Page 19 of Scrimmage

I don’t need Cole to walk me, but I get some sick enjoyment from him doing everything I say. Penny looks displeased by his offer, but she keeps her mouth shut.

“Please?” I bat my eyelashes at him.

“You got it.” He casually puts his arm around the top of my seat. Cole is too much of a nice boy for me to ever consider him sex material. Especially when he does shit like this. It gives me the immediate ick. I would eat him alive if we were ever more than friends. He’s still under the impression that I can change. He would be wrong, but I don’t fault him for trying. I think he’s aiming to stick around long enough that I finally see him and realize he’s the one, like this is some sort of rom-com. It’s not. It’s like Jennifer’s Body, and I’m Jennifer.

Penny packs her stuff away. “Gotta go. See you two later.” She grabs her coffee, pats Cole on the head, and gives me a look that tells me I should stop fucking with Cole’s feelings.

“Are you gonna make it up to me tonight?” Cole leans back in his chair, spreading his legs under the table.

“Make what up?”

He gives me a confused look. “Pizza. You ditched me last time?”

“Oh, yeah.” I inwardly relax. For a second, I thought he was about to ask me for a blow job.

“Promise?” His big brown puppy dog eyes beg.

“Promise.”

The bar is already full by the time I get there. After I got home, I took a nap and overslept. Penny and Cole wave me over. They grabbed our favorite table in the corner. It was probably Cole. I bet he got here early just to secure it to make us happy. I feel kind of bad, but I also don’t. The second I sit down he’s all over me asking why I’m late and if everything is okay. He even asks about the asshole from class. Once he’s satisfied, he volunteers to get me a beer.

“God, he’s being intense tonight,” I groan.

“I think he checked his phone every minute.”

“I don’t know why. Mine’s dead, per usual. Get drunk and kiss a boy once and they just become obsessed.” I flip my hair.

“You’re evil,” she giggles.

“Like you haven’t done the same.”

“That was Freshman year!” she screeches. “I was in my hoe phase.”

“Still are,” I mumble.

Cole returns, sliding my favorite draft beer in front of me. It’s nice and frothy on the top, just the way I like it.

He furrows his brows. “Vale still isn’t here?”

“He went to his architect professor’s office hours. He’ll be here any minute.” Penny shrugs.

“Vale?” I look between them wildly. “You invitedVale? How dare you.”

“He’s not that bad,” Penny insists.

“Not that bad? I’m going to have to suffer through two hours of his patronizing architecture jargon. Not to mention the fucking man bun. I want to cut it off of his head. I bet he’d cry.”

Cole nods and gives Penny a sheepish smile. “She’s not wrong. He’s a dick.”

“And how many times has he stood you up?” I continue. “Canceling at the last second with some bullshit about his so-called art.”

“Well, he just walked in. So, you two better play nice,” she hisses as he makes his way to the table. Even the way he walks is arrogant. He pauses at the bar to order a drink.

The moment he is handed a glass of white wine I groan and throw my head back against the chair. “Is he fucking kidding?”

“Ash,” Penny growls. Cole looks behind us trying to hide his laughter as Vale appears at Penny’s side. He makes absolutely no effort to act like he is enjoying himself, and he’s only been here for thirty seconds.

“I’m picking the place next time.” He swirls the glass looking into it with disgust. As if he organized this and isn’t an unwanted guest. “Ugh, they only had cheap wine,” he scoffs.

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