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“Serves him right for being Harper’s minion.”
“Well, he was pissed. Tried to get Darren to fuck with us, but even Darren was laughing too hard. Greg kept shouting about how he was gonna kick our asses. That d-bag charged at us and slipped on the mush. Fell over, flopping like fish outta water. Fucking hilarious.”
Jack grinned, glancing over his shoulder toward the kitchen. “Greg still in there?”
“Who knows. It’s karma, right? I caught Greg and Harper ripping down Marcus’s election posters this afternoon. Oh hey, is Marcus still looking for his notes? I reckon the mystery of where they went is washing banana off himself.”
Jack didn’t have it in him to be pissed. Not that he’d admit this to Harper or his wingmen, but nicking those notes might’ve been the best thing they’d done all year.
Jack’s phone buzzed.
“I’d better chase after Seth, check if he’s okay. Gonna go shoot some hoops later, wanna come with?”
“I’ll pass. Gotta finish an essay.” So he could spend the weekend with Ed and not have to worry about it.
Billy bounded down the hall, and Jack checked his phone.
Ed: If you bring dinner, then how ’bout I get a movie and organize dessert?
He hoped organize dessert meant buying supplies for a long night. He shook off the horndog thought and replied with a smiley face.
Harper strolled down the hall in jeans and pressed T-shirt, fiddling with his watch. He looked up, lip curling at one side. “Two weeks left, Murphy boy. What’s it going to be: Staying here for your dad or leaving for the sake of your friends?”
God, Jack wanted to smash Harper’s grin permanently to his face. “Fuck you.”
“In your dreams, Murphy boy.”
Harper disappeared around the corner, and Jack flicked a bird to the empty space. Shit. What would he choose?
Chapter Sixteen
Sunday evening, Jack got back to campus in one helluva good mood. He pushed open the door to his room to find Marcus sprawled over Jack’s bed, chin resting on his hands.
Jack dropped his bag at the foot of the bed and nudged his brother’s foot. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I did what you said,” Marcus drawled. “I was nice to her.”
It took a moment for Jack’s mind to play catch-up. “Oh,” he said, perching on the end of the bed. “Nessa.”
“Yeah. Fuck. It’s totally screwed up.”
“Screwed up?”
“I don’t know how, but I asked her if she wanted to study with me. She said yes.”
“So, what’s wrong?”
“We were arguing about a point on Hobbes’s theories on the state of nature, and then, fuck—I just leaned into her and stopped her with a kiss.” Marcus closed his eyes and thunked his head into the pillow, groaning.
“Un-huh.” Jack couldn’t stop smiling. First him, now his brother. Best. Weekend. Ever.
“It gets worse,” Marcus said.
“You liked it?”
“Shit.” Marcus spoke into Jack’s pillow. “I actually, really did. What’s wrong with me? Have I gone completely insane?” He twisted onto his back and crossed his arms, glaring up at the ceiling. “Worst thing is she probably thought it was a joke. Just a way to shut her up or something.”
“Dude, chill. She likes you back.”
Marcus looked at Jack. “How do you know that?”
“I’ve been watching.” Marcus’s expression told Jack he needed to hear the truth. “And I talked to her.”
Marcus sprung up into a sitting position. “You talked to her? When?”
“She was at your lacrosse game.”
“She… she was?”
“Yeah, man.”
“But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“She came to see you play.”
A small smile twitched Marcus’s lips before he schooled his expression and raised a quizzical brow.
Jack rested a firm hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “She didn’t say it, but she did. You trusted me about the being nice thing and liked it. Trust me about this: ask her to the formal.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” A moment of silence stretched the two feet between them, and then nervously, “What if she says no?”
He bumped Marcus’s shoulder and smirked. “Trust me, she won’t.”
“But…. What?”
“In situations like this, do like you always tell me. Go on offense.”
Jack’s gaze fell on his gym bag with his overnight bag pooled on the floor, and he jumped up from the bed and patted his jeans. Phone, check. Keys, check. He charged for the door. “I gotta go.”
“What are you doing?”
“Offense.”
“What?” Marcus yelled after him.
Jack didn’t stop or even look back. He couldn’t or he’d lose his damn nerve.
Bounding down the stairs, he jumped into his Jeep and rode the excitement mixed with apprehension all the way to Ed’s house. Parked behind Ed’s truck, Jack gripped the steering wheel and stared at the lone set of windows with the lights on—Ed’s room. Hopefully it meant he was still alone.
He hauled in a steadying breath and spoke the words. “Ed, I want you to be my date for the Pi Kappa Phi formal….” That sounded too stiff. Relax. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying again. It didn’t sound any better. Oh, fuck it. He was only going to freak out if he waited out here any longer.
