AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cracked at her confidence and nodded. “Layla.”
She crossed her arms. “How have you been?”
“Good,” I said. “Busy.” I hoped that by being short, she would get the hint that I didn’t want to have this conversation.
“I never heard from you,” she said sternly. There was a hint of playfulness in her tone, but I’d had so many conversations with so many broads that I honestly wasn’t sure if that meant anything anymore.
“Like I said, I’ve been busy.” I shrugged. I could hear Bryson’s chuckle from behind me.
“Order number forty!” A team member yelled from behind the counter.
Layla rolled her eyes and brushed past me, putting an end to our awkward reunion.
“I thought you said she was normal?” Bryson asked once she was out of earshot.
“She was.” I shrugged and turned to face him. “Just not sure if I want to hit it again yet.”
A few minutes went by, and we talked about next season’s football predictions and this semester’s class schedule.
“Order number forty-four!”
Bryson crossed the lobby and picked up the bag of food from the counter. He pulled out his phone as we headed to the parking lot and glanced in my direction. “Do you mind dropping me off at Maci’s place on your way back? She lives down the street.”
I swallowed and had to clear my throat so my answer came out in a steady voice. “Yeah, man, not a problem.” I held the door open for him and unlocked my Jeep.
I darted back inside and leaned across the table that Layla and her friends were sitting at. “Are you free tonight?” I asked right in front of the whole table.
Her eyes grew wide, and her fork froze halfway to her mouth. She looked me up and down, and I raised my eyebrows to encourage her to be quick with her answer.
She smiled. “I can swing by in like a half hour?”
“Great,” I deadpanned. I pushed off the table and turned back toward the door. The cold February air hit my face, and I felt myself spiraling. It was like living in a scene that played on repeat, but I didn’t want to be in it.
Why did this happen every single fucking time? Maci and I would get good again, and then somehow, her ongoing hookup with Bryson would get brought into the picture. If he wasn’t doing something to piss her off, then he was doing something that offset her expectations of him—and when they picked back up, it got to me every time.
A pit formed in my stomach as I pulled into Maci’s parking lot. Bryson removed my box of wings from the bag of food and cocked his head. “Thanks for the ride.”
When I got back to my place, I threw my wings in the fridge. I no longer felt like eating, and when Layla showed up, I did what I was best at. I bagged her and told her I had shit to do so that she would go.
I took a quick shower, threw on some basketball shorts, and fell onto my bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my phone vibrated.
Maci:
Port Clinton?!
I did a double-take at the screen. Connor must’ve finally popped the question to Katie, which meant Maci was now invited to join the trip. I knew this text message was coming, and part of me enjoyed that she was texting me while Bryson was at her place.
The idea of Maci, Bryson, and the rest of our world being locked away in two condos for a few days seemed like a recipe for disaster. Enough happened on its own, with an entire campus as a buffer.
Port Clinton ;)
I rolled over and closed my eyes. I didn’t have the bandwidth to think about a trip that was two and a half weeks away. Instead, I went to bed pretending that my best friend wasn’t sleeping with the only girl I couldn’t stop thinking about, no matter how hard I tried to forget her.
Chapter50
Maci
March 2016
