She rolls her eyes. “Clearly too long.”
“Exactly. Which is how I know you’re lying,” I say, giving her an infectious smile. “You can’t lie to me, Brookey Chookey.”
“Ugh,” she groans, throwing the pillow back at me and hitting me square in the face. “Stop calling me that.”
“Then admit you’re a shitty liar.”
She sits up a little straighter. “No, I’m an amazing liar. I just can’t lie to you.”
“Damn straight, you can’t.”
She laughs to herself and shakes her head before turning her attention back to her laptop screen and saving her work. “Come on,” she says. “I’m starving. I overslept this morning and skipped breakfast.”
“What?” I groan as a yawn rips through my body. “Don’t you have food here?”
“I did,” she grunts. “Until you came and ate it all.”
“Yeah,” I laugh, remembering how good those chocolate bars tasted swirling around my mouth and sitting in the bottom of my stomach. I mean, I can’t help it that Brooke likes the same food as me. It was just sitting there waiting to be eaten. What was I supposed to do?
“Come on,” she says again. “Get up. I’m thinking burgers.”
I pout out my bottom lip and pull up my phone in front of my face to check the time. If we leave now and eat quickly, I can come back and still get at least an hour sleep before I have to go to my afternoon lecture. “Fine,” I groan. “But I want fries with mine.”
“Of course, you do,” she laughs, taking my hand and hauling me off her bed.
Brooke grabs her bag off her desk and we haul ass out of there. Brooke pulls the door closed behind her, making sure to lock it before looping her arm through mine and heading down the long hallway.
“So…” she starts, seeming a little shy as we break out into the fresh air and start heading towards the only café on campus that sells yummy, two-handed, filled-to-the-brim burgers. “I… was thinking that I’d like to start dating again.”
I look across at her. “Really?” I say as a slow grin begins to spread across my face. “Is the tiger ready to get back on the prowl?”
Brooke scoffs at my comment and rolls her eyes. “Yes,” she groans. “But… I don’t know. Max really screwed me over. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“What?” I laugh. “Weren’t you with that nerdy guy with the glasses a few nights ago?”
“Yeah,” she says. “That’s just sex. I have no problem when it comes to finding someone to throw me up against a wall. But, I’m ready for more. I see you and Nate, and that’s what I want, except I think I can find myself a guy who isn’t so possessive and protective.”
“Hey,” I argue with a grin. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Uh huh,” she says, not believing me. “There’s a thin line between being possessive and downright abusive.”
“Trust me, watching your man throw down because some loser thought he could grind up against you on the dance floor is the sexiest thing you’ll ever see. But what’s better than that is the beastly way he dominates your body afterward.”
“Mmmm,” she moans. “Yeah, that’s what I need.”
“Yeah, a toned down version of Nate would be perfect for you,” I agree, perking up as an idea flutters through my mind. My eyebrows shoot up in excitement. “Let me be your matchmaker.”
“What?” she scoffs, barking out a laugh. “No way. You’ll probably pick the worst guy on campus. You know, the one with three nipples, webbed toes, and a panty smelling fetish.”
“Whatever,” I say, trying to hold in my laughter as I nudge her with my elbow, desperately wanting the gig. “I managed to win over Broken Hill’s ultimate bad boy and lock him down. I’ve got great taste in men.”
“First off,” she says. “Nate doesn’t count. He was in love with you since you were twelve. You didn’t win him over, he forced your hand and was relentless until you gave in. You got lucky, so you’re probably the worst person to try and set me up,” she laughs. “Do I need to remind you of your track record before Nate decided to ambush you?”
I think back over my terrible dating history and cringe. “For the record,” I remind her. “My dating life would have been a lot better if Nate hadn’t scared off every guy who ever looked at me.”
“I think ‘scared off’ is the wrong term to use,” she muses, pretending to be in deep thought. “I’d say ‘manipulated the situation to better suit his needs’.”
I roll my eyes and nudge her again. “Shut up.”
We walk into the café and put in our order before finding an empty table. I’m kind of surprised there is one as this place is one of the more popular places on campus and there’s usually a line out the door to get one of their delicious burgers. I guess we got lucky today. Either that, or there’s something else going on today that’s keeping everyone away and me and Brooke are obliviously too self-absorbed to realize.