Page 7 of Going All In

Chapter 2

“I’m grabbing Italian.Want anything?” Ally asked, poking her head into Darcy’s bedroom a few days later.

Darcy had been staring at the same sentence for the last ten minutes and the words were starting to swim in front of her eyes. She was so freaking tired, but she had notes to review for her master’s seminar tomorrow morning and a handful of assignments to grade as part of her teaching assistant position.

She should’ve finished up her grading this afternoon, but Shelby had called out at the coffee shop and Brooke had suckered Darcy into picking up the shift last minute. She could’ve said no, but she liked having a little extra spending money. And she was terrible at saying no.

That was a work in progress.

“I was just going to make something here.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing. We both forgot to go shopping this weekend,” Ally said with a shrug. “Come on. You know you’re craving Lanzi’s.”

Her mouth watered just thinking about the stuffed shells. And that bread. She didn’t know what was in it, but it was like a warm fluffy carb hug that you got to eat. Her stomach growled.

“I knew that would get you. Stuffed shells and extra bread?”

Darcy laughed. “Fine. But can you order? I’ve gotta finish,” she said, holding up her textbook.

“Of course. Always studying. How’s that social life going?”

“It’s fine. I went out with you to Casino Night, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. And you had the opportunity to totally hook up with Jake and you passed that up. He’s freaking hot, Darc. Sometimes I question your eyesight.”

Darcy laughed. “I can see just fine. And all I saw was a cocky player who I have no interest in. Definitely not my type.”

“Hot isn’t your type? Maybe for a little fun?”

“Why are you checking out Jake? What about Dom?” Darcy asked, trying to change the subject. She didn’t want to think about Jake. About his blue eyes. That smirk. Absolutely not her type.

But he’d filtered through her thoughts more than once since their verbal spat.

No.

She didn’t have time for him. Not that it mattered. She’d told him that she didn’t like the sport he played and clearly loved. It’s not like they had anything in common. He was a jock and she was trying to finish her master’s in clinical research with a focus in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Two completely different worlds.

And maybe it wasn’t the most thrilling of subjects according to almost everyone she encountered, but to her, it was fascinating. Math and science had always been her favorite subjects in school, and now she got to combine them. How was that not a good thing? Plus, it was personal to her. Working on research and finding an eventual cure and aggressive treatment plan for those suffering from various forms of dementia was important, and frankly, personal to so many people.

There had been a lot of research and advancement on brain plaque in relation to the disease, and that was where she was focusing most of her research. In fact, she should be hearing back regarding a finished study on plaques soon. She pulled up her email as Ally’s voice cut through her thoughts.

“Earth to Darcy. You still with us?”

She shook her head. “Sorry. Just checking something. So, Dom, right?”

“Oh my god, you zoned out, didn’t you? You’re lucky I love you, you know that?”

“Sorry,” she said, shutting her laptop. “So, Dom.”

“It’s nothing new,” Ally said. We flirt like crazy, but aside from a few make-out sessions that usually center around one too many drinks. I don’t think it’s actually going anywhere. We’re young, and he’s a hotshot rookie. It’s just fun for now.” Darcy wasn’t sure how honest her friend was being with her, but she wouldn’t press it just yet.

“Just don’t get hurt, okay? Because then I’ll have to kick his ass, and I have not kept up with my kickboxing classes. He’s a professional athlete. It would not be pretty on my end.”

Ally laughed and gave her a hug. “Love you, Darc.”

“Love you too. Now go order our food,” Darcy said. Her phone buzzed on the table and she groaned.

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