isn’t it? You just decide one day to randomly trust this person with a piece of information and pray they don’t break your heart.
That takes a lot of faith. Something I didn’t think I’d ever have again. But in this moment, in this hallway that reeks of coffee and sweat, I feel it.
“I don’t really know what I am,” I admit. “Maybe just… slightly traumatized?”
Bailey huffs a laugh, pushing open the door to the courtyard. It’s a pretty dreary day. A cold one. The sun is hidden behind the clouds, and yet, it feels like it’s right in front of me.
“Make that two of us.” She smiles. “Are you ready for the semis?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Thirty Six
Peyton
