After dropping Bailey off and giving her a not-so-brief goodbye kiss on the front step, I was flying way too high to return home and face the guys right away. I was so hopped up on hormones that I wasn't sure I could even carry on a coherent conversation. Hell, even driving was a little dicey.

Instead, I took a detour and grabbed a gigantic drive-through coffee before running a bunch of errands I had been putting off forever. With the good mood I was in, suddenly everything seemed a whole lot more tolerable, even the boring ass drugstore. While doing those, I fought the urge to text James multiple times because I didn't want to seem clingy.

I was probably overthinking that one, but I couldn't help it. This was uncharted territory for me. I had no idea what I was doing. At all.

Then I hit my room for some earnest study time before our afternoon practice. So far, my increased effort had paid off—and even I had to admit, it was a lot less stressful living without an axe hanging over your head.

An hour into Economics of Sport, a loud bang at my door broke my focus.

"You ready?" Dallas bellowed. "Your turn to drive."

*

We piled into my truck, buckling in, and I turned on the ignition. I drew in a deep breath, bracing myself. The gears were coming any minute now. I knew it was inevitable. I had already made peace with it. Bring on the teasing

Dallas leaned forward, trying to catch my eye. "So, Bailey spent the night."

I nodded. "Sure did."

"You're grinning like a lunatic," Ty said from the backseat. "Just FYI."

I stole a glance in the rear-view mirror. He was right.

"Can't a man be happy?" I said, turning away to shoulder check and easing out of the passing spot. "Damn, guys."

He snorted. "Did you even get laid?"

"Not that it's your business, but nope."

Then I realized that if I was this loopy now, I was going to be straight-up cracked out after that happened.

It was going to be great.

Fuck, now I was thinking about sex with James at the most inopportune time ever.

Dallas leveled his icy blue-eyed stare my way, snapping me back to reality. "I can't believe you have a girlfriend. That's wild."

"I don't know if she's my girlfriend."

But somehow, I felt like a gigantic asshole saying that. It wasn't like that would be a bad thing.

Oh, shit.

I really was in deep.

"Dude," he said, laughing. "She definitely is."

"Like you're one to talk." I raised my eyebrows, gesturing. "You and Shiv have been dancing around that issue for way longer."

"I don't know." Dallas shrugged, leaning back in the black leather passenger seat. He quieted, seeming a little stung by my remark. "That's on Shiv, man."

"Really?" Ty and I both said, unintentionally in unison.

"Yeah." He frowned and glanced down at his phone, jaw tight. "We've talked about it before, but she didn't want to slap a label on it. Ball's in her court on that one."

Weird. You could line an entire city block with chicks who would love to tie Dallas Ward down—both figuratively and literally. I liked Shiv, but I wondered what the hold-up was.

Then I wondered whether Bailey felt the same way as Shiv. Did she want to put a label on it? Should we put a label on it? I was flying blind, hoping not to crash.

With everything that had happened with Chase, I'd barely even thought about the entire roommate situation. Blessedly, between part-time jobs, plans, group projects, and other commitments between the three of us, I hadn't seen them in days.

But I received a rude reminder when I came downstairs Monday morning and instantly encountered Amelia seated at the round kitchen table, eating a bowl of oatmeal. My stomach sank, appetite for breakfast vanishing. I didn't want to face her, but I needed caffeine badly enough to deal with it. And at least it wasn't Jill.

Strolling into the kitchen, I gave her a half-hearted wave.

"Hey." Amelia's lips curved into a bland smile. "I feel like I've barely seen you lately." Her honey-brown eyes scanned me methodically, probing. I felt like I was being assessed by an enemy spy, results to be reported back to Commander Luke.

"Yeah," I said. "Just been really busy with class and such."

"Where were you the other night?" She said casually. "You didn't come home." I could tell that she was trying to sound friendly, but beneath the pleasant veneer there was an undertone of nosiness.

"Where do you think?" I grinned, turning to the cupboard to retrieve a mug. Just thinking about the goodbye kiss yesterday made me feel warm and tingly...Not to mention, all the kissing that came before.

Who knew kissing could be like that? I felt like I had been seriously ripped off until now.

Amelia's mask slipped and she gaped at me, wide-eyed. "Seriously?"

"Sure was," I said. "It was great. He's great."

"So you guys are actually..."

I poured myself some coffee, blowing on it. "Yup."

"Carter," she said, dumbstruck. "Chase Carter."

"What about him?" I clutched the mug, replicating her bland smile from earlier. She shook her head a little but didn't reply.

"Anyway, what did you get up to all weekend?" I asked.

