“We’ll just grab something quick…go through a drive thru. Me and Josh are going to grab a few beers later, anyway,” he explained.

“Oh. Yeah, okay,” I said, standing up.

We sat in the parking lot closest to Andrews devouring our fast food. The slogan game had kept us entertained since we left the coffee shop. Ryan countered my feeble attempts to stump him so quickly that I couldn’t help but double over with laughter.

“Have you been practicing?” I giggled, exhausted from laughing so hard.

“I’m not gonna lie. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, waiting to heal,” he chuckled, throwing up a piece of chicken and catching it in his mouth. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

“I’m probably going to get some laundry together, take it over to Jared’s,” I said without thinking.

“You’re staying over there again? I thought you said you weren’t moving in,” he said, this time without his usual attitude.

“I’m not,” I snapped, waiting for him to come back with something spiteful.

Ryan sighed and took my hand. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore, Nigh. I’ve said everything I needed to say on the subject.”

“I don’t want us to fight, either. I want us to be able to hang out and be friends like we used to. I miss you,” I said, suddenly hopeful that we could get beyond all of the infatuation nonsense.

“I miss you, too. I’ll quit being a jerk,” he said, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. “When you hugged me tonight, I realized how ridiculous I’ve been. I don’t want to lose you, Nina. It doesn’t matter if you’re with him, or me, or anyone else. What matters is that we’re friends, and that you can count on me being here when you need me.”

I pulled in a shallow breath through my nose, trying to keep my eyes from glossing over with tears. He didn’t know that we would have to lose each other if he wanted to be happy. I just smiled and nodded my head, and Ryan hugged me once more.

“Truce?”

“Truce,” I smiled.

He walked to his dormitory and I headed to Andrews, feeling morose. I pulled out my cell phone and called Jared, who picked up on the first ring.

“Hey,” he answered, sounding a bit sad himself.

“I’m just going to grab a few things from my room and then I’ll be ready.”