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Their first communication in two weeks,exactlywhen she’d been thinking about him and their night together,as if her memories had summoned him. When Jasper promised her one night and nothing more, he’d meant it. She hadn’t even seen him around campus.
C:Dinner? I thought one night and we never spoke again?
She’dthought of him often, but her urge to contact him had diminishedover the past couple of weeks. Hearing from him out of the blue?She couldn’t help giving him a hard time, throwing his promise back in his face. She wasn’t so much hurt he hadn’t reached out before now. What she feltwas an emotion she couldn’t quite place.
J:You helped me pull a B in English lit, and Blake keeps asking about you. That deserves an exception to the rule.
C:Oh, how gracious thou art.
J:Another reason you should come to dinner. You’re funnier than I remember. Although, after I got your panties off, we didn’t do much talking.
She would be lying if she saidthathis reminder about their night together didn’t turn her on.But itwasn’t why she was agreeing to dinner. She liked Blake and Riley, although he’d been a little odd when they’d run into each other. One group dinner couldn’t hurt, right? Jasper didn’t sleep with girls more than once. He’dsaid it and the rumor mill confirmed it. Itwasn’t as if he was trying to get her back into his bed.
C:I’m hilarious, I assure you. I’ll bring dessert.
She could stop on the way and grab some cookies. Her mouth watered at the thought of sugar. Sweets weren’t something they indulged in much at home, but she’d been sure to have her fair share while she’d been away in Greenly.
J:See you in an hour?
She glanced at her watch and the pile of clothes balanced on her bed. Looked like she got to put packing off for one more day. Dinner was areallygood excuse. She thumbs-up’d his text and hopped off her bed to shower. She’d been slow to wake that morning and then spent the majority of her day lying around. She was being lazier than she’d ever been in her life. She didn’t seem to have the energy to scold herself about it like she normally would.
Callahan knew the moment she got home her newly sluggish ways wouldn’t be tolerated. Her father started his day at seven am sharp, and he expected her and her mother to as well. Ugh. She was already feeling drained and she hadn’t even set foot outside of campus life.
***
Blake answered the door, looking beautiful as always. Even when sheworeyoga pants and an oversized t-shirt, she was stunning. Her curls and her pouty lips made it appear like she was put together no matter what. “Callahan.” Blake pulled her in for a hug, making some of her nerves dissipate.“I’m so glad you came.I’ve been bugging Jasper to have you over.”
Callahan smiled, thrusting the cookies she picked up into Blake’s hands. She wasn’t sure what to say.Blake wanted her here, but ultimately,Jasper hadn’t?
“We ordered some pizza. It’llbe here in an hour.” Riley took the dessert out of Blake’s hands as he joined them. “That sound okay to you?”
She nodded, studying Riley for signs of insanity. All weirdness from their last encounter was gone. Hewas acting perfectly normal, as if she’d imagined it. “I love pizza, thank you.”
He held up the cookies. “Thanks for these.Blake and Jasper will scarf them down like two little vultures.”
“If you let us keep more sweets in the house, we wouldn’t act like crack addicts when we get to eat them.” Jasper came down the stairs, basketball shorts low on his hips, his t-shirt tight on his biceps. “Hey, Callie.I’m glad you came.” He put his hand on her shoulder, grasping her neck to pull her into a quick hug. “We were going to sit out back for a bit while we waited on the food. Yougame?”
She nodded again, not sure why she was having such a hard time using her voice around these people. They were being perfectly nice and welcoming. Maybe Jasper’s spicy scent was clouding her brain. He smelled so good—it wasn’t fair.
She followed the three of them through the kitchen and out to the back patio. She hadn’t seen this part of the housewhenshe’d been therebefore. They had a large yard withperfectgreen grass. The fencing was high, higher than the traditional six feet. She noticed there were cameras pointed beyond it as well.
They had a nice concrete patio, outdoor furniture withluxenavy cushions,and string lights giving the space a chill vibe. There was a speaker somewhere she couldn’t see, letting music flow from the house. It was crazy that three collegestudentsgot to live like they did.
“How did the rest of your finals go?” Blake broke the silence, sitting next to Riley and putting her feet in his lap.
“Fine.”Callahansmiled, trying hard to not act so uptight. “I finished my last one a few days ago.I’ve been packing to head home, but mostly, napping and procrastinating. Are you guys staying in Greenly for the summer?”
“Napping? Are you not getting enough sleep for some reason? Feeling tired?” Jasper handed her a bottled water he’d pulled from a refrigerator under an outdoor bar she hadn’t noticeduntil right now.
“Oh, um, yeah I guess.” Talking more about her sleeping habits seemed like an odd way to steer the conversation.
“We’re staying in Greenly for the most part. Perkof living off campus.” Thankfully Blake saved them again. “Rye and I will go visit my parents at some point, and we’re making a trip back to Haxton to hang with his family for a while too.”
Callahan sat up straighter, cracking her neck from side to side as she arched her back. Her shoulder, her lower back, every part of her had felt a bit achy over the last couple of days. She glanced to the side, finding Jasper staring at her chest. Had she been wrong to think he wouldn’t try to hook up with her again? He was checking out her breasts, not seeming to careshe’dcaught himin the act.
“So you’re moving home?What’llyou do there?” Blake was seriously saving her, over and over again. Riley wasn’t speaking, he was doing that thing where he kind of stared off into space in her general direction, and Jasper was being skeevy.
“I’ll work for my dad. He’sa pastor, I’ll answer phones and that kind of thing.” She shifted in her seat, turning to face Blake more fullywhiletrying to hide her cleavage from Jasper. “Pretty boring summer, to be honest.”
