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It was so much.

To have Annie beside him in the quiet like this. One hand on the wheel, one hand sweating on his knee.

Annie could tell he was nervous.

“No one is going to mess with you, I’ll be there the whole time. You can hang out with me and the rest of the girls.”

“I don’t think the girls like me either,” Hollis mumbled as they turned onto the highway.

“Dude, they don’t know you. Worst-case scenario, they know their boyfriends don’t like you, and for some of them that might even be a good thing,” Annie said. “The one thing they do know is that me and Yulia like you, and that counts for something.”

“What do you mean?”

Annie glanced over at him. “Well. Your reputation rides on ours in its own way.... People think, ‘ They wouldn’t hang out with him for no reason .’ They don’t know you, Hollis.”

Hollis smirked. “They think there must be something worthwhile going on with me since you and Yulia waste all your time with me?”

Annie huffed. “They don’t deserve to know you if they think that. I told them you’re our mascot.”

“You can tell them whatever you like,” Hollis said, fond and indulgent.

Annie grinned.