A tear rolls down my hot cheek, and I turn quickly to wipe it away. I pick my head up, and he’s looking away, purposely avoiding me. Then he turns to meet me, and it’s sheepish with a hint of a smile, and I’m about to say something when Benny bursts through the suite door with Rae and Harry pulling up his rear.

“Happy birthday, you big giant whore!” Rae shouts behind Jack.

“Excuse me?” Xavier pops back into the common room.

“You must be Xavier! I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Rae, Chase’s best friend in the entire world—sorry, Benny, but it’s true—” she says, and Benny pretends she stabbed him in the chest. As she’s introducing herself, Rhett emerges. “Hi! Who are you?”

“Rhett.”

“I don’t know a Rhett,” Rae says, obviously going through the Rolodex of my roommates in her mind.

“Makes two of us,” Benny mumbles.

“I’m Jack’s roommate,” he says.

“Oh, we love Jack.” Rae yanks Harry forward. “This is Harry, my boyfriend—” She babbles on a little more, making small talk as she usually does.

I’m not listening.

Jack and I are locked into each other’s eyes.

Hard-core.

We only break our gaze when Rae barrels fully inside my room. He blinks, looks down, and turns to meet Rae, who throws her arms around him.

Once she pulls away, she sets her sights on me. “There’s my birthday whore!”

Her loud voice pierces my brain. She hops onto my lap and straddles me, hugging me so tight that I almost can’t take the pressure. I watch, helplessly, as Jack walks out of my room and into the common room to meet up with Benny. When she tries to pull away, I keep her close.

“You okay, boo?” she whispers, and I nod. “You sure?” she asks.

“Absolutely.”

Which is partially true. I haven’t processed the poem and what it means, but it does mean something. Is this gift a message? A sign? That’s what Rae had said after Jack’s first poem. Maybe he feels about me the way I feel about him. To be fair, I’m not sure how I feel about Jack because this is entirely new territory for me. All I know is that I want to be near him all the time. I want to stare at his beautiful face just to wait for the moments he smiles. When I’m not with him, my body screams at me to go find him, even if we’re just sitting in the library together, not talking as we study. I’ve had crushes before, but this? This feels bigger. More important. Terrifying.

Xavier’s head peeks into my room. “Who’s down for pregaming? I got tequila.”

“You’re speaking my language,” Rae says. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a handle of cheap vodka. “I brought this.”