I stared at the flow of traffic outside. I loathed spending the money when I didn’t have more coming in. I needed to go over how much I had left owing on the car. The guys were spending money on food, since they were half living with me, so maybe if we worked out a budget, I could pare back what I was spending on all fronts.
I’d originally planned to figure out how to pay Archie back for the rent, but I had a feeling that was not going to happen anytime soon.
Exhaling, I stared down at the phone. I’d texted the group chat when I’d arrived—as promised—but I hadn’t said anything about heading back yet.
I needed a plan.
Logging into my banking app, I stared at the number in my account, then the number in my savings. After Christmas, there was about five months until graduation, give or take. If I added a shift, I might be able to make up the difference of what I spent…
Or I could just do a different job in the meanwhile. I glanced around the car and then down at my arm. I really wanted to do something for the guys for Christmas. I wanted to do something for Jake’s birthday. Chewing my lower lip, I debated it. Coop and Jake alternated their shift nights, mostly so one of them was always around for me, but we all needed to get back to a more normal schedule.
Dating was definitely on the table, or should be.
My heart raced abruptly, and I had to take several long, deep breaths to calm it down. Dating was on the table with Ian, and it hadn’t been off with the other guys. Okay, I said I needed a plan. I took a sip of my shake, then tabbed over to the group chat message.
Me: Done here. About to head back.
Jake: Still feeling okay?
Coop: How did it go?
Archie: We were just debating what to order for dinner. Thoughts?
Ian: Drive safe.
I chuckled.
Me: Sorta. Not great, but not bad. Not hungry—yet. I will. I’ll be home soon.
It was still awkward to get the car started and to shift the gears, but it was also getting easier. Maybe I just needed the practice. If I started taking the car to school again, I’d get the practice. The chances of the guys not fighting me driving myself every day weren’t great.
And on a little selfish side, I kind of liked riding with them.
It started raining before I’d even made it a block. It turned into a torrential downpour as I turned into the apartments. I was practically crawling, because of how the rain came sheeting down. I’d barely parked under the carport and gotten the car shut off when Jake and Ian appeared, both sporting umbrellas and rain ponchos—Ian even had one for me.
Okay, I’d needed a minute. I admit it. I’d needed to go and talk to Marsha on my own. But it was stuff like this that reminded me why I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.
Homework finished, we sprawled in the living room while the guys pounded each other alternately in racing and fighting games. I had a book open and earphones in, though I wasn’t actually listening to anything at the moment. Ian had sent me four more songs he’d been working on, including an updated version of his audition piece.
They were good.
They were really good.
I’d listened to all of them a couple of times, biting my lip as I grinned, aware that Ian watched me closely. When he raised his eyebrows, I grinned wider and hit play again on the beginning. The way his shoulders relaxed as he leaned back against the sofa made me grin wider. I bumped him—gently, because seriously, I was still worried about his ribs, even if he had started running and said it didn’t hurt that bad.
“I love them,” I’d murmured quietly, and he gave me this delighted little grin. “Now focus, or they’re going to kick your ass.” Not that my advice helped, because when he jerked his gaze back to the screen, Jake had run his car off the road.
“Ass,” Ian snarled, almost cheerfully, and Jake just gave him a smirk before his gaze collided with mine and he winked.
Shaking my head, I went back to the book. One thing about our lit class, we had a lot of extracurricular reading to do, so I might as well get that done while I couldn’t do other stuff. It was just nice