It was a surprise when you woke up and realized that you’d slept half the day away. It was already well past noon and you’d accomplished nothing. You stretched in bed, the slight ache reminding you of how you’d spent last night. You sit up and grab your phone, eagerly checking to see if Rafe had messaged you. He always hit you with a morning text in the months that the two of you had been friends. And after last night, you were more eager than ever to see his message. But for the first time since knowing him, there was no morning message.

You tried to brush it off as you got up out of bed. You brushed your long hair, pulling it into a high ponytail, before tugging it back down to hide the love bite you hadn’t realized Rafe had given you. He was probably just busy, you tell yourself as you tug on a pair of jeans and a white baby tee. It was bizarre, how you’d gone from feeling so secure in his arms last night on the beach, to now second guessing every minute of the night. Had it been a mistake to give into your desire last night? Had you ruined the friendship? Had you and Rafe never really been friends, had he just been using you until he got you into bed?

You check your phone again as you grab your keys and head out the door of your dorm room. Still nothing. You tap out a quick text to him, trying to be lighthearted and flirty, but you immediately erase it, unsure if it came across as needy or clingy. You settle on a simple ‘hey’ before tossing your phone into your purse and making the quick walk to the campus coffee bar. Maybe once you had some caffeine in you, you’d be able to think of a clever text to him. You’re still waiting for your phone to vibrate on your walk. It just wasn’t like him to not reply back to you. The two of you texted nonstop each day about nothing. It felt lonely without his replies. You kept telling yourself you were overthinking it all, that you’d hear from him, but you couldn’t shake the bad feeling that made your stomach feel heavy.

You waved to a few friends as you walked. You had to resist the urge to sidetrack and stop by Rafe’s frat house. It wasn’t like you didn’t hangout there with him frequently. But you forced yourself to keep walking towards the coffee shop. Your phone vibrates, and you eagerly pull it out of your purse. Just a text from your mom. You put it away, looking up from the screen just in time to see Rafe walking out of the coffee bar. But he wasn’t alone, he had his arm slung lazily across the shoulders of Sofia, a girl he’d hooked up with a few times before you knew him. He was smirking down at her, and she was giggling at something he’d said. They looked like a couple. You were frozen watching them, wishing the earth would swallow you up, because any second now he was going to see you.

Rafe looks up from Sofia, steering her towards her down, when he makes eye contact with you. Damn it. He’d wanted time to think about last night more and what it meant before he saw you again. He didn’t do relationships, and he knew that if he’d ever cross the line with you, it would mean something. His mind was a mess. A large part of him wanted to go over to you now and take you back to his room at the frat house. But then there were the voices in his head, reminding him he’d never been able to commit to just one girl before. Screaming that he was only going to further ruin the friendship if he attempted to make something out of last night. So, he did what he did best, acted detached and unbothered towards you.

“Hey princess,” he offers you an easy smirk, his arm still slung around Sofia’s shoulder. “You know Sofia, right?”