Chapter 3: Is She Hot?

Payton glanced up from her computer and peeked at the time. She had worked a lot later than she had intended or thought. Her eyes burned from staring at the screen for so long, it was time for the contacts to come out. On the way to the bathroom, she stopped by the entertainment center to flip on the radio so she could hear Hailey's show. After removing the tiny bits of film that seemed to cause more issues than they were worth, she went searching for her glasses. It took her a few tries to remember where she'd left them, but eventually she found them on the table by her bed.

Payton reached in the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. After a couple of gulps, she plopped down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Now that her mind wasn't occupied with her homework, it was focusing on the craptastic day she'd had.

"And this next song goes out to my best friend and roommate, Payton. Love ya, girl!" Hailey's bubbly voice over the radio broke her from her pity party. A small smile formed as Payton tried to guess what song she might pick to play, and when she heard the opening to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" start to play, it transformed into a huge smile. Payton loved this song. By the time the second verse started to play she was dancing around the apartment singing at the top of her lungs.

She barely heard the phone ringing, she was messing around so much. She danced over to the radio, turned down the music, and then danced over to Hailey's desk to pick it up, all while humming along.

"Hello?"

"Hey Payton, how's it going?"

"Hey Geoff, it's been a day. You?"

"Not too shabby. Listen, I was wondering if I could drop by real quick and get the assignment from class I missed the other day."

"Sure, I'll be here. When are you coming by?"

She heard him laughing at something going on in his apartment, "Sorry, yeah, so I'm headed out to Woodchucks soon. Mind if I just come before that?"

"That works."

"Awesome! See you in a bit," he said before he hung up.

She danced back over to the radio and turned it up. Hailey must have sensed her somber mood because it seemed like her set list was designed just to perk her up. Through the music, she was able to relax and let go of some of the crap from the day. She hummed along with the songs as she gathered the paperwork Geoff would need, and she had just burst out into her best rendition of the chorus of Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" when there was a knock at the door.

Still singing, she rushed to the door and flung it open without even checking the peephole. Then she sang the next line to Geoff while he shook his head, laughing at her.

A big smile spread over Geoff's face. When Geoff smiled, it really was a sight. He had this amazing smile that lit up his face, and these adorable dimples that made most girls swoon. Payton had heard it over and over again, and she'd been asked more than once to play matchmaker. She'd been called weird on more than one occasion because, while she could admit that the guy was a total hottie, he just wasn't her type or worth it. There was no time for boys in her life. With all that was going on, she needed to finish school. That was most important.

"Looks like you're in a better mood. You sounded down earlier."

"Yeah, it's nothing. Here, though, this is what you missed. They wanted us to sign up for presentation partners, so I went ahead and put your name down with me. Hope that was okay."

Geoff looked at her in mock horror, "No, I can't work with you. I need a new partner."

"I'm sure John's still looking for someone. Or I bet Shelly would gladly ditch her partner to work with you. She's been on my case about hogging you."

"Damn, no, I've still got her convinced that the directory is wrong and I don't live in that apartment. She hasn't been by, thankfully. I wouldn't want to have to find a reason for her to find out that really is where I live. Freshman year we did that one project, and she was at my dorm every day for like three months. When they told her she couldn't come back, she started sending stuff to my mailbox."

"Don't worry about it. I've got your back, even if you are mean to me," Payton said, teasing him.

"You're a good friend. Thanks for watching out for me."

Payton shrugged, "You'd do it for me. So, you and the guys are hitting the bar early this week."

"Yeah, just blowing off some steam. You know how it goes."

"Yup. Have fun, and I'll see you tomorrow in class."

*

"You sure did take your sweet ass time," Wes hollered out the window at Geoff as he finally came into view.

"Can it, Wes. If I'm going to have to put up with your drunk ass tonight, you can at least wait until you have an excuse to be a dick."

"Thought you just had to run up real quick to get a paper. You were up there long enough. How's your girlfriend anyway?"

Geoff shook his head, "She's just a friend, man. We've been in class together for three years now."

"Do we get to meet the mystery friend?" Josh wondered.

"Oh! Is she hot?" Wes asked.

"Shut up already," Geoff told them both before turning up the music to end the conversation.

Josh had to laugh at his buddy's grade school response. He had heard Geoff talk about this "friend" from his business classes from time to time. It sounded to him like the guy had a thing for her, but she didn't feel the same way. Of course Geoff didn't say much about it, ever, and Josh didn't pry because the whole thing usually was off limits. Apparently, though, the two did a lot of their projects together and studied a lot. He wasn't sure about Geoff, but if he had the hots for someone and they didn't feel the same, he wasn't sure he could continue to always be around them like that. To each their own, though. Geoff had let it slip once that she came to soccer games, but he'd never noticed anyone around Geoff he didn't know. Josh guessed that the mystery girl would remain just that.

Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to the little sports bar on Main Street. While it wasn't the first choice for some, the guys liked it. The beer was cheap, the food was decent, and it didn't hurt that they had pool and other games to play, and sports on the TVs. What wasn't there to love about a place like that?

After putting in an order at the bar, they grabbed their pitcher of beer and glasses and headed off to a high-top table. Josh filled his glass and took a couple of long draws from it, refilled it, and then finally set it down. This was what the doctor ordered. He needed this, a night out with the guys and a few beers.

