I stood on the corner of 42nd and Lexington, hands in my jacket pockets, watching the flow of pedestrians pass by under the streetlights.
Gwen had picked out a chain restaurant for tonight's celebration—one of those middle-tier places that wasn't expensive but wasn't cheap either.
The kind of spot where you could get a decent meal without blowing your entire paycheck, but still feel like you were treating yourself.
We were supposed to meet at this intersection, right near the restaurant itself. She'd sent me the address earlier, along with three exclamation points and a GIF of someone throwing confetti.
Very Gwen.
I'd already informed Hargrove I wasn't working tonight, and surprisingly, he'd been completely fine with it. Said I'd never taken a day off since I started, so I'd earned it.
Then he'd smirked and added, "Just don't go doing business on the side, kid."
Probably a reference to Yelena bribing him to let me leave early.
I'd wanted to say, Dude, I'm not a— but stopped myself. Didn't need to have that conversation.
So here I was, waiting for the past fifteen minutes.
I checked my phone. 8:17 PM.
Gwen was late as usual.
I should've known. Should've left my apartment twenty minutes later and saved myself the—
"Hey, Rex! Over here!"
I looked up.
Gwen was waving at me from across the street, a huge smile on her face, her blonde hair catching the glow of the streetlights as she jogged toward me.
She was wearing jeans, a light sweater, and a jacket. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold—or maybe from running—and she had her phone clutched in one hand like she'd been using it the entire way here.
I walked toward her, meeting her halfway.
"Late as always, huh?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "I should've known. Should've left my apartment late."
She grinned, completely unapologetic.
"I was just doing some touch-ups," she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Took a few extra seconds."
I snorted.
"More like hours."
"Come on, it's celebration day!" she protested, laughing. "I can't look bad. The Stacy-Thrustmore Alliance is gonna take a lot of pictures tonight."
I made a face.
"Don't you ever feel cringe saying that?"
"It's you who's always overreacting," she shot back, still grinning. "It's a great name. Iconic, even."
I shook my head, sighing.
"So," I said, changing the subject before she could keep going. "How'd the celebration with your family go?"
Her face lit up.
"It was awesome! We went to this really nice restaurant—like, expensive nice, which was a surprise considering how stingy my dad can get." She laughed. "Then we went to see an opera. My grandparents loved it."
"Opera, huh? Fancy."
"Right?" She paused, her smile softening. "And at the end of the night, my dad told me he'd cover all my other expenses while I'm at ESU. You know, since I don't have to pay tuition."
I felt something tighten in my chest.
If my parents were alive, they would've been there. Would've taken me out to celebrate. Would've been proud.
Would've—
Gwen must've noticed the shift in my expression because she quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway!" she said, her voice brightening again. "Tonight's plan: dinner first at this place I picked out—it's got amazing burgers, you're gonna love it. Then we're hitting up a bowling alley a few blocks away. Sound good?"
I nodded, pushing the thought of my parents aside.
"Yeah. Let's go."
"Let's go!" she echoed, practically bouncing as she started walking toward the restaurant.
The restaurant was exactly what I expected—booth seating, dim lighting, a menu full of burgers, pasta, and overpriced appetizers.
We grabbed a booth near the back, and Gwen immediately pulled out her phone.
"Okay, first picture of the night," she announced, holding it up at an angle.
I groaned.
"Already?"
"Yes, already. Smile!"
I gave her a half-smile, and she snapped the photo.
She looked at it, grinned, and tapped her screen a few times.
"Perfect. Posting it."
"You're gonna take a million pictures tonight, aren't you?"
"Absolutely."
The waiter came by, and we ordered—Gwen got some kind of chicken sandwich, and I went with a burger and fries. She also insisted we get loaded nachos as an appetizer, which I wasn't about to argue with.
While we waited, Gwen started talking about ESU. About the classes she wanted to take. About the labs, she'd heard they were state-of-the-art. About how excited she was to finally be doing real research instead of just reading about it in textbooks.
I listened, nodding along, throwing in comments when she paused for breath.
She was really into this. More than I was, honestly.
For me, ESU was a means to an end. A degree. A high-paying job. Stability.
For Gwen, it was everything.
The food arrived, and we dug in.
The nachos were gone in minutes. Gwen took another picture—this time of the empty plate—and captioned it something like "We destroyed these."
Then my burger came. I finished it. And I was still hungry.
I ordered another burger.
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"You bulking or what?"
I shrugged, cutting into the second burger.
"Nah. Just hungry."
She laughed, shaking her head.
"You're gonna eat me out of my celebratory budget."
"You said you'd cover it," I reminded her with a smirk.
"I said we'd split it."
"Semantics."
But honestly, I was surprised too. I usually felt full after one burger and some fries. But tonight? I could've kept going.
Maybe it was the effect of the LightForce ability. Maybe one of them was an increased metabolism. Faster recovery, more energy, higher appetite to match.
Made sense.
I finished the second burger and finally felt satisfied.
