but I ignored it.
“Now I have to work with her every day and no matter what I do, I can’t stay away from her. Last night she told me that my research is shit and I have no business being in her department.”
Caleb winced. “Ouch. That’s harsh.”
Without warning, Weston passed me the ball—hard. I caught it with a grunt.
“How long have you been fucking her?” he asked, his tone nonchalant.
“Dude,” Alex said.
Weston raised his eyebrows, but otherwise his expression didn’t change. “What?”
“Why do you assume he’s sleeping with her?” Caleb asked. “He said they don’t get along.”
“Doesn’t mean they’re not fucking,” Weston said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and we were idiots for not realizing it.
All eyes swung to me.
“Just the one time. Last night.”
Weston gestured toward me. “See?”
“I don’t know what happened. She bent over to pick up some papers and her shirt popped open and the next thing I knew…” I trailed off, shrugging. They got the idea. I wasn’t about to describe it in detail. Seemed like a crappy thing to do to Hazel.
“And now you want to fuck her again, but you also basically hate her,” Weston said.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “No, not… sort of? I don’t know.”
“Just fuck her again,” Weston said and held out his hands, ready for a pass. “Are we playing, or not?”
I passed him the ball.
“Don’t listen to that asshole,” Caleb said. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. My sister’s the only reason he’s not alone and miserable.”
Weston took a shot and it swished through the net. “He’s not wrong.”
“Sorry, you guys,” I said. “I just made a huge mistake last night and I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about it. Let’s just play.”
“You sure?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, I think I just need to get my mind off her for a while.”
Not that a game of basketball would work. Nothing had. I could still feel her. Smell her. Taste her lips.
Alex and Caleb shared another look, but they let me drop the subject.
Weston passed me the ball, effectively dividing us into teams—me and Weston versus Alex and Caleb. We played a tough game of two-on-two. By the time we finished—Weston and I won by three—I was exhausted and drenched with sweat.
Good. Maybe I’d sleep better tonight.
After our game, we all wandered to the side of the court to hydrate and grab our things. Alex and Caleb chatted while they put on their sweatshirts. I took a long drink from my water bottle and wiped my forehead on the back of my arm.
“You don’t hate her,” a low voice said next to me.
I glanced over at Weston. “What?”
“You don’t hate her, or you wouldn’t give a shit about any of this.”
As much as I wanted to say I hated Hazel, he was right. I didn’t. I didn’t know what I felt for her. But it wasn’t hatred. It was a lot more complicated than that. “Yeah, maybe.”
He eyed me for a second, like he wasn’t sure if he was going to bother continuing the conversation. “If it had been some other woman’s shirt popping open, would you have fucked her?”
“No,” I said with a lot more vehemence than I expected.
“Didn’t think so. That’s your problem.”
“What?”
“You care. Sex isn’t meaningless if you care. So that means it wasn’t.”
“Wasn’t meaningless?”
“Nope. She’s under your skin. Maybe she does drive you crazy, but that’s because you care about her, and you care what she thinks of you.”
This was the most Weston had ever spoken to me. And he was hitting too close to the truth for comfort.
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Fuck if I know.” He took a long drink from his water bottle. “Caleb’s right, no one should listen to me for relationship advice.”
I rolled my eyes. So he was just bullshitting me. “Great, thanks.”
“There is one thing I do know.”
“What’s that?”
“If she has the power to fuck up your insides this much, you only have two choices.”
“Yeah?”
“Get as far away from her as you can so you never have to see her again.”
My gut churned at the thought. “Or?”
“Marry her.”
Without another word, Weston slipped on his sunglasses and walked out.
I didn’t know why, but I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that he was right.
15
Hazel
“Relationships are the most transformational space, whether it’s with your children, your parents, or your loved ones, because you can’t control the other person.” ~ Neil Strauss
The lemon meringue pie had baked approximately