Page 58 of Want Me

“I feel like I’m trying to fall asleep in a box of puppies.”

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I can go back to my bed.”

“Or you can tell me what’s up.” He rolled to face me and dragged the tip of his finger along my jaw. “Can’t see you well enough to tell if you’re glaring right now, though.”

I snorted and adjusted the pillow under my head. “I’m not glaring.”

I told him about Mark and Jesse, and he closed the few inches between our lips and gave me a light kiss, saying afterward, “You’re on a roll.”

“Your lack of impulse control is rubbing off on me.”

“If that’s the only downside to all the other ways I get to rub off on you, I call that a win.” His teeth flashed in the darkness.

“Mark thinks Jesse has a crush on you.”

Ericmmm’dthoughtfully. “He invited me home with him for Thanksgiving, but I said no.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. A few days after shit between you and me blew up.”

“Why didn’t you say yes?”

“Because I didn’t want to. I like him fine and he was probably just being polite, but I got the same vibe. He’s subtle about it, though. And he’s nice.”

“Friendzoned.”

Eric snickered. “Yeah, more or less.”

“I’m nice.”

“Mmm.”

“What’s that mean, you disagree?”

“Jesse strikes me as the type to want something I can’t give him.”

“That’s irritatingly mysterious.”

“I can’t explain it any better. He’s too wholesome or something.”

I thought of Jesse with his broad smiles and eager eyes framed by thick lashes and grunted. Yeah, I guess I could see it. He kind of reminded me of a golden retriever, or someone who would be all over loving cuddles and sweet talk. Definitely a handholder. I let it go, moving on to the other issue weighing on my mind, asking, “Does Chet deal?”

Eric shifted onto his back, folding his arms behind his head. “Sometimes? Here and there, I think. Why?”

“Mark seems to think…well, Mark doesn’t like him. Blames him for our friend Cam’s overdose. Which isn’t exactly fair, but I get it. Did you know Cam?”

“Mark has a lot of opinions about other people’s business,” Eric retorted, then sighed. “Not that I can remember really. Maybe vaguely? I didn’t really start hanging out with Chet until the middle of last year when we had a few classes together.”

“And you’ve never hooked up with him?”

Eric laughed softly. “Nope. Not my type.”

“What’s your type?” I’d given this more thought than I wanted to admit. The girls I’d seen him with before didn’t follow any set pattern, aside from looking decidedly not like the girls I usually brought home. And I had no point of reference for guys, seeing as how he’d never brought one around.

“High-strung built dudes who beg me to pound their asses.” I could hear the wry smile in his voice.

I scoffed and he turned serious. “It’s about vibe and personality for me, I guess, not necessarily a type. But Chet wasn’t it either.”