"Where is he?" I look at my phone. 6:11 PM.

"I don't know. He said he was going to be back by 6," Jack responds in a hushed tone. I stare at the cake on his desk and the three bags sitting behind it.

"Text him," West insists from Jack's side of the room. He's spinning in the chair so fast that I'm starting to get dizzy just watching. I hear the sound of keys outside and Jack quickly jumps to turn off the lights. West struggles to stop himself and rather loudly and painfully slams his wrist on Jack's desk. The whimper that follows is quiet, though. The door is slowly pushed open and Dominic's figure appears. He drops his bag and flicks on the light, which is when we all jump out.

"Surprise!" He takes in each of our faces with an excited grin. His eyes fall on the chocolate cake on the table and he sighs. I can tell he's thinking about how all his exercise at the gym will go to waste. He can't deny cake even if he tried.

I grab Jack's lighter and hold it above each candle. The '19' is lit and ready to be blown out. West clears his throat in preparation for the scale that follows. He grabs two pencils and begins waving them around as he conducts the birthday song. Dominic leans against the wall and stares at me while West harmonizes dramatically in his ear. I hold the cake up for Dominic to blow out the candles. He quickly extinguishes the flames and I watch Jack grab a small glob of frosting and smears it across Dominic's face. The birthday boy lets it happen while slowly nodding with a small grimace on his face. I quickly take a picture and hurriedly tuck my phone away, knowing he'd wrestle the device from me and delete it out of my gallery.

"Cut the cake" West bounces urgently as he eyes the birthday. Dominic comes around, leans over beside me, and prepares to slice the cake. I reach up and swipe some of the frosting from his jawline and lick it from my finger.

"Tastes good." Dominic stares at me with an unreadable expression on his face and I can only bring myself to smirk in response.

"Can you guys not?" Jack stares at us in slight disgust. "Just cut the cake please."

Dominic cuts the small cake into four pieces and divvies it up. I quickly break off a piece with my fork and groan in delight when I taste the chocolaty goodness. "Who picked out the cake?" Dominic asks and I peek up at him with a sheepish glance.

"I can tell; it's only five different forms of chocolate." He laughs and takes a bite regardless. I count it just to prove him wrong: chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate drizzle, chocolate mousse, and chocolate crumble. Wow, he's right.

"It's good!" I take another large bite of cake and receive an approving nod from West, who's settled in the corner with a glob of chocolate on his face.

Dominic takes a seat on my lap and I allow him to. It's his birthday. Normally, on days that aren't all about him, I would punch him in the back and fight him off of me. When he finishes his cake, he looks at the gifts and grins. "Sooo...what'd you guys get me?" I feel the vibrations of his voice through his back.

"You're going to love my gift." Jack quickly motions to his bag and Dominic's gaze follows his hand curiously.

"I think he's going to like Nova's gift more," West pipes from his seat. Dominic looks at me over his shoulder with raised eyebrows.

"Which one is yours?" He examines the three bags on the desk and rules out the red one, which we've already determined is Jack's.

"Oh, not the one that's here. The one she's going to give you tonight," West finishes his joke. Immediately upon processing his words, I release a guttural groan and rest my head on Dominic's back. The guys laugh rambunctiously at my expense while I sit in shame.

"I'm never drinking around you guys again." I lay my head against Dominic's back and avoid their suggestive winks. It takes all my willpower not to slowly trace his spine with my finger.

"It's okay, Dominic. We're going out this weekend and you're coming with. You're going to get laid," Jack announces confidently. My eyebrows rise from behind Dominic and I'm grateful that he's blocking me from their view...and his view.

"No thanks." Oh thank goodness.

"Why not? Still not over hickey girl?" Jack teases and I bite back a laugh. If only they knew...

"Or hickey boy?!" West proposes from his spot across the room. I peek around Dominic and find our peculiar friend grinning with chocolate all over his chin.

"I'll go out and mingle but I'm not sleeping with anyone," Dominic compromises.

"Once you get enough alcohol in your system, you won't know the difference between hickey girl and West." I can imagine Jack waving his hands around as if he's certain of what he's saying.

"I can be your hickey boy," West jokes and Dominic chucks a chocolate stained candle at him.

"Not happening, Jack." Dominic shakes his head once he tunes back into the conversation.

"Nova has been getting more action than you lately, Dom." West is really bold tonight, huh? I push Dominic to the side and he shifts so he's sitting on my lap sideways. "It's a little sad."

