Devon:So, I’m not stepping on your toes if I hit on her?
Me:I’m not going to lay claim to her but if you’re asking if I’m interested in her, the answer is yes.
Devon:And when you’re done with her?
I sighed in frustration and shoved my phone back in my pocket, tossing my arm around her shoulder again. I wasn’t going to try to explain something I didn’t even understand myself, which is that I was pretty sure I was never going to be done with her.
It was after teno’clock at night a few days after we’d returned from Rhode Island, and I had just finished another paper due the week of Thanksgiving. With so many assignments due that week, I was forced to do some of them a week early if I didn’t want to be pulling all-nighters next week—a lesson I’d learned the hard way freshman year. I was mentally drained but not ready for sleep yet. I pulled out my phone to see what Sophia was up to. She’d said she was going to use a lull in her own assignments to spend a few hours working on her novel.
Apparently, I’m inspiring her just fine. I’m a sexual muse.
Me:This is not a booty call
Sophia:Good opener. Not suspicious at all.
Me:You want to come over and watch some Modern Family before bed?
Sophia:I’m on my period.
Me:Does that affect your ability to watch TV?
Sophia:No, but it means no sex.
I chuckled and shook my head, leaning back in my desk chair.
Me:First of all, I don’t care if you have your period, I’ll still fuck you dizzy. But if you care, then it’s a good thing I invited you over to watch TV with me, not to have sex with me.
Sophia:You’re really inviting me over to hang out?
Me:Yep, this is the friend part of our exclusive-friends-with-benefits arrangement. Clothed or not, Hawaii, hanging out with you is my favorite.
Sophia:Mine too. Be there in ten.
My heart raced, wondering if her admission could be a sign that she was starting to see us as something more. But then I realized she was about to walk across campus in the dark to get here. I fired off another message.
Me:No.
Me:I’ll come get you.
Sophia:Is this part of the friendship service you provide? Protecting me from potential lurkers in the night.
Me:Just one of the many additional benefits I’m willing to give you, Soph.
Sophia:I like when you leave no room for argument sometimes.
I laughed and jumped up to go get her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sophia
“Hey, girly Where areyou off to?” Alyssa asked, curled up on the couch with Abena, a gorgeous woman with long, dark braids who I’d recently discovered was the one responsible for all the sounds I’d heard coming from Alyssa’s room over the last few months.
“I’m going to Leo’s. He’ll be here in a minute,” I said, looking down at my clothes. I’d been working on my manuscript while managing my period cramps all evening so I was wearing comfy yoga leggings and a gray, long-sleeve Joe’s by Kennedy sweatshirt that my stepmother had mailed me a few weeks ago when I was complaining about how cold our suite was this year. “Should I change?”
Alyssa lifted an eyebrow. “Depends. What exactly are you two doing these days?”
“We’re just having fun,” I said.
