“A long time.”
“Where you been? You still dating the quarterback for Duke?” Mitch asks, his mouth pulling with disgust.
“Lawrence,” Mav supplies.
“Oh shit. Right.” Mitch glances over at Jagger momentarily.
“Nope. We’re done.”
“How’s your sister?” Mitch asks.
“She’s doing really well.” I smile. “I’ll tell her you say hi.”
“Please do.” He smiles.
Misty had been heartbroken for nearly a year when Mitch broke off their summer fling and told her he didn’t do long distance. I didn’t understand her hang up since they weren’t even together that long, but then I did the stupidest thing when I ran into Jagger freshman year and hooked up with him. A stupid, drunken, rookie mistake and I fully grasped why she’d been so heartbroken. I only had one night with Jagger and felt like I could have easily spiraled down the rabbit hole he would’ve no doubt led me to. My sister spent three months with Mitch. If they were anything alike, providing their undivided attention to a woman and making them feel special, I knew a breakup had to be awful. There aren’t many things I regret, but that one-night stand was something I could say for certain I’ll regret for the rest of my life. Ever since then, I’ve done everything in my power to stay away from him and vowed to take that little secret rendezvous to the grave. Not even Misty knows about that and my sister is my best friend.
“I would ask if you’re going to the barbecue on Sunday but I heard you always skip those,” Mav says.
“Hm. I usually do, but I might just go this time.” I usually skip the barbecues my parents throw because they coincide with the one Lawrence used to take me to for his own college, but now that we’re done, I might as well drop by for this one.
“I’ll have another shot.” Jagger sets down both shot glasses in front of him with a clink. “Two more rounds for all of us. Maybe you’ll bring them in the next hour this time.”
“It was good to catch up.” I smile at Mav and Mitch as I grab all six glasses and put them on my tray and walk away, seething.
It’s one thing for him to berate me privately, but in front of his brothers? Fuck him.
Chapter Three
Jo
I rush over to the door and pull it open. I made sure to get here fifteen minutes early so that I can pick where I want to sit—all the way in the back row of the classroom. It’s a big one, too. Finite Math isn’t normally for upperclassmen, certainly not for seniors like me, but Mom said it was the easiest math course and I just really needed to pass, so here I am. I’m a straight A student in everything else. My parents have never understood how a girl who has had math tutors her entire life just can’t get a handle on the subject, and honestly, I don’t understand it either. I slide into the furthest chair from the professor’s desk, which also happens to be the furthest chair from the side door. I’m about to move closer to it when it opens and a slew of students step inside. Keeping my head down, I take out a pen and notebook. On the syllabus, there are clear instructions about having no computers in class.
The professor walks in and smiles, saying hello to the class before taking a seat behind the desk and opening her bag. She starts taking out papers and stacking them on her desk. She seems nice. According to Mom, who works here as well and gets the dirt on everyone, the professor recently came back from maternity leave, which makes sense. She’s absolutely glowing. The side door opens again and I don’t look, but instantly know who just walked in, judging by the chatter that started. I slide lower in my seat, hoping to avoid him at all costs. When I went down the list of names of the people in the class and saw his, I instantly dropped it, but after picking it back up, I told myself he’d probably never show up anyway. After all, he’s also a senior, he’s a jock, and he shouldn’t need to sit in for this.
Heavy footsteps ring out beside me, and even though I’m trying to do everything in my power not to look up, I find that I can’t ignore him. I glance up and meet his eyes, instantly regretting it.
“You’re in my seat.”
“There are no assigned seats.” I blink, shooting him the dirtiest look I can muster. He seems to find this amusing, his eyes gleaming as he stares at me.
“All right.” He shrugs a shoulder and sits in the chair beside me. A chair that’s ridiculously close to mine. I set the tip of my sneaker on the side of it and he meets my gaze again. “What are you doing?”