Better to Believe (Harrison Campus 4)

One thing was clear: Coury liked tall, lean, and athletic. Every guy he pointed to looked like he played for one of Harrison’s sports teams.

“So what is your type?” Coury tossed his hands up.

Liam stared at him.

Coury frowned gently.

Right. Liam was supposed to point out someone he thought was hot.

He scanned the cafe for someone who didn’t look like Coury. Someone who wouldn’t make Coury see the similarities. No way Liam wanted Coury to figure out he was Liam’s type when the reverse was not true.

The door opened and they both looked over. In the far corner, a big guy with a full beard, who probably played football, was talking to a petite blonde girl. When he smiled, it was creepy.

“Him.” Liam tried to be inconspicuous when he steered Coury to the guy.

Coury turned. “Who?”

“Beard guy in the back.”

“Him? That’s your type?”

Fuck no! “Yeah. I bet he’s a Rhodes Scholar under that beard. What’s not to like?”

“Oh. Right.” Coury blew out a long breath. “Okay. I can see that.”

“You can?”

“Yeah sure.” The mocking tone Liam expected—hoped for—was missing. Coury sounded resigned. “Big and smart. Like you said, what’s not to like?”

“Exactly.”

Fuck my life.

Chapter Nine

Coury

Nico and Luke snuggled on the bed reading something on Luke’s laptop. They looked up as Coury shut the door.

“How’d your date go?” Luke asked.

“Cokey had a date?” Nico shut the screen, smile widening. “With a guy?”

“It was so not a date.” Coury flopped onto his bed and threw his arm over his head.

“You said you were going to find out . . . ” Luke shifted to face him. “Oh. He’s not interested.”

“Nope.” Coury hadn’t realized it would hurt this much. “I’m not his type.”

“Is the boy blind?” Nico asked. “I say that as a joke, but I’m serious. You’re a total cutey.”

“Thanks, but he likes big, smart, and hairy. Basically Paul Bunyan with a PhD.”

Nico snorted. “I like that. I might have to steal it.”

“Keep it.” He didn’t need to be reminded that he failed on both counts—looks and brains.

“How did you find out?” Luke asked. “Did he point to a guy and say he’s hot?”

“That’s tacky when you’re on a date, not date,” Nico said.

“I asked him what his type was and the guy he pointed out looked like he played offensive line for the football team. The whole line all by himself.”

“Wait, you asked him that on your date? Oh no.” Nico waved a finger at Luke and then turned it on Coury. “Were you expecting him to point to you?”

“No, I asked him about some other guys that, you know, were kinda like me. He didn’t like any. So I asked who he did like.”

“This is worse than I thought,” Luke said, shaking his head.

Nico murmured. “It is. He’s so far gone, he’s lost the ability to think.”

“This isn’t funny. I really like him.” Even if I probably shouldn’t.

He forced his thoughts away.

“Lemme get this straight. To show him just how much you like him, you pointed out a bunch of jocks?” Luke looked at him like the fool he was. “To the guy who is not a jock?”

“I’ll assume you didn’t tell him it was to see if he liked sporty spice,” Nico said.

Coury cocked his head and looked at his friends. “No?”

Nico and Luke turned to each other and shook theirs. “Should we stage an intervention?”

Coury sat up. “Please. You two are going to lecture me on how to tell someone you like them? You guys? You spent the whole summer pretending you were pretending. Next I’ll get dating advice from a cloistered monk.”

“Who better than two experts to teach you how not to do something?” Nico’s grin made it hard for Coury to be mad.

“Fair enough. You two are the MVPs of fake dating.”

“You shouldn’t insult us if you want our help.” Luke got up and planted himself next to Coury, mattress jumping under them. “If I remember, a certain roommate of mine kept telling me to tell Nico how I really felt. You can see how that worked out.”

“I also know you didn’t listen to me at all. Nico had to set you straight.”

“First, my boyfriend is so not straight.” Nico smiled sweetly at Luke. “Second, we both waited way too long. Don’t wait until the end of the semester to tell him how you feel.”

“I wanted to tell him, but . . .” He shrugged.

“You thought it would be a good idea to point out hot guys and ask if he liked them.” Nico rolled his eyes.

“Fine. I get it.” He slapped his hands to his head. “I fucked up. What do I do now?”

“You try again,” Luke said. “This time find a place where other guys won’t distract you.”

Coury growled. “They weren’t distracting me.”

Nico held out his hand and pulled Luke up. “Fine, then next time, don’t point them out to the guy you like.”