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“It’s your fault,” I tease. “You made me this way.”
“I love you this way.” Gripping my thighs, he pulls himself back to me and kisses me softly before adding, “But I loved you before too.” He reaches up to bury his fingers in my hair, his other hand still running across the skin on my side. “Really though, you’re not freaked out?”
I shake my head slowly. “It’s different, but I like it. Way better than I thought it would be.” I grin. “Now, I want my bike ride and my tour. Let’s see if you can make me love this town too. Then maybe later I’ll make sure you win.”
He rakes his teeth across his lower lip, heat apparent in his eyes as his fingers dig into my hip like he wants to skip to the end of the plans right now.
I laugh and move to slide off his lap. “I said later.”
Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, he stands too, following my lead. “Anywhere specific you want to go?”
“Hmmm, I was thinking maybe you could give me a tour of the college?” He nods. “And… oh! To your favorite spot, the one you took Maci? Definitely food, somewhere we don’t have in California.”
“Let’s do it,” he says as he motions to the door. “We’ll go to school first while it’s still light out. I’ll drive there. Once we get to the overlook around sunset, I’ll let you drive up that road. It’s straighter, and there won’t be any people or traffic.”
“And then we can do something else illegal once we get there?” I wiggle my eyebrows at him, a smirk on my face as I reach for his hand.
He chuckles. “We can do whatever you want,” he says as he brings our conjoined hands to his mouth for a kiss.
TROY
“Wow,” Lexy whispers after climbing off my bike and taking off her helmet. She spins in a slow circle, taking in the entrance to campus. I parked on the only driveable road that goes through it and runs under an archway made of trees from each side weaving together in the middle. I can’t help but smile at her amazement, refusing to take my eyes off her. “I can’t believe you went to school here,” she says loud enough that I know it’s intended for me to hear.
“Yeah, I love it. Come on.” I take her hand and pull her out of the street, toward a path that will lead us to my favorite building. “That’s the math building.” I nod at the building to our left.
She instantly stops walking to look up at it, jerking me back a little. “Where you met Maci.” She smiles as she says it. After Emily, I promised myself I’d never get into a situation involving best friends–that I’d avoid any sort of fucked up love triangle. I’m so fucking glad I went with my gut on this because while there are similarities, there are also no betrayals, backstabbing or lying like before. Knowing this could have potentially ended up entirely different is wild to me. Instead, the past worked out in a way that’s best for everyone. I guess that makes me thankful for how my relationship with Emily ended. I hadn’t really thought of that until now, but I wouldn’t be here with Lexy if it had played out any other way, and this is absolutely where I want to be.
“What?” Her voice breaks through my thoughts.
I smile and continue tugging her down the path. “Nothing. I just love you.”
She grins back at me. “You’re going to say that a lot now, huh?”
“I have to make up for every time the past two months I held back when I wanted to tell you.”
She tugs on my arm until I stop again then pulls herself to me for a kiss. I keep falling deeper for this girl. Even though I’ll be happy wherever we decide to live, I would rather be here, if she likes it. I reluctantly pull away from her to point to the building in front of us. “This is my favorite one.” It’s cement gray and kind of looks like a mental hospital out of the 1800s. I’m pretty sure that’s around when it was built. It’s surrounded by mossy trees. “No idea why, it’s just old and cool. Oh, and it was originally named after Oregon’s first federal judge who didn’t believe state schools were of use to anyone. It’s funny how ironic that is.”
“Okay, that part is weird.” Lexy laughs. “I think it’s cool too.” She leans into me as she looks at the building. “I love that the old places here are full of character. Everything old in LA feels dirty and sketchy. Did you have any classes there?”
“Nah. Most of mine were in that building.” I point in the direction we came from, behind the math building. "That’s the business complex.”
She walks toward it. “What made you choose business? Did you know what you wanted to do with it?”
“Not really, to be honest. Coop’s dad started his own real estate company. Not that I had much to compare to, but I always thought it was cool how he could work around his life for the most part. He was always at our football games, graduation, or anything else that was important to his kids, me included. And once his company grew, he would pick up the slack when he could to make sure his employees had the same luxury. I’m attracted to that level of freedom and flexibility, I guess.” I shrug. “But bartending has kind of given me that, so I haven’t been in a hurry to find something else.”
“Do you think you’d have that kind of freedom owning the bar?” She seems genuinely curious.
“Maybe not at first. Actually, definitely not at first. It would be a lot of work to get the hang of it. But I think it would help not starting from scratch. Tony already has it established, it’s in the perfect location, it's profitable. That would all help. I know he’s rarely at the bar now and spends a lot of time with his family. Growing up, they always came on vacations with us to his and Uncle James’ cabin. So, I’d say at least eventually I’d have that. Plus, I’d be completely in control, unlike now where I’m at the mercy of my manager. I’ve just been lucky to have a good one.”
Lexy looks up, taking in the massive five story ground to roof glass windows of the business complex. When her gaze comes back to me, I lead her to the wooden bench near the entrance. “What about you? Did you ever consider going to cosmetology school? Or something else?”
“It was a good gig for a teenager, but I don’t want to do makeup as my job.”
“How did you get into that anyway?”
“Kind of by accident. I loved watching my mom get ready for her dates. It was the only time she,” Lexy uses air quotes, “spent with me. I hated when she left but always thought it was so cool how she could create all these different looks. Sometimes, when she was in a phase where she was happy and in love, she’d do my makeup or let me play on my own while she got ready. From there, I read tips in magazines and taught myself.”
“How’d you get a job so young?”
