Chapter 43: Simple is Boring

The door of my off-campus apartment clicked shut behind me.

I dropped my tote bag onto the floor with a dull thud and leaned my forehead against the cool painted wood of the door, closing my eyes.

My chest was tight and my breathing shallow. The image of Knox and that brunette in his bedroom was burned into the back of my eyelids, reminding of exactly what I was dealing with.

"Nora?"

I flinched, opening my eyes to see Priya standing in the archway of the kitchen. She was holding a mug of tea, wearing oversized sweatpants and a messy bun. She took one look at my face and frowned.

"Whoa. You look like you just watched a murder," Priya said, setting her mug down on the counter. "What happened? Did the tutoring session go that badly?"

"It was fine," I snapped, harsher than I intended. I pushed away from the door and started pulling off my boots. "Everything is fine."

Priya crossed her arms, her dark eyebrows raising. "Okay, clearly it’s not fine. Did Sheridan do something? Because I swear to God, if that arrogant jock said one more thing about..."

"I said it’s fine, Priya!" I yelled, the pent-up frustration and anxiety finally boiling over.

The kitchen went dead silent. Priya blinked, clearly taken aback by my outburst. I had never yelled at her. Not once in the two years we had lived together.

A wave of immediate regret washed over me.

I rubbed my temples, letting out a long, exhausted breath. "I... I’m sorry. I’m just... I’m so stressed about everything. If he screws this up, I lose my tuition waiver. Everything is just riding on him not being a complete idiot."

Priya’s expression softened into sympathy. "Hey. It’s okay. Go take a hot shower. We can talk about it tomorrow if you want."

I nodded, offering her a weak, apologetic smile before retreating to my bedroom.

—

By Wednesday afternoon, the reality of my situation had settled into a cold, heavy knot in my stomach.

Knox was giving me the silent treatment.

He hadn’t shown up for our Tuesday morning session in the library. He ignored the two text messages I sent reminding him of his compliance hours. When I saw him walking across the quad with Jake and Bear, he looked right through me like I was made of glass.

He was icing me out.

I sat at my small kitchen table, staring blankly at my open laptop. I was supposed to be working on my thesis, but my mind kept drifting to the looming threat of the Athletic Director.

If Pierce noticed we weren’t checking in, or worse, if rumors from the SinBin party reached the faculty that Knox was hooking up with other girls...

I absentmindedly tapped my pen against the table. Stress baking always helped clear my head. Maybe I could whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a loaf of banana bread... something sweet to leave on the counter for Priya so she could snack on it when she got back from class.

I didn’t actually have the energy or half the ingredients right now, but just thinking through the steps helped ground the frantic noise in my mind.

I reached across the table and picked up my phone. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Scrolling past my empty text thread with Knox, my eyes landed on Drew’s contact near the top.

He had sent a message on Monday: Hey. Still waiting on that call. No pressure, just checking you’re okay; and I had been too consumed by the disaster at the SinBin to reply.

Ever since we reconnected back in Oakhaven when he was visiting, and especially after he drove up to Briar for the hockey game and got ambushed by Knox, Drew had been patient and low-pressure.

Right now, the idea of a normal, uncomplicated conversation with someone from back home felt like a literal lifeline.

I tapped his name and hit call.

He answered on the second ring. "Well, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of an actual phone call from Nora Bennett?"

His voice was warm, easy, and completely grounding.

"Hey, Drew," I said, leaning back in my chair and pulling my knees to my chest. "I’m sorry it took me so long to call back. Things have been... chaotic."

"No need to apologize, Nora," Drew said, his soft laugh making the tension in my shoulders drop a fraction of an inch. "I know how crazy your schedule gets. How are you holding up?"

"Barely," I admitted, a small, genuine smile touching my lips. "I was just contemplating stress-baking an entire loaf of banana bread to keep from losing my mind."

"I accept stress-baking peace offerings in the form of snickerdoodles," Drew countered easily. "Though I still say my recipe beats yours."

"Not a chance, Miller," I laughed.

We fell into a comfortable rhythm.

For the next ten minutes, we talked about my mom’s bakery back in Oakhaven, how much he had saved my life during the weekend rush, and how much simpler life was back when our biggest problem was burning a batch of scones.

Drew was funny, warm, and completely undemanding. He didn’t carry the dark, suffocating gravity that Knox did.

"So," Drew said eventually, his tone shifting slightly into something a little more careful. "I have to ask. And feel free to tell me to mind my own business."

My stomach tightened slightly. "Okay."

"How long have you and Sheridan actually been together?"

I froze, the pen slipping from my fingers and clattering against the table.

"Because," Drew continued smoothly, "I know he introduced himself as your boyfriend at the party. But, Nora... you just don’t strike me as the type to date a guy like him. You’re brilliant, you’re driven, and he’s... well, he’s Knox Sheridan."

The silence stretched over the line, filled with the questions he wasn’t asking.

"Drew," I started, choosing my words very carefully. "It’s... it’s complicated."

There was another brief pause on the line. Then, I heard the subtle smile in his voice. "Complicated," Drew repeated. "I can work with complicated."

A faint warmth prickled against my chest, cutting through the heavy fog I had been carrying all day. "And why, exactly, are you looking to work with complicated, Miller?"

"Because simple is boring, Bennett," Drew replied smoothly; his voice was low and sounded playful over the speaker. "And because I spent an entire high school semester wishing I’d asked you out before you moved up to Briar."

My heart gave a small, unexpected flutter. "Drew..."

"I’m just putting it out there," he chuckled softly. "No pressure though. But next time I drive up to Briar, I’m taking you to a real dinner. No hockey jerseys, no moody captains marking their territory."

A genuine smile touched my lips for the first time in days. "Is that a promise?"

"A guarantee," Drew said softly.

Before I could answer, there was a loud knock on the front door.

I flinched, my smile vanishing as the sudden noise reverberated through the small apartment. Priya was still out at the library, and I wasn’t expecting anyone.

"Hang on a second, Drew," I murmured, lowering the phone from my ear as I walked across the kitchen toward the entryway. "Someone’s at the door."

"Take your time," Drew said over the speaker.

I unlatched the deadbolt and pulled the front door open.

The words died in my throat, because standing in the dimly lit hallway with his broad frame blocking out the overhead light, was Knox Sheridan.