Eleven

Zeke

I thought she’d come back to our house the second she realized her phone was missing. But she didn’t.

This means I’ve thought about her for over forty-eight hours because I thought I could convince her to sleep with me one more time before the weekend was over. And then she never came back to get her phone. So now, I look like a loser standing on campus, trying to see if I can find her.

It also doesn’t help that girls come up to me every few minutes asking if I’m looking for them. Usually, Zeke Harris would take that opportunity to have a campus quickie, but this Zeke Harris is on a mission.

And now he’s talking about himself in the third person like an asshole.

“Are you good?” I turn around to see Jaxon standing behind me. His arms crossed over his chest, and a funny-looking scowl on his face.

“I could ask you the same question,” I reply. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m just wondering why one of my best friends has been standing here for almost three hours. You missed two classes.”

“How do you know I missed two?” I have one of them with Jaxon, so that’s self-explanatory, but I don’t know how he knows about the second one.

“Because I was in the library, and every five minutes, a new girl was circling out of their group to come out here and try and get your attention. Everyone’s confused about why you’re out here, and honestly, I’m a little worried about you. Are you stalking someone?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Well, not technically. I’m looking for Avalon.”

“Avalon Stewart?”

“Stewart,” I repeat. “I didn’t know her last name.”       

“Why are you looking for Avalon Stewart?”

“I have her phone.”

“Why do you have her phone?”

“Because she left it at our place after—”

“You two hooked up.”

“Yes, and I was hoping she’d stop by and get it, but—”

“You’ve had her phone for like two days.”

“Which is why—”

“And she hasn’t come to get it.”

I roll my eyes; I would’ve gotten to that conclusion quicker if he hadn’t kept interrupting me.

“Yes.” I groan. “Which is why—”

“So, she chose to avoid you rather than getting her phone back?” I can see the smug fucking smile forming on his face.

“Don’t even go there.”

“I don’t know, Jere’s theory about you being bad in bed is getting more evident as we speak.”

“She doesn’t do strings.”

“Well, not coming back for her phone is a little extreme. Maybe she’s worried you’ll try to get her back in your bed.”

She wouldn’t be wrong. I’d most definitely try to get her back in my bed. My charm worked once, and I’m confident it’d work again.

“How many times have you checked her phone?” he asks.

I rock back on my heels, “I haven’t looked at it.”

“Not once?”

“Nope.”

“It’s dead, isn’t it?”

I don’t answer. Because it is.

Not that I would’ve looked at it if it wasn’t dead. Maybe I would’ve tried to figure out how to return it to Avalon so I wouldn’t be here embarrassing myself, but I wouldn’t have snooped.

Much.

“And you couldn’t be bothered to charge it?”

“It’s an Android. I don’t have a charger for an Android!”

Just then, over his shoulder, I see her. She’s walking alone, which could make this situation better or worse.

On the one hand, I can bring out flirty Zeke to make sure we get in one more round, just so I can get it out of my system. On the other hand, she might be suspecting that. I’d be approaching her while she’s by herself, basically telling her that there’s a string. Because I can’t stop thinking about sleeping with her. And according to her, strings are the worst thing known to man.

I can’t disagree with that completely; having a girlfriend sounds awful. Brooks is with Liv 24/7, and it’s disgusting. He barely comes to guys’ night; if he does, she usually tags along. Not that we actually have a guys’ night. We fucking live together, I don’t need to plan a time to see these assholes. It happens on its own at least once a week. Except now it includes Ember and Brinley a lot more. And Tate, on occasion.

And they don’t count because they aren’t girlfriends. They’re friends. And even if they were girlfriends, they enjoy hanging out with us and don’t ask to leave before we’ve picked a movie.

“Earth to Zeke.” Jaxon waves his hand in my face, returning my attention to him. “I’ve been talking to you.”  

“Sorry, it’s just—” I don’t finish my sentence, I just point in Avalon’s direction and hope he gets the idea. “Avalon!”

I can’t believe I’ve waited all day for this girl, and now I’m chasing her down. Maybe I have gone insane.

“Avalon, wait up!”

She stops in her tracks, looks around, unsure of where the voice is coming from, and then spots me. I wave.

I fucking wave. Such a fucking loser thing to do.

And she turns and keeps walking.

She saw me. I know she saw me. She had to have seen me.

“Avalon,” I repeat, but she doesn’t stop this time. She walks faster.

She definitely saw me… and now she’s running from me.

“Ooo.” Jaxon pats me on the shoulder.

“Shut up.”

“That’s gotta hurt. A girl who couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”

“Seriously, Holmes. If you wanna play in our next game, you’ll shut up.”

“I’m just saying, I never thought I’d see the day a girl runs away from Zeke Harris after hooking up with him. Usually, it’s you running away from them.” He laughs. “Does this hurt more than a girl rejecting you before you’ve slept together? It has to, right?”

I pull her phone out of my back pocket and slap it into Jaxon’s chest hard enough that I can hear the contact against his skin. I smile when he lets out a small groan of pain.

“Give this to her, will ya?”

“I do have a class with her in fifteen minutes,” he replies. “You could’ve asked me in the first place, you know, so you didn’t have to stand in the middle of campus just hoping she’d walk by.”

“I thought you giving her phone back might be more embarrassing than me doing it. Just trying to be nice.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Fuck you. I’m going home.”

“You have one more class.”

“I already missed two. What’s one more?”