“Tell Heath to call me tomorrow night so I can hear about the trip and promise me you’ll at least think about going with him?”

“I promise,” she says softly.

“Talk to ya later, Mom.”

When I hang up, I drop onto my bed and sleep the entire night. Dreamless, peaceful sleep.

26

CHLOE

Nathan comes over Wednesday night as I’m staring at my Ethics homework. We’d planned to go out tonight with his friends to celebrate his new job, but I totally spaced on a test I have tomorrow, and I feel like crying as I look through my notes and can only make sense of a small portion.

Things with the roommates have been going really well since I got back, but the more time I spend with them, the less time I have for myself.

He takes a seat on my bed in front of me, and I shove the textbook away and lean forward so my head rests in his lap. “I’m never going to learn this before tomorrow.”

Long fingers slide over my hair. “Sure you will.” He grabs the textbook. “I took this class last year, I can help.”

I sit up. “I totally forgot you’d already taken this class with Professor Penn. Can you help me with Utilitarianism?”

He flips through the pages until he gets to the chapter where I’ve stuck a piece of paper to hold my spot. He reads through for a moment and then snaps it shut and looks to me. “I’m gonna be real with you. I don’t remember a single thing.”

I groan.

“But I’ll stay, and we’ll figure it out together.”

“No, we’re supposed to meet Gabby at Prickly Pear in thirty minutes.”

He shrugs. “She’ll understand.”

“No. I can’t let you miss this. It’s important and you should celebrate. How about you go, and I’ll finish studying and meet up with you guys later?”

“Are you sure?”

I nod and scan through my notes. “Maybe if I read through all my notes a second time, it’ll come back to me.”

He takes my notes and pulls me on to his lap. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him. Since we got back from California, it’s felt like we’ve barely been able to see each other. If we didn’t have class together, most days we wouldn’t. His phone vibrates in his pocket.

“That’s probably Gabby,” I tell him.

“She can wait.” His lips move to my neck, and he brushes my hair back, giving him more access.

My eyes close and I lose myself to his soft mouth and the rough feel of his unshaven face. His fingers skim the hem of my t-shirt, teasing and stroking my skin. I reciprocate by lacing my fingers through his messy hair and tugging while I grind on his thickening erection.