Nice Guys Don't Win (The Boys #2) - Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,15

she means well, but I’ll find a girl when the time is right.”

Murray gives me an understanding nod, knowing all about the shit that went down last year. He plays on the baseball team with Mascen, so it was kind of impossible for him not to know.

“There’s going to be a bonfire tonight to celebrate surviving the first week. You going?”

I look at a piece of lettuce on the table that fell from my sandwich. “I guess.”

“Come on, free beer and chicks galore. What’s to miss?” He spreads his arms wide. “You know Teddy is bound to end up drunk, naked, and running through the woods again.”

I bust out laughing at the memories of the past three years. “You’d think he’d learn, but he never does.”

“Every year,” he echoes my thoughts. “You know, that dude’s going to be a fucking legend when we graduate.”

“He’s one of a kind,” I agree.

“Aw, are you guys talking about me?” Teddy claps my shoulder and drops into the empty chair beside me.

“Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear,” I mumble out loud.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I bet the devil was handsome as fuck. That’s the real reason he got cast out of Heaven. God was jealous.”

Murray shakes with laughter. “Whatever you have to tell yourself, man.”

“Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?” Teddy must not have gotten close enough in time to hear my answer.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I’ll ask Zoey if she wants to go with me. I get the impression she doesn’t go out a lot, but for some reason I want her there. I know if she won’t go it’ll bother me and I’ll be worrying about her alone in the apartment, which is dumb.

“Good, good. None of you fuckers slip me tequila again. That stuff’s the devil’s juice.”

“And that’s exactly why we’ll be giving you some,” Murray counters, Australian accent thick with humor. It’s comical to think of an Australian guy playing baseball at an American university, but he grew up in the states when his parents immigrated when he was in middle school. For some reason he fell in love with the sport and is pretty fucking good at it. “I mean, obviously it’s made for you since it’s, what did you call it? The devil’s juice? And you’re claiming you’re as handsome as him.”

“Fuck, I really dug my own hole there didn’t I?”

“Yup.”

“Yeah, man.” I give him a fake-sympathetic nod of the head.

“Fine, but this time for the love of Mariah Carey make sure I don’t rub my naked body on a tree. I got a splinter in my ass cheek last year.”

“Thank God it wasn’t your dick,” I blurt, physically shuddering the thought of such a thing. The pain.

“Mariah Carey?” Murray asks. “Why her?”

“No idea,” Teddy answers with a shrug. “It was the first thing that popped in my head.”

I look down at the table to hide my smile. That’s one of the things I love about Teddy, you never fucking know what’s going to come out of that dude’s mouth.

Finishing my lunch, I say goodbye to the guys and toss my trash before heading to my next class. When the day is over, I drive home, but Zoey’s car isn’t in the lot yet.

Heading up to the apartment I go ahead and shower and change. It’ll be hours before the bonfire’s going, but I’d rather get ready now and have a few hours to chill. Maybe even take a nap. Definitely living the dream.

Two hours have passed by the time the door opens and Zoey looks exhausted when she walks in.

“Ugh,” she groans, dropping her bag to the floor. “This sucks.”

“What sucks?” I ask from the couch.

Her dark chocolate eyes meet mine. “I went to two pharmacies, a grocery store, a Dollar General, and even a bank and no one is hiring.”

She walks to the fridge and steals one of my root beers. I hide my smile, pretending to rub my nose. I fucking love how she was the one who brought up using each other’s stuff but she’s constantly stealing my root beer. It’s kind of adorable, not that I’d tell her that. I feel like Zoey is the kind of girl who would bristle at being called adorable.

“I know a mechanic shop hiring,” I remind her.

Her eyes light up. “I forgot about that.” With a resigned sigh, she asks, “You think they’d hire me?”

“I don’t see why not. I can grab you an application, or just drop by. It’s Zero-2-Sixty