Gwen took another picture. This time of me mid-bite.
"Seriously?" I said, swallowing.
"Memories!" she said, grinning.
We left the restaurant around 9:30 PM, stuffed and laughing about something stupid.
The bowling alley was only a few blocks away, and the night air felt good after being inside for so long.
We were halfway there when I saw her.
MJ.
Walking down the sidewalk.
I waved at her.
"Hey, MJ! Where are you going?"
She looked up, saw me, and smiled.
"Hey there, Tiger."
Then her eyes flicked to Gwen, and her smile shifted slightly—still friendly, but with a hint of curiosity.
I gestured between them.
"Oh, right. You two never met. MJ, this is Gwen. Gwen, this is MJ."
"I've talked to both of you about each other," I added.
MJ stepped closer, extending a hand.
"Hey! Rex talks about you a lot. How's it going?"
Gwen shook her hand, smiling.
"Hey—wait." She paused, tilting her head. "I think I've seen you somewhere."
MJ raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Yeah..." Gwen's eyes widened. "Oh! You were the actress who performed in that play last night, weren't you?"
MJ's face lit up.
"Yes! That was me. First time doing a lead role. Glad someone recognized me."
"Are you kidding?" Gwen said, her enthusiasm cranking up. "You were amazing. My whole family loved it."
MJ beamed.
"Thanks. That means a lot, seriously."
Gwen pulled out her phone.
"Wait, can we get a picture? Rex, take our picture."
I sighed, grabbing her phone.
"Sure."
MJ and Gwen posed together, both smiling widely, and I snapped a few shots.
They immediately started going through them, critiquing angles and lighting like they'd known each other for years.
After a minute of that, I cleared my throat.
"So, MJ, we're heading to a bowling alley. Wanna join us?"
Gwen nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, you should totally come!"
MJ hesitated, then shook her head.
"I'd love to, but I've got a class. Acting lessons. The hours are super weird."
"Ah, that sucks," Gwen said.
"Yeah," MJ agreed. She glanced at me, a small smile playing on her lips. "But have fun. And congrats again on ESU, both of you."
"Thanks," I said.
She waved, said her goodbyes, and walked off.
Gwen watched her go, then turned to me.
"She's cool. I like her."
"Yeah," I said. "She's cool."
We kept walking.
The bowling alley was loud, crowded, and smelled like a mix of fried food and disinfectant.
We rented shoes, grabbed a lane, and Gwen immediately pulled out her phone to take a picture of the scoreboard with our names on it.
"Again?" I said.
"This is history, Rex. The first official Stacy-Thrustmore Alliance bowling match."
I rolled my eyes but didn't argue.
We played three games.
I won all three.
Gwen was terrible at bowling. She got gutter balls half the time and celebrated like she'd won the lottery whenever she knocked down more than three pins.
By the third game, she was laughing so hard she could barely throw the ball.
"I'm so bad at this!" she said, doubled over.
"Yeah," I agreed. "You really are."
She threw a napkin at me.
I dodged it, grinning.
Then, halfway through the third game, her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out, and her eyes went wide.
"Oh my god, I got it!"
I raised an eyebrow.
"You got what?"
"I applied to this new program at Oscorp!" she said, practically vibrating with excitement. "They pair students with researchers for a month-long mentorship. And I just got accepted!"
"That's awesome," I said. "Who's your mentor?"
"Dr. Curtis Connors."
I blinked.
"Wait, the guy who's working on limb regeneration?" I had heard about him; he was getting a lot of interviews these days.
"Yeah!" She grinned. "He's one of the top researchers in the field. This is huge, Rex."
"Damn. Congrats, Gwen."
She took another picture—this time a selfie of her grinning at the camera with the email open on her phone.
"I have to submit some documents tonight," she said, already typing. "But this is amazing. I can't believe I got in."
"You earned it," I said.
She looked up at me, smiling.
"Thanks."
We wrapped up the game, turned in our shoes, and headed outside.
It was close to 11 PM now, and the streets were quieter.
Gwen was still buzzing with excitement about the Oscorp thing, talking a mile a minute about what she hoped to learn from Dr. Connors.
I walked her to the subway station, where she had to catch a train back to her place.
"Thanks for tonight, Rex," she said, smiling. "This was fun."
"Yeah," I agreed. "It was."
She hesitated for a second, then stepped forward and hugged me.
I hugged her back, keeping it brief.
When she pulled away, she was still smiling.
"See you soon?"
"Yeah. See you."
She waved, then disappeared down the stairs into the station.
I stood there for a moment, hands in my pockets, watching the spot where she'd been.
Then I started walking back toward my apartment.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
I pulled it out, and it was a text from MJ.
My classes got cancelled. Back at my apartment.
I'm bored. And horny. If you're done hanging out with your friend, wanna do something about it~?
Attached to the text was a photo.
Her tits. Barely covered by a lacy black bra.
I stopped walking.
Then I smirked.
I knew exactly where I was going next.
.....
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