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I nod, grabbing my belongings off the kitchen table. “Alright. See you in a few, Maeve, and thank you for your help today,Naomi. If I don’t see you guys before then, I’ll see you at the Halloween party. Make sure your costumes kill it.” I give them both a wave, heading out the house to the car and tossing my keys to Gabby.

“You drive.”

“I’ll drive…if you tell me what happened with you and Naomi,” Gabby says, holding the keys out with a smirk.

I sigh. “Fine, just get in the damn car.”

We both get in, and she starts the drive back to our apartment. “So…? What happened?”

“Nothing happened, Gabs.”

“Bullshit, Sage. I’ve lived with you for the last three years, remember? I know how long it takes you to shower and do your hair. You were gone for double the amount of time. Plus, Naomi looked flustered when she came up from the basement.”

Guess I’m not getting out of this one.“Naomi and I had a…moment.”

“What kind of moment?” Gabby asks, her eyes darting between me and the road.

“Amoment. As in a ‘I thought we were going to kiss’ moment.”

“Naomi? Kissing you? Are we talking about the same church girl that was literally wearing a Veggie Tales T-shirt today?”

I laugh dryly. “Yep, that’s the one. I know it sounds ridiculous, all things considered, but I’m telling you, there was so much tension. And then her running her fingers through my hair to rinse the dye out didn’t help either.”

“So when you went upstairs to take a shower, you were—”

“Masturbating in the shower, picturing it was Naomi fingering me? Yup,” I say, covering my face out of sheer embarrassment.

Gabby starts laughing uncontrollably as she pulls into the parking lot of our apartment complex.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, completely confused.

“Just admiring the irony of it all. We were just talking at the start of the semester about how you need to start developing deeper connections instead of hooking up with all the eligible women on campus. And of course, the first woman you feel deeply connected to is fundamentally unavailable. You’ve got it bad for Naomi.”

I let out a large sigh. She was completely right. In the cruelest kind of joke from the universe, I’m hooked on a woman I can’t have.

9

Naomi

Iwake up with a dull pounding in my head.Ugh, I’m never drinking again.When Alex and Maeve told me how crazy Kappa Theta Alpha parties got, I didn’t quite believe them. I went to the Homecoming party the sorority threw, but I had maybe one drink and left early without any issue.

Last night, however? Last night was a blur of shots and costumes. I blame the hangover, but the details of last night were a little hazy. I pull the pillow tight over my head, trying to drown out all my senses. The warm, rich smell of coffee wafts through the air, luring me out of bed. I throw on my bathrobe over my pajama set before heading down the hall to the kitchen.

Maeve is standing at the stove, already dressed for her morning run. She’s making breakfast—eggs and bacon—from what I could see, and there was a steaming cup of hot coffee sitting on the breakfast bar. I grab the cup, taking a cautious sip and letting out a small moan as the acidic beverage hits my tongue.

“Oh, that was for Alex. I’ve got a kettle of tea warming on the stove for you.”

“This morning, I need coffee.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Maeve says, plating up some food for me and sliding it across the bar. Alex comes shuffling into the kitchen, and Maeve makes another cup of coffee, adding vanilla creamer before sliding it across the counter to Alex.

“You guys look awful,” she says, handing Alex a plate of food before grabbing a protein shake for herself out of the fridge.

I narrow my eyes at Maeve, glaring over the coffee mug. “Didn’t you go out last night too? How are you still upright? Let alone getting ready to go on a run.”

“My night was…a bit of a mess, to say the least. I didn’t end up drinking much or staying out very late.”

“Liar,” Alex interjects, “that’s a hickey on your neck. And a fresh one at that.” She points to the darkening red smudge along the column of Maeve’s neck, partially obscured by one of her French braids.