“I know.” I nod and reach out to turn off the seat warmers, my fingers brushing against her thigh as I do. Electricity sparks where I touch her and I snatch my hand away, settling it on the bottom of the steering wheel. “Need my help with your stuff?”
She shakes her head. “I can get it if you pop the trunk.”
Damn it, I actually want to help her. Why does she have to be so difficult? “It’s still raining.”
“I think I can make it,” she says drolly, reaching for the door handle. Pausing, she keeps her back to me for a long, heavy moment before she glances over her shoulder, wary blue eyes meeting mine. “Thanks for the ride home.”
“Anytime,” I tell her, meaning it. Fuck, I mean it and I shouldn’t. This sucks. I don’t want to like her but my fingers are still buzzing from touching her earlier.
Talk about ridiculous.
She gets out of my car and I do the same, slamming my door and rushing toward the trunk, the hood already popped. I open it before she arrives and reach inside for the pile of garment bags I threw in there. She appears at my side and tries to take them from me but I won’t let her.
“I’ll carry them in for you,” I tell her, raising my voice so I can be heard above the pounding rain.
Alexandria tries to tug them out of my arms but I won’t let go. “You’re so irritating,” she yells, making me laugh.
I shut the trunk and follow after her toward the front door, not missing the way she glares at me when I duck under the tiny overhang to stand beside her. “Hand them over,” she demands and I shake my head.
“God,” she mutters as she opens the door and bursts inside. I trail after her, my gaze going everywhere, finding the living room fairly standard. Giant brown suede-looking couch, battered coffee table in front of it and a cheap but large flat screen TV hanging on the wall, while a Playstation 4, a Wii U and various controllers lie discarded on the floor.
“You play?” I ask, nodding toward the game systems.
“Of course not,” she retorts as she shuts the door. “But my roommates do.”
I raise a brow. “How many people do you live with?”
“Three.”
The girl doesn’t give an inch when it comes to personal information. “And what are their names?”
“Not like you know them,” she says and I send her a look that makes her roll her eyes. “If I tell you, will you leave?”
“Only if I can see your room.”
“How old are we again?”
“I’m twenty-one. Almost twenty-two,” I inform her with my most charming smile. It doesn’t seem to charm her whatsoever. “How old are you?”
“If I tell you, then will you go?” she asks hopefully.
“Let me take this to your room while you answer my questions, and then I’m out of here,” I promise.
She waves a hand and starts walking down the short hall. I follow her, shifting the garment bags from one arm to the other. Whatever the hell is in here, it’s pretty heavy.
“I’m twenty-one,” she tells me as she stops in front of a door near the end of the hall. She opens it and steps out of my way so I can enter in front of her. “And my roommates are Felisha, Conrad and Jeff. Now leave.”
“Conrad?” I ask incredulously, turning to look at her. I’m ignoring that now leave remark. The look on her face tells me she’s beyond irritated.
“Yeah. Conrad. He’s a real sweetheart.” She nods and points to a wicker chair in the corner of the room. “You can set the garment bags over there, thanks.”
I do as she requests, glancing around her room, looking for…what I don’t know. A sign? A glimpse of her personality in whatever might be hanging on the walls or sitting on top of her dresser, or resting on the bedside table? Maybe even old photos I can check out of a young Alexandria?
But there’s nothing. Standard white furniture that looks straight out of an Ikea catalog and a perfectly made bed covered with a pale blue and white printed comforter and way too many pillows for me to handle.
Chicks and their pillows. It’s like a fucking sickness.
“So you live with guys?” I say when I turn to face her. She immediately goes to her dresser and pulls open a drawer, snagging something neatly folded and black from within before she shuts it. Hope makes me take a step closer. If she opens a drawer full of panties or bras, I’ll consider that a small victory.
“I do.” She whirls around, holding what looks like a pair of leggings in front of her chest. “You need to go.”
I frown. “No ‘thank you, Tristan, for helping me out after a rough afternoon getting caught in the rain’?”
She rolls her eyes. Again. “I already said thanks but in case you didn’t hear it the first time—hey thanks, Tristan. I appreciate the ride, even though I told you not to bother.”
This girl is fucking tough. I remember how Jade put Shep through the ringer and he seemed to love it, the sick bastard.
Not me. I’m discovering that I sort of hate this kind of thing. It shouldn’t be this difficult. If she thinks she’s playing hard to get and I’ll keep chasing, she’s mistaken.
“You’re welcome.” I salute her. “See you around, Alexandria.”
