After finals week, I’m not interested in having a party. Taylor tried talking it up throughout the week, and while it sounded like a good idea, I knew he was just doing it in hopes of me hooking up with someone. But it’s actually a good distraction. While it’s not a huge house party, due to the size of our apartment, it’s a good size crowd. Plus, Veronica shows up with Cindy.

“So, how’s your graphic novel coming along?” Veronica asks as we hang out in the kitchen.

I’m a little impressed she remembers me talking about it in the past. “About as good as a snail in a salt field.”

She lets out an exaggerated cringe, making me smile. “That’s too bad. I remember you telling me it’s a sci-fi story, right?”

Impressed again. “Yeah, kinda. It’s part science fiction, part romance. Kind of like a rom-com set in the future.”

“Wow, so not your typical Marvel comic.”

“No, definitely not.” I laugh.

It’s only a small tidbit of conversation, but it’s the same throughout the night. Talking to her is easy. And here’s the thing; Veronica is exactly my type.

My friends were shocked when I started dating Lana because she’s taller, blonde, and seemed high maintenance. I mean, she was, but I didn’t really care because I did like her. I thought I loved her at one time.

Veronica, on the other hand, is shorter, with dark curly hair, and incredible dark chocolate eyes. She seemed a little shy talking to me, but I get the feeling she’s down to earth. She gives me the impression that we could just chill on a Saturday night, whereas if Lana wasn’t partying Friday through Sunday, she’d complain for hours.

Taylor’s seen me talking to her a few times tonight and gives me a head nod with a huge, cheese-eating grin.

As the night goes on, we keep our conversation going and it’s refreshing. One of the things I like about talking to her is that she’s funny. An honest type of funny, where she says something, and she’s not trying to make me laugh, it just comes out naturally. And not to sound like a dude-bro, but I have checked out her ass a couple of times. That being said, the thing I’m drawn to most is her smile. And she has this little giggle she does that keeps me locked onto her.

We’re sitting on the couch as people start clearing the apartment when Cindy walks over to us. “Hey, V. You ready?”

“Oh.” She looks over at her. There’s a moment of silence and Veronica appears to be blushing. Cindy flashes me a quick glance, before looking back at her. It almost seems like a silent conversation is going on. “Um, I think I’ll just hang out here a bit longer. I’ll take an Uber home.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I can take you home.”

Veronica seems a bit taken aback. “Oh … okay.”

Another silent conversation plays out between them before Cindy gives her a smile. “Okay, then. See you guys later. Thanks, Micah. This was fun.”

It’s only after Cindy leaves that I notice Veronica is the last one here. Her eyes meet mine, and we sit for a moment in silence. She said she wanted to stay, but stay for what? To talk? Something more? This is exactly what Taylor’s been saying I need to get my mind off of Lana, but that’s not me. I’m not the kind of guy to just hookup with girls, much to Taylor’s dismay.

Before either of us can say anything, a moan emanates from Taylor’s room, and both of our eyes widen.

“So that’s where he disappeared off to,” Veronica says, a slight blush creeping up her face.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

“For what?”

I bite the inside of my lip, wrinkling my nose. “We have, um, thin walls.” More embarrassment shows and I want to say we should go to my room, but I don’t want her to think I’m saying we should do something. Then I remember a stupid stunt Taylor pulled last week. “Hey, you want to prank him?”

She wrinkles her nose, her teeth together. “A prank? I’m not sure … I don’t know him that well. Cindy knows him better than I do.”

“I know, but he caught me in my room last week and got me so—”

“He caught you in your room … with someone?” She looks at me almost like she’s in shock.

“Oh, no.” I wave my hand. “Not with someone.”

“What do you mean then?”

Damn it. I can feel my face get hot and I’m sure it’s turning red. Something about talking to her tonight has put me at ease. Comfortable enough that I just left myself open to something super embarrassing. “Uh, you know what? Never mind.”

“What?” There’s that giggle again. She’s sitting with her legs crossed, her knee lightly brushing against mine.

“Well … I was alone …”

Her eyes go wide, and then suddenly shoot to my crotch. Then, as if catching what she’s doing, they shoot back up to meet my eyes. “Oh!”

“Wow, I can’t believe I just told you that.”

The silence drifts back between us. She looks as embarrassed as I feel. I seriously can’t believe I just said that. Maybe it’s that comfortability I’m feeling with her. It has to be. We’ve talked about stuff that’s mostly insignificant. Movies, books, food. Some things we have in common, other things we don’t, but it doesn’t matter. We seem to connect.

The silence is broken with Taylor’s words, and we both stifle a laugh. “Damn, girl.”

