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your own coffee. Why must you drink mine?" I asked Reva as she lifted my cup to her lips and sipped. She nodded in approval, then set it back down where it belonged in front of me.

"Yours tastes better," she said.

"Is that so?" Laughter reverberated from me, and she nodded.

We had art history soon but stopped for our usual drink before heading to class. Despite getting a good night's rest, my head pounded like someone had whacked it with a hammer and I figured it was because of midterms rapidly approaching. Our teachers didn't let us forget we had copious assignments due in such little time. My mind and body yearned for the weekend.

Reva's phone pinged with a text, and she hastily picked it up.

"Who's that?"

I swore I saw nervousness flicker in her eyes. "Remember that girl's number I got from the beach bonfire?" I told her, yes, and she continued. "We've been texting every day since. She asked if I wanted to go to dinner on Friday."

My eyes widened and a squeal mixed with giggling escaped my lips, but I quickly reeled in my excitement. "No way!"

"Yes, way. I haven't been on an actual date in so long, not since Logan and—"

I grabbed her arm, silently letting her know I understood how she was feeling and that she didn't have to go on. Her last relationship didn't end on great terms, and we rarely revisited those memories because of how much havoc they wreaked on her life.

It took many late nights, tear-filled conversations, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream containers for her to open up to me, which led to me opening up about my relationship insecurities.

She released a shaky breath. "I'm so nervous."

I took her hand. "I know you are. But I have full faith that this will be great for you! Even if nothing serious comes out of it, at least you'll have a nice evening."

She cast a weary smile and sipped her coffee.

Reva was one of the most head-strong, intelligent women I knew, and every time I witnessed how Logan affected her self-confidence, it broke my heart. She would go silent, recoil back inside her head. Nobody deserves to be cheated on—let alone find out by surprising your boyfriend at home for the holidays only to find another girl in his bed.

"Time to head over." She stood, changing the subject, and we walked toward our lecture building. I asked if she was okay and she replied with a curt nod, so I didn't press any further about her date. I figured she'd tell me when she wasn't feeling down.

When class was over, Reva went back to our apartment and I left for the studio, hoping the earlier I went, the better chance I'd have of not running into Elijah. I was lucky he wasn't anywhere in the room and when I looked out the studio windows, I saw his team on the field practicing. I scanned the well-kept area from left to right, but none of the players had their jerseys on so I couldn't tell from this distance.

I hadn't stopped thinking about our encounter last night.

Take that back—Elijah had plagued my mind since last Friday. How I went from never crossing paths with the baseball players to working alongside one (if that's what you'd call our studio time) beat me.

Shouting erupted outside, and I peered out of the window, eyes wide and curious. The teammate clapped as a blond-haired player ran from base to base until his foot stomped onto home plate, but the coach appeared from the dugout, causing them all to freeze. He pointed around the field, shouting something, and they separated. What the hell was that about?

As if they could feel me staring, one player glanced in my direction and when he tugged his helmet off, his curls gleaming with sweat, those beautiful eyes and sharp cheekbones. Elijah was looking directly at me, or so it seemed. I guessed if I could see him from up here, he could see me from down there, so I looked away and continued painting.

Yet, I couldn't shake the jittery feeling rippling through my stomach muscles like waves on a shore.

I slid through the apartment door, I took note of how silent it was. The lights were off, but a dim glow oozed underneath Reva's bedroom door. It was too early for her to go to sleep. Most nights she was in the living room strewn across the couch with a piping cup of tea, watching one of her favorite shows. Some nights, she would worship earlier than her usual evening prayer time, and I knew not to interrupt.

It was a ritual she didn't break unless something was wrong.

Tossing my belongings in my room, I knocked on her bedroom door. The sound echoed softly through our apartment. "Come in," she shouted.

I pushed the door open to find her laying on her back, horizontally across her bed, holding her phone above her face. The glowing came from the copious flickering candles placed around her room, and Ribs by Lorde emanating from her speaker. "Oh no, you're listening to Ribs. What's wrong?" I asked, curling up beside her.

"You know when you wake up in a bad mood? It's one of those days. I haven't been able to get out of this funk."

I rested my head on her shoulder and glanced at her phone, and sighed. She was scrolling through her camera roll, looking at old pictures.

"I understand," I said. "I've been having those days more often, recently."

"There must be something in the air."

"They're poisoning us here."

