Second Chance At Love

Rhys' New Girlfriend.

Cgc

"Alright, which one of you was getting down and dirty with one of my roommates last night?" I ask, throwing my backpack into the booth and setting my coffee down. Nova and Maddy squeeze into the other side and I see Nova's face flush instantly. "Me," Maddy says with a fake smile. "Why are you getting red then?" I ask Novalee. "I have no idea. I don't know!" she says. Maddy laughs at her best friend's reaction and passes her the salad she bought her. "It was me and Xander," Maddy repeats. Even if it was Nova and Chris, she wouldn't have said it out loud. Maddy doesn't care though.

"Did you hear or what?" she asks, stabbing her lettuce with a fork. "Yes," I groan, making a disgusted face. I haven't had sex in a while which I promised myself I'd do at the beginning of the year but it is fucking difficult. Especially when two out of four of your roommates have girlfriends they could fuck at any hour of the day. The walls are thin so I hear everything. "Sorry, C. As aggravating as he is, I can't keep my hands off of him," Maddy says about Xander. "We know," Nova says with a smile, happy that Maddy's happy.

"Speak of the devil, got to go," Maddy picks up her things quickly and leaves the lounge when she sees Xander pass by with Max. "She is so smitten," Nova says with a smile. I raise my eyebrows slightly and scoff. "Too smitten." She looks back at me from the door and frowns, her forehead creasing lightly. "Why is that so bad?" she asks. "It's not. Good for them, I guess." Nova narrows her eyes at me and stares at me for a little too long. "What?" I finally ask.

"Are you. . . jealous?" she questions carefully. I roll my eyes, "Why would I be jealous?" Nova tries stabbing on a crouton but it just breaks. "Well I thought you liked Brynn, but maybe I read you wrong. You like. . . Maddy?" she asks looking up and down at me. "I like both of them," I say. Nova gasps like I've just admitted to adultery. "As friends," I state. She throws her head back slightly and smacks her lips. "I meant as more than friends!" she exclaims.

"I've known Brynn for what. . . three weeks? Two even? I don't like her in that way. And I do not like Maddy." I can't believe that is still even a topic of conversation. When will they all ever get over the fact that we have slept together? It's in the past and she is dating my roommate for fucks sake. "Okay," she says "good. Just checking." She smiles at me and then Valdez pops out of nowhere sitting next to her. He kisses her cheek, "Sorry, tutoring ran for a while longer. Hey, C."

Valdez the tutor. Never thought I would see this day come but I guess we've somehow gotten here. He's smart -smarter than me -I won't deny it, and now that he was more time to do things, he's using it to focus on school and more extracurriculars. "What's up?" I say. We all pull out our schoolwork and stay back for a little to work on any of the work we have due soon.

Nova stares at Valdez's papers, eyes widened. He looks up at her and his focused face instantly shines at the sight of her. "What?" he asks. "How do you even know what any of that means?" she says while still glancing at his work. Ah, economics. I know my way around the subject, being a business major. It is not as hard as it seems but it does involve a lot of numbers and readings. "It's not that hard, babe. I'm kind of smart remember?" He smirks. "Of course you are," she says, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Hey, friends," a voice cuts in from beside us. Oh, thank God. An angel has saved me from third-wheeling. "Hi, Brynn!" Nova greets her as I move so that she can sit next to me. "Hey," Valdez smiles, moving over some of his papers. "I won't trouble you guys for too long, I just have to wait about half an hour for practice," she says, setting her bag on the floor. "Stay as long as you want, please," I say. Nova shoots her head at me suspiciously. I roll my eyes at her and shake my head. Brynn chuckles, "What are you working on?"

"Nothing important. Thank you for saving me."

"Saving you from?"

I motion my head towards my two friends who sit in front of us. Brynn looks at them momentarily before looking back at me and chuckles. "Jealous, Cgc?" she asks, one brow arched. "No. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I say with a scoff. "Everyone keeps asking that? Well then maybe you're showing signs of jealousy," she teases. I tilt my head slightly, "Not true." She smiles with her pretty white teeth. "I believe you," she pauses "slightly." She shows me with a small section between her thumb and pointing finger.