Home > My Next Play (On My Own #3)(9)

My Next Play (On My Own #3)(9)
Author: Carrie Ann Ryan

“You doing okay?” Tanner asked.

I shrugged off the question. “Yes, just studying hard and all that.”

He blinked. “If you want to talk about it…”

I shook my head quickly. “No, I’m fine. Thanks, though.”

Tanner just frowned before shrugging and making his way to the door. “We’re having dinner and drinks. Pacey wanted to make sure you were coming. He knows how much you like cheese.”

I smiled at that as I closed my books and wiped at my face in case I’d actually drooled. “You know me and cheese,” I said and laughed.

“You’re almost as bad as Dillon.”

“What am I bad at?” Dillon asked as we walked into the kitchen. Pacey had indeed made a large cheese board with crackers, bread, and fruits. Dillon stood at the massive stove, stirring something in a large pot.

I sniffed and smiled. “Is that Aiden’s chili?” I asked.

My roommate raised a brow. “No, it’s my chili using Aiden’s recipe.”

“Considering you wanted to be a chef, it’s probably just as good as Aiden’s,” I said, as I leaned over the pot to get another whiff.

Dillon rolled his eyes. “Let’s not tell Aiden that. He’ll only want to one-up me.”

“That means we’d get to taste the offerings of the challenge. You guys are brothers. It’s what you do,” Pacey said with a shrug.

A small smile played on Dillon’s lips. “Yes, we are.”

I knew Aiden hadn’t been in Dillon’s life for long, so the whole dynamic between the brothers was still pretty new. That thought only made me miss Rachelle more. After all, she had been my twin. My best friend. The person who had known me better than anyone. Now, she was gone. Damn, I needed to get her out of my mind.

I cleared my throat. “Are we eating in here?”

“No, let’s go to the living room. I already got the beers out.” Tanner tilted his head toward the door and picked up a bowl from the counter.

I nodded. “I’m starving.”

Pacey leaned forward over the kitchen island. “I’ll get the cheeseboard out to the living room, but you guys try not to make a mess.”

“We won’t hurt your fancy fucking furniture,” Tanner said with a laugh, and I grinned when Pacey flipped him off. We were all past the initial awkward roommate stage. Now, we were friends—even if we liked to give each other shit.

“How’s school going?” Pacey asked the group as we all sat down and dove into our chili and cheese board.

“We’re going to have this discussion?” Tanner dug into his meal with gusto.

“What? It’s a legitimate question.” Pacey frowned.

Tanner rolled his eyes. “Fine, classes are fine. I’m nearing my first set of exams, and I’m not excited about them, but we’re getting there.”

“You’re still doing grad school after, right?” Dillon asked as he took a chip. “I mean, I have business school, and I still want to take a few culinary classes to make sure I’m ready to help Aiden when the time comes, but I think almost all of us have grad school of some sort afterward.”

Tanner sighed. “Yes. Though I don’t like thinking about the cost.”

I held back a groan as I cringed. “I hate that school is getting so ridiculous these days.” I finished my bowl of chili and thought about getting another one as I licked my lips. “I’m limited to what schools I can go to because they have larger programs that are publish or perish, even though I don’t want to be in academia when I’m done with school.”

“You’re going to need your doctorate to even hit the industry you want?” Tanner asked.

“For the pay that I want, yes. I can find schools that will work for that, and many people in my field only get their master’s, but I want the doctorate.”

I could feel my cheeks redden as Dillon grinned. “You want us to call you Dr. Miles?”

“It’d be Dr. Fraser,” Pacey corrected with a laugh.

My face heated even more. “Please, don’t call me that.”

“I’m sure if you ever get a girlfriend, you could play doctor quite nicely,” Tanner quipped, and I flipped him off.

“Hey, don’t make fun of the guy just because he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Pacey warned, the light in his eyes dancing.

“I hate all of you.” I laughed.

“You don’t.” Pacey grinned.

Dillon leaned back in his chair. “You love us.”

“Not really,” I said, shaking my head again. I made a plate of various cheeses and nearly gorged myself. “I don’t have time for a girlfriend. Frankly, I don’t know how so many of you guys do have time for girlfriends.” I gave Tanner a pointed look. “Or boyfriends.”

“I’m not saying a poly relationship is easy, but it’s doable. As long as it’s the suitable poly.”

“As in don’t add extra connections to the relationship?” Pacey asked dryly.

“Pretty much,” Tanner grumbled. “I mean, you can’t call it monogamous because you’re with more than one person, but not cheating would be a wonderful fucking thing, don’t you think?” Tanner scowled into his beer.

I frowned, wondering why he was growling so much about it. He hadn’t seemed too hurt about the relationship ending when it happened, but maybe I’d been wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Dillon said softly. “We didn’t mean to bring all that up.”

Tanner shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Their new foursome broke up anyway. Now, they’re all on the prowl and texting.” His phone dinged, and he narrowed his eyes at it. “And continuing to text me.”

“You should just block the number.” I leaned forward, trying to come up with a solution.

Tanner shook his head. “No. Because if there’s an actual emergency and they need help, I’ll be there.”

My eyes widened. “Wow.”

My roommate snorted. “Don’t wow me. They don’t have any other family. They’re the people they each have to lean on. I don’t want to be the asshole who lets them die in a ditch because I’m pissed off. Yet, I also don’t want to fuck them anymore. There’s a balance.”

That made me laugh. “A good balance.”

“What about you and that girl? The one from your classes?” Pacey asked.

I shook my head as I leaned into the couch, my beer resting on my thigh. “Not happening. She’s with one of the other girls in our classes now.”

“Aww. Broke your heart?” Tanner asked.

I snorted. “Not even close. I don’t even think she liked me. She just wanted to make sure she could blow me and beat me in the curve.”

That made Dillon and Pacey both snort and nearly drop their beers.

“I don’t know why, but I did not expect that sentence to come out of your mouth,” Dillon said, shaking his head.

“What? She wanted my dick and told me point blank that she wanted it because I beat her on the curve. And, guess what? I’m still going to beat her on the fucking curve, but she won’t get anywhere near my dick.”

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