Page 34 of Chase Lovett Wants Me

Gage stops messing with his hair to gape at me. “Dude.”

“What?”

“We’re two months into four years of fun times.”

Brody rolls his eyes.

Gage points an accusing finger at him. “Don’t even. Yourmonk status is ninety percent of the reason girls won’t leave you alone. Mac at least flirts with them.”

“I don’t want to spend the next four years racking up a ridiculous number of one-night stands,” I say, and mean it. I thought a lot about what Cammie said about my reputation and it just isn’t what I want for myself.

“This,” Brody agrees.

“But I need a wingman at parties!” Gage argues. “Someone other than Mac because all the girls want him more. Please. I beg of you.”

“You’ll be fine without a wingman,” I assure him. “Honestly, the last couple of months were fun, but it gets old fast.”

Running into former hookups sucks. It’s awkward and uncomfortable and I started to feel used. I want more than someone to get off with. I want to watch movies and study and hang out with Cammie while she writes a new chapter as much as I want to feel her lips on mine. I want her to be my person, and I want to be hers.

“You guys suck.” Gage stuffs his hair supplies in his backpack. “I gotta roll. I have tutoring in fifteen.” He flips us both the bird and takes off.

Brody and I finish getting dressed and leave the locker room. I check my phone as we step outside. “I’m meeting up with Cammie for coffee and walking her to class,” I tell him.

“Good,” Brody replies. “Have you asked her on a date yet?”

“Isn’t coffee a date?”

“I mean, I guess. But you’ve sort of jumped over the whole coffee-get-to-know-you phase since you’ve already spent the night together.”

“So you think I should take her on adatedate?” I run a hand through my hair.

He side-eyes me. “Yeah, you definitely should.”

“I haven’t been on a date since the beginning of senior year,” I admit.

“I know this. And taking a girl to Mickey D’s doesn’t count as a real date.”

“It felt like a date. I paid,” I say defensively.

“For fries and a milkshake.”

“It seemed legit at the time,” I grumble.

He exhales his annoyance through his nose dramatically. “Take her out for dinner and go to a movie or something. Spend some time with just her. And don’t be in a rush to get her back into a bed.”

I blow out a breath. “What ifshewants to get back into a bed with me?”

“You haven’t had sex yet, right?” I didn’t give Brody details, but he knows things happened.

I shake my head. “We just did other stuff.”

He nods his approval. “Do more other stuff. And always take care of her first. My brother may not have been the best role model when it came to how he handled relationships until he and Rix became a thing, but that was the rule he stressed. Always take care of her before you get yours. Give before you get. He also says it’s important to listen first and react second.”

“It’s solid advice.”

“And make sure you take her somewhere the team doesn’t go. You don’t want to run into a former hookup when you’re on a date with Cammie,” Brody advises.

“Good call.”

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