A wave of nausea hit me.
"Hey, you okay?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, man… I'm good. Just not feeling great," I muttered.
"Oh—shit…" Luke suddenly said, his face turning red like a nervous high schooler. "He's coming over here."
"What?" I froze. Panic instantly set in. No, no, no… don't come over here.
"Sup, Luke."
"Yo—hey, what's up, Braden?" Luke said, going in for the most awkward handshake I had ever seen. I almost cringed myself out of existence. Somehow, that made me feel less panicked—and way more embarrassed.
"Hey," Braden said casually.
Silence.
A long, painful, 15-second silence.
"Oh, shit—I almost forgot," Braden said, breaking it as he reached into his black-and-gray backpack.
My eyes locked onto what he pulled out.
My wallet. My phone.
"Holy—" I quickly grabbed them, especially my phone. I missed that thing way too much.
"Yeah, you left them on the nightstand," Braden said. "Didn't know where you lived, so I asked around. They told me you'd be here."
"Wait—hold up…" I frowned. "You asked around campus for me?"
"Uh… yeah?" he said, confused.
Fuckkkkk.
Before I could say anything else, Luke's voice cut in.
"Wait—you two know each other?" he asked, looking between us.
Shit. I forgot Luke was right here.
Braden's expression shifted as he clearly pieced things together. A slow grin spread across his face.
"Yeah," he said. "We had a wild night together."
He stepped closer and casually wrapped an arm around my neck.
SHUT THE HELL UP—
I shoved his arm off immediately, my brain scrambling for damage control.
"Just kidding!" Braden added quickly. "He came over for a small get-together with a girl and left his stuff. I'm just returning it."
"At your apartment?" Luke asked, raising a brow.
"Yeah," Braden said smoothly. "Two-man mission. My place was closer, so… why not?"
"Oh… okay," Luke nodded, though he didn't look fully convinced.
"Yeah—that's exactly what happened," I jumped in. "Thanks, broooo."
I awkwardly pulled him into a side hug.
A quiet snort escaped him.
Did this dude just laugh at me?
"Alright, I'm gonna head out," Braden said, that same confident smirk on his face. "See you guys around… I guess."
Yeah—see you never again, I thought, fuming as I watched him walk away.
"Well… that was awkward," Luke said.
"Yeah, you were blushing like a nervous schoolgirl," I shot back.
"Shut the hell up, Z," he snapped. "What was all that about? When did that even happen?"
"The night you ditched me to go get railed by some guy," I muttered.
"The hell? And why do you assume I'm the one getting railed?" Luke shot back.
"Ew—no, no, no. I cannot picture you like that," I said, grimacing.
"Why would you even try to picture that? What's wrong with you?" he said. "And for your information—I'm a top."
"A what?" I blinked.
"A top. The guy in control," he said with a smug grin.
"Yeah—okay. I'm done with this conversation," I said, turning and walking out of the classroom.
Luke followed, laughing his ass off.
"Hey," I said after a moment, slowing down. "Why him… of all people?"
Luke paused for a second.
"Well, he's hot. I mean—have you seen him?" he said jokingly. "Relax, dude. I know you don't want to hear about your best friend's love life."
But something about his expression shifted—like he was avoiding something.
"Hey, I gotta go. See you later," Luke said quickly, walking off.
I stood there for a moment, replaying everything that just happened.
And for some reason…
I had a really bad feeling about this.