“Anyways,” I clear my throat, “he walked into my room, looking for a condom.” I shake my head, still not sure why I’m telling her all this. At the same time, she doesn’t appear to be as embarrassed anymore. “I kicked him out while he was laughing his ass off. Two minutes later he came back in, a girl in tow, talking like we were supposed to have a threesome. The girl seemed shocked, I freaked out and cursed at him, telling him to get out. He immediately started busting up, and the girl took off.”

“Oh, my God.” She’s laughing. “He didn’t.”

“He did. He gathered himself enough to chase after her. I heard him calling out, ‘Don’t worry, baby. I’ll change his mind. Come back!’ Saying that two guys make it hotter and all this stuff. All the while still laughing his ass off.”

She’s in hysterics now, leaning over, her head on my shoulder. “That’s insane.”

“I know!”

We hear another moan from the room.

“So, yeah, I really want to get him back.” I smile at her.

“What’d you have in mind?”

I pull her off the couch, and we walk over to Taylor’s door. I know exactly what I want to do. And it all starts with kissing her. Yes, I do want to prank Taylor, but I can’t lie—the more we’ve talked tonight, the more I’ve wanted to kiss her.

“So, what are we doing?” she asks.

I bite my lip, nervously. “Just go with it, okay?”

She returns my gaze, nodding.

Leaning closer to her, I wrap an arm around her waist. Her eyes widen, putting a hand on my chest. Suddenly, I don’t want to continue on with this prank. I just want to keep her close to me. Holding her, feeling her body close to mine. I lean down and my nose brushes against hers; I feel her breath across my lips. I nearly forget about everything, especially my stupid prank, when I hear Taylor behind the door.

“Damn, baby, you feel so good.”

Veronica and I stare at each other. I make my move.

As soon as my lips meet hers … Sparks. Fire. A part of me wonders if it’s just because I haven’t kissed anyone else in a while. But I know it’s not. Her lips on mine feel electric. And I wouldn’t even remember the prank if Taylor didn’t start screaming at me as I opened the door.

“What the hell, Micah?” Taylor yells, and the girl yelps.

I pull away from Veronica. Is it my imagination, or does she look flustered? I wish I could examine it a little longer, but I turn to Taylor, smiling. “Oh, baby, you found one, too!”

“What?” He stares at me, shifting in the bed, and I have to stifle my laugh from him hiding his excitement.

“Well, Veronica said she’d be into it.” I look at her. She seems confused for a moment, but follows my lead and starts to nod. “I know she’s your step-sister, but you said you’d be cool with it. And she’s not blood-related, so …”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he practically shrieks.

I let go of Veronica and put a knee on the bed. The girl scoots back, staring at Taylor, confused.

“T, I know we’ve had some rough patches, but I really think this might be just the spark we need. And if you want to make it a four-way,” I look over at her and give her the most comforting and understanding smile I can; she recoils, totally confused, “instead of a three-way, then I say, let’s do it. Right, Veronica?”

Her eyes are wide. Her hand’s in front of her mouth, and I can tell she’s trying not to laugh. She nods and then looks at Taylor. “Absolutely. Taylor, I just want you to be happy. And Micah, he really loves you.”

“What the shit is going on?” Taylor yells at both of us. “Get the hell out of my room, both of you!”

“But, baby …” I reach out to him, and the girl jumps off the bed, keeping the sheet around her while grabbing her clothes off the ground.

“This is too weird!”

“No. Gretchen, he’s just messing around!” Taylor calls out.

“Baby, it’s okay. You don’t have to be embarrassed.”

“Don’t call me!” Gretchen yells, running out of the room.

Veronica watches her leave the apartment. My eyes follow her out, before looking back at Taylor, who’s also watching her go. When the front door shuts, his head snaps toward me, and he lunges.

“You asshole!”

I jump off the bed, Veronica in a fit of giggles now. “Payback’s a bitch, huh?” I say, laughing.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hookup with her?”

“Oh, um, Taylor?” Veronica starts, her cheeks blushing

“No.” He points at her, standing up. “You don’t get to say anything. Step-sister? What the hell was that?”

“Hey, uh, bro?” I glance around, trying to get his attention.

“Shut up, cockblocker.”

“Uh,” I laugh. “Looks like I didn’t block as much as you think.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

I look over at Veronica, who’s averted her eyes, still giggling. I point down at his waist, his boxers tenting.

“Shit!” He jumps back on the bad, grabbing a sheet to cover himself. “Get the hell out of here!”

We both burst into laughter, scampering out of his room and into mine.