With Luke, I thought I should like him because everyone did. He was good on paper—or so I thought—and had tons of girls eager to date him. Naively, I had been wowed that he was even interested in me.

But I’d never been giddy about him or filled with that intense, inescapable infatuation. It had almost been one of those you don’t know what you don’t know situations.

But I knew now, and it was amazing.

I pushed open the door, making my way over to join Zara and Noelle at the oversized round table. I could feel their eyes on me as I set my bag down and pulled out my laptop and notebook.

Zara tilted her head, examining me. “Well, isn’t someone in a good mood?”

“You practically skipped in here,” Noelle added in a sing-song voice.

“I would say danced,” Zara volleyed. “Or maybe pranced?”

I shrugged, but I couldn’t keep the dopey look off my face. Words eluded me. My brain was hormone and happiness soup.

“Wait.” Her jaw dropped. “You saw Chase again last night, didn’t you? Did you guys finally…?”

I bit my lip. “Maybe.”

They both squealed.

“Well, no.” I held up a hand. “No sex. We just fooled around a little.”

Or, you know, a lot.

Zara raised her eyebrows. “Must have been some fooling around if you’re this giddy.”

A rush ran through me at the memory. “Oh, it was.”

“That’s awesome.” Noelle swatted me playfully. “Especially after what you said about Luke.”

Oh my god, how many people had I told? I’m never doing shots again.

“Aw, B. I’m so happy for you.” Zara bounced in her seat.

Noelle nodded. “Me too.”

We fell quiet for a while, working on homework and newspaper tasks.

“Speaking of good news,” Zara said, squinting at her computer screen. “I have some more for you. Well, some partial good news.”

“What’s that?” Could it be?

She nodded at her laptop. “I got an email from Liam. He wants to give up part of the sports beat. Says he’ll split it with you. If you’re willing, that is.”

Okay, so I was partially right. I thought maybe he was throwing in the towel altogether, but I guess I could only get so lucky. I should have been excited about this, but now I would probably have to actually work with him.

Ugh. And there would be strings.

I sighed. “What’s the catch?”

Did he want me to pay him for the honor? Take credit under his name for the stories I wrote? Nothing would surprise me.

“He wants to keep covering hockey exclusively.”

Oh, even better. Jerk. Why was Liam so attached to covering hockey specifically when he was a casual fan at best?