Page 54 of Quarterback Sneak

Her eyes widen impossibly. “What did you do?”

I sigh, and embarrassment fills me when I remember what happened. “Reid showed up out of nowhere and paid the bill for me.”

“Reid, as in Zane’s best friend...as in Reid Marshall, number twenty-four, lead scorer of the Barracudas?”

“Uh, I think you covered it all. Yeah.ThatReid.”

“He paid the bill for you? Ohhhh, that’s the sweetest. I always wondered if he was a good guy or not. I mean, he seems like it, but you never know, especially once they start making it big.”

“He’s a good guy, just like Zane,” I say adamantly.

“How did you get back to school?”

“Reid brought me back.”

“Oh my word. How did Zane react when he found out about it?”

“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly.

“Well, Jace is still alive, so there’s that.”

I smile at her dramatics. “That’s a little dramatic, but yes.”

She gives me a sad smile. “I really don't think there's any question about who’s the better guy. We both know Zane wouldnever leave you at a restaurant with a bill you couldn’t pay. I don’t even know him that well, and I know that.”

“Yeah. I know he wouldn’t. I just feel...safe around him, you know? And comfortable. I feel like I could tell him anything.”

“And you don’t feel like that with Jace?” she prods.

“No, not at all.” I groan and lean back. “I’m going to have to break up with him again.”

“Again?”

“Yep. I already tried once, but it didn’t exactly work.”

Tessa stares at me. “Evie, when you break up with a guy, you just tell them you’re done. That’s it.”

I groan again. “I know. I’ll do it right this time. I’ll tell him to his face that we’re done, not that we were ever officially a couple to begin with,” I mutter under my breath. I finally get up the gumption to stand up.

“Don’t forget all your stuff,” Tessa reminds me. When I’m about to leave the room, she calls my name.

I look back over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

She meets my gaze with her serious one. “Do it tonight. Just get it over with, so you can be with the guy that takes good care of you.”

I nod. “I will.” I carry the bag from Zane into my room and put everything away. Then I sit down on my bed and practice what I’m going to say to Jace. After rehearsing it a few times, I take a deep breath and dial his number. I tense when it rings and try to stay calm. It rings several more times, and he never answers. I call two more times before dropping my phone on my bed. “I swear he’s impossible to break up with!”

“You’re trying to break up with Jace?”

I startle at Sam’s voice. I was so focused on my phone, I didn’t even hear the door open. I take a steadying breath. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“It’s just not going to work between us.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous; you two are great together.”

“Sam, he left me at the restaurant the other night with a three-hundred-dollar bill and no way home.”