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“Word to the wise, Will… Don’t get any ideas about Louisa. Don’t fuck her. Don’t fall in love with her. Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean she’s available.”

Fucking crystal.

“Whoa… Respect.” Ortiz nodded solemnly.

“I know. Pretty sure I got a power boner from that shit. An admiration boner.”

“I do love a brother who does not fuck around.”

“Agreed. But that’s not even the best part…” I imitated Hasan’s deep voice: “She tell you she’s never had a boyfriend?”

“Wait, Lou is like, our age, and she’s never had a boyfriend?”

“Apparently not.”

“Know why?” Has had asked then, and pointed to his own chest. “Me.”

Jaysus.

“Jesus,” Ortiz huffed under his breath.

“So I’m all—‘’ I raised my voice to sound like the pussy I was: “She’s flirty as fuck, man. I don’t know where the line is!”

“He can’t pull over any farther!” Ortiz said in mock panic. Quality Super Troopers reference. I grinned and held my fist out for him to hit.

“Yeah, so he told me to flirt all I wanted and jerk off in the shower after.”

“I really like your dumb ass. Take my advice.”

Hasan was a great guy. Even while laying down the law, he said it like he cared about me. Like he was imparting some kind of wisdom instead of staking his claim, and it kept things from feeling awkward between us.

“I gotta say, man… Sorry about the blue balls, but that shit is inspirational,” Christian laughed. “Like obviously, Louisa don’t know shit about how he feels.”

“Regardless, I told him I’d keep my hands to myself. They’re moving in together, so he’s making a play whether she knows it or not.”

And that was the rub. I liked the clarity—the last thing I’d want is to start drama unintentionally and then fuck off to the desert, leaving two cool people worse off than when I found them. But the fact that Lou didn’t seem to know how he felt made me uneasy.

On the other hand, I did tell Has that I was good with rules.

My feet pounded on the stairs, my heart racing, lungs on fire. I needed to quit smoking, and my body was reminding me.

I’d been so sure the line Has laid down would settle things inside my chest. I wanted that line to settle things inside my chest. This is me feeling very fucking unsettled.

I had been slowly spiraling ever since I met Lou. I’d eaten so many boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Chain-smoked a thousand cigarettes, probably. Dove headfirst into casual sex with the chick who sits next to me in class. Got read the riot act by the bear I live with.

I caught my breath at the bottom, hands on my knees—practically wheezing.

Louisa was under my skin.

I headed back up for another round.

I’d been into her as soon as I saw her on Has’s screen. Hot, but in a cute way—adorable. A girl you want to snugglefuck. But it had gotten worse over the past few weeks; I also just liked her. Sis was weird as fuck, and I wanted that fucking weirdo.

Aye, me Maeve’s a wee bit witchy. It does things to a man, Liam. Ye’ll know it, someday.

Rather than make Hasan the enemy in my head so I could seethe properly, I totally empathized with his sorry ass. Yeah, dude, you don’t even have to explain. I feel you. She had a way about her, that’s for sure. It was disarming.

So there I was, running stairs, chasing that goddamned snake in my head.