“I’ve never been too slow,” he says calmly.
“I’d be faster,” I add, mostly to annoy him.
Ryan glances at me, a small, surprised smile tugging at his mouth. “You?”
“Absolutely.”
He huffs a quiet laugh just as the bell rings across the courtyard and we all groan in sync.
“Time to pretend we’re responsible students again,” Liam says, stretching.
“Hey,” I say, brushing crumbs off my pants as I stand, “what if we have a barbecue tonight? At our place. To celebrate surviving the week.”
Kiara grins. “I’m in.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Ryan says.
“I’ll bring chips,” Liam adds, nudging Mel. “We can make one of those weird fancy salads you always do.”
“You love my weird fancy salads,” Mel says.
“Unfortunately, I do,” Liam replies, kissing her cheek.
Kiara fake gags as we start walking. “Can you two save the romance for literally anywhere else?”
I laugh and Noah ruffles my hair as he passes. “We’ll pick up food after class.”
“Perfect.”
We split off toward our buildings, but just as we reach the stairs, I pause and pat my bag. “Wait—my water bottle. I left it on the bench.”
“Go grab it,” Mel says. “We’ll tell Sophie you’re coming.”
“Thanks!” I jog back across the courtyard. My bottle is still half-hidden under the bench. I bend to grab it, but when I come back up, a hand closes around my wrist. And I go still.
“Mads.”
Shit, it’s Jacob. My ex-boyfriend.
2
MADDY
Trusting men is never a good idea
Come on, universe. Not today.I turn slowly and Jacob Walker is standing right in front of me, still holding my wrist. He lets go a second later, a little too casual about it. He looks the same as always—button-up shirt, blonde hair perfectly in place, like he accidentally took a wrong turn on his way to a corporate meeting.
“Hey,” he says.
I steady my voice, holding on a little tighter to my water bottle. “Hey.”
“I just wanted to check in,” he adds, like this is a completely normal conversation to be having. “How’ve you been?”
How have you been?Seriously?
“Good,” I say with a small shrug. “Busy.”
He nods slowly, eyes searching my face. “Busy?”
