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Black Friday was a very quiet start, Ally and Pike having left to do some early shopping before leaving back to Long Beach later. She had left me a text informing me that she is leaving at 11 to go back so I had better be ready. It was 8 when I first saw the text and instead of grabbing food, I sent out a group message to Wendy, Tay, and Sean all asking if they wanted to grab breakfast before I leave.

Thankfully they were all up and moving, all responding back within twenty minutes. After that, it didn't take long for us to all collect at Denny's, Tay and I driving over in his mom's car and Wendy and Sean arriving together in Sean's car. It was thankfully not crowded when we entered into the eatery, my guess most of the patrons out shopping for deals.

While it was a different host from the previous time, this time a girl, she still knew us from when we would come here during high school. It was so bad that when we sat down she didn't even hand us menu's, instead just asking us if we were having our normal breakfast items. As much as I love Denny's, I think we just reached a low point, being gone for a semester and the waitress still remembers us.

While she went off to get our food, the four of us broke into how our Thanksgivings were; Tay and I telling pretty much similar stories. Sean and Wendy were separated for the day, Sean hanging out with his grandparents and Wendy taking care of her cousins that had come into town. Having her talk about her family, both close and extended made me think of how separated mine was.

My mother's side of the family lived near us, a little on the south side of Sacramento. We would have met for Thanksgiving but they all had gone to see another one of their uncles and aunts. My dad's lived all on the east coast, most of them near D.C. but a few scattered in New York and some down south Florida. We really don't see the General's side too often and when we do, it's mostly just one or two of them. I must have zoned out thinking about my family because our food had arrived without me even noticing.

We all talked about the last two weeks of our semester, how many essays we are going to have and such. I was going to miss them, even though it was only for a few weeks. It didn't take us long to finish our breakfast, and had I not been leaving in an hour, I would have stayed longer. We said our parting goodbyes and Tay drove me home, talking about how much he is going to miss those two.

When he pulled into the driveway he leaned back to the chair and looked over to me. "Hey you left your toy in my room yesterday. My dad tossed it in on his way out to work on Wednesday and I have been meaning to give it back before you left." Tay cracks the door and steps out into the crisp November air.

Rubbing my arms as I exit the car, I look over to him. "Yea I wouldn't want to accidentally forget it," I scoff as we make our way in, me following him up to his room. Right when I get into his room though, Tay does the unexpected.

Quickly shutting the door, he moves to pounce on me, wrapping his legs around me and forcing me to his bed. Extremely caught off guard with his attack, I push him off of me, breaking our kiss. "What are you doing?"

Tay looks down at me, a playful glint in his eyes. Moving up to straddle me, he takes off his shirt as he explains "Look you have a half hour before you leave. While I know you're not a seven second man, I want to test myself to see if I can still get you off in under 5 minutes." Not even letting me protest, he starts unblocking my belt, moving to my pants afterwards.

A huge smile rips across my face, reminding me of how we used to have competitions to see who could get each other off the fastest or slowest. I won a few of the times but the true winner was Tay as he always seemed to know what to do. Looking up to my watch, I move it to the timer and start it, "You have 4 and a half minutes since you cheated and started without me starting the timer."

A wicked look flashes across Tay's face but it quickly disappears as he moves down to my crotch, heaving my jeans and briefs down in one fluid motion. My dick, well it was flaccid, but the moment Tay slurps it into his mouth, it takes less than ten seconds to become hard. "Glad to see you still know what you're doing." I lean back; resting my hands behind my ears as Tay simply nods, moving his left hand up my shirt to polishing my nipples. His other hand slides under my ass, fingering me in the process.

It feels great at first, his middle finger running in and out of the door but after a few seconds the burning get a bit much. Arching my back, I cry out a little, "Tay as much as I am enjoying that, I need lube. It is burning a little too much."

My dick releases Tay from its hold, looking back at me, its one eye glaring at me for stopping the pleasure. Tay, on the other hand, licks his lips as he presses off the bed and rushes towards his sock drawer. Taking out his lube, he squirts a little onto his palm then smothers it to my pucker. Right as he moves back to take on my cock in a war of will, he pulls back, an idea flashing to his brain.

Speculating what all he has planned, Tay rushes off, rummaging around his room. "Times still ticking." I lean up, my once ridged cock drooping down having lost its excitement.

