Page 9 of Bless My Heart

The girls finally get into the pool and start floating around. Ozzy gets out of the pool, leaving Ezra and me together.

“So, you looking for another girlfriend this year or what?” I ask Ezra.

“Uh, no. Clearly, I’m not in the right headspace to give someone the attention they want. Maddie basically told me I was the worst boyfriend she ever had. I just have to study, you know? I can’t spend every waking moment with her. So whatever.”

“I’m sure we could find you someone who is just up for some fun.”

“I don’t want any of y’all’s seconds, ok. I don’t need anyone comparing me to my best friends.”

I laugh and assure him we’ll find someone new. And, with the way he’s looking at Stella’s new friend, I’d say we found one. I’ll just have to get some insider information from Stella next time we’re alone.

We float around for a bit longer before deciding it’s time to get out. Ezra offers to take Celine back to her dorm, and Ozzy and Stella head upstairs.

I quickly rinse off and put on dry clothes before making dinner for everyone. My thoughts drift back to Hazel while stirring the ground beef. And I don’t know if it’s good or bad that I can’t get her out of my head.

CHAPTER FIVE

HAZEL

“Hey, where’s your corkscrew?” Caroline asks, trying to open the bottle of wine she found in my fridge.

“No need. It’s a twist top,” I inform her.

“Oh my God. You’re such a millennial.”

“Sorry, not sorry.” I shrug my shoulders.

She grabs three stemless wine glasses from my cabinet while I grab the frozen pizza out of the oven. I run my pizza cutter through it, burning my finger on the flaming hot cheese.

I dump a bag of pre-made salad from the store into a salad bowl and toss it with the dressing. Voila. Girls’ night dinner is complete. This was the best I could do after a crazy first week of school. Honestly, I’m not big on cooking, so this probably would have been dinner even if I hadn’t had a long week. The girls know this. That’s why I love them.

I carry the pizza and salad to the kitchen table where Caroline and Lexi are already sitting.

“How was the first week back?” Lexi asks as she grabs a piece of pizza.

“Careful, that’s hot.” She drops the piece right as I say it because it burns her hand. I can’t help but laugh a little. “So, you’re never going to believe what happened.”

“Oh my God. What?” Caroline asks, risking a burned tongue and taking a bite of her hot pizza.

“So, remember when y’all made me go out to the bar and have sex with a random dude?”

“Hey! No one made you have sex with him in the bathroom. That was all your own doing!”

“Right, right. To-may-to, to-mah-to. Anyway, the good-looking blond man who rocked my pants off that night is a student in one of my microeconomics classes.” They both stare at me in complete shock.

“You’re kidding? Didn’t he say he was a tourist?” Caroline asks.

“Not kidding. And yes, he said that but I also said that too, so…” I shrug. I can’t blame him for telling me the same lie I told him.

“What are you going to do? Obviously, he has to transfer out of your class, right?” Lexi questions.

“Well, everything else is full. He talked to me Monday after class, and we both decided we’ll just pretend nothing happened.”

“Do you trust him enough to keep it to himself?”

“No. But what choice do I have? I can’t really go to my department head and tell him I slept with a random stranger, and who ended up in my class. Plus, Wes needs this class if he wants to graduate on time.”

“What if he gets a bad grade and tries to hold it over your head?”