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Sabrina
The next morning, I wake up to the beeping of my alarm and desperately want to throw my phone across the room. My room is still dark thanks to the shades I put up when I first moved in, and I am warm and comfy under my blanket. Why would I want to get out of bed? No one can ever accuse me of being a morning person. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I sit there for a few moments and try to steady myself before I get moving. I’m supposed to meet Natalie for a yoga class this morning.
Neither of us has classes until the afternoon, so it’s become our normal time to try and catch up. When I finally look at my phone, I realize I must have snoozed more than I thought, and I only have fifteen minutes to get to the gym. Throwing on black athletic pants with mint-green stripes running down the sides and a matching mint sports bra, I grab a cropped, white sweatshirt and head out the door.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, Nat and I are lying side by side on the floor, barely moving as the supposed soothing sounds of a rain forest echo throughout the warm room. The instructor was new today, and she kicked our sweaty asses.
Nattie turns her head to look at me. “We doing smoothies downstairs or going to the coffee shop? I need to reward myself for enduring this kind of torture.”
I try to laugh at her, but it comes out more like an exhausted groan. “You’re a ballet dancer. Don’t you basically do this every day but to different music?”
Nat gets up slowly and rolls her mat before extending her hand to me. “Trust me, it’s not the same thing. Come on, smoothies or coffee?”
I grab her hand and let her pull me to my feet. “Let’s do smoothies. Less walking required.”
After gathering our bags, we head down to the café on the first floor of the university’s gym. Nat’s smoothie sounds more like a dessert than a healthy drink when we place our orders, and I can’t resist laughing at my friend. Chocolate, banana, raspberry. Separately either banana or raspberry sound good with chocolate, but together...not so much.
Winking at me, she responds, “What? Chocolate makes everything better. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. I don’t even know how you swallow that green thing you call a drink.”
Paying the cashier and grabbing our smoothies, the two of us head to a small chrome table to relax and catch up. We’ve been trying to do this once or twice a week since school started, and it’s been nice. Neither of us has a big circle of girlfriends. We’ve both bonded over our love of Chloe. I’m not sure exactly when, but at some point last year, I stopped placing her in the category of Chloe’s friend and realized she was my friend too. I wasn’t kidding when I told Murphy I don’t make friends easily. My parents have made me skeptical of everyone’s intentions. Combine that with my inner shy girl who never feels like she fits in, and it’s a bad combination.
I sip my kale smoothie and take in the sights and sounds of the noisy café located on the bottom floor of the giant brick building housing the student gym. Relaxing into my seat, I ask, “What do you think of your dad getting engaged to Murphy’s mom?”
Natalie lifts one eyebrow at me and takes a sip of her dessert wrapped up to look like a healthy drink. Scrunching up her face, she looks like she’s warding off brain freeze. “You know what? Once I thought about it, I wasn’t shocked anymore. There were signs last year that he was seeing someone, and I ignored them. If they’re happy, I’m happy. The best part of the whole day was finding out Murphy walked in on them doing the deed. Out of all of us, it’s so fitting that it was him. Karma is a bitch.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “What? Oh my God. Please tell me you have not walked in on Murphy having sex?”
Nattie grimaces. “No. Oh, God. No! He just likes to talk about sex and joke about it more than the rest of us. If anything, it’s me and Brady who have almost gotten caught a couple of times since we’ve moved in.” Nat’s cheeks pink at the thought, and I laugh.
She throws her napkin at me. “It’s not funny. I can’t help I want that man all the time. We thought no one was home.”
Biting my bottom lip, I cringe, and wonder what it must be like to have that kind of relationship. “I don’t want to know, Nattie.”
I don’t think I’d want to get caught having sex, but the thought of the thrill of almost getting caught does sound exciting. I’ve had sex, but it was always kind of boring. I want exciting. I want to not be able to control myself, to want it right then and there. Unfortunately for me, when I’m thinking of exciting sex, it’s with Murphy, who wouldn’t know monogamous if it knelt down and sucked his dick.
Oh, that isn’t a bad image.
Shaking myself out of my momentary lapse in fantasy judgment, I remember what I wanted to ask Nat at the BBQ. “So, Declan moved out of your Dad’s house, right? Is there something going on with Anabelle and him? Those two were throwing off weird vibes last weekend.”
“He did move out. I don’t think he even stayed there for a month. Dec said it was bad enough people were already talking about his own father drafting him. He didn’t want to be living at home with him too. I didn’t notice anything between Annabelle and him, but maybe I need to pay better attention. I thought Declan was quiet because he was thinking about Monday night’s game. I don’t know that Annabelle has time for a guy right now. I’m still helping her out a few times a week at the dance studio. She swears she’s going to hire someone else soon to help us out.” Nat looks down at her phone and laughs. “Chloe just texted. She’s pissed because she knows we meet for yoga on Wednesday mornings, and she’s sitting in calculus.”
“She’s got one year left. She’ll survive. Are we still meeting at your house Saturday to watch the guys’ game?”
“Yup. The game starts at 1:00 p.m. The guys are flying out Friday night. It’s only in Ohio. They’ll be back a few hours after the game Saturday. The invitation still stands if you want to road trip with us the following weekend. The game is in Boston, and Chloe and I are making a weekend of it.” I shake my head no, so she singsongs, “Seeing some sites, doing some shopping. It should be fun. Come on, Brina.”
Just then, Brady, Bash, and Murphy appear behind Nattie, looking like the kings of campus they are. Sleeveless shirts have their sculpted arms on display. Bash has on grey sweatpants, without a care in the world that he’s providing every girl in the room the perfect image to think of later when they’re grabbing their BOBs from their nightstands. Murphy and Brady are both in basketball shorts. Murphy’s wearing his ever-present green baseball hat that makes his mossy-green eyes stand out brightly against his black lashes. When he sees me looking, he winks.
God this man.
Brady leans down, kissing Nat on the top of the head before she even knows he’s there. “We should be back on campus around seven this Saturday. You girls should hang around. I’m sure there’ll be a party happening somewhere.”
Natalie beams up at Brady. “Hi, handsome. I didn’t think you guys had the weight room today?”
Murphy elbows Bash. “These two assholes are trying to catch up to my numbers. Give it up, guys. It ain’t happening.”
“Let’s see what you got, Murph.” Brady leans down, and quickly kisses Nattie’s lips. “See you at home, sweetheart. Bye, Sabrina.” The guys nod and start to leave, but not before I feel a tug on my ponytail. When I turn my head, I see the three of them walking away, looking like they belong on a movie poster instead of at a college gym.
On a sigh, I tell Nat, “It isn’t fair how good-looking those three are. Seriously, when they’re together, how is the female population supposed to respond to all of that?”
“Don’t expect an answer from me. All I need to do is see my man smile, and I melt. Pretty sure Bash and Murphy have shared a girl or two if that floats your boat.” She smiles at me like she knows exactly what I’m feeling.
I can feel my eyebrows shooting up to touch my hairline. “Natalie Sinclair! I can’t find time for one guy, let alone two! Are you insane?”
“Brina, you’ve got to lighten up and make time. Seize the moment. Pretty sure I just saw Murphy tug your hair like a third grader.” She taps her finger to her lips. “I don’t think you could actually handle both of them at once. Murph might be a bit much for you. Maybe just Bash.”
Our laughter echoes throughout the café, and I am so glad I dragged myself out of bed this morning.