Tay cries out in excitement as he finds it, holding the vibrator up for me to see. "There were never any rules against using toys so I am able to use this." Moving back to my lower half, Tay glides his hand over the dildo, lubing it up.

"Fine, sure, but you only have... 3 minutes left," I say, glancing back at my watch. My focus is torn from the timepiece as Tay envelops his mouth over the heartbroken appendage. His movements though, including the wrapping of his tongue around to show affection, immediately raises its spirits, coming back to life in half the time it took the first time around.

Not even breaking his hold over me, Tay pulls me to the edge of the bed and lifts my legs over his shoulders. Moving his right hand back to the opening, he flicks his middle finger in again, it sliding in a whole lot easier this time around. It only takes a few seconds before he moves to two fingers, the index joining its partner in widening the muscles.

Glancing over to the watch, it is hard to maintain attention upon the time. Tay is moving so smoothly and rapidly that the watch seems to slow down as I focus upon the seconds. 2:20, 2:19, 2:18. Every second seems to slow down as my cum starts to flow up my cock. Not wanting to loose, I focus on the watch even more, but it is a futile attempt as the seconds crawl to a stop.

Tay presses the tip of the vibrator to my ass, pops the tip in and makes the gentle movements in and out. He starts to pulsate the vibrator to the rhythm of his sucking, moving it in and out every time he glides up and down. He hasn't even turned the stupid thing on and it is already sending me over the stars.

My hands grip the bed as he deep throats me, turning on the throbbing toy at the same time. Tay and I have played with his toys a few times but never have I used a vibrator. The immediate action of the motor, flinging the appendage back and forth against my prostate at over 340 revolutions per minute is a bit much to bear as my knuckles go white from the pleasure. Ok, 340 might be pushing it a bit but my god, that toy knows how to work my ass. Even though my butt is the first it has ever encountered, it knows its way around, the ribs prancing off the walls to my prostate then back to the walls.

All blood rushes out of my head towards my cock, and in return it sends up a bitch load of endorphins, the ecstasy bursting out my eyes. Tears start to dribble down my face as I start to shudder. "OH GOD, I am about to cum." Moving my hand to Tay to let him know, he swats it off as he continues. The load erupts out of my sword, slicing a way down Tay's throat as he swallows as much as he can. The liquid blade overcomes Tay, reversing its flow and springing out the edge of his lips. Licking his lips, he cleans up the mess he couldn't control.

Turning off the vibrator, Tay gently pulls it out and lays it beside me. Moving up my body, kissing my groin then my abs as he lifts my shirt, he rests on my mouth. Dropping the shirt back down, his lips greet me with a welcomed passion. The taste of my cum flows into my mouth as we make out, our tongues interlacing themselves in the same patter Tay worked with my cock. Our session is interrupted by the chirping of the watch, the time having ended. Breaking off from me, he lifts off, moving to sit on top of my cock. "Chalk that to another win for Tay."

Exhausted from the torture that has been performed upon my body, I collapse back. "Man I am going to miss you."

Tay pecks my lips, lifting my shirt up and gripping my breasts. "Don't get emotional. Plus, I think that you have your eye set on another guy back in Long Beach anyways."

Caught off guard by the declaration, I move to the edge of the bed and grab my pants. "Who, Kyle? No, I'm over him." Slipping my legs in, I move the clothing up to my groin where my cock decides that it wants more, hanging stiff over the linen.

"No, I think you have a crush on that guy you were talking about on Tuesday. The one you helped." Tay slides over to me, wrapping his arm around and pulling me in close. Even though he didn't get any reciprocation, the musk of sex wafts off him.

_ _

Sighing heavily, I stare out blankly. "Yes I have a crush on him. But, and this is the other shoe that always falls, semester ends in three weeks. That's not really enough time to get a relationship going. You know that." I turn to him and look deeply into the blue eyes.

_ _

Tay pulls me close, tapping me on the lips, then pulls off. "I want you to move on Chris. Yea things didn't end the way you wanted with Kyle but don't look at me as that first and only love you will ever have. We both need to move on." Tay grabs my hands and looks down at them. Rubbing my fingers, he stifles a tear. "Do it, at least for me."

_ _

Taking Tay's hands and placing them to my cheeks, I press his head back up. "Tay, yea you might not be the only love I have but you will always be my first. I will never forget that."

