𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

F A R R I S

"Damn. Look at you go," I tell the girl sitting across from me. Lucy hides her face in her hands and I swear despite not being able to see a blush on her dark skin, I can feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as they grow warmer.

"Why did I say that?"

"Because you wanted a goodnight kiss," I tease and she groans. "In all seriousness, it sounds like you didn't know what you wanted and you ended up asking for it anyway."

"It was...I've never kissed anyone before. Why her?"

"Because she's pretty, you work closely together, you have things in common, and maybe, hear me out, you like her."

"That's pushing it," She glares at me and I smirk, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. We've grown closer since that one night at the bar and these little chats have become more frequent, something Reed appreciates though I don't do it for her.

"Is it? Can I be brutally honest with you?" I ask and she reluctantly nods, waving her hand for me to go on. "You talk about her all the time. You can't take your eyes off of her when you're in the same room, and you initiated a kiss with her after spending about a minute in the same bed...what would you call that?"

She looks down and fiddles with her mug. "Hesitant admiration?" She tries and I roll my eyes.

"Good luck convincing yourself or anybody else of that." I nod, finishing off my hot chocolate. Lucy grumbles to herself, looking up as the bell to the coffee shop rings, repeating the same action she's done every time as if paranoid that the object of her affection will walk in any minute.

"It's a big campus Luce, highly unlikely that Chr—" A hand over my mouth cuts me off and I widen my eyes at her just as she does the same but looking over my shoulder. I turn around, dislodging her hand, to see Christina walk in with a friend I recognize as one of my old teammates who switched to cheerleading halfway through first year.

Christina's eyes go straight to Lucy and she gives her a little nod of recognition, not the usual teasing smile I've seen her bare. The two of them walk up to the counter to order and Lucy faces me with her eyes darting toward them.

"What do I do? Do I pretend like nothing happened?" She asked, her voice hushed and her head low. I raise an eyebrow.

"As opposed to what? Waving her down and asking what you are? Just chill, say hi if you want to—"

"I never usually say hi."

"Don't say hi then. That's something you would know. You don't have to do anything you wouldn't usually do."

"Usually I'm mean to her and we bicker."

"Okay, maybe not that. Probably a good rule to be nice to people you kiss." She nods as if my words are law. "Pull yourself together, dude. It's not that deep."

"It's not that deep," She repeats and I shake my head. She's hopeless.

"Hey man," Paulo greets me, joined by Christina at his side, standing closer to Lucy who seems to be avoiding eye contact.

"Hey, how's it going?" I say politely. We were never friends, but we were friendly.

"Awesome, thanks. Hey listen, we're on our way somewhere but it was good seeing you!" He daps me up and I smile at both of them. Lucy opens her mouth as if to say something and I watch as Christina looks at her, waits, and a reasonable amount of time passes without words until Christina turns to leave and join her friend.

I widen my eyes at Lucy and she does the same when she's able to tear them away from Christina's receding back. "I think I just blacked out," She says and I can't help but let out a laugh.