“Might as well.” She shrugs.
I turn to look at Ollie. “You in?”
“Sure.” He pretends not to be excited, but I know that look in his eyes. More time with Karina has them lighting up like the Fourth of July.
“Grab your laptop. I’ll add you two to the call.” He moves off my bed and to his and grabs his laptop. He gives me a thumbs-up when he’s ready, and I add both him and Karina to the call. Grabbing my phone, I send him a text message.
Me: Now you have her info.
Oliver: I had her number
Me: But not her Zoom info. Take notes, my man.
He replies with a thumbs-up. Tossing my phone to the side, I grab my books, and we get to work. We chat off and on while we each study. Karina asks for assistance with a calculus problem that Oliver graciously helps her with. The dude’s a math whiz.
Two hours later, we’ve all had as much homework as we can stand. They order pizza, and so do we, and then we pull up Netflix and let the girls choose a movie. Thankfully, we have a flat-screen hanging on the wall, so we can all four stay connected to the call. It’s cramped in this dorm room, but it works for us.
Peyton took me on a virtual tour of their apartment, and it looks like a mansion compared to our little space.
“How did you ladies luck out and get to live off-campus?” Oliver asks them as we’re waiting for our pizza to be delivered. “I thought all athletes had to live on campus?”
“Well, I’m sure each school is different, but since we’re local and technically not commuting, there’s a certain mileage in there. They let us live at home. They just don’t know we’re staying in an apartment instead,” Peyton explains.
“Griff, my man, why didn’t we think about that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m jealous as hell.”
“I can’t take the credit. Paisley figured it out when she went to college. Then Parker followed in her footsteps, and now me. It’s the same college both of our parents went to as well, just not at the same time. Mom didn’t go until after she had Paisley,” she explains.
“Your sister is a genius,” Oliver states.
“I’ll be sure to tell her you said so.”
The pizza arrives, and we settle into watching the movie. It’s almost as if we’re all in the same room together. We comment and laugh and joke, and the only thing that would make it better would be having her in my arms.
Once the movie is over, we all log off, and I switch to my phone, calling her and having some us time. We talk about school and living off-campus, and sports, and when we might be able to see each other again. Her voice is the last I hear before falling asleep, and I know it will also be the first when she calls me before she leaves for class in the morning.
Long distance? We’ve got this.
CHAPTER 13
Peyton
Four weeks. That’s how long it’s been since I’ve been able to hug him—four very long weeks. I’m feeling it hard today and missing him like crazy. I only had one class this morning, and by some miracle, we don’t have a game or practice today. Coach had something going on, so we got a pass.
Karina and a few of the girls on the team went shopping, and I chose to come home. I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to be able to lie in bed and think about Griffin and wallow in my misery of missing him. I’ll go back to a fully functioning individual tomorrow. Today, I just want to chill and watch mindless television, maybe read a book.
In fact, I’m in the middle of doing both when my cell rings. I have a movie playing in the background and my Kindle in my hand. Grabbing my phone, I smile when I see it’s him. “Hey,” I greet him. “I thought you would be at practice?”
“Coach let us out early. Are you getting ready to start? I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“No, actually, I’m off today too. Coach had something come up, so no practice today.”
“Really?” he asks. “So we don’t have to hang up?”
“Nope. I’m lying in bed. I’ve got the TV on, and I was trying to read.”
“Multitasking?” he guesses.
“More like trying to distract myself from missing you. It’s been four weeks today since I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling it too. That’s why I called, hoping to just hear your voice before you went to practice.”
“This is hard.”
“Yeah,” he agrees.
“Are you having second thoughts?” I don’t know why I ask the question when I already know the answer. Griffin is committed to making this relationship work, but sometimes, on days like today when I’m missing him like crazy, I second-guess that. I guess I just need to hear him say it.