_ _

Moving to break off from me, Tay compresses the bed and pushes off. "Come on, it's time for you to get going. Ally is probably waiting for you." He moves to the door and opens it up, the empty hallway standing outside.

_ _

Moving up to Tay, I move him into the door, wrapping my arms around him. "Tay," kissing him softly on the lips, "I want you to find someone as well. Don't hang onto me. I care too much for you to do that." Our embrace is cut short as my phone jingles, Ally informing me that she and Pike are heading off in ten minutes. Tay and I work our way to his door, each of us not wanting me to leave but it needs to be done.

_ _

*****

After leaving Tay, the journey back was a hard one. Like when I originally left Tay, the heartache was a bit strong for me but this time seemed a bit harder. The whole second chance issue never came up between us, both knowing that it is not possible. I sat in the back of Ally's car, my eyes watering at the sight of them holding their hands over her gear shifter.

Ally caught the glimmer of my tear and pulled her hand off of Pike. Moving it to my leg, she tried to comfort me. "Hey, it won't be long till you see him again."

I try to smile but fail in the process. "It's more than just seeing him. We had our talk again, the whole finding another guy topic." Turning my focus to the passing cars, "he told me to go after Michael."

Pike perked up at the name, moving to look at me from the passenger side mirror. "Michael from rugby? Dude he is a good looking guy." Ally gives a slight glance at Pike, cracking a smile out of me and a defensive scoff from Pike. "What? Like a straight guy can't comment on another guy?"

Ally looks back at me through the mirror, "Well as your sister, I am advising you to take it easy. Even if you do go after Michael, go slow, don't rush into anything."

Huffing quietly, "Yea I know. Trust me after Kyle; I am not making that mistake again."

The rest of the trip was long, me being unable to sleep as it was the middle of the day and the sun shining brightly down upon us. As much as I did my best to not think about Tay I could not. Every thought pertaining to school, being it the tests to the papers to stupid class times, it all seemed to come back to Tay and how I wanted to get back to him.

We arrived back in Long Beach around 6 at night, and it couldn't have been any later; my stomach was growling at me for food. Before dropping Pike and I off at our respective apartments, we grabbed a quick burger at a Habit hamburger restaurant on the way down. Thankfully there were not many people there so we were able to get our food, eat, and then leave before it got too busy.

The charbroil meat settled well on my stomach, allowing for the nice wish that I will sleep alright tonight. As was kind of expected, I was the first to be dropped off, Ally hugging me as I got out to get my bag. Her cling was a bit longer than needed to be but given what she knew, it was understandable. Getting into my dorm was easy, the campus empty and quiet. Bryan and Zach were still at their parents' homes, till when I didn't know. Taking advantage of the freedom, I stripped down to my birthday suit and relished the nudity of my body.

It didn't take long for me to masturbate, having already blown a load earlier in the day. I had contemplated early on if I wanted to use the vibrator but decided against it as my ass still was numb. I wanted to try something new though; leaning upside down against the wall, and masturbated into my mouth. It was a great experience, if not so much for the taste of my own cum but the ease and freedom of being able to finger myself with my ass wide open. Even though finals were approaching in the coming weeks, after that session I had no problem falling asleep.

*****

The following morning jolted me awake, not the sun shining in to glimmer off my nude body, but the creaking of the door open, the entrance of an unknown subject into my territory. Rolling over, moving my hand to my pillow, I prop myself up, trying to look over the door. A glint of brown fuzzy hair flows over the edge, connecting to a head as the person walks completely in. A shocked look flows through both our faces as our eyes connect.

"What are you doing here Zach?" I yelp out as I grab the sheets to cover myself up. The covers rip out of the edge of the bed to glide across my body, covering my slight wood that I had on.

Zach had glanced at my body, wondering what all I was covering up, then turned away quickly when he saw the slight bulge through the cover. "Oh god, sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to be here. I wanted to get a start on my studies so I came back early. What are you doing here?" Zach moves to his bed, and tosses his luggage onto his sheets. Not turning back to me, he shifts around with the unpacking process.

Moving down to the ground, I quickly grab my boxers off the ground, digging for something to wear over them. The first things I come across are some running shorts, so I slip those on then turn around. "Ok, I'm decent. I am so sorry you had to see that. Ally has a test early in the week so we came back yesterday."

Zach, slowly turning around, greets me with an uneasy face. "Ah ok." That's all he says; nothing more.

