Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“Calmy, no!” He giggles, arching his back when I blow raspberries against his neck.
“No?” I flip him into my arms until I’m cradling him like an infant. “But Calmy wants all the love bugs.”
“Wuv bugs?!” he laughs, wiggling until I set him free, and darts across the carpet until he’s throwing himself in his mama’s arms.
Chase looks to Mason. “Fernando, Jeremy, Cedric, and…um.” He clears his throat, his eyes moving to Brady.
Brady’s gaze skates past mine and he lifts a shoulder, his attention going back to his phone. “Maybe one or two others, not sure yet.”
“Okay, so obviously Noah is with me.” Ari smiles, looking over at her man on screen. “And, Paige, you’re still using Lolli’s spare room when you go back and forth from here to Oceanside, right?”
“I am.” She looks up with a smile. “How do we feel about pumpkin cheesecake with candied pecans?”
Several of us chuckle, and she blushes all over again, sliding down in the chair and going back to her notebook.
Chase shakes his head, fighting a grin. “Okay, so Mason’s room is free,” he reiterates.
“Fernando and Jeremy are already roommates, so we can put them both in there,” Mason says.
“So that leaves possibly three people.” Noah pulls his hoodie over his head, leaning closer in the camera view.
The room goes quiet, and when I look around, Chase, Mason, Ari, and Noah are looking at me. “What?”
“Nothing,” Ari says quickly.
Too quickly.
I glare at my best friend.
Noah clears his throat. “Well, I can attest to the couch being pretty comfortable. That covers one more.”
“Then we’re all good.” Brady looks up, shoving his phone in his pocket.
“Are we?” Chase asks.
I make a silly face at Deaton, and he covers his face with his tiny hands, pulling them away a moment later and trying to make the same one back. I laugh and make another.
“Paige at Lolli’s, Mason at Payton’s, Noah with Ari, and me with Cam.”
I freeze, my eyes snapping to Brady. “What?”
He frowns. “What?”
“Okay, then, it’s settled.” Ari claps her hands and jumps up. “Noah, love you. I’ll call you when we get back in our dorm.”
She hangs up, takes my hand, and yanks me to my feet, tugging me right out the door.
We get to the sidewalk before I think to pull myself free, spinning to face Ari. “Did he just say we’re rooming together this weekend?”
“He did.”
“For three days?”
Ari scrunches her nose and nods.
“Jesus fuck.” I drop my head back. “He’s trying to kill me.”
Ari loops her arm in mine and drags me down the path toward our dorm. “Well, let’s look at the bright side.”
“What bright side would that be?”
And then she blows my damn mind.
Brady
I blink, then blink again.
“What just happened?”
“Didn’t you two ‘break up’?” Chase smirks.
“Fuck off, we weren’t really together, but yeah, we’re not pretending anymore. Why? What’s that have to do with anything?”
Mason laughs, and I swing a glare his way.
“Is someone going to talk or not, assholes?”
“Well, Cam didn’t seem to think you two would be sharing a room together.”
My head tugs back. “Yeah, that’s because she doesn’t need to think about it. It’s just what we do.”
“It’s what you did.”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “What am I missing here?”
“Oh, Brady.” It’s Paige who talks, and I look up to find her packing her things in her book bag before hanging it over her shoulder. She walks over, putting her hand on my arm with a little pat. “You’re in for a ride.”
I frown, trailing her as she walks over to Payton, kissing Deaton on the head before walking out. “Wait. How did you know we ended our fake-dating shit?”
Chase turns to Mason, who glances at his girl.
Payton opens her mouth, but nothing comes out, a small shrug following. “She may have told Ari, and Ari might have let it slip when I picked up Deaton on Tuesday.”
“Why would she tell Ari?” I ask. “You guys knew what we were doing since day one.”
“Because, my man.” Mason drops down on the couch next to Payton, hauling his son into his lap. “Girls tell their friends when things are sad, bad, and ugly.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t match anything about us.”
“Oh, you’re an us again?”
I throw a pillow at Chase’s head, flipping him off when he laughs.
“Come on, man, just say it.” He digs into a bag of chips.
“Say what?”
“That you like her.”
“I love her.”
Their eyes grow wide.
“No, I mean I love her like I love all the girls,” I rush to say. “Like you love her. Stop smiling!”
They’re all laughing now, and I sit back in the chair.
“You guys are idiots.” I sigh, glancing over at Payton. “Think she told anyone else our little deal was off?”
“I don’t know.” She offers a small smile. “But I think if you’re asking that question, then you’re hoping she hasn’t.”