Page 43 of Scoring the Player
When I’m finished, Jane sits on my bed, picking at the comforter.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says in a tone that disagrees with her statement.
Felix is waiting for me, but he has a beer, so I cross the room and sit down on the bed in front of her. “What’s wrong? You seem down. You know you can come with us, right? Felix is more the third wheel than you.”
“I know I’m your soulmate, but that boy is totally into you and that makes me the third wheel. And I really can’t. I still have to write a paper for my Nineteenth Century Music Theory class.”
“How much more do you have to do?”
“All of it.” She smiles sweetly and then grimaces. “This week has sucked. I swear all of my professors got together and decided to pile on homework and tests this week.”
She starts to get up, then squeezes my hand. “You look amazing. He likes you. I’d bet my life on it. Now go have fun. If you stay the night with him, promise to text.”
My face warms at the thought. “I’m not staying at his house.”
“Please do. I want to hear all the details tomorrow. It’ll be my reward for finishing this paper.” She groans a little. “I don’t even have a topic yet. Ugh.”
I hate seeing her like this. Jane has always had my back. I don’t think there’s anything she wouldn’t do for me.
“Do you remember that night last year when the four of us stayed in and helped you study for your philosophy test?”
She laughs. “How could I forget? The three of you got so drunk.”
“That was unintentional.” I laugh too at the memory. “But you aced that test.”
“Yeah.” She shrugs. “You were so entertaining, I studied way longer than I would have on my own.”
I grin really big. “It was a fun night.”
“Oh no,” she says, finally realizing where I’m headed with this jog down memory lane.
“Oh, yes.”
* * *
Much to my surprise, Felix doesn’t bat an eye when I tell him I need to stay in tonight with Jane. She can write the paper on her own, I know this, but I also know it’s what she’d do for me. Besides, Vi is gone for the night, and Daisy and Jordan are preoccupied, which means it’s up to me.
We’re standing just outside the house, where I can talk to him without Jane overhearing.
“I’m sorry. She seems sort of down and she needs to finish a paper, so I’m going to stick around. Sorry about making you try on the pants. I guess I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. I promise you can keep me out late this weekend.”
He chuckles and the movement makes his chest lift. “It’s all right. Lucas texted and said Sigma was a bust anyway.”
“You’re welcome to stay and hang out.”
It’s worth noting, there’s no world in which I would have believed he would take me up on that, but Felix nods slowly and rolls his bottom lip behind his teeth. “Yeah, okay.”
I stare up at him for too long, the words not quite sinking in.
“Was that not the answer you wanted?” He smirks.
“Sorry. I didn’t think you’d want to. Chill nights in don’t seem like your style.”
“That’s not true at all,” he says, brows tugging together. Hmm. I guess I just assumed that because when I see him, it’s always at parties. There’s a lot about Felix I don’t really know.
I push open the front door and step in with a smile. “We decided to stay in.”
