Page 31 of The Hookup Type

Under different circumstances, I would’ve had something snarky to say back. “Katie’s ex just tried getting into our apartment,” I said softly.

“Tyler?”

“Yeah, Tyler.” I was impressed with his memory. It just emphasized how crappy Bryson’s was. “He was pretty drunk, and it sounded like he had a bunch of guys with him.”

“Are you guys okay?” His voice grew more urgent. There was a fit of yelling in the background, followed by a stream of fake gunfire. “You locked the door, right? Like you didn’t try to go out into the hall?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” I looked back at Katie. She tugged on her earring and stared down at the counter. There had to be more to the story she wasn’t telling me. “Katie’s a little nervous that he will try and come back.”

“I’ll be there in ten,” Jaxon said, bringing my focus back to our conversation.

“But I didn’t—”

“You didn’t have to ask, Mace, I can just tell.” His voice was soft, like he was whispering right next to me. “I’ll call you when I’m outside. Don’t unlock the door until I call.”

I turned to smile reassuringly at Katie. “Okay.” I felt safer knowing that Jaxon would be over soon. Once he walked through the door, I knew that his presence alone would shift the entire mood.

As soon as I mentioned that Katie was worried, he wasted no time adjusting his plans. It was one thing for him to be concerned about me, but it was a whole other type of turn-on for him to be worried about my best friend.

It sucked to know that if I had just had the same conversation with Bryson, he wouldn’t have even batted an eye at the situation. It sucked even more that I would’ve done anything to see him care for a fraction of what Jaxon just offered me. At this point, I felt like the only reason I was keeping Bryson around was because Jaxon didn’t want to be anything more than friends, but I didn’t want to travel down that dark rabbit hole.

Katie cocked her head, and I watched a small wave of relief wash over her. “Red or white?”

“I love that boy.” Katie sighed and tossed her empty drink in the trash.

“So do I,” I murmured into the tip of my bottle. It was low enough so Katie couldn’t hear it, and I could try and ignore the fact that I had admitted it.

Chapter22

Jaxon

December 2015

As soon asI hung up with Maci, I ran into my room to pack an overnight bag. Connor and I were the only ones left in the apartment, and we were playing video games when Maci called.

Connor studied my bag from the couch and paused his game. “You heading out?”

“Maci called me and said some guys just tried to get in their apartment.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I waited to see if Connor picked up on the name I had just dropped.

Earlier, when Maci called, he was completely invested in the game, so I knew he wasn’t paying attention. Now his attention was on me.

Connor’s eyebrows knit together. “Maci. As in, the girl Kennedy has been messing around with, Maci?”

I couldn’t tell by his tone if he thought it was weird that she called me or if he was just double-checking that he was thinking of the right girl.

“Yeah,” I said casually. I decided to throw in some background to help everything make sense. “We met in class last year, so we were friends before she met Bryson.”

Connor was completely unphased by my answer and turned off the PS4. “Let me grab a few things, and I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t have to, man. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“You just said someguystried to break into her apartment. I’m coming with you,” Connor insisted, making it very clear that it wasn’t an argument.

I gestured down the hallway to let him know I would wait for him to get ready.

Connor was the classic good guy. He came from a good family and always took the moral high ground. He had always been fascinated with how Bryson and I operated, and while he didn’t always agree with how we did things; at the drop of a hat he would be there for us no matter what. Connor had been roommates with Jared back when we were living in the dorms, and the four of us got along so well that it just made sense to all room together.

Since it was just the two of us left on campus, we locked up the apartment, and I drove us over to Maci and Katie’s.

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