"Hey!" I suddenly turn to Dominic, who looks back at me as if he's surprised I'm turning on him. "What have you been telling them?" He bounces his head back and forth innocently but I glare anyway. It's not like I tell him anything anyway; he's in the dark about all the nothingness that goes on at Eli's apartment.

"All the time you spend with Eli- you must be doing something," West supposes. I gape at Dominic, who is too busy stumbling over his words to form a sentence.

"They ask why I'm not hanging out with you and I say you're with Eli. What am I supposed to say?" He looks from me to the guys in hopes that they'll back him. "They don't know anything. I mean, I don't either; you don't tell me anything."

"But don't you think Dominic should get out there and date again?" Jack turns on me and I feel my stomach clench at the idea. That's exactly what I don't want him to do.

"Uh, if he wants to." My response sounds awkward and forced and I hope they don't catch on or comment about it. If I was being honest, I'd say no. But that would just fuel their beliefs in my crush on him. Of course they're right but I don't need those kind of thoughts in his mind.

"I don't; case closed." Dominic offers Jack a pointed look.

"Why not? It's boring going out with West. He's too scared to talk to girls." Jack points at West, who immediately looks back with a sad frown.

"I'm not!" He finally got rid of the chocolate all over his face. "I just know who's in my league and who's not."

"You can talk to anyone with a 100% success rate." Jack continues to hype Dominic up but West has had enough.

"Not 100%." Cue a bitter point in my direction. "Nova doesn't want him."

"Nova doesn't count." Jack rolls his eyes and I immediately want to laugh. If only they knew how bad I want him.

"Thanks, Jack." I scowl at him and he holds up an apologetic hand, which doesn't make much of a difference.

"Look, I'll go out with you guys and I'll be your wing-man but I don't want to do anything." Dominic looks between the two of them with a flat, uninterested expression on his face.

"Enough alcohol in your system will change your mind," Jack promises with West's confident nod in the background.

"Whatever." Dominic rolls his eyes and cuts another piece from his cake.

+++

Jack and West stay true to their word. On Friday night, Dominic goes out with them to a party while I find myself stretched out on Eli's couch watching reruns of The Office. I keep my phone in my hand at all times, fearful that the hospital is going to call and tell me the three of them were admitted for alcohol poisoning. All the talk of drinking I had to listen to this week only scared me; Jack said he'd be the sober one to drive and oversee the night (and the events leading up to the laying of Dominic). I pray he doesn't cave and drink.

My phone is silent until about midnight and it's Jack who breaks it. The incoming call throws both me and Eli off. He immediately turns down the television and watches me with wide eyes. I explained to him earlier why I'm so on edge and I may or may not have made him a little anxious, too. My heart drops when I think about all the bad reasons why he could be calling.

"Hey, Nova, can you do me the biggest favor ever? I'll owe you for, like, twenty years. If you do this for me, I will leave the room for a week and you can temporarily move in with Dominic," he rambles as soon as I answer his call.

"What is it?" I feel my nerves calm down a bit.

"Okay, so Dominic is in the backseat of the car right now, completely plastered-," I quickly cut him off.

"Is he okay?" I press the phone closer to my ear. Eli watches with curious eyes as he shoves the crust of his pizza into his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine. He didn't do anything with anyone, like a loser. But listen, there's this chick and she's like 11/10 and I want to take her back to my room. The problem is I can't leave Dominic in the car and West's roommate is asleep so we can't bring him in there. Can you watch him tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Are you still at the party?" I feel relief well up when I realize that not only is Dominic okay but he didn't do anything with anyone.

"Yeah, I'll be back in twenty minutes. Thank you so much. I owe you one."

I look at Eli apologetically as soon as I hang up. "Do you think you can drop me off at my dorm?"

"Yeah, what happened?" He gets off the couch and tugs on his sneakers.

"Dominic got drunk and Jack found a girl and doesn't want to abandon Dominic so now it's my job to make sure he doesn't die in his sleep," I explain as I also put on my shoes.

"As you should." We head back to my dorm and pull up at the same time as Jack. "Do you need help getting him upstairs?" Eli asks as we slow to a stop. I imagine Dominic drunkenly shoving Eli away from him and shake my head.

"No I should be fine. Thank you though." I offer him a grateful smile as I get out of the car. "I'll see you."

