Page 28 of The Girlfriend Goal
In the morning light streaming through the diner windows, I could see the tiredness around his eyes, the tension he carried in his shoulders.
His fingers drummed against the booth, that nervous rhythm I was starting to recognize. "I made an appointment at the learning center. Next Tuesday. They said the testing takes like four hours, which seems excessive, but whatever." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but I could see the anxiety in the set of his jaw. "Would you maybe come with me? Not for the actual testing, just moral support or whatever."
My heart did something complicated in my chest. "Yeah. Of course."
"Thanks. It's not a big deal."
"Lance, it's okay for it to be a big deal."
He looked at me for a long moment, something shifting in his expression.
"Order up!" The server appeared with menus. "What can I get you folks?"
We ordered—Lance getting what appeared to be half the menu while I stuck to my usual fruit and granola. Across from us, Matt and Jared had progressed to sharing Matt's pancakes while arguing about whether pineapple belonged on pizza.
I caught Lance's eye and we shared a moment of mutual amusement at our friends' ridiculous flirting disguised as food discourse.
"Five bucks says they're making out within a week," he murmured.
"You're on. Jared has a three-week rule."
"Matt has no rules. This should be interesting."
We fell into comfortable conversation, the kind that had been happening more frequently during our study sessions. He told me about the community center, how Marcus had shown up early yesterday to practice drills. I updated him on our project timeline, pretending not to notice when he used his phone to record my explanation for later review.
"So," he said as our food arrived, "the hockey game was yesterday."
"It was fine. I was there for academic purposes. Observing athletic performance for our project."
"Right. That's why you jumped up when I made that save in the third period. Very academic. Admit it. You enjoyed it."
"It was more interesting than I expected," I conceded.
"Does that mean you'll come to more games?"
"I'll consider it, for the project."
He was smiling that genuine smile that made my defensive walls feel increasingly pointless.
Across from us, Matt had now progressed to feeding Jared bites of his omelet while Jared pretended to be offended by the very concept of eggs.
"This is disgusting," Jared said, accepting another bite. "How do you make eggs this fluffy?"
"It's all in the wrist motion."
Chapter 12: Lance
The campus gym at midnight was supposed to be empty. That was the whole point. No teammates to ask questions, no random students trying to flirt between sets, no distractions from the punishing workout I used to clear my head.
What it wasn't supposed to have was Rachel in yoga pants and a tank top that had given up on containing anything about three sizes ago.
I froze in the doorway, watching her execute perfect pull-ups with a focus that suggested she was working through her own demons. The emergency lighting cast shadows that highlighted muscles I'd had no business noticing.
Turn around, Fletcher. Hit the 24-hour gym across town. Do literally anything except stand here like a creep watching her work out.
But my feet had other ideas, carrying me into the weight room like I had every right to be there. Like we were the kind of people who could share space without it meaning something.
She spotted me in the mirror during her descent, her eyes widening before narrowing into that familiar defensive glare.