The rising discomfort starts to reach its peak, me taking the quick exit to let Zach unpack alone. "I am going to go for a run. Sorry for earlier." Grabbing my key, a shirt and jacket, I toss on some shoes then head out the door.

Briskly stumbling down the hallway, I work to put the shirt over my head, following with the jacket. I head down the stairs and out into the cool winter air that has blasted Long Beach. Even though it is still part of Los Angeles, the stereotype that it is always warm and sunny is a lie, the morning fog at times not burning off till midday.

Starting off to a slow jog, I head out the dorm, towards the front entrance of the university. Knowing of a golf course nearby, I figure it would make a great park to run around. Even though it is 8 in the morning, there is a slight traffic for the Saturday morning. Bellflower Boulevard has a decent flow to it, every time a car passing it blows chills up my body. The jacket does its best to keep me warm, and works a little too as my blood starts to pump through the rest of my body.

Reaching 7th street was quick, and colder as cars from all directions intersect the street. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long as the light changed, allowing for me to head west down the street, crossing over the Pacific Coast Highway before passing through a few houses. After a few streets, I arrive at the park, fenced off with a small wooden fence around the perimeter. Hopping over it, I run over the rolling hills, running parallel to Santiago Avenue. The hills are not too tough, made more for golfers than runners, so busting up and down them is a breeze. Sadly though my hill workout is cut short as I reach back to the PCH, having to run on the side of the street instead of the grass as a chain link fence had been erected.

Even though I run in the bike lane, it is still a bit nervous to be running against the traffic. My years of cross country and track come back to me, the darting between cars and racing that we would do flashing through my mind. My thoughts are jolted from me as a bus gusts pasts me, pushing an invisible wall of frost right into my bones. The jacket quickly recovers the heat, warming my midsection up to the point where I can operate smoothly. Spotting Anaheim Street up ahead, I make a quick sprint out of the bike lane, breaking off into the grassy knoll at the corner.

The crisp grass crunches under my heels as I stay as far away from the street as possible. Not too surprising, there are a few golfers out hitting the tees, some of them shooting wildly into the sand traps and others smacking the ground, tearing up patches of grass in the process. An even smaller few, I notice, actually know what they are doing, rapidly overtaking the novices in the holes. Sadly though my grassy path ends; it forcing me back onto the hard cement sidewalk.

Preferring the grass to the cement, I take every cove that appears to run next to the fence as a possible running path. Not sure of how long I have been running for, I glance down at my watch as I approach Park Avenue to jump over to Federation Drive. 8:15, been running for about 15 minutes, so equating that out works for a seven and a half minute mile as I turn onto the Drive.

Jumping over to the opposite side of the street, I run past a few soccer games that are playing. The kids bust left and right, shooting their attempts at the goalie, your typical pee-wee soccer club meeting up for the Saturday morning. Passing past it, I enter into a sports complex, baseball fields spotted out to the left, a few cute guys tossing their dog's ball to play fetch. I catch a few of them looking at me but continue, not wanting to break my run. By the time I reach back to 7th street, my legs are starting to burn a little.

Cutting through the parking lot, I make my way across 6th street to outline the edge of the Colorado Lagoon. I notice that it is 8:20 at this moment, informing me that 3 miles has just about been reached, a little more and then I would have crossed the mark. As I make my way past the parking lot where the bridge connects to the other side, I notice a fellow runner etching his way out along the other side. He disappears out of my view as I round the corner of the lagoon, him continuing on with the outline of the water.

As I return my focus to the run, I see 6th street up head. I start to increase my speed. Out of my peripheral, over the steam of the water, the runner appears on the other side, his black hooded sweatshirt clashing with the white houses behind him. Like me, he is also increasing his speed as he reaches 6th street. I reach it first but since he is on the other side of the lagoon, he comes out ahead of me, the back of his sweatshirt taunting me.

Crossing over to the other side when there are no cars, I slowly begin to increase my speed, not wanting to make it too obvious that I am racing him. About halfway to the edge of the golf course, he takes notice of me, his pace improving to match mine. While I may be leaner than him, he carries his bulk well, the hands jutting out in perfect rhythm.

