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He smirks and fuck. Fuck.Fuck!This.Thisis what he wants. To show that he can still get under my skin. To make me lose my temper so I’ll feel like shit and give him the upper hand.

The student center door opens, and a girl walks out. I recognize her purple hair and green eyes under the thick layer of mascara. Joan. She’d been part of the larger group that we’d hung out with. I shouldn’t be surprised they’re together.

I use her arrival as an excuse to walk off, leaving him and his condescending asshole ways behind me. Although, I can’t help but wonder if he hurts her the way he hurt me?

The anger barely dissipates on the walk home, but I’m happy to see that the lights are on and that the door is unlocked—meaning Nadia is home.

I toss my bag on the floor and kick off my shoes, shouting, “You’ll never fucking believe who I just ran into.”

Nadia walks out in a Wittmore sweatshirt and barely visible shorts under the hem. Her expression… it tells me everything. She doesn’t even have to say it. I already know.

“You didn’t get my tickets.”

“I’m so sorry, Twy. The craziest thing happened last night. I got a match on my hookup app at like 3 AM.” Her eyes light up. “It was Brent Reynolds.”

“The quarterback?”

Why does this feel like déjà vu?

“Yeah, he slid into my DMs and he asked me to meet up and I went.”

“I texted you this morning.”

“I was still there.” She tugs at the ribbed wrist of her sleeves. “I was planning on leaving but then we, we…” She shrugs. “You know.”

“You were fucking Brent Reynolds instead of getting my tickets.”

“You know how long I’ve been waiting to hook up with him!”

I shake my head, my head and heart a swirl of angry emotion. First Ethan. Now this. Two gut punches in a row. And how the hell did Reese name drop Brent tonight? Did he already know?

“What about Reid?” I ask.

“What about him?”

“I thought he was the guy you’d been waiting on.”

“We went out. He’s a nice guy, fun to hang with, but there were no sparks.” Her chin lifts. “In fact, since there were no sparks, I intentionally didn’t sleep with him—for you.”

“Oh, well, thanks for thinking of me before you boned one of my hockey players.”

“Twy, we’ll figure something out. Find tickets on a resell page or—" she starts.

“No.” I edge back to the door, looking for my shoes. “You fucked me over, Nadia. I asked for one thing, and you couldn’t keep your legs shut for one morning to make it happen.”

Her jaw drops and red rims her eyes. “Are you slut-shaming me?”

I laugh. “No. I’m reality-shaming you. You’re a shitty friend who is more into chasing jerseys than anything else. Those guys are always your priority.Always.” I take a deep breath. “And the worst part is you’renevergoing to be theirs.”

“Screw you, Twyler,” she says. “I knew you were always judging me, it’s about fucking time you said it out loud.”

She spins and runs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. I finish putting my shoes on and open the front door. Nadia isn’t the only one I’m angry with tonight.

If I’m burning bridges, I may as well do all of them.

12

Reese