worried someone might be listening. “Are you going public with this?”
Excellent question. Despite Hayle’s claim that there was a photo circulating of me and Tristin “cozying up” at the football game, we hadn’t made a conscious choice to make our relationship public. It was something that we probably needed to discuss with Leo, since it affected all three of us equally.
“I don’t really know. Would you mind keeping it to yourself for now?”
“Of course not,” she replied solemnly. “I won’t say a word to anyone.”
“Thank you.”
Tara and Benjamin arrived then, holding hands, and I made no secret of my surprise. “When did this happen?” I knew Benjamin had been dating someone else a while back, but clearly, he’d moved on.
“For a few weeks,” Tara replied with a wide smile. “I know. I was surprised too.”
“Hey,” Benjamin said with faux outrage. “I take offense to that.”
“Sure you do, honey.” She kissed his cheek, then sat down in the chair on my other side. “I’m so glad we’re meeting here instead of the library. I already spent my entire weekend there, and I can’t stand that scent for another minute.”
“What scent is that?” Violet asked. “Were you hiding out in the stacks or something?”
Tara grinned. “No, the scent of panicked college students. You’d never guess that we still have a week until finals start.”
Benjamin sniffed at his shirt. “I don’t smell anything, and I know I’m panicked.”
“Guess you shouldn’t have put off studying to the last minute.”
Violet and I both chuckled at her lack of compassion for her boyfriend. Clearly, she hadn’t changed just because they were dating. I could appreciate that about her.
Tristin delivered Violet’s hot chocolate and then offered to get drinks for the newcomers. Obviously shocked, they gave him their orders and then stared after him when he approached the counter for the third time.
“I thought he was supposed to be the asshole brother,” Benjamin whispered.
Violet’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you said that.”
“What?” He shrugged. “I’m just repeating what I’ve heard on campus.”
Tara smacked him on the bicep. “You’re not supposed to repeat that in front of one of his friends.”
He glanced at me. “Sorry. His politeness caught me off guard.”
“It’s fine. He’s been known to be an asshole, so the rumors aren’t totally off-base. But he’s a good guy underneath it all.”
“And totally hot up close,” Tara added under her breath. Benjamin shot her a glare, but she ignored him. “Anyway, guess we should get to work, huh? Who wants to be in charge of the final document?”
Violet was already removing her laptop from her bag. “I’ll do it, since I put together one option for the formatting as a place to start.”
“Perfect.” Tara clapped her hands together. “We can always count on you to be prepared.”
“I have to be good at something,” Violet replied dryly before spinning her laptop around to show us what she’d been working on so far.
The next couple of hours passed quickly, and when we’d completed the project, I was actually a little sad to say goodbye. Maybe I’d get to attend regular study sessions again next semester, although I wouldn’t hold my breath. I didn’t want to cause more problems for Violet with her mother than necessary.
If it came down to it, I’d rather spend time with her socially every once in a while than in study group. Guess we’d have to discuss that more later.
“You seemed to be having a nice time,” Tristin said, once we were settled in the Range Rover.
“It was surprisingly fun. I like Tara and Benjamin, and Violet is a pretty funny girl when she relaxes a little.”
“I have trouble imagining Violet as funny.”
“That’s interesting, because everyone else was having trouble imagining you as anything other than an asshole.”
He barked out a laugh. “Is that so?”
“Yep. I’m pretty sure you’re ruining your reputation. First, you actually showed up to Leo’s game and didn’t get into any fights. Now, you’re acting as my serving wench. What will people say?”
He glanced at me across the front seat. “Good thing I don’t care what people say. I only care about what you think. And Leo.”
“And Hayle,” I added. “You care what Hayle thinks about you too.”
“I would if he’d stop being such a brat.”
“He’ll come around.”
I believed that, because I had to. Having Tristin and Leo as such a constant part of my life was amazing, except something was missing. And that something was the middle Sharpe brother.