My Rebound (On My Own #2) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,40

kick ass with your new plan as you figure it out—and with my help if you need. And we’ll be friends. Who occasionally have mind-blowing sex. But just with each other. That much I can promise you.”

I smiled. “A friend. I could use that. A friend.”

He kissed me again and then smiled. “A friend will help me do the dishes. And then you can head home if you need to pick up your books and things. I will see you in class. Because we have an exam coming up, and I need to kick ass on it.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling more at ease than ever before. “Oh, no, I’m going to kick your ass on it. We’re going to break the curve together.”

“As long as you break it for that Hunter asshole.”

I scowled. “Hunter Williams, III is a jerk. I hope he fails.” My eyes widened. “That’s not a nice thing for me to say but fuck it.”

“We don’t have to be nice all the time, Mackenzie. We’re allowed to have an archnemesis.”

That made me snort. “You make me sound like I’m in a movie.”

He shook his head. “Sometimes, people want to create a reality where there’s a chance to change. But in the past two and a half years I have seen that kid, there is no changing for him.”

“I’ve known him much longer,” I said drolly.

“So, he can go fuck himself. Let’s prove to your professor—and to Hunter—that you’re amazing. Something I already know.”

I warmed and smiled. I wondered what the hell I was doing.

Because we could assign the labels, say we were exclusive, but we still hadn’t talked about what we really were. Friends with benefits? People sort of dating and finding out who they were?

Exclusivity was the label that I needed, though. So, it would have to be enough for now.

I just didn’t know exactly what would happen from here.

But I couldn’t focus only on Pacey. I needed to put that to the side and lean in to the exclusivity part that we spoke of. Because nothing else in my life made sense.

Not school, not the way that I felt with my roommates…nothing.

And the fact that it seemed that something else changed every time I turned around wasn’t lost on me.

I needed to figure out what all of that meant.

And where I went next.

I only hoped I didn’t hurt myself irrevocably in the end.

Chapter 11

Pacey

“Now, remember, we joke that we want to solve for X, but that’s only the beginning. We don’t care about X. We care about all the other letters in the alphabet.” The professor looked down at his watch and nodded. “And on that note, we’ll call it a day. Your next assignment is already listed, and the supplemental paperwork is on the website. You know what to do. See you next week.”

People started stuffing their backpacks and heading out of the classroom. I looked over at Mackenzie and raised a brow. “Well, that was enlightening,” I deadpanned.

She rolled her eyes and took some final notes before packing everything up.

“By enlightening, you mean exhausting?” she whispered and then looked around to make sure nobody was listening. The people behind us had already left, and the professor had gone with them, leaving his work on the board as if he didn’t care. If I remembered right, he had another class on the other end of campus in less than thirty minutes. I didn’t blame him for running out.

“We have a lot of homework this weekend, and I feel like we’re not done yet,” Mackenzie said, looking down at her planner.

“We never will be, but it’s preparing us for our futures,” I said, laughing.

“Whatever you say.”

It had been three days since Mackenzie and I had slept together. We had done nothing more than kiss a few times on our way from class, the coffee shop, or home. The semester was gearing up, which meant there was little time for anything but getting to class. Each of us took a larger than average course load, and I had meetings with my advisor besides. I knew Mackenzie was working on figuring out her next steps.

I didn’t know what we were doing, other than pretending that we knew what we were doing. However, I assumed that was how most college students lived these days. So, I counted it as something.

“Are you coming over this weekend to study?” I asked, helping Mackenzie with her coat. She gave me a small smile, and I grinned. We were figuring out