She chuckled, then went silent when a picture illuminated her screen. A beautiful brunette girl had her arm around Reva's shoulder, her lips pressed against her cheek, and they were both smiling brightly. Reva looked much younger. Her hair was short and her face was fuller like she hadn't yet lost her baby weight.

"When was this from?"

"Summer before my senior year of high school." I saw a hint of happiness twinkle in her eye. "Kennedy and I weren't exclusive, but I really liked her. We met at a swim meet, she went to a neighboring school."

"So right before—" I stopped myself.

"Before Logan." She finished my sentence. "She was such a free-spirited person, I don't think she could stay in one place."

I focused on Reva as she stared up like she was watching the memories replay on the ceiling.

"One weekend before school started, we went to a friend's lake house. I remember sneaking off and racing to the opposite side of the narrow inlet since we were both swimmers. She beat me." She smiled at the memory. "We spend an hour floating in that spot just talking.

"She kissed me that day. It was brief and chaste. But I remember how it made me feel... like the world had suddenly lit up and I'd never felt that way kissing someone. But the more and more time we spent together, the less romantic it became, and the more she talked about traveling and not wanting to go to college. I think that drove us apart in the end."

"Did you like her?"

Reva finally turned her phone off and looked toward me. "Yes."

"You know, it's never too late to reach out."

She shrugged. "I don't think it would work out... I mean, I dated Logan after her, and look how that turned out."

I narrowed my eyes on her. "Reva, when have you ever thought something couldn't work?"

Her hands shot to her face, and she rolled in the opposite direction into her pile of pillows, groaning loudly into the soft fabric, and I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle laughter. Then I reached out and rubbed her back.

"I just want to be in a relationship," she said, her voice muffled. "I want cuddling, dinner dates, and someone to call when I'm lonely. I want to wear their sweatshirt, stay up all night talking about how shitty life is, and I don't want to die alone with you and 60 cats, no offense."

I laughed. "You think we're going to die alone?"

"I might."

"Do I need to go buy ice cream?"

She finally peeked at me through her thick eyelashes and batted them.

"I'll find a movie for us to watch while you're out," she said, and I couldn't keep the smile from forming on my face. I rolled off the bed, telling her to text me if she wanted anything else, and then grabbed my purse and left.

The grocery store lit up the entire block with its harsh fluorescent lights. When I entered, the gentle hum of the air conditioning vibrated through the linoleum floor against my feet. It was oddly cool in here, and I unrolled my sweatshirt sleeves down my arms.

I walked to the frozen section and my stomach dropped when I saw my reflection in the freezer windows. Instantly, I touched my torso to make sure I didn't look as distorted as the glass made me out to be. I tugged open the freezer door. My urge for ice cream dwindled faster than it arrived.

Just don't eat any tonight, my conscience demanded. So I grabbed Reva's favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip, not bothering to grab cake batter for myself and walked toward checkout, then froze—

"I thought that was you." Elijah sauntered away from his posse of friends who stood three checkout lanes over. My heart race sped up like someone had put the pedal to the metal in my chest and I looked down at my shitty outfit and container of ice cream.

The desire to slam my head into the conveyor belt was strong.

"You're stalking me at this point," I said as the machine beeped when I scanned my item.

"This is the only grocery store that sells alcohol this late."

"You're drinking tonight? It's a weekday. I mean, I don't judge but—"

"My roommates wanted to stock up before the weekend, and I'm the only one with a working car right now." He dangled his keys, and I peered toward his roommates, who held a twelve-pack of beer and cheap liquor.

I chuckled. "So, you're the chauffeur."

"The one and only." He bowed, and I looked down so he didn't see my smile. Then my phone went off at the perfect time.

I held up my screen for him to read. "Looks like I am also getting alcohol tonight."

He made a pained sound. "Ice cream, alcohol, and Taki's. Was someone broken up with?"

"No, just slightly depressed," I said, and his eyes widened. "Oh! Not me. I mean, yes, me. I am occasionally, but not today. This is for my roommate."

His confused expression slowly morphed into an enormous grin, and I internally cussed at myself for running my mouth. This was so awkward. I gazed at the ice cream when he said, "Go grab the stuff, I'll watch your ice cream."

"Thank you." I smiled and hustled down the aisle faster than one should walk through a grocery store.