By the time we reach Santiago Street, we both have taken each other up on our impromptu race, us matching each other to see how far we are willing to go. I get a glance at his face as we look at each other at the same time, his brown hair barely sticking out from the hood, slight scruff on his chin, and dimples dotting his cheek. His smile however says it all; the normal "hey" smile with a touch of competition built in.

Passing over Havana Avenue, we start to increase our speeds, him taking off right at the middle. While we had not agreed on it, we both had figured that Bellflower Boulevard would make for a great finish, or at least it will for me. Mystery runner took off too early though, me picking up my pace at Los Altos Avenue. Figuring there was just under a quarter mile to the boulevard, I knew how to best play out the run.

Mystery Runner caught me off guard a little when, as I had originally expected him to start dying out, he increased his speed even more at Ultimo Avenue. Taking the competition to new heights, I too kicked my legs into high gear, picking up my speed with every touch to the ground. At Flint Avenue, I had caught back up to him, a bitter race to Winslow Avenue.

He crossed over to my side of the street before reaching Manila Avenue, but with me having gone over earlier, I managed to pull out ahead as I turned on Manila Avenue. I was hoping/figuring he would follow suit, having crossed over to my side.

The light pole, or finish line in this case, was less than 50 yards away as I busted it out. I could hear his panting behind me but not wanting to turn around; I kept on running as if my life depended on it. Reaching the metal pole first, I wrapped my arms around it, acting as if I owned it. "Ha, I beat you!" I smirked at him as I released my grip to catch my breath. Realizing what I had just said to a random stranger, I pulled myself back up. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say that."

Being in front of the runner allows for me to get a better look at who I was actually competing against. The front of his jacket is the typical golden lettering, faded to show its worn but long lasting appeal. His sweatpants though show of a different story, the simple black pants lined with a golden shine tell of his actual importance. Printed down on the right side of the pants is a simple logo, "California State University, Long Beach. NCAA Basketball."

The runner, err basketball player now, lifts his hood over his head, revealing a short cut brown hair, slick back from the sweat. The beads drip off his forehead, past his cream green eyes, to his scruffy cheeks. Being up close to him makes it a little more imposing than I had expected, his height suddenly towering over me. I am 5 foot 10, a good height for any guy but this guy has got to be 6'2". The player catches his breath, and then coughs out, "Congratulations." Taking a few breaths, "It's not too often I find someone who can beat me, at least someone who doesn't play professional sports."

Looking over to him, I cautiously ask, "Are you going to be ok?"

The player laughs, sudden energy flowing through him. "I will be fine; you just gave me an unexpected challenge, more than I had hoped for." Getting back into the jogging motion, so that we don't cramp up in the brisk air, we walk across the street. "Do you come out running much?"

The light changes again, allowing us to cross the PCH and start heading back towards the campus. Thankfully we catch the 7th street light at a green as well, allowing for us not needing to stop. Running softly, I answer his question, "I used to run cross country and track back in high school but haven't been doing as much here. My main form of exercise is Frisbee."

Continuing on with the run, my new companion utters out, "I had a feeling it was you." I am sure he didn't mean for me to hear that but when I looked over to him, a confused look on my face, he starts to blush a little. "Sorry, you are known around campus as the resident gay. Ever since the attack, you have kind of made a name for yourself as the gay sports man on campus."

Slowing my pace a bit, I ask in disbelief, "What do you mean, I am the resident gay? What is that supposed to mean?" Going on the defensive, I start to hang back from him.

He catches my unease, as well as slight annoyance, and starts to run in reverse, "No, it's nothing bad, trust me. Many of the sports players have been standing up for you, a few of them thinking its brave what you did, first coming out defending the GSA, then to fight back against your attackers. In a way, some of us look up to you, wishing we could connect a community the same way you did." It's amusing watching him attempt to run backwards but having played basketball for some years, he looks to be good at it.

I am still a little guarded from him, not sure if I want to believe him about it. Even to be known as the campus "gay" can at times be a bad connotation. The player continues with his attempt to warm up to me, figuring out that the gay reference was a bad idea. "Look, come to the game tonight. No one really gives a shit if you are gay or not. You are another sports player first and foremost."

By this time we have arrived back at the entrance of the university, turning back onto Beach Drive. Looking over to him as we turn over to my street, Warren Drive, I ask out, "Do you live in the halls? Also I didn't get your name, I'm Chris."

