Present-Day

"Oh, my god. TJ, you're the worst," I tell him. We're almost back home, but it's already midnight. "I have to get up up at six, you asshole."

TJ grins. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Devin and I haven't said much to each other, but I fell asleep on his shoulder and it didn't seem like he minded.

Zack groans. "It's already midnight."

"You guys are such crybabies," TJ says. "Toughen up."

"You guys think Daniel's gonna wake up soon?" I ask. We stopped a rest stop and everyone traded places. TJ moved to the driver's seat, Zack moved to the passenger seat, Devin moved one seat over and I'm in the middle. Daniel is next to me and passed out on my shoulder. He's snoring loudly.

"Soon maybe," Zack says.

"Does he always snore?"

"Usually louder," Zack tells me. He turns around to look at me and laughs. "I guess you must be a good pillow. It looks like Devin's sleeping too."

I look to my left. Devin's head is barely on my shoulder. I guess I didn't notice.

"Are you working tomorrow, TJ?" I ask.

"Yeah. I only have a few clients though," TJ says.

"That's good," I say. TJ nods but then starts grinning. I roll my eyes. "Just spit it out."

"Zack, you should let me put some foils in your hair," TJ says.

Zack looks at me with wide eyes. "Foils? What does that mean?"

I shrug. "It's like highlights. Or frosted tips."

"I think I'm good. But thanks," Zack says. I laugh.

"When's the next wedding party thing?" I ask.

"In two weeks," TJ says and this weird feeling twinges my stomach. I don't if it's because I'm going to see Devin again, or if it's because he's probably leaving soon and then coming back.

"Are you gonna terrorize us next time too? Or was that a one-time thing?" Zack asks and I laugh.

"Shut up," TJ says. "And you guys started it by not inviting me."

"Yes we did," I tell him. I look at Zack. "I swear we did when you told us we couldn't go."

"You wanna hear a joke?" TJ asks.

"Not really," Zack says.

"What do you call a guy with a rubber toe?" TJ says as I take a drink of my water. "Ruberto."

I start laughing and before I can stop myself, I spit it out. Onto Devin. "Oh, shit!"

"Riley thinks I'm funny," TJ says as he laughs.

"You're such a dipshit," Zack mutters.

"Oh, fuck," I say as Devin shifts. I spit the water onto his chest. I start trying to wipe it off.

"What the fuck?" he mutters as he sits up.

"TJ made me do it," I blurt out. My cheeks are red and I'm still trying to wipe it off his chest.

"No, I didn't!" TJ says.

"Yes, you did!" I say as I look over my shoulder. Devin's hand brushes against mine as he tries to figure out what's on his shirt. I wish I didn't feel the spark of electricity when our skin touches.

"It's fine," he murmurs. His eyes close and he leans back against his seat. His hand drops to his side but his pinky is brushing my thigh. I take a deep breath in and swallow. Fuck, I need to stop focusing on him. Or how his touch gives me butterflies and sets my skin on fire in the best way possible.

"Okay, so just out of curiosity," TJ says, "do you guys wanna hit a bar or—"

Zack and I both say, "Fuck no."

"God, you guys are lame," TJ mutters. "Besides, we'll get back by like one, so you can either to sleep and feel more tired when you wake up, or we could all pull an all-nighter together and be less tired."

I open my mouth to tell him that he's wrong, but I then I think about it for a second. "Wait—"

Zack frowns. "Wait, why is your logic making sense?"

"I know!" I mutter. I see TJ grinning in the mirror. A voice in the back of my head tells me that six more hours with Devin isn't the worst thing. And I almost hate myself for saying, "Fuck it. I'm in."

"Yessss," TJ says.

"If Riley's in, I'm in too," Zack says.

"Yayy, thanks Riley." I see TJ's mischievous smile.

"What are you hiding?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "Nothing," but his voice is high pitched like it is when he's lying.

"Oh my god. Just spit it out."

He grins. "Okay, so Anna won't let me have you guys stay over anymore cuz of what happened at our last sleepover," he says. I try to suppress the smirk when I remember what all of us got into. "Buttt, we can go to your apartment."

