“He said I was his friend, and I countered by saying he’s slept with all his female friends. He told me that’s exactly why he doesn’t have many left. So I told him Felicity is still his best friend, even though she’s female, and he slept with her.”
“Who’s this Felicity?” Haley asked.
“She’s his oldest friend from Indianapolis.”
“What happened between them?” Madison asked.
“I don’t know the specifics. Only that at some point they had a relationship that didn’t end well. And Jack was all like”—Alice started talking in a mock dude voice—“It took me two years to be friends with her again after we broke up. I won’t screw up another friendship.” She made a finishing gesture with her hands. “End of story.”
“Hmm. What happened after that cozy little chat?” Haley asked.
“He told me I was upset about Ethan dumping me.”
“Which is sort of true,” Madison said. “I still can’t believe my cousin broke up with you.”
“It doesn’t matter, really. I’m not upset about Ethan, I’m upset about Jack.”
“How did you leave things?” Haley asked.
“I followed his lead and pleaded temporary ‘I-was-dumped’ insanity.”
“Well, at least you didn’t give him the ‘I’ve been desperately in love with you for two years’ speech,” Haley said. “Harder to take back.”
“No doubt,” Alice agreed.
“What if Jack was right?” Madison asked. Alice flashed her an incendiary stare, so her friend hurried to explain. “I mean, he’s not exactly boyfriend material, and you don’t want to be friends with benefits.”
“I know he’s attracted to me—”
Haley scoffed. “He’s attracted to every good-looking female.”
“Fair enough, but we have a deeper bond. We’re not just friends.” Alice pointed a finger at them in turns. “You both said that.”
“Yeah, okay,” Haley conceded. “But put yourself in his shoes.”
“How so?”
Haley sighed. “He’s a guy, gorgeous, and he can have all the girls he likes. He enjoys his popularity with the ladies. When he gets tired, or when a relationship gets too serious, he moves on to another girl. But he has you for all his emotional needs. A constant, steady connection that he doesn’t risk screwing up by sleeping with someone else. You told me yourself he doesn’t have self-control when it comes to sex.”
“Well, he does with me.” Alice pouted.
Haley gave her an encouraging smile. “Which, in a twisted way, tells you how much he cares about you.”
“He can keep Felicity as his emotional backup.”
“Felicity is a thousand miles away,” Haley pointed out. “You’re here.”
“And I don’t think him confiding in his ex would work so great for you,” Madison added. “Do you even know her?”
“I’ve seen her around campus a couple of times when she came to visit.”
“Why don’t you talk to her and get an informed opinion?” Madison suggested. “Ask her if it was worth risking their friendship for a shot at love.”
Alice shrugged. “I don’t have her number.”
“Mm, helloooo?” Haley said. “Pity we don’t live in a world where finding people on the Internet is just a name search away. I wish there was a website for that. How about we invent it and become gazillionaires?”
“I’m not friending her on Facebook,” Alice replied stubbornly. “And I’m not talking to her. I can’t risk anything getting back to Jack. I don’t even know if I can trust her—what if she’s still holding a torch for him? I’d pour my heart out to her, and the next second she’d spill everything to Jack. I’d be digging my own grave.”
“You don’t know that,” Madison said. “Aren’t you curious to talk to the only person who can tell you how the friend-girlfriend-friend cycle really is?”
“Even if she said being with him wasn’t worth ruining their friendship, it would mean nothing. They may not have been able to make it work, but that doesn’t mean it would go wrong with us, too.”
“You want to be his girlfriend, and he doesn’t want a girlfriend,” Haley said flatly. “You could be headed down the same destructive path as Felicity if you’re not careful.”
“What if he broke up with Felicity because he wasn’t in love with her?” Alice insisted.
“And he is with you?”
Alice shrugged. “There’s a deep connection between us, something more than a friendship. If, as you said, he relies on me emotions-wise, what do you call that?”
Haley blew out, making her bangs balloon for a second. “Complicated.”
