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“Very classy.” I nodded.
The apartment felt like a sauna with all of Katie’s cooking happening in the kitchen. I tossed my beanie on the dining table and slipped out of my jacket.
“What’s up, J?” Connor emerged from Katie’s bedroom with a massive grin on his face.
I watched him walk over to Katie. He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She giggled at whatever he whispered in her ear. They looked like a nauseating Hallmark movie couple.
I glanced over my shoulder at Maci. She was sitting in her usual corner of the couch and typing away on her laptop, so I made my way over and took the empty cushion beside her.
“Are you still watching the tree people?” I gestured to the TV, and her eyes were immediately on me.
“We don’t disrespectOne Tree Hillin this house, Jaxon Hayes,” she deadpanned, and Katie laughed from the kitchen. “You'll watch it with me one day.”
“I doubt that.” I leaned closer to her and propped my feet on the coffee table. “Who are these people?”
“These are theSex and the Citygirls,” Maci said proudly and closed her laptop.
She was eager to lay this plot line on me. One of the only times she cut in the middle of doing schoolwork was to educate someone about the show she was watching. That someone was mostly me.
“The curly-haired one is Carrie Bradshaw,” she explained and adjusted herself so that her feet were in my lap and her back was against the armrest of the couch. I leaned more into her legs, and we fell into our usual binge-watching position.
“She’s a sex columnist in New York City, and those are her three best girlfriends,” she continued, excited to tell me about all of the different characters, current storylines, and which episode she was on in the series.
“So this chick just comes to lunch and makes her friends listen to her bullshit every day?” I pointed at the screen, somehow invested in the lunch conversation being had about Carrie giving up smoking for Aidan.
“Damn, Jaxon.” Katie appeared on the floor in front of me with a steaming bowl of soup and a small salad. “DisrespectingOne Tree HillandSex and the Cityin one day? You might not be invited back.”
“You guys just need better shows,” I stated matter-of-factly.
“Says the guy who hasn’t taken his eyes off the screen since he sat down,” Maci challenged.
Connor joined Katie on the floor at the coffee table. At the sight of two dinners in front of me, I forced myself up and jogged into the kitchen. Maci followed behind me soon after.
“I like your hair short.” She smiled when I passed her a bowl.
“It was lookin’ a little rough,” I admitted. “How is your new schedule?” I wanted to tell her that my schedule wasn’t as good now that we didn’t have class together, but I didn’t.
“Busy. It actually sucked. My classes seemed way easier last semester compared to what I’ve had so far this week.”
“When are you on campus?”
“Mondays and Fridays are pretty low-key, which is nice. Yesterday wasn’t bad, but Tuesdays and Thursdays are horrible. Today I had over five hours of lectures to sit through.” She rolled her eyes and topped her salad with ranch dressing. She passed me the bottle, and I added it to mine.
“It will get better.” I popped a cherry tomato in my mouth and turned toward the living room. “Just like Bryson’s chlamydia.”
Katie’s cackle took over the space, and I bit my lip so I wouldn’t react to the expressions happening around me. Connor shook his head at the TV screen and tried not to laugh. Maci’s eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open. I held her gaze, knowing full well the risk I had taken when I let that comment fly into the open air. It was a fresh wound, and we had just reunited less than an hour ago. But the Maci I knew before break would’ve embraced the dig because that would mean we were back to normal.
I watched her expression loosen, and a shocked smile appeared on her face. She smacked me on the shoulder, and I doubled over in hysterics, giving Katie and Connor permission to join in.
“You suck, you know that?” she said softly, so only I could hear. “I may cancel my subscription to your Snapchat porn channel if you keep it up.”
My smile disappeared, and it was her turn to burst into hysterics.
“What did we miss?” Katie leaned forward and did her best to look around the counter.
Maci was dialed in on my reaction, and I could feel myself losing against the witty grin plastered on her face. She looked me up and down. “You didn’t miss anything.”
It was hard not to get turned on when Maci challenged me. She never hesitated to call me out, which was something I wasn’t used to unless it was coming from one of the guys. Sure, broads had called me names, screamed in my face, and even threatened to run me over with their car. But when words left Maci’s mouth, they held a different meaning.
