Page 95 of A Stealthy Situation

“Well, that’s not something you need to worry about. No one wants to commit to you.”

“Thank fuck. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being locked down. Campus is big, but it’s not that big, y’know. Imagine trying to pick up at Shenanigans and your ex is there?” A shudder ripples through his body.

“Just because you’ve fucked half of campus and regularly get drinks thrown at you doesn’t mean we all do.”

“Be real, Dalton. Relationships at our age don’t last. So what’s the point? College is all about sowing your seeds, and boyfriends will just get in the way of that.” He nods at me like he’s just given life-changing advice. “You know what I’m saying.”

“Sure do.” I’ll say anything at this point to escape, and once I’ve dumped my shake cup in the dishwasher, I swipe a banana and leave.

Emmett’s awake when I get back to the room, still in bed, though, and scrolling through his phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Just realizing that while I might have hung out with a bunch of these people, I was never actually friends with any of them. I thought you were supposed to make college besties and whatever?”

“Kinda have to be in college for that.”

He blows me a kiss, courtesy of his middle finger.

Normally that kind of shit would make me tackle him, but between Big Wally’s life lessons and this test result hanging over my head, I’m deflated.

I drop onto the side of my bed, and Em’s immediately on high alert.

“Why are we sad? What happened? Do I need to kill Harrison?”

I snort and kick him. “No. It’s fine. I just …”

“Yeah?”

“College relationships don’t last forever.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Em screws up his nose and lifts his phone, showing off a picture of Asher, his boyfriend, Kole, and their fur babies. “You gonna tell them that?”

“They’re the exception. Not the rule.”

“Ah. So, you’re just going to freak out over something that hasn’t happened yet. Makes sense.”

It’s my turn to flip him off. “Big Wally’s an idiot. I don’t know why it’s sticking in my brain.”

“Well, that’s easy—you like him. Harrison. Not Wally. I like him too, by the way—even before you started dating—and Harrison isn’t the kind of guy to play games.”

I give Em a dry look and wave my hand down the front of myself. “It’s not him I’m worried about. Kind of a hot mess over here.”

“This better not be about the math thing again.” He sounds at the end of his patience. “He doesn’t give a shit about that.”

“Yeah, but maybe I do. I got my results.”

Em goes from exasperated to wary. “How did you do?”

The worry in his voice matches what I’m feeling, and it’s a relief that he’s not pretending to be optimistic. That voice in my head is already too far out of line.

“Haven’t opened it yet.”

“Then do it now.”

“I don’t want confirmation of how badly I did.”

Em’s back to being exasperated, and he climbs up beside me and takes my phone. He opens it with his own face—smart-ass—and logs in to the student portal. “You ready for this?”

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