His offer to watch my ice cream shouldn't have made me feel warm inside, yet it did. Then I remembered his promise to be a 'nice guy' and wondered if this was a part of his act. I mean, he left his friends to come to talk to me, which was odd.

After gathering Reva's newly requested items, I returned to the register to find all of his roommates standing with him. I watched them laugh and chat while pushing each other around. My feet stopped moving before I could tell them too. I'd rather forget about the ice cream and go to a different checkout than face all the boys.

However, I needed it or Reva would be very upset.

I walked over and set my new items on the table. The four guys stared at me like I had the words Bang Me strewn across my forehead, despite wearing sweats, and I felt nervous. I don't think I'd seen them this close; they looked very different from on the baseball field.

"Sadie, this is Aiden, Brant, and Jayce, my teammates. Also my roommates, unfortunately," Elijah introduced me.

Jayce, the blond one with muscles as big as Texas, punched him in the shoulder, then held his hand out toward me. "I'm Jayce. It's great to meet you." His grip was firm. "My God, you have beautiful eyes."

I laughed uneasily. "Uh, thank you. It's nice to meet you too." Before I turned to introduce myself to the other roommates, I saw Elijah narrow his eyes and Jayce mouth 'what?'

"You're the art girl, aren't you?" Another guy chimed in. "I came into the art building when Elijah hit that home run."

"Oh, yes I remember you," I said. "Yes, I am the art girl."

"Nice to meet you, art girl. I'm Aiden."

"And she's also the pong champion, don't forget that," the last guy said, "Brant."

I stared at the four guys before me with my bottles of wine and snacks in hand, wondering what the hell I was supposed to say now. "Well, it was great to meet you all," I said collectively. "I have to get home before the ice cream melts."

"Did a breakup happen or something? Does your roommate need a distraction?" Jayce asked. Can people only eat ice cream at 10 p.m. when they've had a breakup? I guess ice cream paired with two bottles of wine and Taki's could indicate a broken heart.

"Oh, no. She needs girl time, that's all." Humor laced my voice.

"Jayce, leave the poor girl alone," Aiden added.

"Well, if either of you ever needs company." Jayce plucked my phone from my arm, ignoring Aiden. "I'll put my number in here."

"We're leaving."

Instead of listening to his friends, Jayce held my phone in front of my face so face recognition could unlock it, and then I watched his thumbs furiously type his number into an empty contact slot.

When he finished, he wedged it back between my arm and body (since my hands were full) and winked. I hadn't blinked since he took my phone. This entire encounter stunned me to where my eyebrows raised nearly two inches on my forehead.

Aiden grabbed Jayce's arm and dragged him out of the store and they simultaneously shouted goodbye. But Elijah stayed a second behind to say, "See you around, Van Gogh."

"See you," I replied, but my voice fell short when Elijah prematurely turned his back toward me and walked away.

The entire car ride back to my apartment, I wondered what the hell occurred.

I knew of Jayce, everyone did. He was—no doubt—the schmoozer of the team, or as the majority might call him, the man whore. I felt that title was too harsh, so I resorted to the flirt.

He could look at a girl and smile, and she would waltz over, unzip his pants, and suck his dick without him asking. I could see why. He carried himself with immense confidence and wasn't afraid of making small talk; or in my case complimenting my eyes and stealing my phone to put his number in it. It was attractive.

The weird thing was, regardless of his reputation, he wasn't an asshole.

I dragged the groceries to our front door and stumbled inside. Reva's neck practically broken to look at me. "Did you read every wine bottle or something?"

I huffed. "No, I ran into the fucking tight-pants posse."

"The baseball boys were at the grocery store?"

Setting the bags on the coffee table with a thud, I corrected her while unpacking the goods. She already had two spoons and wine glasses ready for us. "Not just any baseball player, no. It was Elijah, Jayce, Aiden, and Brant, and guess who's number I got?"

"Elijah?"

"Jayce."

I told her everything that transpired, and at the end, when I was out of breath, Reva threw her head back and released one curt laugh. "Sadie Lane Garner, soon to have every Trumbullen baseball boy wrapped around her finger," she said in an announcer's voice. I covered her mouth with my hand but she said, "Maybe you can get us into a party and baseball games."

"Stop it," I groaned.

She dunked her spoon into the ice cream, gathering a hearty scoop, and brought it to her mouth. "Maybe you won't die alone after all."

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