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And just like that, brightness lit up inside me. Smiling, I rolled my eyes and responded.
Mason: Why do I feel as if I’m being hustled right now?
When those three little dots popped onto the screen almost as soon as the message flipped to Read, my heart started to beat a little faster. I loved it when she immediately responded.
Reese: You know, if you had studied your ass off, you might actually have a chance of beating me. A small, insignificant chance, but a chance nonetheless.
Forgetting everything but bantering with her
, I shot back my own instant reply.
Mason: Sadly, I still have my ass, so that should make my chances of beating you, what…in the negative percentile range? (Is negative percent even a thing?)
Reese: Clearly, you’ve already lost, because you would know the answer about negative percentiles if you’d actually done your homework. Loser. You should just give me my winnings now. PS-I wouldn’t say it’s sad at all that you still have your ass. I’m quite fond of it as it is. ;)
I threw back my head and laughed. This was what I loved most about Reese. She could flirt, ridicule, and trash talk all in the same breath and make it fun and enticing while she was at it.
Mason: I don’t recall actually taking you up on the bet, cheater. But regardless, isn’t retaining my ass prize enough for your pervy eyes?
Reese: Good point. I therefore retract my demand for a different prize. But now I’m wondering when I’ll actually get to see said ass again. Are you still determined to stay away until all horny guy urges are gone, or can I finally have my friend back now?
Biting my lip, I typed my response.
Mason: Not yet.
Her typing bubble popped up, and I could only imagine what she had to say about that, so I beat her to the punch, adding more.
Mason: But soon.
Reese: HOW soon?
A brief thought fluttered through my head about Eva warning me away with her genuine reasons of keeping Reese safe, and then I recalled Patricia’s threatening words, but I still couldn’t seem to tell Reese I should never see her again.
Mason: A few days maybe.
Reese: I’m holding you to that, Hotness. Been missing my study partner something fierce.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because I was positive I missed her more.
I could’ve sat here all day just talking to her, but I needed to get ready and off to school. Maybe I’d spot her around campus.
As corny as it sounded, there was an extra bounce in my step by the time I entered the kitchen where Mom and Sarah were eating breakfast.
“Morning,” I said brightly, whistling softly under my breath as I ruffled Sarah’s hair when I passed her chair to snag a banana from a basket on the counter.
“Good morning,” Mom answered, watching me curiously over the top of her coffee cup. Her brows lifted. “You seem to be full of smiles this morning. And did I hear you laughing in your room a minute ago?”
“Oh.” Surprised she’d even noticed, I flushed and cleared my throat. “I read something funny on my phone.”
Sarah snickered over my reaction, making me wrinkle my nose at her.
“Well, it was nice to hear.” Mom rose to her feet and moved to the sink to rinse out her empty cup. “I can’t remember the last time I heard you laugh.” After setting her mug on the counter, she turned my way. “You’ve been all-around happier since school started. I think college has been good for you.”
And then she did the craziest thing ever. She touched my arm—like honest-to-God touched me with a motherly kind of encouraging pat at the end of the contact—as she passed by.
“I’m going to get my purse and I’ll be ready to go. Okay, Sarah?” she said before disappearing down the hall.
I gaped after her before turning to my sister. “Did you see that? She just touched me.”
