Reluctantly, I drag my arm off the cloudlike mattress to grab my phone. And think of the devil, it’s a text from Ellie asking where I am.

Out for a run, I reply. Hopefully she didn’t see me leave the house two hours ago.

Still?? she replies. It’s our day off!!!!

I chew on my bottom lip, trying to figure out how to respond. Our practice schedule is already insane. I’m dedicated to soccer, but I’m not a crazy person.

“What’s wrong?” I glance over at Beck, who’s lounging beside me.

“Ellie thinks I’m nuts. I told her I’m out for a run. On our day off.” I pause. “I haven’t told her about… this.” I flick a finger between our naked bodies, unsure how to categorize the reason we’re in bed together verbally. We’re fuck buddies, I guess?

There are plenty of guys I’ve slept with more than once, but they were sporadic hook-ups spanning weeks, sometime months, and always corresponding with some big bash on campus. Not almost every day for weeks.

We’re also friends?

Ever since our hike, we’ve kept talking about topics beyond soccer and sex. We still discuss—and act out—those plenty, but it’s intermingled with random conversations about books, food, music, movies, and travel.

Beck mutters something in German and slips out of bed. I sit up on my elbows. Most of the time he sticks to English around me, but there are moments when he’ll revert to his native tongue. It’s mostly when he’s close to coming, but that’s definitely not what’s happening right now. Beck pulls on a pair of athletic shorts and a Kluvberg t-shirt, and I mourn the loss of the view I was enjoying.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

Beck glances over at me, and I don’t miss the heat that flares in his gaze. Is it good for my ego that he still seems just as transfixed by my body as I am by his? Try fantastic.

“I forgot it’s Sunday,” is his explanation.

“Okayyy…” I reply, letting a question linger after the word, because that really didn’t answer mine. Then, something occurs to me. “Oh my God, are you religious or something? Because I’m not sure He would approve of the past hour.”

Beck laughs. “No, I’m not religious. I have a family brunch.”

I would have been less surprised if he said he was going to church. “Oh,” I answer eloquently.

Beck pauses and studies me, as if he’s considering something. “Do you want to come?”

“What?” I blurt. Alarm bells start blaring in my head. “To your family brunch?”

Beck nods, since that’s literally what he just said.