“Uh-huh. Long story short, my team-assigned tutor, Dean, is a nice guy, we became friends, and now I can’t stop thinking about him.”
With a congratulatory slap to my shoulder, Ian comes to myside. “That’s great! But I need to be a douche for a second—what does the guy look like?”
“Typical,” I mutter, smiling and pulling my phone out. I settle on a fully clothed picture of Dean lying in the collapsed remnants of his fragile couch, flipping me off with an adorable disbelieving expression plastered all over his handsome face, and I flip the screen toward Ian.
“Oh,nice. Jesus, good for you, bro,” Ian says, nodding. “So are you two, like…”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “We’ve agreed to be casual, but, uh, yeah.”
“But, uh, yeah?” Jeremy mocks me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Spill.”
“We’re both seniors, and we’re friends,” I say. I don’t know why I said the last part, since I don’t think I need to convincemyself.
“So you have an end date. That’d make things simpler, right?” Ian offers. “If you’re both on the same page, just don’t do anything to blur any lines…” He parts his mouth when he sees me smile and shift uncomfortably. “Bro. What did you do?”
“Don’t tell me you guys got married!” Jeremy says. “Without inviting anyone?”
I scoff. “Dude, we didn’t get married! Come on. I’m just going to spend Christmas break with him.”
It’s only then that it hits me—Jeremy fucking baited me.
“Isn’t he from China?” Jeremy deadpans. “Like, the country?”
He is, and I’m going there. To top it off, Canadians don’t need a visa—thank you, Dad. At least there’ssomethingI can thank him for after all this time.
Ian’s smile grows wider. “Seriously? Aw, that’s so freaking sweet.”
God. Fuck Ian for being a supportive, hopeless romantic.Especiallyon my behalf. What Ineedis for one of these guys, or really justsomebody, to tell me I’m making a terrible decision, but no.
I nod again. “He showed me his flight details, and I dropped sixteen hundred bucks to fly with him.”
Pricey, I know, but I don’t spend much—a lot of my scholarship’s living allowance goes straight to savings.
“Nick.” Ian’s voice is flat.
I don’t want to stick on the topic of how I’m a weird, clingy friend, so I try to make everyone uncomfortable for fun. “Hey, don't say my name. Dean does it a lot, and it's like a horny trigger now. Call it a Pavlovian response. Ruff ruff.”
The two of them groan. Mission accomplished.
“Jeez, Ni—dude. TMI,” Jeremy sputters. “We’re supposed to be giving you shit for meeting a guy’s parents when you aren’t even dating.”
Shoot. I spoke too soon. Sighing, I plop myself down at the dining table and fix my friends with a tired expression. “Look, Dean and I are still friends despite…whatever else is going on between us, and I don’t like being alone. If anything, this is your fault,” I joke, pointing at Ian. “I used to spend breaks withyou, before you got all partnered up.”
He puts his hands up. “Hey. I’ve always kept inviting you.”
“I’m not about to third-wheel you lovebirds.” And it’s the truth—even though Callum’s great for Ian, they’re still a couple, so for me to visit Ian’s parents with the two of them would be a lot of me sitting around while Callum gets to know his de facto in-laws. Not my idea of a fun time.
The energy in the room isn’t exactly tense, but I get the feeling Ian and Jeremy want to keep peppering me with questions, so I excuse myself to shower and change into my own clothes for the first time in over a week.
The two of them are playing a racing game on Jeremy’s console once I’m done, and I’m looking forward to relative normalcy when I sit down.
That’s when my phone decides to blow up. I don’t even know if it’s Dean who’s texting me, but the looks on Ian and Jeremy’s faces are identical and amused.
“Guys, come on,” I groan. “Why can’t you two let me live my life without questioning everything I do?”
“I think we’re just excited for you,” Ian replies. “You were smiling the whole time you were talking about Dean, and it’s super cute.”
Point taken—remember not to smile when talking about my friend with benefits.
