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“Seriously, S,” Trihn said with a shake of her head. “I thought things would be different this time. You’re just QB-jumping again?”

“It’s not like that,” she said immediately.

“Are you sure?” Maya asked.

“Yeah, this seems pretty classic Stacia if you ask me,” Bryna told her. She slid her Tiffany glasses onto her face and tipped her face back into the sun. Her bikini was brand-new from somewhere in Southern France and looked stunning on her bronzed body.

“Well, it isn’t. Classic Stacia has retired,” Stacia said.

“We’ll see about that,” Maya said. “We’re your friends. You don’t have to lie to us. Bryna here was a total gold digger freshman year. It’s fine if your motivations are still to land a quarterback.”

“Especially since Pace is projected to be number one preseason,” Bryna said. “Unfortunate for his ego.”

“You all seriously don’t believe me?” Stacia asked. “I’m not hedging my bets. I’m not hoping to secure a more favorable draft pick. I’m not even trying to be an NFL quarterback’s wife. I just want to graduate.”

All three girls raised their eyebrows. Bryna opened her mouth to say something, but Trihn smacked her leg.

“If Stacia says that’s not what she’s up to, then that’s not what she’s up to,” Trihn ground out.

“It just seems a bit unbelievable,” Maya said. “But maybe we’re wrong.”

“You are,” Stacia insisted.

“All right,” Bryna said with a shrug. “No QB for you. When will you hear about whether or not those summer classes paid off?”

Stacia bit her lip and glanced away. She was supposed to have already heard. She had aced one class and gotten a B-plus in the second. It wasn’t perfect, and with her record, she worried it wasn’t going to be good enough. But her advisor had sworn that her entrance essay was phenomenal. Yet she still hadn’t heard.

“Any day now.”

“Nice. Let us know how that turns out,” Trihn told her.

“Why don’t you tell me about your summers?” Stacia said to divert the conversation. “Must be more interesting than mine.”

“Oh, I have a great story for you,” Bryna said. She hopped off the chair. “Let me show you!”

She sauntered over to Eric and planted a kiss on him before disappearing into their house. It was so strange to realize that Bryna and Eric were living together. Of course, they had practically been living together before, but it seemed like a big step for Bryna, who had always been a bit commitment-phobic, especially after Jude had walked into her life like a tornado, destroying everything in sight.

“Have you heard the story from her?” Trihn asked Maya, who had been backpacking through Europe at the same time as Eric and Bryna.

Stacia knew they had met up in Amsterdam for a brief period of time.

“Oh, I have a ton of stories. Bryna knows how to do Amsterdam right,” Maya said with a laugh. “But not sure which one in particular she’s talking about.”

“How was backpacking alone? I would be terrified,” Stacia said.

“Refreshing, honestly. I can hold my own, and now, I know I’m confident enough to take on the world,” Maya said. “Traveling abroad changes your life, your perspective, and your very nature. Everyone needs to do it sometime.”

“I’ve been to Europe before, but it’s been a while,” Stacia told her.

“And you, Miss High-End Fashion Designer,” Maya asked, “how was the tour life?”

“I’m just glad to be back. Touring is exhausting. I had no time to design anything,” Trihn told them.

“Amid all the crazy, hot sex you were having backstage?” Stacia asked.

Trihn laughed. “Basically.”

“Found it!” Bryna said, practically skipping back out to them.

“Found what?” Trihn asked.

“This little bauble that I got in Paris to go with the story,” Bryna told them.

Then, she thrust her left hand out toward them, and they all stared at the rock sitting on her ring finger.

It was a few seconds before anyone realized what the fuck was happening. Trihn’s mouth dropped open. Maya snatched Bryna’s hand into her own. Stacia’s hand flew to her mouth. And then cries and screams and cheers erupted from them all.

“Oh my God!” Trihn yelled. She tugged Bryna into a hug.

“Congratulations,” Maya told her.

“I’m so happy for you two,” Stacia said. Her eyes flew to the ring in astonishment. It was an enormous double halo that shone like the sun and perfectly fit her extravagant friend.

“How did it happen? Tell us everything,” Trihn said.

Bryna launched into the tale of how Eric had popped the question at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It had been completely unexpected, and she had said yes without hesitation, which she acknowledged she had never thought about before.

“It was just perfect. He’s the one, you know,” Bryna concluded.

Trihn sighed. “Yeah.”

“Definitely,” Maya said.

Stacia stayed silent and looked between her best friends. All of them were so hopelessly in love. So ready to take the jump. So determined that this was their moment to shine. It made Stacia feel…empty.

Is there something wrong with me?

She had never felt like that before. Sure, she had been happy with guys. Like with Pace before Bryna had found out what was going on. They had just been young and stupid. Then, they’d hurt each other too much for anything salvageable. She didn’t think she could ever feel that carefree in a relationship again. So happy and unconcerned with the rest of the world.

She was almost twenty-two, and already, she felt broken.

“Well, it seems like she’s finally told you all,” Eric said, walking over to the pool with Damon and Drayton.

“I did,” Bryna said, snuggling up to him.

“Good. I’m horrible at secrets.”

The girls laughed.

“You did good,” Bryna said. She patted his hand twice and winked. Then, she turned back to the girls. “I want you all to be my bridesmaids!”

More screaming ensued, and they spent the rest of the afternoon discussing everything that would happen, in minute details, the following spring after Bryna and Trihn graduated.

Stacia left Eric’s place feeling delighted for her best friend. But the farther she drove away from the house, the more she felt totally insane.
Why am I so sad?

It made no sense. She was unbelievably excited for Bryna and Eric. After everything they had been through, they totally deserved one another.

Yet Stacia was sad. God, she felt like she was going out of her mind.