The player extends his hand as we approach the end of my run. Having known where all the cameras are now, I move into the spotlight, just in case something should happen. I take his grip, an unequal match of strength as he crushes my wrist. "Nice to meet you Chris, I am Peter. And while I don't live in this hall, I live a little east in Los Cerritos Hall. So about that game?"

Having not been to a basketball game yet, I have wanted to go. I just didn't want to be alone for it. "Can I bring someone? I have a roommate that just got back in today."

Peter moves away from me, starting to head in between the halls to his apartment. "Yea, sure, the more the merrier. It's a free game, not many expected since it is Thanksgiving weekend." With that, my unexpected running partner was gone, disappearing into the maze of buildings that dot the residence commons.

*****

It took a little convincing to get Zach to come to the game with me but he broke when I told him that it was a free game and that he needed a break from his studies. Like Peter had said, it was a dead game, the rival team being Boise State. While we were given assigned seats, it was really easy to move around, spots here and there staying open after the first half.

Zach and I moved up to the second row from the court, allowing for a better look out onto the playing field. Peter had waved back at me when he was taking a break on the bench, but was quickly turned around when the coach explained his game plan. I was surprised at how few white players there were on the team, Peter being one of only three. The rest were mostly African American.

While many of the supporters were cheering on the team, this one chick was all over Peter, cheering him on whenever he would screen a guy or intercept the ball. She was a cheerleader off to the side, doing their acrobatic runs and flips during each timeout, trying their best to keep the team and fans happy. That one chick though, she was all over Peter, directing her attention to him whenever she could.

We took the game in the second half, overtaking Idaho 70-60. Peter had played guard for most of the game, but occasionally shot a few hoops in. When Peter made his blocks, people took notice and started roaring for him to keep up the great work.

After the game, Zach and I were going to leave, had Peter not caught us. Peter pulled me out from the walking crowd, dragging me onto the court. Zach snickered a little at my kidnapping, following me out to "attempt" to rescue me. Peter releases me near the team, focusing on me more than the team, "So what did you think?"

Still recovering from being kidnapped, I take in the court and the team scattered around. "Your team played really well. You especially were making some good blocks." My awkward congratulations are cut off by the emergence of that nuisance of a woman, coming up behind Peter and hugging him. I don't know whether to be happy or annoyed that she came in but it is clear from the first time she speaks that we are not going to be besties.

"Hey honey who are your friends?" She asks, looking over at me, then to Zach. Shifting under Peter's left arm, the cheerleader almost seems to wrap herself over him.

Peter, doing his best to keep the cheerleader off him, gestures to me. "Monica, this is Chris and his friend..."

"Zach" I interject to let him continue. Zach moves up beside me, being that fourth wheel of the conversation. I catch him checking out Monica, more focusing on her chest and how open her shirt is.

Peter continues, "Chris and I met each other during our runs this morning. I invited him to the game since he beat me."

Monica sticks out her hand, prompting a shake. "Nice to meet you Chris." She then moves to Zach shaking his hand as well. I think her gaydar goes off in her head because right after she shakes my hand, she glances at me with the defensive look on her face. "If you don't mind me asking, where you that guy who got his ass kicked a few months ago?"

Taken back from the bluntness of her question, all three of us stand stunned at her, Peter letting her go and stepping back. He is the first to respond, "Where did that come from Monica?"

"I am just asking." Monica asks, her annoyance starting to rattle on me.

Gritting my teeth at her, "Yea, that was me. Not one of my finer moments but I am trying to move on from it." I put a lot of emphasis on that last part, hoping she would get the hint but she misses the cue.

"Yea I bet. If that were to happen to me, I would be a wreck. I don't know how you got over it." Monica crosses her arms, trying to take the spotlight back to her.

"It was hard." I reply curtly. Turning to Peter, "Hey Zach and I need to get going. We have some studying to do." Zach simply nods his head, staying strangely silent through this entire conversation.

"Yea sure, before you go though, would you be interested in going on a run tomorrow morning? I could use a running partner." Monica attempts to voice her inclusion but I cut her off.

"Yea sure. What time do you start?" I ask, glancing at Monica as if I need her permission. Look up at Peter for an answer, he instead asks for my phone.

"How about we shoot for 8? I will call you if anything changes ok?" Peter puts his number in my phone, and then allows for Zach and I to leave. He turns back to his team, enjoying the win but as I walk away, I feel the eyes of Monica burning into my back.