All three of their mouths fell open, as if I’d told them I was having an alien’s baby.
“Then?” Rose said, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Then we left because I wasn’t going to make him sit there while I studied.”
“Yeah, like I would have been able to concentrate on anything but him,” Faith said. Angela nodded.
“Then?” Rose prodded. “Jesus, Cam, it’s like trying to pull information from a murder suspect.”
“Then we went outside, it was cold, he gave me his sweatshirt, we walked here, and then he said goodbye.”
Faith frowned. “That’s it?”
I thought about us standing outside the entrance to my building. “He asked if I was going to the game Saturday.”
“And?”
“And I told him I didn’t usually go.”
“What did he say?” Faith asked.
“He said that maybe he’d see me there.”
Angela, Faith, and Rose stared at each other, then squealed, jumped up from their seats, and pulled me in for a hug.
I couldn’t help but laugh and take in some of their enthusiasm.
“Zeb Wilder likes you!” Angela squealed.
“Cammie and Zeb sitting in a tree…” Faith sing-songed.
Rose pulled me away from Angela and Faith who were more excited than two people winning a trip to Paris on a game show.
She looked down at me, gave me a soft smile. “Hun. The guy likes you. You know what that means?”
“What?” I asked, setting my hand on my stomach where butterflies were flitting about.
“We’re going to the football game on Saturday and you’re wearing that sweatshirt.”
4
ZEB
I kickedthe front door shut behind me and dropped my backpack right by the door. There was another backpack and several pairs of shoes on the floor, multiple coats on the hooks on the wall and one that had dropped beneath it.
“Yo, Wilder,” Nick called from the couch. He didn’t look away from the video game he was playing. With him on the three big couches placed in an L around the huge TV were Sean and Eli. Sean had a game controller in his hand and battled against Nick. Eli had a soda and was sprawled out watching.
The four of us lived together in a house offcampus. It was a big place–we were big guys–but it wasn’t fancy. In fact, the one time my sister Lainey visited, she dubbed it The Pit and said it smelled like gym socks. She hadn’t been back since.
The four of us were on the football team together and close as fuck. If we were girls, we’d be BFFs. Since it was the last night of midterms and right before a big game, all of us were home. There was no partying, no drinking. We ate a shit-ton of carbs and went to bed early.
It wasn’t wild or exciting, but we knew what was at stake if we fucked up. A win.
“I found her,” I announced.
“Dude, that was my–” Nick called out, then cut himself off, game forgotten. “What?”
I couldn’t help the slow smile that crept across my face.
