The Junior (College Years 3)

“A bunch of bullshit.” Caleb scowls, making Tony laugh.

“Eli called him out on his playboy ways, which is hilarious considering Eli was pretty much the same way at his high school. Until he met Ava,” Tony explains. “And that caused a whole bunch of drama, considering Eli and Jake were mortal enemies.”

“And now you’re all friends,” I marvel.

“Well, we’re pretty close with Eli. And I guess Jake is close with him too, though I think he tolerates him more than anything else because Eli’s with his little sister,” Tony says. “Eli used to be—a lot.”

“And he’s not a lot now?” I ask pointedly, making Hayden nod in agreement.

“Oh, he’s still a lot, but being with Ava has calmed him down considerably. I could barely tolerate him back in the day,” Tony says.

“Now he’s your quarterback,” I say with a faint smile.

Both guys get a serious expression on their face. “Yeah, and we respect him for it. I think he’s going to take the team far,” Caleb says.

“Maybe not as far as Davis, but close,” Tony adds.

“You still have one more year after this too,” I remind them.

We talk more about football and how well Jake is doing at USC. All four of us help clean up around the kitchen and when we’ve moved the conversation into the living room, I can feel myself getting sleepier and sleepier, until I flat-out pass out from exhaustion.

Don’t think I’ve caught up on my sleep after the emergency room incident and being up half the night. Working all day on the dock in the sun zapped all my remaining energy.

“Hey sleepyhead.” I’m nudged awake by the sound of Caleb’s voice. He’s tapping me on the shoulder incessantly and I swat his hand away, making him chuckle.

“What do you want from me?” I don’t open my eyes so I don’t have to look at him.

“It’s late, Grandma. Almost ten. We should head out.”

The grandma cracks need to stop but I don’t complain. He could be saying worse things. “You’re ready to go?”

“Yeah.” He starts tapping me once more, not too hard but enough to irritate. “I think they want to start playing doctor and we’re ruining the mood.”

“God, you’re so gross,” Hayden calls from wherever she’s sitting.

I crack open an eye to find Caleb sitting on the couch right next to me, his blue gaze meeting mine. “There you are.”

Groaning, I shut my eyes once more. “Can’t I just stay the night here?”

I feel really cozy. Someone threw a thin blanket over me and I could lie on this comfortable couch for the rest of the night, no problem.

“We have to go home and pack for tomorrow.” I feel him shift and I can tell he’s standing. “Come on. Let’s go.”

With a groan, I open my eyes once again and sit up, pushing my hair out of my face. “Fine, let’s go.”

We say our goodbyes to Tony and Hayden, who do seem awfully eager to get rid of us, and by the time we’re getting into my car—we left the truck at home because Caleb didn’t want to drive it, so I let him drive my car just now because I’m so tired—we’re both laughing at how quick our friends were to get us out of their apartment.

“I told you they wanted to play doctor,” Caleb says as he backs out of the parking space.

“I thought you were just joking,” I say, giggling as I remember the look on Hayden’s face when we walked out. “She practically slammed the door in our faces.”

“Maybe Tony’s barbecue chicken makes her horny.”

“Maybe they’re just always horny for each other.”

“They’ve been together what…

two years now almost?” When I nod, Caleb keeps talking. “Aren’t they sick of each other yet?”