Page 28 of The Hookup Situation

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“Stressed about the play?”

I shake my head. “No, that’s going well for the most part.”

“Acid reflux? Gas? Trouble sleeping?”

“What in the world?” I raise an eyebrow at him. “No. Well, maybe the last one.”

“I see. Guy trouble?”

My cheeks heat and he doesn’t miss it. “Ahh, yes, heartburn of a different kind.”

“I’m not in love with him, he’s a fuck buddy.” My voice is harsh but it doesn’t seem to bother Colby. Not much does bother him.

“Okay.” He takes in another giant mouthful of yogurt.

I narrow my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He swallows his food. “Is this the same guy that you’ve been texting with nonstop for the last week with a huge smile on your face? The guy you stay out late with almost every night? The guy you bolt out of the apartment to meet at a second's notice?

“It’s not like that,” I retort. “He’s just a guy. It’s sex. That’s it.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“No problem. He just invited me to watch him play volleyball tonight and I don’t know if I should go.”

He’s seriously almost finished with the entire container of yogurt already. The guy eats like an elephant. And he’s in incredible shape.

“Do you want to go?” he asks.

I bite my lip again. “I shouldn’t.”

“But do you want to?”

“I don’twantto want to.”

“But you do want to?”

“Jesus, fuck, yes, alright? I fucking want to.”

He shrugs, still calm as ever while I’m having a mini freak out over here. “Then go.”

I groan again and run both hands through my hair. “You make it sound so simple.”

“It is. You like him, he likes you.”

“He likes when I fuck him,” I reply. Colby has no idea about the inner turmoil I’m having, and have been having when it comes to Preston, from the moment I met him. I’ve broken all of my rules for him.

And it looks like I’m about to break one more.

“Listen, please don’t say anything to Rory or Lucy about him. It’s nothing serious and I don’t want them to know.”

“No problem,” he says, and tosses the empty container of yogurt in the trash.

When I get to the rec center where Preston told me to go, I hop out of my car and move as quickly as I can through the night air, the winter chill biting at my face, my hands shoved deep inside my coat pockets as I trudge through the snow and onto the sidewalk leading up to the side door. I’ve never actually been here before, but I’m assuming this is the right place.

I’m grateful for the warm air that hits me when I step inside, and I knock the snow off my boots as the door closes behind me. It’s fairly busy, with students and staff bustling about. The rec center is huge and houses a multitude of different smaller rooms inside it, as well as a gymnasium. I can see a fitness class going on to my right, through the floor to ceiling windows, and the smell of chlorine hits me, telling me there’s a pool nearby. The sound of squeaking shoes and muffled voices echoes in the hallway.

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