Page 46 of Under Pressure

“Whatever happened with him?”

“Nothing. No lie, he found someone dressed as Supergirl and dropped me.”

“What a douche.” She looks truly outraged on my behalf. Despite seeing each other only once in a while, I love how it never feels like we’ve been apart. She’s always invested in what’s going on in my life.

We met during our freshman year in Precalculus, commiserating over our mutual hatred of all things math, and have stayed in touch ever since. She’s one of those people it’s easy to stay friends with, picking up right where we left off.

“I just met him that night,” I tell her. “It wasn’t a big deal. I don’t even remember his name.” That’s a lie. It was Christian. But seriously, he doesn’t matter. It was one night, months ago. And I have a much better man now.

He’s not your man.He’s a fuck buddy, nothing more.

Right.

“Are you seeing anyone now?”

I bite into my blueberry muffin, taking a moment to collect my thoughts about her question. Are Tyler and I seeing each other? We’re notnotseeing each other, so…

“Sort of,” I hedge. “But it’s really casual, nothing serious.” I wipe away the crumbs on the table, then take another sip of my drink. “It’s actually kind of a friends-with-benefits thing.”

She blinks at me. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

I let out a sigh. “I know, it’s crazy.”

She leans across the table, a mischievous smile on her face. “Is he good in bed?”

I almost snort up the hot chocolate, grabbing a napkin to wipe at my chin. “We haven’t actually… you know… but what wehavedone, oh my God, Adelaide, it’s been amazing.”

“That’s great,” she says excitedly, squeezing my hand. “I had a friends-with-benefits thing once. Some of the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“But it didn’t work out?”

She laughs. “Work out? There was nothing to work out.”

“So why did it end?”

“We decided when it started it would just be for a month. I didn’t want him getting attached to me. Sweet boy, but he was dumb as fuck.”

I ball up my straw wrapper, twisting it between my fingers. “We didn’t set any kind of timeline. Maybe I should the next time I see him at the lab.”

“The lab?”

“Yeah, we’re working on this research study together.”

“You work with him? What if something happens between you two?”

I bite my lip. I hadn’t thought about that. “We’re… professionals. We can act like adults around each other if things change between us.”

“Okay.” She shrugs. Sure, it’s easy for her to brush off. She’s not the one who would have to live with the consequences.

Once he realizes that this “arrangement” you have isn’t benefiting him at all, he’ll drop you. You’ll see him every week, knowing what you’re missing out on—

“How are your cats?” I blurt out, trying to redirect my thoughts. I don’t need to end up a crying, gasping mess in the middle of this coffee shop. “Is Finn still causing havoc? What did he do with your Christmas tree this year?”

“Oh, he totally trashed it,” she laughs. “I ended up only being able to keep ornaments on the top third. It was pathetic. Jake was a good boy, though.”

We continue talking about her two cats that I’m in love with for a while, with promises for me to come over soon and see them, until I have to leave to make it to my Motivation class on time. Thankfully, I understand everything on the review for Wednesday’s test, since Tyler and I actually did study after rescuing the smoking cupcakes.

I can’t believe I’d let time get away from me like that. We’d been so into it, neither of us had even heard the timer go off. What I’d said to Adelaide had been an understatement. Things between us weren’t just amazing. They were glorious. Magnificent. More profound than I’d thought possible. And we hadn’t even technically had sex yet. If it was this good already, how will it be when we finally cross that threshold?

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