I approach the idling vehicle and Jack gets out and goes around the side. Upon opening the door, we discover a snoozing Dominic. In a rude attempt to wake him, Jack slaps his arm and he jolts up. "What?" He rubs his eyes as he looks up at his obnoxious friend.

"Nova's here to take you upstairs." Dominic slowly gets out of the car and I can tell by the way he wobbles that he's had too much.

"Aren't you supposed to be with your boyfriend?" Dominic inquires once he manages to latch his arm around my shoulder. I hold his waist and watch as Jack gets in the car and zooms off.

"My boyfriend?" I somehow manage to swipe us into my building and pull open the door. I lead him to the elevator while he dramatically sighs.

"Yes, you know- Eli, the one you've been spending every waking moment with." The pettiness in his voice almost gets a laugh from me.

"One, he's not my boyfriend. Two, I have definitely not spent every waking moment with him." I practically drag him down my hall and lean him against the wall.

"Yeah he is and yeah you have." He watches me get my keys with crossed arms. "Never in my life did I expect to be jealous of a guy with a 2009 Justin Bieber haircut."

I hoist him up again and lead him into my dark room, where I flip on the light and guide him to my bed. "His haircut isn't even remotely close to that." Okay, maybe a little.

"Yeah it is." I laugh quietly as he squints at me and moves his head in a hair flip motion. His curls don't move much but I catch the gist.

"It's definitely more 2012." If we're using a Justin Bieber hair timeline, then my guess is more accurate.

"As if that's any better." He rolls his eyes as I remove my shoes.

"Shut up and get on the bed." This earns a smirk from him as he grins at me.

"Where have I heard that before?" His tone is suggestive. "Oh never mind, we aren't supposed to talk about that, which is completely unrealistic, you know?"

"Just get on the bed, Dominic." With a huff, he climbs onto my bed and settles into a sitting position at the edge with his legs dangling. I stand before him and begin removing his shoes, which proves to be a difficult task.

"I'm just being honest. And now you won't even tell me about you and Eli. Be honest; is he better in bed than me? He must be if you spend every minute of every day with him. What else could you guys possibly be doing? The boy's a shit conversationalist."

"Dominic," I grunt as I get one shoe off. It's like a wrestling match because he keeps swinging his feet like I'm not trying to take off his sneaker. He's nearly kicked me in the mouth twice.

"Look, you can be honest with me. It won't hurt my feelings that bad," he confesses. "But you don't even really have to tell me, you hook up with him every day so it has to be better. I just want to hear you say it."

"Dominic." He sighs loudly.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate him. He's nice enough. And I see why he likes you. I tell you all the time how much of a catch you are," He stares off into the distance with a sad look on his face. "It's just hard to wrap my head around."

"What is?" Maybe I'll entertain the conversation.

"You'd think you'd want to hook up with me because I'm your best friend and we have chemistry and history and you know it. And the times we hooked up were amazing and were easily the best I've ever had." I stop what I'm doing when the last couple of words leave his mouth. My heart drops to my stomach and his foot collides with my mouth. "Oh no, did I kick you?" His legs stop swinging and his hands reach for my face. My blood drips from my lip and I quickly shake my head.

"I'm fine." In a slight daze I get a cotton ball from my makeup drawer. I shove it in my mouth, continue trying to wrestle off his other shoe, and decide not to listen to what he's saying. He's drunk and has no idea what he's talking about. But I'm obviously human and I can't help but tune in to his drunken rants.

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it better? Probably not, right? Strictly friends, right?" He stares at me with a thoughtful frown and I don't risk looking at him.

"Yes,." It comes out muffled but he seems to understand me.

I manage to get off his shoe. I don't feel like getting him down and brushing his teeth so instead, I prepare some mouthwash. I pour it into the cap and he cheers. "Whoo! More shots!"

"Nope." I immediately dump it back into the bottle and sigh. I guess I'll have to deal with alcohol breath on my neck. I decide to at least ask if he had a good time partying. "How was your night?"

"Not that great. You know, I went out and even though I didn't want to, I figured that maybe meeting a girl and hooking up with her wouldn't be that bad, but I couldn't even do it; it felt impossible and just...wrong." I'm silent and he sighs loudly. "Meanwhile, you're at Elias's apartment sleeping with him. I'm sorry I interrupted, by the way."

