“Breakfast,” I said. “There’s a diner off campus.Greasy enough to fix most problems. Or at least distract you from them.”
He considered it, lips pressed together. I could almost see him weighing the variables. “I was going to go home first,” he said.
“You can,” I said easily. “Or you can get pancakes.”
His mouth twitched. “That’s not a fair choice.”
“I don’t play fair,” I said. “Ask anyone.”
After a beat, he sighed. “Fine. Breakfast.”
Victory warmed my chest in a way I tried not to examine too closely.
The diner smelled like coffee and fried potatoes and something sweet I couldn’t identify. We slid into a booth by the window, vinyl seats squeaking under our weight. Bennet curled into himself slightly, shoulders hunched, like he was still recalibrating to the world.
“You look tired,” I said, because apparently, I had a habit of noticing things about him now.
He huffed a quiet laugh. “I didn’t sleep well.”
“Shocking,” I said. “I sleep like a baby in unfamiliar beds.”
“That wasn’t unfamiliar to you,” he said, then stopped. “I mean. It was. You know what I mean.”
“I do,” I said, smiling.
He groaned softly and reached for his coffee. “Please don’t.”
“Please don’t?”
“Look pleased with yourself.”
I leaned back against the booth. “I can’t help how my face is shaped.”
Breakfast came and went in a blur of conversation that skirted everything important. I joked. He corrected me. He told me his legs hurt from the gym yesterday.
“Should have invited me,” I singsonged.
Bennet shot me a cool look that could cut through class. “Don’t need an audience when I’m at my lowest.”
“I doubt you were at your lowest,” I assured him. “And I wouldn’t have been an audience. I’m somewhat of an athlete, you know.”
“Are you? I couldn’t tell.”
That made my lips stretch into a smile. “Humor. Well done.”
He looked happy with himself.
“Are we doing it tonight, then?” I asked.
Bennet’s smug expression dissolved instantly. I could see the misunderstanding rising and sinking behind his eyes. “Gym?”
“What else?” But I was laughing on the inside.
Bennet thought about it for a short time, then shrugged. “If you insist.”
“I’ll meet you at the gym this evening,” I said. “I won’t mock you.”
He opened his mouth to say he was changing his mind, probably, then closed it again, eyes flicking away like he was annoyed with himself. “Fine,” he said. “But you’re not allowed to be annoying.”