She pushes me again, laughing. “Shut up. How did it go with your hot-head boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say automatically. “And it went good. He promised to cut Axel off completely.”
Thea pauses, processing. “He’s cutting him off? From?”
“Axel can’t get drugs anywhere. From anyone.”
“Oh, shit.”
I smile despite myself. “I know. I made the right connections. It’s a dream come true.”
Thea laughs, but there’s something hollow in it. “Axel is going to lose his shit.”
“For sure. Oh!” I shift to face her. “Did you hear anything back about the dorm switch?”
She huffs, shoulders slumping. “Yeah. They’re not allowing it.”
“Damn. What the fuck? I thought you said it was a done deal?”
“So did I. Apparently there’s a waitlist or some bureaucratic bullshit.”
We keep talking, catching up on classes and roommate drama. Thea complains about her TikTok-obsessed roommate. I complain about Scarlett’s weirdness.
Then my phone buzzes.
I glance down at the screen.
Koa:Redo last night?
My heart does something stupid.
Lexi:Dream on.
Koa:Tonight.
Lexi:Sounds like a demand.
Koa:It is.
Lexi:I’m not letting you touch me again.
Koa:We’ll see about that, tiger.
I pause. Stare at the screen.
Lexi:Tiger?
Koa:Crawling on all fours about to devour me last night.
Koa:Tiger.
My face burns. I press my lips together to keep from smiling.
“Why’re you smiling like that?” Thea nudges me, grinning. “Who is it?”
“Shit, am I smiling?” I try to fix my face, force it neutral. “I’m just using him and he’s flirting with me.” I show her the screen.
She reads it, eyebrows rising. “Okay... I think he likes you.”
