Extra Credit is a quaint little bar, not far from my place, which is handy. It’s filled with well-worn Formica booths and low lights. It feels nice to be out with the guys. It’s something I haven’t done since I left Minnesota, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed company. I knew joining Franklin West would come with its issues, but I hadn’t anticipated quite how lonely it would be.
“So, where are you staying?” Drew asks. “Are you finding your way around, okay?
I nod. “Yeah. It’s fine. I’m renting an apartment in Sandy.”
Drew nods. “Oh, yeah? Not far from me. I’m in Kelso.”
“Maybe you two should carpool,” Mika says, gesturing between the two of us with the neck of his beer.
“If we’re talking carpooling, it should be with Doug,” Drew says. “He’s in Sandy, too.”
My heart sinks. I didn’t know that. Luckily, it’s big enough for a small town that I haven’t run into him.Fuck.Now, every time I go to the grocery store, I’m going to be on edge. At least he’s not here tonight.
“Where do you live, Mika?” I ask. “Are you not on our carpool route?”
He laughs, scratching his dark stubble. “I’m out in the sticks. For the first couple of years, I was in Sandy, but then I found this little cabin while I was out hiking and fell in love with it.”
I stare at him, unblinking. “You live in a cabin. Alone?”
He shrugs. “After days lecturing the entitled asshats at Franklin West, it’s nice to get some genuine peace and quiet.”
“To each their own,” I say, saluting him with my beer, and Drew mumbles his agreement.
Living alone in the quiet like that, with just my thoughts for company? I’d lose my damn mind. I’m a city boy. Franklin West is rural as hell and the little town of Sandy is already smaller than I’m used to coping with.
“Thanks for inviting me out,” I say. “It’s nice to get to know people.”
“The faculty are generally okay,” Mika says. “Most of the professors are married with kids, so they take off after office hours and getting them to socialize is more pain than it’s worth.”
“So, this is the bachelor portion of the staff?” I ask. I already noted the lack of wedding bands on both men earlier, but it’s surprising. Mika’s not a bad looking guy. Handsome in a rugged, unkempt kind of way. Drew on the other hand is attractive enough to make the straightest man question himself. How he’s still single is a mystery. There must be some serious baggage there.
“I don’t think you qualify as a bachelor, kid,” Mika says. “You just graduated, didn’t you?”
I raise my eyebrows. “And?”
“You’ve barely tasted life,” Mika says. “Oh, to be twenty-two—”
“I’m twenty-three.”
“—twenty-three and single. No wrinkles. No gray hairs. Just a sea of endless possibilities.” Mika sighs dramatically.
“You’re a dick, Mika,” Drew says with a snort. “You don’t have any gray hairs, and you’re only a year older than me. Wrinkles on the other hand . . .”
“Firstly, fuck you.” Mika points at Drew with his bottle. “And secondly, exactly. Forty is approaching faster than I can run from it.”
I take a swig of my beer to try and hide my surprise. I knew they were older than me, but I didn’t realize it was by that much. They don’t look like they’re approaching forty.
“Enough bullshit,” Drew says. “How are you settling in? Has Doug calmed down yet?”
“Why the fuck would I need to calm down?”
My skin is instantly clammy as Doug’s shadow falls over the table.Fuck.
“You made it,” Drew says, shuffling along the booth so he can sit.
I give Drew an accusatory stare, but he just gives me a tiny shrug before turning to my arch nemesis.
“How you doing?”