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Trey shrugs. “We fucked, and it probably freaked her out. Sex makes things weird.”
“How would you know?” Link asks, amused. “You don’t normally talk to girls afterward. Maybeyoumake it weird.”
“Fine, maybe.” He shoves me. “But you’re not exactly a ray of sunshine around her—in fact, you’re straight-up cruel most days. Maybe you should ease up.”
I choose to ignore his suggestion, but my mind drifts back to Trey’s expression when I caught Charlie leaving our apartment the morning after the Halloween party. “Was she just another one-night stand? Because you realize you’ve never broughtanyonehome before.”
Trey rubs the back of his neck. “I’m just…comfortable with her.”
I study him. “Explain.”
He doesn’t meet my eyes. “She seems to care about little things. She didn’t come back to my room and immediately want to fuck. We talked about my Manga collection and her mom.” Trey leans back against the bench, focusing on Charlie in the distance. “My usual hook-ups tell me I’m hot and funny, but they don’t see anything else. She does, and it makes me feel like she might actually like me as a person.”
A strange feeling flutters in my gut. Trey looks over at me apologetically. “I can back off…”
I hold up a dismissive hand. “I don’t care what you do. I’m not interested.”
Trey eyes me like he doesn’t believe my bullshit. “Could’ve fooled me,” he says. “You know you don’t have to hide shit from me, Link. I’m not going to judge you for wanting her and hatingher at the same time.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “I trust that you have a right and a reason to feel both.”
His touch is comforting, but his words scare me, and not much does that these days. Since my mom left, anger has had a permanent foothold in my personality. But fear? Not so much.
“I need to get to class,” I say, jumping to my feet. “Catch you later?”
Trey nods, and I walk away.
I still hate Charlie but for the first time in a while, I wish I didn’t.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHARLIE
The movie theater is the one place I can’t avoid Trey and Lincoln. I hardly see John anymore as Link has fully embraced his role as general manager of the joint. It’s strange seeing him passionate about something; he gets lost in the moment talking about movies, whether he hates them or loves them, and I can see something spark in his eyes beyond his usual indifference.
Not that he has these conversations with me. Normally, I overhear him and Trey geeking out like a couple of little kids, and it’s honestly kind of cute. Their favorite hot take is which film out of a trilogy is superior, and I’m always pleasantly surprised by Lincoln’s choices.
“He’s a third movie guy,” Trey says with a dramatic eye roll as he winks at me. I glance at Lincoln, who’s standing next to me eating a handful of popcorn, and I smile as I finish wiping up a small puddle of Coke from the concession stand counter.
“EvenBack to the Future?” I toss the paper towel into the trash.
Lincoln grins and shrugs.
“Really?” I ask. “The Western one?”
Trey leans back against the counter across from us and folds his arms over his chest. “You should see him when Marty’s zapped to 1885. You know the scene: he’s chased by the calvary and a bear before he’s knocked unconscious. Link dies laughing. Every. Time.”
Lincoln tosses a kernel of popcorn at Trey’s face, but Trey just catches it in his mouth, which is stupidly hot for some reason.
“I can’t help that Michael J. Fox’s scream is hilarious,” Lincoln says. “Besides, you like all the trilogy movies that everyone likes—the firstBack to the Future,The Empire Strikes Back,Raiders of the Lost Ark. I could go on.”
“Nothing wrong with liking what other people like, is there, Link?” Trey asks, his tone playful as he raises his eyebrows suggestively.
Link gives him a steady look but doesn’t take the bait. “I’ll be in the office doing payroll,” he says, walking across the lobby toward the upstairs door.
Just then, Fiona comes skipping from the bathroom, a broom swinging from her fingers. “The bathrooms are all clean,” she says brightly, opening the storage room to put the broom away before joining us.
I glance at Trey, worrying my lip while I consider my words. “Hey Trey, why won’t Link let me screen any movies?”
Lincoln’s been pretty intent on making my life hell while I’m working, and I’m trying not to take it personally. I’ve been asking him to let me screen a movie, but he’s refused so far even though I know he lets Trey and his other meathead buddies watch—I’ve even seen Serenity attend a few.