“It is. But I’m tired of playing the ‘friend’ role, pretending I don’t have feelings for him. I’d rather try and fail than not try because he’s afraid it could fail.”
“So what do we do now?” Madison asked.
Alice lifted up to a sitting position, lying back against the headboard. “We make him jealous.”
“You were with my cousin for months, and Jack never showed signs of jealousy.”
“Jack never saw me with Ethan,” Alice said. “There’s a big difference between knowing someone you like is dating someone else and seeing it with your own eyes.”
Madison arched her brows. “So you’re looking for a casual hook up?”
“Ew. No!” Alice grimaced. “I just want to show Jack what he’s missing.”
“How?” Haley asked.
“For once, I’ll shed the geek uniform.” Alice stuck to a conservative dress code in class, and Jack had never seen her dressed to impress. “It’s time he realizes I’m a woman. I could read indecision in his eyes before he said ‘no.’ He just needs a push.”
Madison scratched her cheek before asking, “No chance you saw only what you wanted to see?”
“No, I’m positive, and I’m tired of pretending. I don’t want to be his friend. Watching him sleep his way through campus is like dying a slow death. It makes me live in fear that one of his girls will eventually stick around, and she won’t be me. I get anxious whenever he dates someone for more than a month, and I’m not interested in being his emotional fix forever.” Alice waved one hand in the air dismissively. “If he really feels nothing for me, I’d rather find out now and move on with my life.”
A muffled squeal came from under the bed. Alice bent over to reach and pick up Blue. “This is all your fault,” she told the dark gray bunny as she stroked his soft fur. “If you hadn’t scurried off to his room in our freshman year, I would’ve never met Jack.”
A flashback of that day forced its way into Alice’s mind.
***
Alice ran down the hall of her newly assigned freshmen dorm to find Blue. Her stupid roommate had let him out of his cage and then forgotten to close their door. Alice popped her head inside every room on both sides of the hall, asking, “Hi, have you seen a small bunny, dark gray fur?” But no luck.
Her anxiety grew with each passing door—until she reached the end of the corridor and stopped on the threshold of the last room. Inside, a guy sat on a twin bed holding Blue in his lap. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and man’s slides.
And he was SO hot.
Alice barged into the room. “You found Blue,” she shrieked, startling both human and bunny.
A pair of dark eyes focused on her and the boy’s expression changed from slightly alarmed to interested. Something fluttered inside Alice’s belly. Blue had stumbled upon the best-looking boy of the dorm: dark brown hair, square jaw, and a general tousled, bad-boy aura.
Alice lowered her gaze, suddenly self-conscious. His scrutiny felt like having a spotlight pointed at her face. She did a quick mental checklist of the state of her hair, makeup, and clothes. Um, probably not good; she’d run out of her room midway through her unpacking, in cozy clothes, no makeup, and her hair was a recently bleached mess.
“H
ello stranger,” the boy said, flashing her a mischievous grin.
“Hi.” Alice pushed an unruly lock of hair behind her ear. “You have my bunny.”
The hottie scratched Blue behind the ears, making him purr. I’d purr, too, if it were me, she thought.
“Blue, is it?” he asked.
“Yep.”
The boy cocked his head toward her. “And you are?”
“Alice.”
“I’m Jack.”
“Nice to meet you.” Alice took a tentative step forward. “Can I have him back?”
“Wait, don’t I get a reward for finding him?” Jack teased.
He should get a reward for finding you, Alice thought. Instead, she said, “Your reward would be that I take Blue back before he poops on you.” Did I really just say “poop” in front of a super-hot guy? Alice blushed as she watched Jack’s smile switch back from dashing to mildly worried. She closed the distance between them and took the struggling bunny from his hands. At the light brush of skin on skin, a shiver ran through her.
“You start tomorrow?” Jack asked. “Or are you one of the luckies with no lectures on Monday?”
“Definitely not lucky.” Alice shook her head. “My first class is at a stupid early hour.”
“Same bad luck here. You pick a concentration already?”
Alice frowned. “Concentration?”