"You didn't interrupt anything," I assure him as I look through my drawers for something to wear to bed.

"You never answered my question. Is he better than me in bed? Again, I encourage honesty." I finally meet his gaze and shake my head tiredly.

"Dominic, I never slept with him."

"Really!?" He perks up eagerly and I want to chuckle at how excited he seems.

"Yes." A few seconds pass before he slumps down again.

"Is it because you feel like I ruined you?"His question is quiet and it takes me a second to absorb what he's asking. "Your emotions and everything?"

"No, Dominic, I just don't want to sleep with him," I answer in exasperation. Why does it matter so much?

"Okay, so who is a better kisser? I know you kissed him so you have no choice but to answer." He waits patiently for my response and I contemplate it.

I can be a jerk and refuse to answer, or lie and say Eli, or I can make him happy. "You are," I mumble honestly.

"What was that?" His grin grows wider and he waits for me to repeat myself.

"You are." I find a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and disappear from his view.

"You do realize I've seen you naked, right?" The last thing I want is to do a strip tease for him while he's drunk.

"Shut up, Dominic." I continue to pull my clothes on.

"Can I ask you a question?" He's full of questions tonight, huh?

"Another one?" 

"Just one more...unless I think of another one, then that one, too. I know you said you don't want to talk about it. But I'm curious. Why can't we have sex anymore? I respect your decision, obviously, but I just want to know what made you want to stop." Way to put me on the spot. 

I stand in slight shock as I rack my brain for a decent answer. I have a feeling confessing that I am in love with him and that my weak ass can't handle it won't do much justice in a situation like this. I pull on my pants before I walk out in front of him. "I didn't know where it left us. And I guess I was scared that you'd see me differently." It's not exactly wrong but it wasn't the deciding factor.

"You were scared that I'd see you differently?" He stares in slight confusion.

"Yes." 

"What does that mean?"

"I didn't want to become just another girl that you call to hook up with. I like being your best friend and I didn't want that to get blurry because we were sleeping together," I explain in the best way possible.

He knits his eyebrows at me. "You're my best friend. You were my best friend who I was also having sex with. Nothing changed. You're still my Nova." His words send a ghostly shudder down my spine.

"Okay." I prop myself up against my dresser.

"And what do you mean by where it left us?" Oh boy, another question that I'm expected to answer on the spot.

I hesitate with this one. I don't want to let him know that I was worrying about labels but I can't think of any other explanation, especially not on the spot like this. "I didn't know if we were friends...or friends with benefits...or what..."

"We could've had that conversation." He lets his shoulders rise and fall as if it's not that big of a deal. "What did you want to be?"

"I...don't know." I swallow nervously.

"I'm open to those conversations, Nova. You don't have to be scared to talk to me about that." My stomach jolts as I envision how those conversations could've gone.

"I know." Silence follows for about half a minute before he speaks again.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Why couldn't he have brought this up sober? Then maybe I would've felt comfortable discussing it. I don't want to talk about it now and then come tomorrow morning, he tells me that he doesn't remember or worse- he doesn't stand by his words.

"Not when you're drunk," I conclude.

"This is the only time you give me a pass to talk about it without biting my head off." The small grin on his face makes my heart skip a beat.

"You probably won't remember any of this in the morning." I secretly hope he doesn't so there's a chance he'll ask again.

"I wish you'd talk to me about things," he vents. "I know that there are some things you want to keep to yourself and that's fine but I just wish you'd talk to me about things like that when they're bothering you."

"I'm sorry. I'll work on that. I just get scared that you're going to freak out."

"When have I ever been one to freak out?" His large eyes watch me curiously and I let out a quiet sigh.

"You're right." I put on my slippers and grab my nighttime shower caddy, ready for this conversation to end. "Don't die while I'm gone, please."

"I'll die from missing you," he whispers, which earns a flat look from me. "I'm sorry. That was corny. I'll stop."

I laugh as I leave the room. I'm in the bathroom for about five minutes and I expect him to be asleep by the time I get back but he's in the same position, kicking his legs and waiting for me. "You're still up?" I state the obvious as I delicately close the door.

"I thought of another question but you might not want to answer this one." Oh boy.

"What is it?" I put my caddy down and remove my slippers.

"Did you enjoy it?" he blurts and I don't even bother asking him to clarify. I know what he's talking about: sleeping with him. Did I enjoy sleeping with him?

