Nick & Bailey

45. Nick

She climbs off him and begins getting dressed. She seems so relaxed now. "Thanks, man. My tinder date never showed up, but you were a fantastic substitute." She leans down and kisses him one more time as he's pulling his pants back on.

"Tinder? What's that?"

She looks at him her mouth hanging open. "Are you fucking with me?"

Nick shakes his head.

"How do you not know what Tinder is?"

Nick shrugs. He's always behind on these things.

"It's like the best thing ever!" She's excited again. She jumps back on the bed and crosses her legs. "So you sign up, and if you are looking for a date, or in most cases, a hook up, you look for 'matches' and if someone is nearby, you guys meet up, fuck, and leave. It's fantastic."

"So you just fuck these random people? How is everyone okay with that?"

She punches him lightly on the shoulder. Apparently, they are buddies now. "You'd be surprised. It's actually kind of nice to know what everyone's expectations are. No love-lost."

Now that she mentions it, even though there is still a small amount of guilt, Nick feels much better about this girl than the last one. Knowing exactly what her expectations were helped the situation.

"Why do you do it?"

"My boyfriend goes to school on the other side of the country," she says, like that explains it.

Nick nods slowly. To him, that definitely does not explain it.

"Don't look at me like that! He knows. He is doing the same thing. It's just sex, so we let each other have some fun while we're apart." She looks towards the door. "But...this is already too much conversation. I need to go. I probably won't see you again. I have a strict, one-time-only policy. This was fun though." She ruffles his hair like he's a little kid and practically skips out the door.

"Happy birthday, dude," Nick says over the phone to Ian. It feels awkward saying it, but Candace practically forced him to. She's walking next to him on the way to the dining hall where they are meeting Pete.

"If he's your friend you need to call him," she had said when he casually mentioned that it was his best friend's birthday today.

He had actually been thinking about the fact that is was Bailey's birthday. Ian had kind of been an afterthought.

"I know, but, I don't know, guys don't do that," he replied to her. He knew this argument wasn't going to work. Gender stereotypes mean nothing to this girl. She handed him his phone as they were walking out the door.

Ian replies, "Aww, you're so sweet. I could kiss you!"

"Fuck you," Nick laughs.

"Just wait. When you get here next month, expect straight up tongue."

"Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit."

It sounds like Ian shifts his phone around. "Fuck. I gotta go. Bailey's calling. She wanted to talk at the time I was born or some stupid shit. Thanks though, man." He hangs up.

Nick can't quite pinpoint what he's feeling right now. He supposes the closest thing would be jealousy. Ian is talking to Bailey right now. Nick can't even fucking send her a text, and Ian gets to talk to her.

Candace notices his mood. "What happened? What did he say?"

Nick takes a deep breath. "Nothing. It's fine. I'm fine."