“Exactly.” She returns to the sink and tilts her head toward the cutting board. “Now, chop up that onion.”
Should I be jealous?” Avalon crosses her arms as I fix my tie in her bathroom mirror.
“I don’t know why myacquaintancewith benefits would be jealous of me attending an event with another girl.” I center my tie. “Should I be worried that you’re catching feelings, Stewart?”
“According to everyone on campus,” she steps into the bathroom, pulling the tie from my hands and properly fixing it, “this whole banquet is just an excuse for alotof sex.”
“No strings, remember?” I tease, and she pats my chest.
“I’m pretty sure most sexually beneficial relationships don’t mean you getting ready to go sleep with another woman at the other woman’s house.”
“It’s an apartment.”
“You’re an ass.”
“It’s not like that.” I follow her out of the bathroom, turning the light off behind me. “Ember’s a friend. Only a friend. She’s dating another guy on the team.”
“Which you’ve mentioned. What I’m still unsure of is why he’s not taking her.”
“He can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Her brother doesn’t know about them, and he’ll be there. Along with a bunch of gossips who’ll spread the news before the event ends.”
“And she had no other options?”
“Is that the little green-eyed monster speaking?”
“Get over yourself.” She turns away from me and hops onto her bed. She rolls her bottom lip into her mouth, and as it pops back out, she looks up at me. “You look good, Zeke.”
“I know.” She throws her head back, releasing a breathy laugh. “I’ll try to sneak out early, okay?”
“Whatever.”
I take a few steps toward her until my legs are flush against the side of her bed, tilt her head up toward mine with my index finger, and kiss her.
I don’t know why I do it. Maybe it’s my way of telling her I’d rather stay here than go to this banquet because I’m only going to help out a friend. Not because I want to go. Maybe it’s because these last few weeks have felt different than when we first started.
All I know is it isn’t a steamy kiss. It feels romantic in a way a kiss has never felt before. I pull back and see the surprise onAvalon’s face. But the small, almost non-existent smile makes me think maybe it was a pleasant surprise.
I cough. “I’ll call you.”
Seems like your date left you,” Fletcher says, patting my back. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
It’s just Tate and us at the table. Brooks is off dancing with Liv, Jaxon’s making out with some redhead near the bar, and Cam’s taking one for the team and chatting up some donors. Declan ran after Ember nearly an hour ago, but they never came back. Alex and Brinley left not long after that.
I don’t know how Cam’s still oblivious about what’s going on after the way they looked at each other. I lied and said Declan wanted to talk to Ember about the project since the first half was due next week, which led to an argument.
I’m not sure if he bought it or not.
“It’s not like Ember was a real date.” I chug the rest of my drink. “Brinley wanted me to bring Ember to fix whatever the hell was going on there.”
“You mean Declan being an idiot and bringing Mollie as his date to this thing?” Tate crosses her legs and leans forward. “Declan’s lucky Ember didn’t sleep with you just to spite him.”
I chuckle, “She’s not the type.”
“Still. I don’t know what was going on in that boy's head when he asked her.”