It wasn’t jealousy. Okay, maybe a hint of jealousy. But not in a negative way. She just wanted to have a normal relationship. And it wasn’t the rational part of her that was feeling the depression sinking into her at the thought. She certainly hadn’t loved Marshall, so it wasn’t like she could be upset that she’d broken up with him.

But it didn’t mean that she didn’t wish she’d found the right person already. Not that everyone found their perfect someone their freshman year of college. And she didn’t need that.

If anything, right now, she needed to focus on herself. She still had yet to find out about the journalism major. Her grades would need a kick in the ass, and she didn’t have cheer. Or her own apartment. Once she figured out her own shit, maybe then she’d be ready for Mr. Perfect. Until then, she needed to calm down before she gave herself an anxiety attack over something ridiculous.

She parked her SUV in front of Pace’s condo and trudged inside. When she entered, Pace was seated with takeout in front of him, watching football.

“Hey,” she said with a head nod in greeting before beelining for her bedroom. It was basically what she had done every day since she had moved in.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked.

She dropped her purse on the side table and entered her room. “Nothing!” she yelled as she closed the door.

She stripped out of her cover-up and launched her flip-flops into the closet. Luckily, the closet was massive since it had once been Bryna’s condo before Pace had taken it over. She tugged on the string to her bikini right when the door opened a crack.

“You sure?” Pace said before stopping in his tracks.

Stacia’s face burned as she latched on to the top string and held her tiny top to her chest. “Knock much?”

He grinned and then nodded. “Sorry.” Then, he backed out of her room.

The door snapped closed behind him, and she just stared at the door.

Sorry? Since when did Pace apologize? And since when did he back out of a room where I’m half-naked?

She shook her head in confusion and then tugged off the rest of her clothes.

After taking a steaming shower, towel-drying her hair so that the normally pin-straight strands had bouncy beach waves, and changing into cheer shorts and a tank top, she strolled back out of her room to get a drink. She fetched a bottled water from the bottom of the refrigerator, and when she straightened and turned around, she found Pace’s eyes on her.

“Were you just staring at my ass?” she accused.

He raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“Are you upset?”

“That you’re objectifying me?” she asked.

He laughed. “That I find you attractive.”

“You’re the worst roommate ever.” She popped open the bottle of water and took a long swig, trying to ignore the look Pace was giving her.

He didn’t just find her attractive. The looked like he could eat her for dessert right on the kitchen table.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.

Stacia put the cap back on her bottle and moved into the living room, taking the seat kitty-corner to him. “Nothing is wrong.”

He arched an eyebrow, and she sighed.

“Seriously, nothing. Bri got engaged to Eric.”

“Oh, yeah. I know,” he said with total nonchalance.

“What? She told you before us?” Stacia asked in disbelief. She tucked her legs up underneath her, pretzel-style.

“Are you kidding me right now?” he asked, shooting her a skeptical look. “There’s no way she would have told me. I actually knew before Bri.”

“How in the hell?”

“Eric talked to her dad. Did the whole ask-permission thing. I was around when it happened,” Pace explained.

Stacia blinked and then blinked again. She was beginning to wonder if she was in a real alternate reality at this point.
Pace had known that Eric was going to propose? He’d known and never mentioned it…to anyone?

“What is that look for, Pink?” Pace asked.

He reached for the beer on the coffee table and then leaned back on the leather couch. His eyes flicked between Stacia and the TV screen as the running back carried the ball into the end zone.

“You didn’t spill about the engagement?” she asked.

“No.”

“I just…I’m just surprised.”

“It’s still supposed to be a secret, right?”

“Uh…yes,” Stacia confirmed.

“I didn’t think she’d want it ruined.”

“Three years ago, you would have jumped at the first chance to humiliate Bryna or ruin her life,” Stacia reminded him. “Now, you’ve been able to keep her engagement a total secret? What am I missing?”

Pace stared her straight in the face with those gorgeous blue eyes, the chiseled cheekbones, the dimple that killed her, and that smile that had done her in one too many times. “Maybe I’ve grown up.”

Stacia looked at him doubtfully. “Maybe.”

“Speaking of,” he said with a grin, “I’m throwing a back-to-school party for the football team next weekend.”

“You’re what?” she asked in exasperation.

“Should be fun. Just like old times,” he told her with a wink.

Stacia groaned and tried to ignore the pounding in her head. Football players and likely the entire cheer squad and then some were going to be here, where she now
lived
with Pace. What could go wrong?

“Don’t make noises like that,” Pace said under his breath.

“Like what?” she asked.

“Sexual,” he told her. He looked like he was ready to throw her over his shoulder and carry her into his bedroom.

“Sorry,” she whispered. To cover her pink cheeks, she refreshed the email on her phone, and a new email came through. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Oh my God!” she screamed this time, vaulting out of the chair and jumping up and down. “I got in! I got in! I got in!”

Pace popped up, too, and pulled her into his arms. “Congratulations!”

She threw her arms around him, and he picked her up and spun her around in circles. She laughed and held on tighter, basking in the euphoria of knowing she had achieved the first of many steps to getting her broadcast journalism degree.

Pace slowly came to a halt in the middle of the living room, her phone and the game abandoned. Their bodies were pressed firmly together. Her breathing was heavy as exhilaration still coursed through her. His hands were fitted to her waist, pulling her more firmly against his rock-solid body. And then all the desire she had tried to keep at bay seemed to shoot straight between her legs.

Part of her wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and let him have his way with her. And, with the need apparent in his eyes, she knew that he would do it. And he’d do it damn well.

Her body tensed against him, and then he slowly released her. Her body slid against his as her tiny five-foot frame hit the floor of the apartment. The air was heated between them as she stared up into his face. Her brain was fuzzy and demanding, wanting nothing more than to be ravaged in that moment. To let it take them wherever it willed.