Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“Hey.” Mac automatically puts his arm around me.
I wish I didn’t like it as much as I do. I also wish it wasn’t entirely for show and a shield.
The two at the front of the pack move aside and nudge the one sort of hidden behind them to the front.
“Ask him,” the pack leader hisses.
The poor girl’s face is beet red. Her eyes bounce around the group and land on Brody, her face turning impossibly redder. “Um, uh, um…”
I want to hug her and tell her to get nicer friends.
Brody looks about as comfortable as a bunny in a lion’s den.
“Good luck at the game this weekend, Brody!” she stammers and rushes off.
Her friends cringe and watch her disappear into the bathroom.
“Sorry, she gets nervous.” The one in the back shrugs and follows them.
“Well, that was awkward,” Gage notes cheerfully.
“Why didn’t you put your arm around me and save us both from it, then?” Brody deadpans.
“That’s a strategy. Or you know, you could just ask E—”
Brody digs a finger into Gage’s side. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck you back.”
Gage lets it go and slaps a piece of paper on the table. “The SAC club is hosting a fundraiser movie night and we should all go.”
“What’s SAC?” Chase asks.
“Student accessibility club,” Gage explains. “My sister is on the committee, so I want to support her.”
“That’s cool. I can go,” Brody says.
“So can we.” Cammie pats Chase’s cheek then looks pointedly at me. “You don’t have class tonight.”
“I have a psych quiz later this week, but I could take a movie break.” I glance at Mac, fighting to squelch my hopeful lilt. A couple of hours in a dark room, tucked into his side, sounds like heaven. “What about you?”
“I can do a movie tonight.”
“Cool.” I’m impressed at my nonchalant tone. “I’ll text Talls and Enid and see if they can join.” I pull out my phone and fire off a message.
“Thanks, guys. I appreciate the support.” Gage digs into his massive plate of spaghetti.
“Should we ask any of the other guys on the team?” Chase asks.
“Eh.” Gage swipes his mouth with a napkin. “Maybe just keep it our group? If one of the other guys hit on my sister, I’d have to kill them and then I’d be kicked off the team.”
“I mean, fair,” Chase muses. “Especially if it was Brick.”
“This exactly,” Gage agrees.
His sister is HOH, so Gage is fluent in ASL. His sister is a freshman and lives on the other end of campus, in one of the accessibility dorms, so I’ve only heard about her and haven’t met her yet. She’s kind of been like Polkaroo so far this year.
My phone pings with new messages from Enid and Tally.
Enid
As long as it’s not a horror movie, I’m in.
Tally
Same, I can do campy horror, but not Rob Zombie horror.
Fee
They’re playing Wonder.
Enid
I always cry at that movie.
Tally
Me too!
Cammie
We might need cucumbers tomorrow.
Tally
Cammie
For puffy eyes.
The Terror women have ruined your pure mind.
Tally
You ruined it first with Aragorn and Legolas.
Enid
Please update your fic soon, Cam-Cam.
Cammie
Working on a new chapter this afternoon!
“Dibs on first beta read!” I squeal and side-hug Cammie. “Tally and Enid are in.”
“Cool. First beta read for what?” Gage asks.
“Cammie’s fic,” Chase says.
“I can’t wait for the next chapter,” Gage says.
The table goes silent.
“What? Everyone else is reading it, why shouldn’t I? Right, man?” He elbows Brody.
“Yup.” Brody’s face turns red and his food is suddenly super interesting.
We finish lunch, and I get irrationally excited when Mac lifts me off my feet in a goodbye hug before I head to my next lecture. My good mood improves when I spot my recent sticker on someone’s binder.
After class I head back to my apartment and call my sisters before I get ready for movie night. Their faces appear on the screen and my niece tries to hide in my sister’s cleavage. “Ariel! You get bigger every time I see you!”
She wrinkles her nose and shoves her stuffed goose’s beak into her mouth while still playing shy.
“How was practice today?” I ask. “For both of you?”
“Good. The boys are solid this season.” Lexi bounces a babbling Ariel in her lap. Ariel is a perfect mix of her and Roman with dark hair and huge eyes.
“I had a shutout today! Which is great because we’re playing against our biggest competition this weekend and they have a high scoring record,” Callie informs me.
“But they only scored on you once the last time you played them.” Roman tucks himself in beside Lexi, and Ariel clambers into his lap, snuggling into him.
“Hi, Roman, how was your day?”
“Full of hockey, just like these two. What about yours?”
“I was hanging with some hockey players, so hockey adjacent. I’m going to the movies tonight.” I finger-comb my hair.
“On a date?” Lexi perks up.
“It’s a group thing.”
“What about that boy you mentioned?” Lexi presses.