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Story: Master of Pain

“I need sleep this week. I have my early morning class and two exams. I can’t run on fumes right now,” I insist. With another sigh I brush several locks of my hair back into place, finding the feeling of them almost touching my forehead irritating.

“Damn, dude. You know you could slow down a little and still be at the top of the class,” Nathan reminds me. He sips at his coffee, and my eyes move to it—to his lips, his fingers on the handle. Looking at him doesn’t do anything to me like looking at Dante does. Not even remotely.

“I don’t think so,” I say quietly, distracted.

It’s silent for a moment before he speaks up again. “Alright, so tell me why you’re here instead of heading to Lena’s?”

I force myself to focus. “This weekend I ran into Dante Romano.Literallyran into him. I spilled coffee all over his expensive leather jacket,” I tell him. “He cursed me out and seemed like he was about to waylay me, but then…he insisted on replacing my coffee.”

“Dante Romano?” Nathan raises a brow. “That douche? Why didn’t you tell me about it? Was that why you were distracted at the event?”

I nod. “Yes. Well, I was also absolutely fucking exhausted, but that didn’t help.”

“He bought you coffee…that’s weird. I mean, he’s not known for beingnormal, but I’m surprised he left you standing on your feet after you ran into him.” Nathan’s eyes widen a little.

“That’s…not what’s bothering me, though. It’s odd he bought me coffee afterward, but something else happened,” I say slowly. Anxiety builds in my stomach, just like it did over the weekend when I decided telling Nathan about the situation was pointless.

Except now he’s waiting for me to say something, and I can’t lie to him.

“What?” Nathan looks confused.

“He…ah, well, he flirted with me,” I say. I feel my ears get hot just saying it.

Nathan blinks. “Heflirtedwith you?”

“Yeah,” I say simply, as if it should be obvious why it bothers me.

Except I don’t even know why it bothers me so much.

“That’s it? Pft, Ethan, he’s a playboy. That’s what he does. Everyone knows he’s gay and he charms the pants off any guy he can,” Nathan says with a laugh. “He was probably just shooting his shot ’cause he didn’t know you.”

“He flirts with everyone?” I repeat. For some reason my stomach aches at the thought.

“Basically. That’s probably the least weird thing he could do.”

I look away from him. “He…was at the library tonight, though. We bumped into each other and I let him sit with me because it seemed like he needed to be closer to a plug,” I tell him, trying to ignore the way my fingers twitch when I think about the way he looked at me. “I didn’t think much of it until he started hitting on me again…and you know what, I don’t think he even had a fucking laptop with him.”

My jaw tightens.

“Woah, dude is hot for you,” Nathan snickers.

My face turns red. “What? No, he’s…it’s…just weird.”

“I mean, you told him you have a girlfriend, right?” Nathan asks.

“Obviously!” I say, my voice more defensive than I intended.

“Jeez, okay. So he gets it. You’re not into him, and not available. He’ll fuck off to someone else,” he says with a shrug. “He’s trouble, anyway.”

“What if he doesn’t?” I ask.

“Doesn’t what?” Nathan asks, peering over his coffee while sinking into the chair in a manner that seems uncomfortable to me.

My throat is tight. “Doesn’t…fuck off to someone else. Doesn’t move on.”

Nathan eyes me. “I dunno. I mean, you want him to, right?”

“Yes! I…of course,” I mumble the last few words. “I’m not gay.”