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I laugh so hard that I have to wipe tears from my eyes.
When I finally stop, Leo looks at me like I’ve grown another head, and Trent has a strange look on his face. If I didn’t know better, I would say it looked a lot like relief, but that doesn’t make sense.
“Why in the world would you think that?” I ask him.
“Um, I don’t know, maybe because we just spent the last half hour helping you learn how to flirt with him via text?” Leo says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world before turning to Trent as if asking him for backup.
“I mean, he’s not wrong, Jade. I can see why he would think that.” He says with a shrug.
“You thought that too?” I ask Trent, and he’s quick to shake his head.
“No, no. I mean, the texts are flirty, but I also know the guys, so I know they don’t date.” He explains without meeting my eyes, and I think he might be lying about thinking Zander and I were a couple.
Wait, what?
“They don’t date anyone?” I don’t even try and keep the shock out of my voice.
“No, they don’t, and they definitely don’t bring girls back to their house or let them do business with them.” Trent answers with a bit of bite to his tone. I didn’t even realize I had asked that question out loud, but I’m kind of glad I did.
“That’s why Mai looked at me like she wanted to scoop my eyes out earlier.” I say as the pieces click together. I mean, I’m still not going to take shit from her, and I still want to know why Hazel’s so afraid, but now at least, I can see why she thinks I’m competition.
“What? When?” Trent asks, but I just wave him off. Mai is nothing he needs to worry about.
“Jade.” He says, and I can hear the edge in his voice as he gives me a serious look.
I often forget that nobody knows what I’m capable of, the guys do for the most part now, but I can see why Trent might be concerned.
“It's fine. We can deal with all that shit later. How about we focus on this math first so I don’t fail my first class? Nobody will be an issue if I can’t keep my ass on campus.” I’m joking, well, kind of, but it seems to do the trick as they both smile and nod, assuring me they won't let that happen.
* * *
My math knowledgeis lacking harder than I realized because, by the end of class, I still have none of my work complete, and Trent said I’ll still need more help with the basics before I can have any hopes of understanding it.
He messaged Hazel and set up a group study session in the library for all of this weekend. I guess Trent, Hazel, Leo, and Hazel’s friend Kai will all be there, and while it feels like overkill for a little bit of math, it also feels good to have people willing to help.
Trent already put their numbers in my phone when he had it earlier without me realizing it. So I now have what he called a group chat that has all of them on one page so we can talk about when we can meet, and he told me I could message them for any other help I should need as I go through my classes.
I tried to tell him not to worry about it, but he insisted, saying it was no big deal, and as much as I didn’t like to ask for help, I couldn’t stop smiling. Leo has many of the same classes that I do, according to Trent, since we are both taking core classes with no idea what we want to major in, and he quickly let me know he is willing to help me.
They show me where the library is before walking me to the gym where my kickboxing class will be since Hazel’s class is a double block, and she can’t. I guess they both take this class on Wednesday with me, but they have weight training today, having split their physical classes between two instead of doubling up like I did.
Maybe I should look into adding weight training too? I’ll have to ask the guys about that later.
I walk into the gym and head into the girls changing room before pulling my gym shorts and sports bra on and throwing a loose tank top over it. I check my phone and see a message from Zander.
Have fun in kickboxing.
He sent a little devil's face with the message, and it’s adorable, but I don’t really understand what it means.
The guys might have explained emojis to me, but I don’t get how that one fits the message. I toss my phone in my bag without responding before I stash my bag in a locker and head out.
The gym is huge. The whole campus is but this one room is easily the biggest I have ever been in. There’s seating along most of the walls, and each side has a basketball hoop, but the far side also has about ten standing punching bags set up on mats. I head over to them, assuming that's where the class will be taking place. Nobody else is here yet, and I take the time to warm up and stretch out. Trent said our math class let out a little early, so I assume others will join once the rest of the classes are let out. Halfway through my floor stretches, I hear a door on the other side of the gym swing closed.
I glance over my shoulder as someone heads this way out of the men's changing room, and I have to do a double take.
No fucking way.
Roderick is walking toward me, which is almost shocking because I didn’t know he had this class with me. I feel like I would remember if Zander mentioned that. But that’s not what shocked me.
