Page 120 of Your Side of the Offense

"I missed you," he says, pulling a chair and sitting next to me.

I shrug with cockiness. "What's not to miss?"

They all laugh.

"You got me a beef taco? I was in the mood for a quesadilla," Caleb complains.

"You didn't answer when I texted. Eat what's in front of you," Jaden says.

"I told you I had a meeting with my dean, when was I supposed to text you back?" he says.

"You met the dean, why?" I ask.

"I had a small tussle with one of my professors," he says.

I want to press but Harvey walks in, stealing all my words from me. My heart drops even further when I spot the girl who is slowly turning to my arch nemesis next to him. He isn't holding her hand, and Harvey is a hand holder. Strange but okay.

Archer frowns. He sees him next and the mood at the table sours as he goes to the line for food. I look at the nachos and suddenly feel full.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asks, their eyes are all intent on me.

"I'm fine," I lie.

When none of them stop looking at me I turn with glares.

"Now back to you and the dean." I look at Caleb.

He leans back in the chair and lets out a long breath.

"I'll tell you later," he says.

The dark shadow of Harv and his girlfriend approaching the table sends me into a hotter and hotter jealousy. I want to pull her away from him. When they are close, I finally turn and reveal my biggest smile.

Harv doesn't spare me a look as his focus is solely on this girl who just sat next to Arch and they both sit between Arch and Jaden.

"Hello, friends," Harv says, his eyes on me when he says friends.

This has to be a joke. That's the only explanation I can think of. Harv didn't claim anyone all along and now her? What the fuck makes her special?

"Hi, everyone." The girl smiles sweetly as she reaches for a potato fry on his plate, and he lets her have it. That used to be mine. I am the boyfriend's fry muncher in this group.

"Gang, this is Fay. Fay, these are my friends, Jaden, Summer, Caleb and Archer," he says coolly, looking at her and my chest gets so hot I want to cry. But I pick up a nacho and stuff it in my face.

This is fucking torture.

"It's nice to meet you guys and you Summer. Harv has told me a lot about you," she says and I detect a foreign note in her tone I don't know.

"He has?" My voice comes out pitchier than I intended, and I clear my throat.

"Yeah. And you are my personal hero." She grins.

"Huh?" I ask dumbfounded. Everyone at this table is as quiet as companies when new graduates apply for jobs.

"I mean, all of this—" she gestures around the table.

"That's enough," Harv says, looking a little not with his new girlfriend's babbles.

"No, Harv, I think you need to let her finish. Go on, Fay." I can't hide my bubbling anger and I'm not sure I want to. I want to shower her with all these nachos. And it's not even that I'm angry at what she's saying, but that she is sitting there talking about Harvey like he is hers.

---