“It’s the fancy word they use around here for major,” Jack explained.
“Oh, that.” Why can’t they just call it a major? “Chemistry.”
“No way, same as me.” His face lit up. “You’re in Professor Chase’s class?”
“Yes.” Same major—concentration, whatever—same classes. I’ll see you almost every day. Alice did a victory dance inside her head.
“Me too.” The “I’m interested” smirk was back on his face. “Want to go together?”
“Sure.” Alice clutched Blue more tightly as the bunny tried to leap out of her grasp and back into Jack’s lap. “I’m just a few doors down, room 254.”
“I’ll stop by tomorrow morning. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“See you later, Ice.”
Alice’s face fell a little. “It’s Alice.”
“Mind if I go with Ice?”
Usually, her name got shortened to Ali or Ally. Lice once, thanks to a mean girl in fourth grade. But never Ice.
“Why Ice?” she asked.
“It has the most beautiful crystalline structure.”
Oh! He was flirting with her using molecular structures. If this wasn’t perfect chemistry…
Alice left the room and walked down the hall, but then, on impulse, decided to look back. Jack was leaning against his doorframe, smiling. He’d been watching her go.
***
“You would’ve met Jack in class the next day anyway,” Haley said, bringing Alice back to present.
“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for this little guy”—she kissed Blue and set him back on the floor—“we wouldn’t have gone together. I wouldn’t have sat next to him that day, or the next, and now I wouldn’t be stuck in the stupid friend zone.”
“It could be worse,” Haley insisted. “You could’ve slept with Jack freshman year and now he wouldn’t even remember your name.”
On Alice’s other side, Madison blushed a furious red. She was very self-conscious of one-night stands and guys ditching her afterward.
Alice crossed her arms and pouted. “Say what you like, I’m tired of waiting.”
“What’s your evil plan to make him jealous?” Madison asked.
“He’s going out with the team tonight,” Alice said. Jack played varsity basketball for the Harvard Crimson. “He doesn’t know I know his plans.”
Haley narrowed her eyes at her. “And how do you know?”
“A girl in my photography class is dating a guy on the team. She told me.”
“And what are these plans?” Madison pressed.
“Halloween house party; I’m going, and you’re coming with me.”
“To a party populated by tall basketball players?” Madison smirked. “Who am I to complain? Where’s the party? Is it walk-in, or do we need an invitation?”
“It’s someone’s house off campus, and all Kappa Kappa Gamma are invited.”
Their sorority was where Alice, Haley, and Madison had met. After becoming close friends, they’d moved in together at the beginning of sophomore year. Greek life at Harvard wasn’t residential, so no sorority house. Both Haley and Alice had been recruited as freshmen, while for Madison Smithson, being a Kappa Kappa Gamma was a family legacy. Just like going to Harvard, and then Harvard Law School. The sorority was also where Alice had met Madison’s cousin who, at the time, was a senior and chose to mentor Alice. Now Georgiana was in law school. Weird how many people in Alice’s life shared the same surname. Ethan, too, was a Smithson. The only one ever to quit the family’s law firm to start his own real estate business. He was the black sheep of the family. Alice, Ethan could be a golden sheep, you don’t care. He dumped you! Stop thinking about that particular Smithson.
“What about Emily’s party?” Haley asked. “I told her we were going.”
“Yeah, but her parties suck. We can stop on our way to say hello, stay half an hour, and then join the real paaarrrtyy.” Alice bobbed her shoulders up and down to an imaginary tune.
“We’re sold on the party switch.” Haley nodded. “But just showing up won’t be enough to mess with Jack. So…?”
“I’ve no idea. I figure I’ll make it up as I go.” Alice looked at her friends with a conspiratorial air. “Your task is to make me as hot as I can be in my costume.” She struck a pin-up pose, pushing her chest forward and locking her hands behind her head. “I want to show him what he’s saying ‘no’ to.”
“All right, Miss Femme Fatale,” Haley joked. “Let’s make you irresistible.”
