Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 152064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Chase’s teammates Mac, Gage, and Brody are already at the table when we arrive.
“We ordered appetizers,” Gage announces as we join them.
“Lots of them,” Mac adds.
They’re bottomless pits, so this tracks.
The server stops by to take our drink orders. I opt for cola since I plan to study later.
“How you doing?” Brody asks.
My friends know about the situation with my parents, but Brody is the most sensitive of the guys. Probably because his mom bailed on their family when he was four, so he and his brothers were raised by their dad.
“Just keeping my head down so I can get through exams.” Mostly I try not to think about the holidays. Otherwise I’ll end up in a spiral.
“I get it.” Brody nods somberly.
Fee gives me a side hug.
“I’m here if you need someone to cheer you up,” Gage offers.
Mac shoves his shoulder. “Don’t, dude.”
“I mean that in a nonsexual way!” Gage replies defensively.
The table gives him a collective eye roll.
“Seriously, I’m more than just a relentless playboy,” he argues.
I rest my chin on my steepled fingers and bat my lashes. “But are you?”
“Occasionally.” He shrugs.
This is what I need, friends and some good-natured ribbing to take my mind off everything else.
The server drops off our appetizers. They weren’t kidding about ordering a lot of food. Soon the entire table is covered in plates.
Mac turns his megawatt smile on the server. “Thank you, Amanda. I appreciate you.”
Amanda blinks at him and stutters out, “You’re welcome,” while fiddling with her hair.
“We’re ready to order now!” Fee’s voice is unnaturally high.
Amanda snaps out of her Mac attack and takes our orders.
Cammie does a seat shimmy while waving her phone around. “Oh yay! Enid will be in here in a minute.”
Everyone looks at Brody, whose face turns red.
“I need to use the restroom.” He hustles off.
“Is he okay?” Fee asks.
“He’s probably having a mild panic attack, but repeated exposure is good for him.” Mac loads a selection of appetizers onto his plate. “Besides, one of these days he’ll get over himself and ask her out, right?”
“Hopefully,” Gage muses. “The mutual pining is a lot.”
All eyes move to Gage.
“What? It’s true. Those two are the king and queen of Pineville.”
“We just…didn’t realize you recognized feelings beyond the range of lust,” Chase quips.
He nudges Chase. “Move over one so they have to sit beside each other.”
We reorganize ourselves, and thankfully Enid arrives before Brody returns. She orders herself a mojito when the server brings the rest of our drinks.
“How’s everyone doing? Are we decompressing-from-exam-studying-stress, or avoiding-all-the-things?”
Enid is a physiology major and is always studying or working.
“Both?” Cammie asks.
As a creative writing major, almost all her exams are essays, so she’s been hunched over her laptop for the past two weeks, which means her fanfic updates are now on pause until the holidays.
“I have a study date with my tutor tomorrow afternoon,” Gage offers.
“Study date?” I make air quotes.
“Nah, this one is all business, which is better for my grades, but not my ego or my business end.”
“You focus too much on your business end,” Mac says.
Brody returns to the table. Enid’s back is to him, and his eyes are wide as he looks around the table and fires the double bird at us.
Enid glances over her shoulder, and he quickly runs his hands through his hair to hide the gesture. “Hey, Enid.”
“Hi, Brody.”
He apologizes when his arm brushes hers as he takes his seat. “What are we talking about?”
“Gage’s overused business end,” Cammie says.
“Like you’re one to talk.” Gage flings a hand in her direction. “Chase wears a permanent I-got-laid grin.”
Chase frowns. “I don’t have a got-laid face.”
“If it makes you feel better, Cammie also has a got-laid face,” Fee says.
“This is super true,” Cammie admits.
I sigh. “One day I’ll have a got-laid face.”
A couple of guys I’ve seen at parties before stop by the table to say hi. Apparently, they’re also going to this hockey party.
“See you there, virgin.” One of them winks at me as they start to walk away.
“Shut your stupid, fucking mouth, dickbag,” Gage snaps, surprising all of us.
He holds up both hands. “It was a joke!”
“How about we start calling you virgin and see how cute you think it is,” Brody says darkly.
“Sorry, man. Sorry.” He bows out, and he and his friend rush off.
“They’re assholes, just ignore them,” Mac says.
“I’m so tired of being completely untouchable or sexualized by douchebags who just want to say they popped a cherry. Is it too much to want someone to want me for the right reasons?”
Again, I feel bad for the way I approached Flip, because he might say the same thing. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never had a girlfriend, though, so maybe not.
“I don’t want my first time to be some drunken accident. I want it to be special, and I want to be in love.”