“If there are that many hoops to jump through, most other people don’t stand a chance. Have you met the average student?”

“Here’s hoping,” she said. “It’s going to be a long day at the mall, I think. I have a feeling Shiv is a marathon shopper.”

Spoiler alert: she was, according to Dallas. And the dude liked to shop, so if he was whining, then it had to be dire. Plus, back when Shiv stayed with us, she’d come home loaded with shopping bags more times than I could count. I tripped on them in the entryway frequently.

“Are you excited about the gala, though?”

“Yeah.” Bailey nodded. Then she pursed her lips and gave me a thoughtful look. “Who’s Ty’s date?”

“His friend Zoe. She’s in the same major as him.”

Bailey arched a brow. “Are they ‘friends’ as in the way we were friends?”

At one point, I wondered this myself, but the constant rotation of different women in his bedroom suggested otherwise.

“Nah. Ty isn’t the commitment type. But it’ll be fun. It’s a nice event, and the food is always good. Plus, I’ll have the hottest date there, so bonus.” I paused, thinking back on last year’s gala. “You didn’t go with Morrison last year, did you?”

“No.” She scoffed like there was a story behind that, but she didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t really want to ask. There’s no way it didn’t involve him being a total and complete piece of shit.

“I figured. I would have remembered you if you had.”

Bailey gave me a crooked grin. “Would you have hit on me?”

Is ice cold? I mean, come on.

“The minute I saw you.”

I wasn’t just flattering her, either. That was a forgone conclusion regardless of where I encountered her for the first time—the gala, XS, a game—hell, I’d have hit on her at the doctor’s office. With someone like her, you shoot your shot no matter what the setting.

“To piss off Luke?”

“No, because you’re fucking hot.”

“Ah. But your date probably wouldn’t have appreciated that.” She bit into her waffle, eyeing me teasingly.

“Who do you think you’re talking to? I didn’t bring a date,” I said. “Ward and I went together.”

At that point, Dallas hadn’t met Siobhan yet. And until Bailey, I hadn’t met a girl I liked enough to bring along to that type of thing—or to any type of thing. The gala’s $625 per head price tag further cemented that. Definitely wasn’t letting Bailey know about that—she’d faint. Or try to argue with me about paying. Didn’t need to revisit the money issue.

“I’m sure you made a handsome couple.”