In hopes that he won't remember this conversation, I bite the inside of my lip and prepare a good enough answer. "Yes, very much." I've been wanting to tell him that for a while just so he knows that the entire situation wasn't a bust.

"Really? Or are you just saying that?" he interrogates.

"Let's just say that I now understand what all the hype was about." I tie my hair into a bun on the top of my head. When I look at him in the mirror, I find him grinning widely.

"You know, I'm going to commit what you just said to memory. If I wake up tomorrow and forget everything in my life, I'm going to remember that exact statement." I bite my lip and shake my head at how ridiculous he sounds.

"You're so dumb," I tease with a laugh.

"You know, I should've known that you enjoyed it by the way you were saying my name." I turn around with an open mouth. When I look at him, I can see a pool of emotion behind his eyes, which sends my stomach into panic mode. "It's now one of my favorite sounds."

"I bet it is." I quickly turn back around and continue applying my moisturizer.

"How about you let me hear it again?" I look at him in the mirror with intent to glare but he's too busy jumping off the bed. In a surprisingly swift motion for a drunk person, he comes up behind me and puts his hands on my hips and pulls me against him. He buries his face in my neck and leaves small kisses on my skin. I exhale quietly, fall back into him, and let my eyes close.

Stop, Nova, you know this is going to hurt your little feelings in the morning. But it's nice. I swallow nervously and allow myself five seconds of enjoying it before I'll stop him.

5 Mississippi.

4 Mississippii

3 Mississipppiii.

His hand travels across my stomach and in the direction of my pants. You have 2 more seconds; enjoy it. No, it'll only escalate; he's drunk for one and for two, we're not supposed to be doing anything. I grab his wrist and he slowly removes himself from me. We make eye contact in the mirror as my chest raises heavily. After realizing what he has done, he clenches his jaw and swallows nervously.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes after a moment of us just looking at each other. I notice redness on my neck where his mouth had been. His eyes also fall on it and he gives me a guilty look. Deciding not to punish him, I offer a small forgiving smile and casual shrug.

"It's okay. Just get in bed." He sighs in relief before offering me a suggestive grin.

"For what?" He backs up in the direction of my bed. He quickly hoists himself up and stretches out, waiting for me with a playfully seductive look on his face.

"I hate you." I chuckle as I turn off the lights. I get on my stepping stool and climb into bed alongside him, where he welcomes me with an assisting hand.

"I don't doubt that you do." I lay near the wall and he grabs my hand in the dark and entwines our fingers. I'm surprised by the little act of intimacy but I don't pull away. Instead, I let him twiddle with my fingers.

"I don't hate you," I whisper. "I was just joking."

"I'd hate me if I were you," he mumbles into the darkness.

"I don't hate you," I repeat. "Now switch with me."

"What?"

"I'm going to crawl over you. Move so you're against the wall. I don't want you to fall out of bed." He makes a noise of understanding and I get up and hoist myself over him. His hand lightly touches my hip in an attempt to guide me and my breath catches in my throat. We lay silent for a few seconds until he laughs.

"I heard that, you know. I still make you nervous?" Of course he'd point it out.

"Yes." I turn on my side and stare at the moonlit carpet. "Go to sleep, Dominic."

"I'm not tired." He matches my position and turns on his side. As I close my eyes, he drapes his arm around my waist and quickly tugs me up against him. I fight the urge to flip over and kiss him. "You smell so good." His face is back in my neck and he's breathing deeply.

"Dominic," I exhale.

"Say it a little breathier," he instructs and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I press myself against him and he gets the hint. He lightly nibbles my ear and glides his fingers lightly up and down my outer thigh. "You know what will tire me out?"

Instead of telling him to stop, I just egg him on. "What?" I swallow nervously. You should know better, I tell myself.

"You," he answers and my heart practically explodes as I feel his lips on my jaw. I close my eyes and allow him to caress my skin. Taking my shaky breathing as a sign, he lightly touches my shoulder and pushes me on my back. He flips on top of me and continues to kiss my neck, slowly lowering his mouth. One of his hands is beneath my shirt and I don't complain a bit. I don't think to stop him until his fingers are at the waistband of my pants inching their way in.

"Dominic. I attempt to be stern but it sounds weak and unconvinced. He stops and pulls back to look at me. In the light shining in through the window, I meet his eyes and he blinks long and slow.

"Yes?"

