Page 16 of Learning Curve

“How sure are you he wasn’t involved in the whole Titanic debacle?” I ask teasingly, making Julia snort beer through her nose.

Ace offers the sleeve of his suit coat to Julia without hesitation, adding, “I’m terrified for the day he starts college.”

“Me too. And your parents are going to be out of their minds. They’re worried about you, and you’re only a fourth of his crazy on a good day,” Julia teases. “The number of times your mom and my mom have texted me about you since we moved in to the dorms would make your nipple hairs stand on end.”

“What?” he questions, putting his hands over his nonexistent boobs out of reflex. “What the hell are they saying?”

She pulls her phone out of her purse and shows the screen to both of us. It’s a text conversation between Julia and Ace’s mom, Cassie.

Cassie: Is Ace still alive?

Julia: Yes.

Cassie: Is he planning on pranking Thatch back after that idiot showed up in Ty’s English class?

Julia: Also, yes.

Cassie: Son of a bitch. Maybe we should’ve sent him off to a college on the West Coast. Watch him for me, okay? Honestly, leash him if you have to. I’m not above leashing my kids.

Julia: I thought they only did that with toddlers with a run-into-traffic tendency?

Cassie: And? You’ve just described Ace, sweetheart. Anyway, I couldn’t send him to the West Coast because I need you together, and we both know your stage-five-clinger mother would’ve spent the next six months crying her eyes out if you were so far away.

Julia: Speaking of my mother, I think it would be REALLY great if you take her out for some drinks so she’s too busy to call and text me every 10 minutes.

Cassie: I’m on it, Jules. Love you, girl.

“Letting my mom secretly keep tabs on me? You’re a sneaky little turncoat, Julia.”

She narrows her eyes. “Like you’re not texting with my mom too.”

“Hey, I can’t help that Georgia and I are besties.” Ace smiles over at her like a guy who would lick the ground she walked on if she asked, and I silently wonder when he’s going to become aware of his feelings for her.

But when he wraps his arm around her shoulders and sways her playfully from side to side, I get the feeling that denial is his coping mechanism of choice. The two of them are in sync, and it’s not just because they’ve known each other forever.

“Hey, Scottie!” Julia exclaims across the room suddenly, startling Ace’s arm off her shoulders when she shoves her hand into the sky to wave. I turn slowly to look, though my heart is pacing anything but slow, and lay eyes on the girl who invited me here tonight in the first place.

She’s standing in the back of a rowdy crowd, but for some reason, I can see her perfectly.

Her long brown hair is pulled up in a fancy ponytail with loose strands curled around her face, and her fit body is covered in a tight black dress, a jean jacket, and black Converse sneakers. Her eyes shine in the DJ’s lights.

Fuck. She looks incredible.

She notices Julia first and then me, her gaze flicking theatrically in a double take. It takes a minute and several mini conversations of explaining herself, but eventually, she maneuvers herself away from the boisterous crowd that includes her douchebag boyfriend and the flirty blonde who sat beside him in our English class.

I can’t seem to find it in myself to look away as she closes the distance between us, no matter how much I know I should. Several idiots gawk as she crosses the room, but I’m not surprised. Scottie’s petite build and uniquely striking face are hard to resist, especially for a bunch of dudes with low impulse control.

When she arrives, her eyes on me, Julia smothers her in a hug so intense the two of them end it in giggles. Ace and I look on like a couple of schmucks, but Julia quickly includes us.

“Scottie, do you know Ace and Finn?”

“Yeah! The three of us have English class together,” Ace confirms. “Scottie here is the one who invited Finn tonight.” He waggles his eyebrows at Julia. “Remember…I was telling you how Finn has no friends except for the one girl—”

I knock the back of my fist into his stomach, a gentle warning, and he stops immediately. Julia smiles and laughs.

“I’m kind of sad your dad isn’t actually enrolling,” Scottie jumps in to tease, and Ace groans.

“Trust me, you’re not. He’s a caricature of a human.”

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