The sheer amount of food that arrived at their table was laughable. Hey, they were growing boys! Even though there were only the three of them, it looked like there was enough food for at least five guys. As soon as the food had been placed in front of them, they were digging in.

"You guys have any plans after the game?" Josh asked between bites.

Geoff sighed, "I don't think so, but I've got a presentation now, so looks like I'll be doing that."

Wes grinned slyly, "I'm calling Becca to see if she wants to go out or well, you know." When both guys just looked at him, he wagged his eyebrows.

"You're such a douche. We both knew what you were talking about without that stupid eyebrow thing. You don't have to be that way about it."

"At least I'm not the one who got attached to some chick that ran off on me."

Josh winced, knowing full well Wes was talking about Ella. Josh had been the only one of his friends to ever be in a serious relationship. He'd met Ella a couple of years ago, and they had quickly become inseparable. They'd even gone as far as to talk about their future. Out of the blue, she'd changed her mind last year, and transferred schools. Josh had tried to make it work, but she would always come up with a reason it wouldn't.

Man, he'd been so stupid. He'd driven all night one night to surprise her. He'd thought if he could just see her, if they could be together again, they'd have a chance. When they were next to each other, there was just something about it. His fist clenched just thinking about seeing the guy coming out of her doorway that morning. He wasn't going to jump to conclusions, but the kiss, damn, that kiss, there was no mistake.

Josh shook his head, clearing it from the wayward thought, "Speaking of the chick, I got an email from her today."

Wes' eyes went wide, "What the fuck did she want? Why does she think she can just up and talk to you when she feels like it, but you can't talk to her unless she's okay with it? I'm telling you, Josh, that chick is bad news."

Josh held out his hands in mock surrender, "Chill out, would ya? I haven't even opened it. I don't know what she wants."

Wiping the dribble of mustard off his mouth with his napkin, Geoff spoke up, "I hate to say it Josh, but I think Wes is right." He got a look and continued, "I know us agreeing will probably bring on the zombie apocalypse, but I think it's shitty the way she uses you. She knows you've still got it bad, and she uses you when it's convenient for her."

The guys weren't wrong. He still missed Ella a lot. The bad times with her were horrible, but the good times, man, the good times were out of this world. Everyone always remembers the bad; no one ever remembered the good. Ella was going to school to be a teacher, same as Josh, and they'd even wanted to teach in the same areas. Staying together after school wouldn't have been hard. After they'd broken up, he went on about life the way he thought most people did when they broke up with someone. Each of them went their own way. Out of the blue, Ella would call and would come back to him, calling, coming to see him. All that would change, though, when she'd find something or someone better to do. When that would happen, she'd go back to ignoring him. He knew it was a toxic relationship, but would go back to her every time. He loved her.

"I think you need to let me set you up with Becca's friend," Wes offered.

"Don't think so."

Geoff rubbed his hands together, "I know what we need! Poker night!"

"Yes! Sounds like a brilliant idea. I'm always good for winning some extra cash."

After finishing their meal and a couple more beers, they all headed back to campus. They parted ways in the parking lot and Geoff headed down toward his apartment and Josh and Wes made their ways to theirs. Wes opened the door, and they were blasted with a wall of noise. Call of Duty was blaring from the TV and neither Zander nor Darin, their other roommates, looked up from the couch.

Josh looked over at Darin, "Ah, just the man I wanna see."

"Why? We working out tonight?"

"No, I wanna know why you left me hanging and let me sleep through my alarm this morning. I thought we were supposed to have each other's back, man. What gives?"

Darin shrugged a shoulder, "Left early, sorry man. I wasn't even around when the thing went off."

Josh headed up the stairs to the second floor of their apartment where the bedrooms were. The apartments on campus were nice because they were bigger than the dorms, but they still pretty much required you to have roommates if you didn't want to pay out the butt for board fees. He'd been living with Wes, Darin, and Zander for the past four years, though, so it worked for them.

Knowing he had some matters in his email to attend to, he grabbed his iPad and tossed it on his bed before going to change. After pulling on some athletic shorts, he laid down and touched the home button to see what he needed to deal with. The email from Bryce, his older brother, could go one of two ways. Bryce could be giving him a hard time, or it could be wedding related. Not sure which was worse, he took his chances and touched it to activate it.

Wedding. Bryce had met his fiancée, Addison, when he was in college. They spent pretty much the last three years of school together, and they headed off to Arizona after graduation. Addison had finally made an honest man out of him, though, and they were getting married in less than a year, and it seemed to consume their lives.

After he had typed in a quick response, he realized just how long it'd been since he'd talked to his other brother, Jackson. He and Jackson were inseparable when they were kids, as he suspected any twins would be. In early high school, they always thought they'd go off to school together, marry women around the same time, and live in the same neighborhood. Sadly all it took was one girl to put a rift in their relationship. They'd tried to put it behind them, but things had never really been the same since.

Josh was just about to hit the home button and shut off his iPad, but the email from Ella kept haunting him. He knew the guys were right. He knew he should ignore it. Better yet, he should delete it and just move on. If she could ignore him all the time, he could do the same. When it came to Ella, though, he just seemed to lack self-control. He tapped the message and read it.

"Shit!"