Four
Jack
Jack was late. In less than an hour he had to be Halloween-ready, and he was still in the bathroom shaving. This was the last Saturday before the basketball season kicked off, a.k.a. the last game-free weekend for the next five months. To celebrate, the entire team was going to a house party. The address he had was just a few blocks off campus, meaning Jack could get as wasted as he liked with no car to drive.
And he needed to get wasted tonight.
What an awful weekend he’d had so far. First, a kidnapping followed by a traumatic breakup, and then his best friend tried to kiss him in the library. Women were crazy; he was past due for a guy’s night.
No, not women plural, Jack corrected himself. One woman in particular.
He didn’t care about Lori; she’d get over it. Ice, on the other hand… Dodging her once had been hard, but what if she tried again? He wasn’t a saint, and her new look sorely tested his self-control. The dark hair was unsettling—sexier, even. Not what he was used to. And she’d tried to kiss him! Don’t think about it, Jack. He’d mistaken his connection with a friend for something more once, hurting Felicity hard. The whole thing had been a disaster, one he wasn’t going to repeat with Ice.
Even if it was impossible to forget the thrill he’d felt when she’d come close to him. How their lips had almost touched before he’d come to his senses and pushed her back—
Jack involuntarily jerked his head and cut himself with his razor. He threw the blade in the sink and washed the cut with fresh water. To stop the bleeding, he reached for a paper roll and pressed a sheet of paper on the small wound. This Ice business was affecting him way more than it should. She was just acting out because her boyfriend had ditched her. That was it. When girls dyed their hair and made a move on their best friends, they were acting out. It was nothing more. Ice would be back to normal as soon as she found someone else to date.
Jack frowned at himself in the mirror. All of a sudden, the thought of Ice dating someone else wasn’t that pacifying. What’s wrong with me? Jack
had never had a problem with her dating other men. Then again, she’d never tried anything with him before. Since they’d met, he’d kept Ice locked in the friend zone. Okay, maybe not since day one. Jack remembered fondly the girl barging into his room looking for her bunny. She’d been impossibly cute with her messy blonde bun and worried frown. At once, Jack had vowed to make the human bunny his first college catch. But when they’d started seeing each other every day in class, they’d become friends. And now Ice wanted more. Not going to happen.
Ice wasn’t the “friends with benefits” type—well, no girl was, really. No matter what they said, girls always ended up asking for more. Commitment, a serious relationship, I love yous, and all that. Jack wasn’t interested in any of it. He was determined to enjoy his college years with no strings attached.
He removed the paper from his jaw. The bleeding had stopped, so he quickly finished shaving and rinsed the remaining gel from his face. The cold water was soothing on his skin, tempting him to dunk his entire head under the icy stream to cool off. One freezing shower apparently hadn’t been enough to forget Alice had made a pass at him.
The doorbell rang, announcing Peter had arrived. Good! Peter Wells, his best wingman and team captain, was the fire Jack needed to melt his thoughts about Ice. If possible, Peter was even worse than Jack with girls. The Crimson captain was a senior and always dated a bunch of girls at the same time—freshmen to seniors, or even older. Exactly the bad influence Jack wanted tonight.
He dried his face with a towel, then wrapped it around his neck and went to open the door.
“Sullivan, my man,” Peter greeted him.
They clasped hands and bumped chests, which resulted in Jack’s hand getting smeared with bluish paint. The team had decided to go to the Halloween party dressed as Smurfs. The costume was very basic: white sports shorts, no clothes from the waist up, a white jersey beanie, and a lot of blue body paint.
Peter was wearing a team hoodie, for now, one the blue paint would make unusable. But the captain always wore team-branded clothes. His favorite pickup line was to tell the ladies he was joining the NBA after graduation. It wasn’t necessarily a lie. Peter was bound to receive an offer from one of the big teams sooner or later. What the girls didn’t realize was they’d be long forgotten by then. But just saying the three little magic letters—N B A—kept the WAG dream alive, and the girls fell right and left for Peter. His blue eyes, dark hair, and impressive height certainly didn’t hurt, too.