“Weird.” I tossed the paper onto the desk. “So, other than most of the males on campus, no one else will know about my stupidity in thinking Ryder liked me.”
“Maybe he did.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. That’s why he rushed home and claimed his points.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’ll get over it.” One day. Too bad it’d probably be years down the road.
“What really pisses me off is that he used my picture. I didn’t text it to him to be used like that. What an ass.”
“No shit. Guess you weren’t the only one wanting to capture the moment.” I shook my head. “Okay, no more talking about him. What are your plans for spring break?”
“I’m flying home to see my family. Will you be staying with your grandma?”
“Actually, she’ll be out of town so I’m thinking about going to the beach with Mason.”
“That sounds like fun. You should do that. He’s a really good guy, cares a lot about you.”
“Yeah.” My phone chimed with a text.
Mason: Just saw paper. Nothing there.
Me: Story got pulled. They aren’t running it.
Mason: How? Why?
Me: No idea. The staff signed confidentiality agreements. They aren’t talking about it. Crazy, huh?
Mason: Too fucking weird. Something’s up.
Me: Yeah, but as long as the story doesn’t run, I don’t care.
Mason: True. I’m really glad it didn’t. For your sake. Not his.
Me: I know.
I set my phone down and stood. “Guess this means I will go to class.”
“We should go out tomorrow night. Bring Mason, if you want.”
“Okay. But no trying to pick up guys. I’m done with them.”
“Well, I’m sure Dani will be thrilled.” She grinned as she grabbed her messenger bag and pulled the strap over her head.
I laughed then sighed, happy to even be able to smile again. “Thanks. For everything.”
“No problem.” She gave me a quick hug and opened the door.
“Oh, wait.” I’d been so wrapped up in my personal crisis, I’d completely forgotten about her internship interview. “How did the interview go? Or is it still bad luck to talk about it?”
She grinned. “I’ll have a final answer in a week or so. But, I will say, I have an appointment with an academic advisor set up for after spring break.”
“You’re declaring a major?” I practically bounced with excitement for her. “So this is good, right?”
“I feel like it might be. But no more talking about it. We’ll jinx it.”
I bit back all my questions, masked my happiness and nodded. “Got it. No more talking.”
She tossed one more smile over her shoulder then slipped out the door.
—
The next night Mason, Fallon and I took a cab downtown to The Box. Since it was pretty much dubbed the college bar, I expected to see people we knew, so when we ran into Mel and Leena I wasn’t too surprised. They’d been there awhile and were already heading into drunk territory.
We ordered drinks and, while I had no desire to get as drunk as I had the night I threw myself at Ryder, I wanted to have a good time. Most of all I wanted to forget. For one night, I wanted to pretend my heart wasn’t completely broken over him.
Mason stayed close and kept eyeing my drink as I polished it off fairly quickly. I planned to slow down after I got a nice buzz.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m going to be fine. I just want to have fun tonight.”
“Understandable.” He smiled and patted my leg.
“Someone dance with me,” Leena begged.
“Where’s Mel?” Fallon asked.
“At the bar with some guy,” Leena pouted.
“Mason, why don’t you dance with her?” I asked him.
He spun to me, but I’d seen the way he’d been looking at her. He felt some need to stick close and protect me but I knew he thought she was cute and, really, I didn’t need him mothering me. It was pretty much killing my buzz.
Leena stared at him and I knew he wouldn’t say no. Not when she turned those big brown eyes on him.
“You sure?” he asked me.
“Fallon will stay with me. We’re good. Have fun.”
“Okay.” He slid out of our booth and Leena popped up next to him. She grinned at me over her shoulder as they walked away.
“You know he’s in love with you.” Fallon leaned her chin into her hand and watched Mason walk away.
“He thinks he is.”
“Huh?” Fallon asked.
“Mason and I have been inseparable since we were, like, fifteen. We’ve always been there for each other, and I love him. I can’t imagine my life without him. I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about me. But it’s not romantic love. I think he’s having trouble differentiating the two.