Amelia hesitated, spoonful of oatmeal halfway to her mouth. She looked down at the white ceramic bowl, avoiding my gaze.

"Not much on Friday. We just went over to...uh, Sophie's with everyone on Saturday."

"Cool." I meant it. I literally did not care. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go shower and get ready for class."

*

When I got out of the shower, I found a text from Chase waiting for me and my mood instantly lifted.

Chase: You know what you need?

Bailey: I'm afraid to ask.

Chase: A makeup birthday. Like a do-over.

Bailey: If only.

Chase: Oh, it's happening. Let's go do something this week. Dinner. Anything you want.

Bailey: But it's not your fault Luke is an ass.

Chase: It's not yours, either.

Chase: And maybe I want an excuse to take you out for dinner before I'm away for hockey all weekend.

Bailey: Sure, I'd love to.

Chase: Great. I'll even throw in an autographed picture of me as a belated birthday gift.

Bailey: I'm a lucky girl.

Chase: I know, right?

*

With everything that happened with Chase over the weekend, and Amelia's weird half-interrogation Monday morning, it became even more apparent that I couldn't wait until next year to live with Noelle and Zara. I had to do something, and sooner rather than later.

After all, how could I stay living somewhere Chase wasn't even welcome? Heck, I didn't feel welcome myself.

Random roommates were out of the question, so I began to comb the rental ads. A one-bedroom was clearly out of budget, but I was hopeful that I could swing a studio—or maybe I was being slightly delusional, based on the prices I was seeing. Still, there had to be a way. It might not end up being the nicest place, but at least it would be mine.

Late Monday evening, I decided to drop the bomb on Jillian and Amelia while they were watching TV. They were curled up together on the big couch, sharing a bunch of snacks and utterly engrossed in some show they were binging together on Netflix.

I couldn't tiptoe around it any longer. The elephant was in the room already and it needed to be called out.

Heart pounding, I lingered in the living room doorway for a few seconds. There was a tiny pang in my gut. A month or two ago, I would have been in there hanging out with them. Now I could barely bring myself to enter the room.

When they didn't immediately notice my presence, I rapped on the doorframe to get their attention and drew in a deep breath.

I hated confrontation. Especially when it was two on one.

"Hey," Amelia said. "What's up?"

I cleared my throat. "Um, so...I'm thinking of breaking the lease," I said. "Actually, no. I'm planning to. In the near future."

They both turned and stared at me like I'd suggested we burn the place down.

Amelia grabbed the remote, turning the TV volume down. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet." Anywhere but here. Somehow.

Jillian set down her bowl of chips, curling her lip into a snarl. "Then why are you moving out?"

Gee, I can't imagine why.

"Let's be honest," I said, folding my arms. "This isn't working out for any of us anymore. I don't even feel comfortable having Chase over here, and I don't think that's fair to either one of us."

"Well, you can," Amelia snapped. "No one is stopping you."

"Why, so he can get into it with Paul and Luke? Hard pass. And speaking of Luke, he's here too often for my liking."

Jillian scoffed. "He was here once."

"Exactly. One time too many as far as I'm concerned."

"But he's still our friend, B." Amelia raised her eyebrows, like she'd just dropped some kind of truth bomb.

"Clearly," I said. "That's why I'm giving you notice now so you can find another roommate who won't have an issue with that."

"And what if we can't?" Jillian asked.

"That sounds a lot like a you problem."

"You signed the lease too," Amelia said. "That means you're still on the hook legally even if you move out."

"Then I guess you'll have to sue me." I shrugged. "Literally."

And good luck with that because I had no money to my name. I lived on scholarships and student aid. But I mean, they could try. I would rather eat money I didn't have than deal with them any longer.

Jill furrowed her brow, blinking at me like I was some kind of hallucination.

"This is so irresponsible of you. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, based on who you're dating."

"Excuse me?" I shot her a scorching glare. "Don't you even."

Talk about glass houses. It would take a tiny pebble to make hers shatter to pieces.

She recoiled, probably because I'd never spoken to either of them like that before. I wasn't sure I'd spoken like that to anyone with a tone that sharp before, maybe not even Luke. But I was out of patience—especially with her.

"Anyway, just a heads up," I said, turning to leave.

"We can't just find someone in the middle of the semester like this," Amelia said exasperatedly.

I looked back over my shoulder, giving them a knowing look.

"Oh, I don't know, guys. Maybe you could ask my brother. He's here a lot, isn't he?"

Oh snap. Maybe time with Chase is making Bailey a little more honest, too.

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