"I think we should stop." He nods and he gets off of me. He lays beside me for a minute with his chest rising higher and falling faster than mine. We're both silent as we wait for our breathing to regulate.

"I'm so sorry. It doesn't mean much seeing as what happened barely fifteen minutes ago but I just...get carried away. And being drunk really isn't helping."

"It's okay." It felt more than okay if I'm being honest. "You're just drunk and I feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

"I don't expect this to change your mind but I wouldn't regret it." He suddenly exhales noisily. "You'd think I'd learn from my mistakes and refrain from touching you as to not further damage our friendship."

"It takes two to tango," I confess. "And I'm definitely an initiator."

"You're right about that." Okay, we get it it, Dominic.

"I think we should go to sleep. Can you hold me?" I expect him to eagerly accept my proposition but he groans.

"Can you give me like ten minutes? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." I chuckle quietly and don't bother hiding my laughter. "It's not funny."

"It kind of is." Another laugh follows.

"I love you, Nova" he blurts and I feel my heart skip a beat.

"I know, Dommy," I reply as I close my eyes. I don't fall asleep until his arm is draped around my waist.

+++

"Hi..." Dominic says hesitantly when I stretch awake. I glance at him as I blink the sleep from my eyes. He waits nervously for my reaction.

"Hey." His shoulders slump in relief before he reaches out and grabs my lip. I stare at him in pure confusion as he tugs at it and examines it worriedly.

"What happened to your mouth?" I jerk my head back so he'll release me.

"You kicked me in the face." My hand rises to my lip that is now stinging from being prodded with so much. His eyes widen quickly as he assesses my face to see if I'm lying.

"I what?" He really doesn't remember?

"You were sitting up here. I was taking off your shoes but you kept swinging your feet. You just nicked my lip. I'm good though." I shrug it off and he lets out a slow breath.

"I don't suppose I kicked your neck too, right?" His eyes fall onto the light red markings. "Jeez, how bad did I fuck up?"

I shrug again and squint at the ceiling. "You only gave me this and tried to put your hand in my pants...twice. So I'd say about a 4."

He stares at me nervously as if he's walking on eggshells. "Really?" He sounds doubtful for some reason.

"I stopped you. Don't worry."

"You don't hate me?" He watches me as if I'm going to snap at some point.

"No." I laugh. That'd make me a hypocrite. "Do you hate me? After the other day when I did basically the same thing? Except I was completely sober?"

"Of course not. So what exactly did I do last night?" He purses his lips as if not sure if he wants to know the damage he did.

"You told me you were jealous of Eli, begged me to tell which of you were better in bed and then at kissing, and then you asked me if I enjoyed the times we slept together," I recall and his face breaks out in a slow grin.

"I remember your answers," he announces happily.

"You also told me about your favorite sound," his face blushes profusely, "and then asked me to do it again. And then after you got off of me in bed, you told me that I had to wait for you to hold me because you didn't want to make me uncomfortable."

"You should've led with the embarrassing stuff. I'm sorry, you know, if I made you uncomfortable last night." I just wish he wasn't drunk then maybe things could've gone somewhere.

"You didn't." I shake my head slowly. "You told me how everything made you feel and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before."

"I wish I could've been sober for that conversation." Yeah, me too.

"You were much more honest last night than you would've been now," I confess, which gets an eye roll out of him.

"So I didn't creep you out last night?" He gives me another hopeful look.

"No. But this," I refer to my neck, "can't happen again."

"It won't." He slips off my bed and gives me a small frown. "Sorry."

"We're friends, Dominic, no benefits included." I try not to sound like I'm scolding him so I offer up a playful smirk.

"You know, you only ever remember that when it's me coming onto you" he squints inquisitively at me and I cringe.

"I know. I've started to give myself a pep talk everyday. I straighten out my back as I repeat it for him, 'Nova, no matter how good it may feel, it is not worth it.'"

He glares at me as he puts his shoes on. "Is that what you say before you call me to come over?" I chuckle. Whenever I call him to come over, I'm busy thinking about a lot of other things.

"Shut up, Dominic." He stares at me as he approaches the door.

"I'm going to go back to my dorm and take a shower. We can get breakfast after," he insists before he turns back around. "Unless you have plans with Eli...or should I say the worst kisser you've been with."

I roll my eyes and laugh at his stupid comment. "Just go brush your teeth. I'll meet you in an hour."