I blushed. “So, you don’t want to have sex with me? You’re fine with us never doing that?”

He let out a low laugh and kissed my lips. “I’ll see you at my game Saturday.”

“Answer my question.”

He smiled and stepped back, looking me over one last time. “I just did.”

SATURDAY’S GAME WAS the definition of a bloodbath for the opposing team. It was a 53-7 bruising that made everyone in the stadium feel restless and anxious for the game clock to put them out of their misery. In addition to extending Pitt’s undefeated record to 10-0 for the season, the game solidified one of the longest winning streaks in the school’s history. They had yet to lose a single game since a loss to Louisville my sophomore year.

In my first show of school spirit, I was wearing a #4 Pitt jersey with “Connors” painted on the back in pink and a matching khaki skirt with paw-printed flats. I’d debated changing clothes before the victory party, but Grayson’s latest “I fucking love what you wore to my game today” text made me change my mind.

“I’m kind of upset that you guys aren’t going to this party with me.” I turned around from the mirror, facing Eric and Nadira. “I got you both into the skybox and this is how you repay me?”

“First of all,” Eric said, looking up from my desk. “Grayson got us into the skybox because he knows we’re friends with you.”

“And second of all—” Nadira chimed in. “The adults in this room, i.e. me and Eric, can’t afford to spend every weekend going out like someone we know. What’s happened to you, Charlotte? You used to be such a boring, good girl, and now you actually seem to have a life.”

They both laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’d go, but I told you I have a date tonight.” Eric kissed me on the cheek. “I think I like this girl, so I’m not going to push the date back. Be sure to tell your boyfriend I said thank you for the skybox ticket, though.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“He’s definitely your boyfriend,” he and Nadira said in unison.

“Speaking of which—” He pulled a few bills from his wallet and handed them to Nadira. “You were right about the two of them. I’ll have to pay the rest of our bet in crepes to you tomorrow. See y’all later.”

“See ya!” Nadira held up one of the bills to the light.

“You two have a bet going on me and Grayson?” I asked.

“We have five bets going on you and Grayson.” She laughed. “I’ve won three so far.”

“What are the bets about?”

“If I tell you, you’ll disown me as your best friend. Besides, that’s cheating and I promised Eric I’d play fair.”

“You can’t tell me the bets you’ve already won, then?”

“Oh, sure.” She walked over to me and adjusted my necklace. “The first bet was that you would make him wait at least a month before giving him your phone number. The second bet was that you would start going to all his games.”

“And the third?”

She smiled. “That you would continue to deny that he was your boyfriend when everyone on this campus can see that but you.”

“And the fourth and fifth bets?”

“Nice try.” She laughed. “I’ll never tell you those.”

Before I could ask her something else, someone knocked on our door.

“Um, Charlotte and Nadira?”

“Yeah?” Nadira said. “The door is open.”

The door opened and Tracy—the girl who lived directly across from us, stepped inside.

“I have a question about the alcohol policy.” Her voice was a whisper. “If we’re caught drinking, it’s a simple citation, right?”

“Right.” Nadira crossed her arms.

“What happens if someone is passed out and they can’t wake up? Like, what if they’ve been out cold for like, four hours? Is that a citation as well, or do we have to call 911?”

“What the—Are you shitting me?” Nadira picked up her phone and called 9-1-1. “Which room is it?”

“Nine twelve.”

Nadira requested an ambulance, and I sent a Code Blue text to the Campus Health Emergency Line. I messaged the other Lothrop RAs and asked them to come to our floor ASAP.

“The medics will be here with a team in three minutes.” Nadira grabbed a kit from our cabinet. “How much did she drink and what type of alcohol was it?”

“I don’t know how much she drank.” Tracy’s cheeks flushed red. “It was Everclear.”

“I love Everclear! Is there any of that left?”

“Nadira.” I shot her a look. “Really?”

“It’s worth asking.” She headed toward the door. “There are plenty of RAs on hand tonight, so we can all handle this without you, Charlotte. Don’t you dare think about using this as an excuse to get out of going to his party.”

“But—” I spotted a group of other RAs running down the hall, shouting our rehearsed codes for instances like this. “It’s our floor. Aren’t we both required to do the paperwork?”

She shut the door without saying another word, and I considered her threat for all of five seconds. I scrolled through my contacts and called Grayson.

“Yes?” He answered on the first ring.

“Um hi.” I still couldn’t believe how a single word from his deep voice managed to turn me on. “I wanted to let you know that there’s been an emergency drinking situation in my dorm, so um...”

“So, you’re using that as an excuse to get out of coming to my party?” There was a smile in his voice.

“Yes. Is it working?”

“Not at all.” He laughed. “Are you dressed?”

“Yeah. I was going to catch the next shuttle.”

“Don’t. I’ll be there to pick you up in twenty minutes.” He ended the call and sent me a text message.

GRAYSON: Nadira suggested that I should be ready to pick you up in case you tried to get out of coming. You have great friends.

I have traitor friends.

I laughed and looked over my makeup one last time before grabbing a jacket and heading to the elevator.

A team of medics rushed by when I made it to the lobby, so I sent Nadira a text.

ME: Please tell me she’s still breathing.

NADIRA: She is, but she’ll need her stomach pumped. AGAIN. I called her parents and filed a violation report since we let it slide last time. Ugh. (On the plus side, I confiscated their Everclear and took it to our room. They had THREE bottles. #winning)

ME: Good. I think we should file violation reports and call parents on the first serious offense from here on out to prevent any more recklessness. (You are ridiculous. Be generous and donate one to me.)

“Excuse me.” A brunette in blue scrubs tapped my shoulder. “Are you Charlotte Taylor?”

“Yeah,” I said. “If you’re with the campus health team, you can talk with the RA-on duty. She’s on the ninth floor and her name is Nadira Hill.”

“I’m not with campus health.” She looked me up and down. “But I am someone you should know. I tried adding you on Facebook recently, but I guess spending all of your time with Grayson Connors means you’re too busy to be friends with people you go to college with, huh?”

I took a step back. My sudden surge of Facebook friend requests was now numbered at a staggering two thousand, but I thought it was a glitch, so I’d let them remain unanswered. If I honestly had to guess, I would’ve said the newfound interest was the result of me being named Pitt’s Pre-Law Student of the Year, not hanging with Grayson.

“I only add people that I know personally,” I said. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ll be sure to hit ignore on your request. Tell me your name so I can do it right now.”

“Ha! So, you think you know Grayson Connors personally?” She placed her hand over her chest and laughed. “Right.”

“I’m sorry, have we met before?” And if not, can you get the hell away from me?