I stare at him. "Fine. But you have to buy me coffee tomorrow."

********************

We all trudge into my apartment. TJ throws his bag on the floor and sprints into the kitchen. "Fucking of course," I mutter. Daniel, Zack and Devin set their bags down in a corner. Daniel goes straight to the couch and lays down. Zack slaps his leg and says, "Scoot over. Immna sleep here too."

"I thought we weren't sleeping," I say. Zack and Daniel both grin bashfully and I shake my head. I turn around and TJ isn't in the kitchen. "Oh, fuck! Where'd TJ go?"

"Down the hallway," Devin says. He's still standing by his bag.

Zack grins and pats the spot next to him. "You wanna watch cartoons with us, Devin?"

I see surprise flash over Devin's eyes quickly but then he smiles and says, "Sure."

A warm feeling fills my stomach and I shake my head with a smile as I walk down the hallway. I see the bathroom door wide open and I sigh. "God, I knew I was gonna fucking find you in here," I tell TJ as I see him sitting in my bathtub with all of my body washes and scrubs spread around him. He does this everytime he comes over.

He looks up and there's a litte bit of product on his nose. "There's scrub on your nose, dipshit," I tell him.

TJ wipes it off and grins. "Wait, shut the door," he says. I roll my eyes as I shut the door. I sit down next to the bathtub that he's sitting in.

"What's up?" I ask.

He waggles his eyebrows at me. "Sooooo?" he says.

I frown. "The hell are you talking about?"

"My plan," TJ tells me. He hands me a scub. I smell it and stare at him. He rolls his eyes. "Fine! Since apparently it's not that obvious. Getting you and Devin back together—"

"You can't be serious," I cut him off.

TJ stops mid-smell to stare at me. "Yeah, I'm fucking serious," he says. "That's the whole point."

"The whole point of what?"

He gestures around. "This. The whole lil gang of us doing wedding stuff."

I laugh. "I mean, thank you for trying, but it's not going to happen," I tell TJ as I smell another scrub. "Devin hates me."

"Wait, are you serious?" TJ asks me. I nod. He knocks the jar out of my hand. Before I can even yell at him, he says, "Riley, Devin can't keep his eyes or his hands off of you. And you could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife—"

"It's not that." I sigh as I rub my neck. "Phyiscally, yes the signals are less mixed. But everytime I try to talk to him, he shuts me out. Rejects me even."

TJ stares at me. "Wait, so you guys have or haven't fucked yet?"

My eyes widen. "What the fuck—"

"Riley, I saw him eating your neck against a wall this morning—"

"You fucking saw us?" I ask incredulously.

TJ shrugs. "Duh. I'm blonde, but not stupid. That stupid at least," he says with a smirk. "Besides, it was kind of my whole plan so."

"Jeez," I mutter. I really thought he didn't see us. "Well, no. We haven't fucked. Or even kissed, so I mean that's good."

"That's bad actually."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. But you know what I mean," I tell him. I sigh as I rub my leg. "And as much as I want it to happen, it can't. If we were supposed to be together, we would've been. I'm always going to love him more than he loves me and he's always going to leave."

TJ's quiet for a minute. "You know, if he pulls that shit again, I'll personally go beat the hell out of him."

I smile. "Thank you. But I won't let it happen again."

TJ sighs as he smells another scub. "I like the tropical ones the best," he says.

I grin. "I bet you do."

He traces his finger around the packaging. "Ana likes it when I shower here."

"Why?" I ask. He grins sheepishly. "Oh my god. Of course you use the scrubs and body lotions—"

"And that one cologne you have," TJ says as he grins. "Okay, so hear me out. But the tropical scrub and body wash with the eucalyptus lotion and the cologne..."

I think about it for a minute. "I guess I'm gonna have to try it." I sigh as I stand up. "Thanks for the talk bud."

"Of courseee," TJ says as he grins. "Now go hang out with Zack and Daniel."

I grin as I walk over to the door. "Put all of that stuff back when you're done."

"I always do." He grins at me and I shake my head.

But right as I open the door, Zack falls into me and we fall into the bathroom together.