Page 25 of Even Exchange

“Mamma!” I groan with a laugh. “One lecture at a time, please.”

“Sorry.” She throws her hands up, still holding the spatula, and a piece of scrambled egg falls to the floor. “I’ll save that one for tomorrow.” She bends down to clean up the escaped glob. “So how about Ms. Charlotte? If none of my choices are good enough.”

My cheeks warm at the mention. “We’re just friends.”

What a stupid word.

“Really?” she asks, pinning me with a knowing smile. “I can’t recall the names of any of your other female friends.” The rest of my body bursts into flames.

“You know what? I actually gotta get back to campus,” I joke, standing up.

“That’s fine,” Tony says. “More tiramisù for me.”

My eyes snap to his. “Homemade or store-bought?”

“Has your mother ever bought it at the store?”

A wide smile spreads across my face as I settle back on the stool. “Just had to make sure I wasn’t caving for nothing.”

It’s good to be home.

* * *

Flopping on my bed, I settle into the cozy mattress, eyes glued on the ceiling with Mom’s and Tony’s lecture still present in my head. Of course I have friends, and we do stuff together, but football comes first over everything.

Is that so wrong?

My heart pounds against my rib cage as the anxiety over all these big decisions closes in.

I pull out my phone, and the home screen countdown taunts me.

NFL Draft: 25 days. 22 hours. 1 minute. 12 seconds.

There for no other reason than to remind me of the most important day of my life looming over me.

I really need something, orsomeone, to take my mind off this stuff. My fingers hesitantly find her contact, and I type out a random fun fact.

My thumb hovers over the send button.

Rule number three: don’t text Charlotte.

Another guideline I implemented after Halloween, knowing the habit would only cause problems with her shithead boyfriend.

Ex-boyfriend.

I suppose there’s nothing wrong about texting asinglewoman…

Images of her tear-stained cheeks flash in my mind, and the urge to know if she’s okay overpowers my discipline regarding rules and boundaries.

CHARLOTTE

Me

Fun fact: it’s illegal to own only one guinea pig in Switzerland

Her response is immediate, sending a rush through me and leaving no time to second-guess myself.

Charlotte

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