Page 51 of Setting Limits

Chapter 26

Theknockatmydoor has me jumping up and rushing to the door. I’m not supposed to be seeing Wes today since Shay will be here later for a little time together. But I’m hoping maybe he came for a quick hello…or a quickie. I’d take either.

My chest deflates when I open the door and see Marissa, but I quickly recompose my features into a happy face.

“Hey, Marissa, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing. I just needed to get out of my room for a bit.”

“Justine giving you trouble?” I move to the side and hold my arm out, effectively inviting her in.

“Uh, not really.” She hops up on my bed and swings her feet. “She’sentertaining.”

“Ah, gotcha. Well, you’re welcome to seek solace here.”

“Sorry to put you out. It shouldn’t be more than forty-five minutes or so.”

“Oh, it’s not any trouble. We can hang out! I’ve been meaning to come by again, but things have been a little…busy.” More like Wes and I fuck like rabbits any chance we get. Which is actually a lot more frequent than I thought it would be, which is utterly fantastic.

“Yeah, getting into the semester can be tough. What’s your class load like?”

“Five.” I roll my eyes and collapse my upper half. “It’s so much. I really wish I took less. It wasn’t this hard at community, though that makes sense, I guess.”

“How’s Shay handling it?”

“Oh, she’s fine. She’s super smart and a total rockstar. Not to mention, she has my brother to help her. And she loves studying.” The two of them do; I’m sure it’s something they do in their spare time.

“Do you have anybody to help you?”

Wes. “Yeah. I’m all set. I just hate it. But my study partner makes it fun. We play games and stuff.” Like strip studying. Every right answer has him losing an article of clothing, then myself. Every wrong answer has him put two on. Not too long ago he was bundled in his winter coat, hat, gloves, and boots before he said, “fuck it,” and threw my index cards in the air.

That was just before he stripped off all our clothes and he fucked me into the mattress.

“It helps to have a study buddy. But midterms man. They take a lot of study time, and they’rehard. I feel like no matter how much I think I know and how much I’ve learned, when it comes to test time, I don’t know shit.”

This is part of what I like about Marissa. She’s down to earth and not a fucking brilliant student like Shay and Lochlyn. Even Wes is borderline genius. I hate being surrounded by such intelligence sometimes.

“Yes! I feel the same way. Ugh, anyway. What else is new? How’s Tristan?”

“Tristan. He’s such an up and down for me. Sometimes he’s absolutely amazing. Other times, I feel like I couldn’t matter less to him.” I know that feeling a little too well. “You have a boyfriend too, right? Down state still?”

“Yup, I do.” I can’t tell her the truth and risk her accidentally telling Shay. I’ll tell her; I just need to do it in my own time, which is not right now. I know Thanksgiving was not only a little weird for her, but also a breakthrough.

Lochlyn and I talked about it briefly. Neither of us had realized quite how bad things were between Shay and her mom. I was around and saw their interaction. Lochlyn knew Shay’s accounts, but neither of us knew they hadn’t hugged in years. Not to mention having Don there. He was nice enough, sure. But how is she supposed to respond when her mom suddenly has a guy after mourning her dad so significantly for years?

And that’s a replacement. At least in my eyes. Shay may not see it that way, as it’s not who she is or how she is, but I wouldn’t blame her if she did.

“How are things going long distance?”

“Not so great. It’s hard being so far away and only being able to talk on the phone or via text.” It’s one thing I definitely felt for Shay about once I had to go through it. “But I’m not sure it’s going to last much longer. I think by the time I get home from Christmas I’ll either have already broken up with him or will be while I’m there. It’s just too hard, and he’s not making time for me anymore.”

All of that is true. Except for the fact that it’s still happening. While it only ended three weeks ago, some of the sting of it is real still. I moved on quickly, partially because it had been over long before it ended, possibly even since shortly after it started, but Brendan did mean something to me. At least a little. It always stings when those sorts of relationships end, even if they weren’t overly meaningful.

“I don’t envy you at all. At least when I break up with Tristan, because I’m sure it will happen, I can do it in person and not have the whole issue with being on the phone or waiting for weeks.”

I can’t help but giggle before answering. Sometimes some girl talk is all I need to brighten my mood. “If you know you’re going to break up with him, why are you still with him?”

“Oh, because he’s super awesome in bed. Yeah, it’s like the only front I’m fully satisfied with. I would change literally everything about him but his looks and the way he is in bed. He’s not funny, his personality is kind of droll, and he’s incredibly self-righteous. But he knows how to use his God-given body to the fullest extent.”

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