Page 35 of The Hookup Situation

“Nowhere,” I say, and bite my lip. “Sorry.”

“Uh huh.” She takes a sip of her hot chocolate, clearly not convinced, but not pressing the issue either. “Your parents aren’t coming?” she asks as she takes a seat on the sofa.

I feel a tension headache coming on, and my shoulders are tight as I grip my own drink harder than I was a second ago. “No, but it’s okay. It’s a lot to expect them to fly all the way here for a play, and I’ll see them in a couple of weeks anyway.”

She frowns but then takes another sip of her drink. She’s dressed in bright pink lounge pants from Victoria’s Secret and a cropped shirt with a sleeping koala bear on the front. Her dark curls are up in a ponytail.

I ask her how classes are going and if she’s seeing anyone. She smiles but shakes her head. “Nothing serious,” she says, but she’s blushing now, and I smile.

“Really?” I say, nudging her with my foot. “What about that girl I saw you with at the club, and the Halloween party? She was cute. Merida, right?”

She grins wider and her flush deepens. “Yeah, she was cute.”

“You seen her since then?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, keep your secrets,” I tease, as if I’m not harboring a giant ass secret of my own. She seems happy, though, and that makes me smile. Lucy deserves all the good things. Both of my best friends do.

We remove our face masks when the timer goes off, rinse, and apply moisturizer, then proceed to paint our nails. Mine are black and Lucy’s are red with glitter. We watchLove Islandas wesnuggle on the sofa, and I make myself go home two hours later before I pass out on her couch.

“Love you, Jax,” she tells me at the door, and I kiss her cheek.

“Love you, too, babe.”

“Hey,” she calls, as I’m heading to my car. I turn back. “You know you can talk to me, if you need anything. I’m always here, and so is Rory. I know we’re busy but you come before anything else. Or anyone else. You know that.”

My chest constricts and I have to hold my tears back. I manage a small smile. “I know. Goodnight, Luc.”

“Goodnight,” she says, and shuts the door.

PRESTON

“Woah, what the hell are you doing up at the ass crack of dawn?” I hear as I stumble into the kitchen the next morning in my running clothes — a moisture-wicking long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie on over that, joggers and socks. I’ll put my gloves, hat and jacket on before I leave.

“Why does everyone keep calling it that?” I mumble as I pour myself some coffee. “Dawn is at like, seven, not eight. And why are you so shocked?”

Chris blinks at me. “Um, maybe because I’ve never known you to wake up before nine in your life, except for last year fall semester when I had to drag you out of bed every morning so you didn’t fucking fail your nine am class.” He takes a sip of his coffee and stares at me.

“Whatever,” I grumble. “I’m going running.”

“With coffee shop guy?”

I flush. “Why can’t I be going by myself, just for the sake of exercise and self care?”

He snorts.

“All right, fine, yes, with coffee shop guy.”

He nods. “Better get moving then.”

I look at the clock. Jackson will be here in twenty minutes.

“Want me to make you some eggs?”

I blink at my best friend. I haven’t seen him much lately because I’ve been spending so many of my evenings with Jackson, and our schedules don’t line up so we’re always home at different times. He likes to make himself scarce whenever Jackson is here, too. I guess he just doesn’t like hearing me get fucked, which I can’t really blame him for because I don’t think I’d want to hear him fucking someone else either, though we’ve had bed partners here at the same time before, but maybe it’s weirder for him when I’m with a dude? I don’t know, but him offering to make my breakfast so I can go running with someone else is really sweet, and it’s making me realize how much I miss spending time with my best friend. It’s only been a little over a week since we went to the Halloween party together, but it feels longer than that, especially when I think about how much more I’ve come to know Jackson since then and everything that’s happened.

“That would be amazing. Thank you.”

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