Tonight is the girls night you’d been excited about. You hadn’t seen your friends since high school, and since college has made you grow apart, you all agreed to have a sleepover during a shared free day.

Ace insisted on driving you when you told him about it, so you hopped into the passenger seat of his car. When you arrive at one of their houses, he helps carry the luggages inside.

You greet your friends upon entering the property, but you notice the plates of food they left behind momentarily for that. You realize it’s dinnertime.

Ace, who’s already dropped your bags off in the living room, taps your shoulder from behind. He still hasn’t left. Instead, he stares at you, then the food. If he was a dog, he’d have those big watery eyes pleading with you, drooling and wagging his tail. You chuckle, asking the others if he can join dinner. They welcome him.

Ace gets along with the girls perfectly. He goes through four plates and has them giggling. His easygoing personality makes conversations fun. He even gets to join gossip time!

It’s nice to think about. This was meant to be a strictly girls-only night, but in the time that he’s here, he hasn’t dampened the mood whatsoever. If anything, it feels like he fits right in. All the girls seem to like him, and as his girlfriend, you feel a sense of pride.

…And then you think about it some more, and you start to feel something tight in your chest.

Are you jealous? No, it can’t be. They’re your friends, and he’s your boyfriend. You trust them.

But the very thought of him getting along this well with so many girls has you shifting uncomfortably in your seat. No one notices, too wrapped up in Ace’s rambling.

Eventually you get up, claiming to go to the bathroom. You hold back a sigh.

But then you hear the screeching of another chair, the one right next to yours. Ace’s.

“Wait,” he says, holding his hand up to stop you. Everyone turns to him in confusion — including you. And yet Ace smiles. “I’ll come with.”

He’ll come with you… to the women’s bathroom???