Page 50 of Sticking Around

“Friend?” he asks, and I suspect that’s not what he had on his mind.

“Tania is part of my study group.”

“I didn’t realize you had a study group, or friends on campus. You never mentioned them.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say she’s my friend. We just all get something out of the study group. We all have different strengths when it comes to the material.”

“Right, tit for tat,” he says, scrubbing his chin, and it gives me pause. Brady swears life isn’t about tit for tat, and not only does he tell me that, he’s also constantly trying to prove it. I mean, how does it help him when he quizzes me? We might have played a sexy little game with it in the beginning, but I can tell he’s very serious about my studies, and I love how he supports me. He’s always insisting I don’t have to cook or clean to stay at his place.

His family from Paradise, Newfoundland take horrible advantage of this good man, and his generosity, and I refuse to do that. I refuse to be duped by anyone ever again, which makes me keep everything I have close, and while we’ve both been taken advantage of, we now have very different outlooks on life.

The guy who borrowed the twenty dollars didn’t dupe him.

“I better get going.” He nods like he has a lot on his mind, and I open the door. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I hurry over to Tania, who is watching Brady drive away. “Ah, was that Brady Fisher?” she asks, sounding breathless.

“Yes, why?” I try to play it casual, but it’s hard to do when her jaw is sitting on the ground.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Her eyes are big and wide as she watches his car disappear around the corner. “Brady Fisher, as in the goalie from the Bucks?”

“The one and only,” I tell her and hike my backpack up higher. Trevor, another guy from our small study group, joins us on the path.

“What’s that about Brady Fisher?” he asks and glances around. “Was he here?”

“Are you tapping that?” Tania asks and I shake my head and laugh.

“Tapping that?”

She playfully wags her eyebrows. “Okay, answering a question with a question now, are we?”

“Which means she’s definitely tapping that,” Trevor pipes in.

I start walking toward the building and the two fall in line with me. Trevor nudges me with his hip. “Just tell me you’re using protection. That man has a reputation a mile long.”

“That’s not the only thing he has that’s long,” Tania says and my gaze flies to hers. She grins and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Or so I heard.” She chuckles. “Might that be something you’d want to confirm.”

“The only thing I want to confirm is we’re all ready for this exam today.”

Tania and Trevor exchange grins. “Confirmed,” they both say in unison.

“Ohmigod are we fourteen?” I ask, exasperated.

“No but some of us are closer to it than others,” Tania jokes, and while she’s just kidding with me, it does remind me that I am older than Brady and that maybe he should be dating girls his own age. Why again is he with me when he could have any vivacious bunny he wants?

Trevor throws his arm around me. “Ignore her. She’s jealous of your maturity and years of experience.”

“Was that meant to be a compliment?” We reach the doors and Trevor opens them for us.

“Of course.” He waves his hand for me to enter and I walk into the building. Students mill about as they get ready for their finals, and I excuse myself and head to the community room, where I do some yoga and center myself for the exam.

Ten minutes before it starts, I make my way to the classroom, and grab my usual seat. I’m pretty Zen by the time our professor enters, and when he gives us the go, we all boot up our laptops to take the online exam. Head down for the next couple of hours, I focus and begin to fly through the questions. When I come across a few essay questions from none other than chapter four, Brady’s favorite chapter, I can’t help but chuckle. A few heads turn my way and I refocus.

By the time the bell rings, I’ve answered all the questions and double checked most of them. I blow my hair from my face as I hit enter, and lift my tired eyes to find everyone else finishing up and powering down.

I catch Tania’s eyes and she gives me a smile, then we both turn to Trevor, who is still running his fingers through his hair. I do the same when I’m stressed. “Trev, you good.”

“Yeah, what are you guys up to now?” he asks.

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