k.

K? Seems like a waste of a text.

Work seems like a waste of a weekend.

Touché.

I guess we’ll talk later.

Don’t worry, the groveling will be sufficient.

I should hope so.

T.J. was difficult to stay mad at, but he was impossible to get close to. Granted, we’d only been dating for six months. The first three were amazing, and then T.J. was assigned to head this critical assignment. He warned me what it might be like, when we decided to try to make the distance work. It was the first time he’d been put in charge of an entire project, and he was both a perfectionist and an overachiever. But the assignment was the biggest he’d ever worked on, and T.J. wanted to make sure he didn’t miss anything. It—whatever it was—was important. As in, if it ended well, he would get a huge promotion. He mentioned one late night that maybe he could get a bigger place, and we could discuss me possibly moving out there the next year.

I’d rather be anywhere else but here. Living in a smallish college town when you’re not exactly in college isn’t that great. There was nothing wrong with the college. Eastern State University was quaint, and beautiful. I’d wanted to go there for as long as I could remember, but after just one year in the dorms, I had to move into an apartment of my own. Even if it provided a safe haven away from the ridiculousness of dorm life, independence came with its own difficulties. I was down to only a few classes a semester, and instead of graduating this year, I was only a sophomore.

The many sacrifices I had made to maintain the independence I needed was exactly why I couldn’t resent T.J. for making sacrifices for his—even if I was the sacrifice.

The bed dipped behind me, and the covers flipped up. A small, icy hand touched my skin, and I jumped.

“Damn it, Ray! Get your cold, nasty hands off me.”

She laughed, and hugged me tighter. “It’s already cooled off in the mornings! Kody is scrambling his dozen or so eggs, and my bed is like ice now!”

“God, he eats like a horse.”

“He’s the size of a horse. Everywhere.”

“Ew. Ew, ew, ew,” I said, covering my ears. “I did not need that visual this early in the morning. Or ever.”

“So who is blowing up your phone? Trent?”

I turned over to see her expression. “Trent?”

“Oh, do not play coy with me, Camille Renee! I saw the look on your face when he handed you that drink.”

“There was no face.”

“There was definitely a face!”

I scooted back toward the edge of the bed, pushing Raegan until she realized what I was doing and squealed as she fell to the floor with a thud.

“You are a mean, awful human being!”

“I’m mean?” I said, leaning over the edge of the bed. “I didn’t toss a girl’s beer just because she wanted her table back!”

Raegan sat with her legs crisscrossed, and sighed. “You’re right. I was being a huge bitch. Next time I promise to put a cap on it before I toss it.”

I fell back against my pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “You’re hopeless.”

“Breakfast!” Kody called from the kitchen.

We both scrambled from the room, giggling as we fought to be the first one out the door.

Raegan sat on the stool behind the breakfast bar for about half a second before I kicked it over. She landed on her feet, but her mouth hung open.

“You are just asking for it today!”

I took the first bite of cinnamon and raisin bagel with apple butter, and hummed as the calorific goodness melted in my mouth. Kody had spent enough nights here that he knew I despised eggs, but since he made me an alternative breakfast, I forgave the putrid egg smell that filled up our apartment every time he stayed the night.

“So,” Kody said as he chewed, “Trent Maddox.”

I shook my head. “No. Don’t even start.”

“Looks like you already did,” Kody said with a wry smile.

“You’re both acting like I was all over him. We talked.”

“He bought you four drinks. And you let him,” Raegan said.

“And he walked you to the car,” Kody said.

“And you traded phone numbers,” Raegan said.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said, a bit snotty and maybe a little valley girl. Getting ganged up on did weird things to me.

“Who you haven’t seen in almost three months, and who’s canceled on you twice,” Raegan said.

“So, he’s selfish because he’s dedicated to his job and wants to move up the ladder?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. “We all knew this was coming. T.J. was honest from the beginning about how demanding his job could be. Why am I the only one not surprised?”

Kody and Raegan traded glances, and then continued eating their disgusting chicken fetuses.

“What are you guys doing today?” I asked.

“I’m going to lunch at my parents’ house,” Raegan said. “And so is Kody.”

I paused midbite, and pulled the bagel out of my mouth. “Really? That’s kind of a big deal,” I said with a smile.

Kody smirked. “She’s already warned me about her dad. I’m not nervous.”

“You’re not?” I asked, in disbelief.

He shook his head, but seemed less confident. “Why?”

“He’s a retired Navy SEAL, and Raegan’s not just his daughter. She’s his only child. This is a man who has strived for perfection and pushed himself beyond his limits his entire life. You think you’re going to walk in the door, threatening to take more of Raegan’s time and attention from him, and he’s just going to welcome you to the family?”

Kody was speechless. Raegan narrowed her eyes at me. “Thanks, friend.” She patted Kody’s hand. “He doesn’t like anyone at first.”

“Except me,” I said, raising my hand.

“Except Cami. But she doesn’t count. She isn’t a threat to his daughter’s virginity.”

Kody made a face. “Wasn’t that Jason Brazil like four years ago?”

“Yes. But Daddy doesn’t know that,” Raegan said, a little annoyed that Kody said The Name We Shall Not Speak.

Jason Brazil wasn’t a bad guy, we just pretended that he was. We all went to high school together, but Jason was a year younger. They decided to seal the deal before she went to college, hoping it would solidify their relationship. I thought she would tire of having a boyfriend who was still in high school, but Raegan was dedicated, and they spent most of their time together. Not long after Jason began his own freshman year at ESU, the wonders of college, joining a fraternity, and being Eastern State football’s star true freshman kept him busy, and the change spawned nightly arguments. He respectfully broke it off, and never once spoke a bad word about her. But he took Raegan’s virginity and then didn’t keep his end of the bargain: to spend the rest of his life with her. And for that, he was forever the enemy of this house.