I walk out of her bedroom without another word and lo and behold, she follows. All the way to the front door, which she even opens for me. “Call me Alex,” she says as I start to walk outside.
Pausing, I turn to face her. “It’s a man’s name,” I say.
“Your eloquence knows no bounds,” she says and I narrow my eyes at her. The rain is dripping off the edges of the overhang, the wind whipping those drips into the back of my already damp shirt but I don’t move.
“It’s not an insult. You’re too pretty for the name Alex.” I clamp my lips shut. Being near her, I somehow say the stupidest shit ever. Like I’m interested in her.
Her cheeks flush pink and she drops her gaze from mine. “Well, it’s my nickname.”
“It’s a bad one.”
She lifts her head, eyes a blazin’ like she’s seriously pissed. “You’re incredibly rude.”
“So are you.”
She rests her hands on her hips. “You should go.”
“Trust me, I’m leaving.” I don’t move. My feet feel like they’re cemented to the damn floor.
“I’m going to shut the door in your face,” she threatens, gesturing like she’s going to slam it.
Reaching out, I stop the door’s progress, pressing my palm flat against the thick wood. “Now who’s the rude one?” I raise a brow.
“You’re infuriating.” She makes this sexy sort of growling noise and I tell myself to ignore it. Ignore her. She’s pissed at me. This has zero chance of going anywhere and all I want is to get in her panties.
“You should go out with me.” The words blast out of my mouth like I have no control. I’m an idiot. “Friday night. I’ll take you to dinner.”
The smile that appears on her face is nothing short of smug. “Sorry. I already have plans. A date. With Steven.”
Steven? Oh. Fuck. Steven. The dude from the bar. Really? She can get someone so much better.
Like me.
We stare at each other silently for at least a minute. Maybe even two. Finally I turn and head down the sidewalk toward my car, walking slowly like no big deal. I don’t care that the rain is soaking through my clothes. Fuck it.
“Your loss,” I yell at her from over my shoulder.
“You’re an asshole!” she screams back.
I catch a glimpse of her angry face just before she shuts the door and I unlock my car, climbing inside and breathing in her lingering scent. Why is this girl so damn hard to resist?
Punching the steering wheel, I exhale loudly. Stare at my dashboard as I grit my teeth. I shouldn’t let her bother me. I don’t care if she’s going on a date with some nice guy who probably has no clue how to treat her. He’s probably so fucking overwhelmed that a beautiful girl actually wants to go out with him he’ll end up kissing her ass the ent
ire night.
And she’ll walk all over him. They deserve each other.
I reach over and start the car, getting the hell out of there before I do something even more stupid.
Like chase after her and tell her to forget that Steven guy.
She should go out with me.
The restaurant Steven takes me to is nice without being too over the top expensive, and the food is delicious. Our conversation flows easily, he’s made me laugh more than once and he’s so incredibly sweet. Considerate. Truly interested in what I have to say and I’m returning the favor as best I can.
I sit there and nod and smile and laugh in all the right places, but my mind keeps straying to Tristan. Which is awful and unfair to Steven because he’s nice. Cute in an unassuming way. A bit of a nerd who loves video games—he actually knew Conrad when he came to pick me up for our date and they promised to get together some other time to play the latest version of Call of Duty.
Guys and their video games, I get it. But I swear Steven seemed more excited to discover that I live with his friend versus going on a date with me. At least with Tristan, I know he’d be into me—to the point where I’d probably want to push him off and tell him to take a chill pill.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
“Do you like to gamble?” Steven asks after the waiter takes away our dinner plates.
“I don’t like making risky moves with my money.” And that was the God’s honest truth. After everything I’ve been through, I’ve become thrifty. A word I didn’t even know existed until recently.
Steven’s face falls a little, like my answer totally disappointed him. “Ah, there’s this illegal gambling house not too far from campus.” He pauses.
“I’ve heard of it,” I tell him. Who hasn’t? There are whispers about it everywhere but I’ve never been there.
“My friends and I like to go there on occasion and I just got paid so…” He smiles. “I thought you might want to go. But if you don’t, it’s cool. We can do something else. Maybe go to the movies or go have a drink. You do drink right? I mean, we met at a bar so I assumed you like to drink and we can—”
I settle my hand over his and he goes mute, his eyes widening as he glances down at our connected hands. I only touched him to shut him up. The guy rambles when he gets nervous. “Let’s go gamble your paycheck away,” I suggest.
