On an impulse, Nick did pushups, burpees and other exercises in his room for over an hour. He figured he might as well do something useful with the rare moment of motivation—even if he almost broke a lamp in the cramped room by knocking it off the nightstand with his foot.

After he was worn out and done playing home gym, Nick walked to the supermarket to buy a few beers for Lara and himself tonight. While he was at the checkout, his phone buzzed. It was Lara.

"Hey, is it okay if I bring a couple of people with me tonight to your place?" Nick mumbled her message out loud.

He sighed. He should've seen it coming, really. Emma used to do the exact same thing near the end of their relationship—always inviting other people whenever he was planning a day out for the two of them. It was her way of hinting she wasn't into him anymore.

'Yeah, that's fine,' Nick texted back. What else was he supposed so say? I'd actually hoped it'd be the two of us? Nick resigned to his fate and trudged back into the supermarket to get more beer.

The walk home was a lot slower with the extra load, and the clock was ticking. By the time Nick arrived home and finished showering, it was almost ten. Blake was still in the living room behind his laptop. After countless annoyed looks in his direction, which Blake didn't seem to notice at all, Nick finally cleared his throat. "Weren't you going to take off tonight?" he asked.

Blake looked up when Nick spoke, blinking at him owlishly. Then he yawned and stretched. "Oh, right."

Nick waited impatiently while Blake collected his books, notes, and laptop. For a moment Nick thought Blake, for once, did what he was asked without any remarks. But at the door Blake glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "Have fun. Always use a condom."

Nick scowled at Blake's retreating back as the latter walked on and retreated into his room.

Blake was barely gone when the doorbell rang. Nick breathed in and out deeply, then went into the hallway to let the guests in. He heard voices and laughter on the other side of the door and suddenly wondered just how many people Lara had brought with her—she hadn't exactly specified. Regardless, Nick opened the door with a smile.

Lara's entourage turned out to be only three or so extra people Nick noted with a quick glance. That wasn't so bad.

"Hey, come on in," he greeted all of them, stepping aside.

"Thanks!" Lara replied with a beaming smile. She walked past Nick first, heading straight towards the living room while Nick stayed at the door to let everyone else in too.

The girl who went inside after Lara, Nick already knew. That was her friend, Mia, from the first night they went out. After her, there was a tall guy with a sharp jawline he didn't know yet. The guy nodded at Nick with a smile.

"Hey, I'm Carson," he introduced himself.

"Nick," Nick replied.

"Thanks for hosting, Nick," Carson said with an amicable pat on his shoulder in the passing.

Then, Nick was faced with the fourth and final guest. As Nick finally got a good look at him, a jolt went through his body. This was definitely a familiar face. He'd been at the gay bar on Nick's first night out... hitting on him right before Nick all but dashed out the door. What was his name again? Albert? Alain?

"Hey," the guy said with a sheepish smile. "Don't know if you remember me. I'm Alex."

Alex, right. "Hi," Nick said, unable to return his smile. "You're a friend of Lara's too, then?"

"Yeah, we know each other." Alex awkwardly scratched his elbow. "I was an exchange student before the summer and stuck around for a while longer for my job at the university. I met Lara there."

"Oh, I see. She didn't... mention that," Nick said. It seemed like a rather big thing not to mention, since Lara had watched Alex hit on him at that gay bar. She had even actively pushed Nick Alex' way.

Alex sighed. "Yeah, she wouldn't," he said. "Anyway, I'm not going to make this awkward, alright?"

Nick nodded. "Sure, me neither."

"Okay, good."

"Good."

They were already both failing miserably. This exchange was top-notch awkward, and Nick was relieved when Alex finally decided to walk inside so they were no longer alone.

"Is Blake not here?" Lara immediately asked when Nick walked into the living room.

Nick suppressed a sigh. "Yeah, he's in his room, but he's studying."

Lara had already walked into the hallway by the time Nick had reached the 'but' in his sentence. Nick shrugged and walked to the dinner table, where Alex took a bottle of liquor out of his backpack and resolutely placed it on the table.

"Nooo," Mia immediately groaned. "Stop bringing that shit, Alex! Nobody likes it."

Nick picked up the bottle and checked the label. "Sambuca," he said. "What's wrong with that?"

"Hah!" Alex called out triumphantly. "I knew it! If I kept bringing it everywhere, I'd eventually run into someone who does have taste."

"You mean someone who has no taste like you." Carson smirked.

Alex ignored him and nodded at Nick approvingly. "We'll leave this phlebs with their cheap beers. I'll pour us a glass of the good stuff!"

While Alex walked to the kitchen to look for glasses, Lara came back into the living room. She pouted. "Blake really isn't coming. He says he has to study. Couldn't even convince him to take a break and play some card games with us here."

Nick mentally thanked Blake, and shrugged. "He'll pop up another time."

Lara clearly wasn't that sad about Blake's absence. She was already smiling again when Mia pulled a game called Exploding Kittens out of her bag, and started setting it up on the coffee table in front of the television.

"Come on, come over here! I've been wanting to play this all day!" Lara called out enthusiastically.

Carson laughed at Lara's enthusiasm and took a seat next to her on the couch. "You're such a geek," he teased her while handing her a beer. Lara only giggled in response as if what he said was the wittiest tease she'd ever heard. It probably had more to do with Carson's jawline and broad shoulders than his actual cleverness.

Alex came back into the living room and jutted a glass of Sambuca in Nick's direction, distracting him from Lara and Carson.

"Thanks," Nick said, accepting the glass.

"Only for the few of us who do know good liquor when they see it," Alex solemnly stated before grinning. Nick snorted at his joke, mostly to be polite.

The first few moments after meeting new people were always awkward for Nick, but once they all settled down on the couch or floor near the coffee table and started playing the card game, it was actually kind of okay.

Lara and her friends, even Alex, were pretty laidback. They just wanted to drink beer (or in Alex' case Sambuca) and play games. And while Nick drank from his own glass, he was reminded of high school. The good old days when he drank Sambuca together with Sem, and they jokingly spelled it as Sembuca.

Nick relaxed and actually really got into the cute cats game. He caught on fast that hoarding cards as much as possible was a good strategy, and he won the first round.

"Pff! Beginners luck!" Alex called out as he slammed his cards onto the table, grinning at Nick.

Since he'd just won the game, Nick couldn't keep himself from smiling back. "It wasn't luck," he said. "You need to hold onto your cards and only play them when you don't have another choice, rather than play them whenever you can."

"Yeah, I don't think Alex is capable of doing that," Mia teased Alex, smiling behind her beer can.

"Some people just need to spread their chances everywhere because they're still hoping to get laid before getting on a plane home tomorrow, am I right?" Carson added, shooting a meaningful look in Alex' direction.

Alex took Mia's teasing all in good fun, but his smile dropped a little when Carson spoke. "Oh, fuck off," he joked lightly, but to Nick it was clear it wasn't entirely a joke.

"You're suck a jerk," Lara added, slapping Carson's arm.

Carson just raised his hands in defence and laughed. "Alright, alright," he said. "Anyway, another game?"

"Yeah!" Mia was quickly to agree. She was already gathering all the cards to sort them.

The conversation moved on to funny cards in the game, but Nick noticed Alex had gone quiet, sipping from his Sambuca with a frown. There probably was at least a hint of truth in what Carson said then. If Alex was shooting his shot with everyone who could be remotely interested, it also made sense to Nick why Alex would even hit on him inside that gay bar—he was just another number in the numbers game.

Nick took a swig of his Sambuca. And honestly, that shouldn't disappoint him because it was never going to happen anyway. But for some reason, it kind of did.