He laughs but it sounds forced. I think I freaked him out with my remark. “Not my entire paycheck. I have about one hundred dollars to play with tonight.”
That’s it? Alex of old would laugh at him. The Alex of old would’ve spent one hundred dollars on an appetizer and not blinked twice.
The new Alex wouldn’t toss one hundred dollars away playing blackjack or whatever. I can buy a week of groceries with that kind of money, maybe even two if I really stretch it.
“Let’s go. Sounds fun.” I smile at him and release his hand, settling mine in my lap.
He studies me as he gnaws on his lower lip. That looks painful. “Can I admit something to you?”
Uh oh. I mentally brace myself. “Sure. Go for it.”
“The other night at the bar? My friend dared me to talk to you.” His cheeks turn ruddy and he drops his gaze to the table. “I kept going on about how gorgeous you were and he got sick of it so he told me if I thought you were so hot, I should just go ask you out.”
My cheeks warm too. Poor, sweet Steve and his asshole friend. “I’m glad you approached me. I’ve had a good time tonight.”
He lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine as he smiles. “You have?”
Poor dude. He sounds surprised. “Totally.” I nod. “You’re fun.”
“I am?” He sits up straighter. “I mean, yeah. So are you. Fun, that is. And pretty. Shit. I sound like an idiot.”
I start to laugh, but not at him. “Stop while you’re ahead. And you’re adorable when you’re flustered.”
The pleased look on his face was worth the compliment. And Steven is cute when he’s flustered. Not Tristan gorgeous but cute.
Ugh. Quit thinking about Tristan.
Pushing him firmly out of my thoughts, I focus on the guy in front of me. He’s got his wallet out as he looks over the check and I automatically grab my purse. “Do you want me to help?” I ask.
Steven glances up, a scowl on his face. “No way. I invited you, Alex. I’ll pay the bill.”
“Thank you,” I say softly. I’ve gone on exactly one date since I arrived here at school and we split the dinner bill. I paid for my own movie ticket. He also wanted me to help pay for popcorn but I didn’t want any so I refused. That pissed him off.
I never saw him again. Good riddance.
Would Tristan actually take me on a date? Or would he just drag me into his bedroom and fuck me? I’m going with the latter. He doesn’t seem like one who’d buy me dinner in order to get me naked. Not that I would get naked with him on the first date. No way.
“You ready to go?”
Steven’s voice bursts through my thoughts and I nod, rising to my feet, totally irritated with myself. It’s not fair of me to constantly think of Tristan while on a date with another guy. A really nice guy who seems to like me versus just using me. How often does that come along? I need to focus on Steven. He’s easy to talk to. Seems fun. Has good taste in clothes—he’s dressed nicely in a dark green and black checked flannel shirt and jeans. Polite and a gentleman, he holds the door open for me as we exit the restaurant and walk out into the cold night.
The rain stopped Wednesday night and left cool and cloudy days in its wake. I have a thick blue sweater on but it’s still cold enough to make me shiver when the breeze hits us. We walk side by side in the parking lot toward his car, making small talk. I can feel Steven looking at me and I wonder what he’s thinking. Wonder even more what Tristan is doing…
I grimace. He invades my thoughts. I don’t even like the guy but I can’t get him out of my head. It’s crazy. I think of when he came into my room, eating up all the space with only his presence, trying to find out information about me when really, why would he care? He sees me as nothing but a conquest. I know it. So why am I still thinking about him?
Why am I still interested?
Damn it, I am not interested.
“If you don’t want to go to the gambling house, it’s cool,” Steven says out of the blue.
I look over at him and smile. “I want to,” I say sincerely. “Let’s go win you some money.”
He laughs. “Sounds like a plan.”
“I think we should close early,” I mutter to Shep.
We’re sitting at an empty blackjack table that has no dealer, surveying the scene before us. It’s dead for a Friday night. This place is slowly losing its appeal with the masses and Gabe is especially over it since everything happens at his house. He’d rather snuggle up with Lucy than work his shifts.
“I’m with you. It’s quiet tonight,” Shep says. It’s my normal shift but Shep showed up about an hour ago, letting me know Jade was having some sort of girls’ night with her friends so he thought he’d help me out.
It took everything within me not to ask if Alexandria was part of the group Jade was with tonight. I mean, I knew she had a date with that dude from the bar but I was hopeful she canceled on him. I was damn proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut. Though her name still hangs on the tip of my tongue.
Our little argument after picking her up in the rain had been some sort of weird foreplay that I can’t get out of my head. After leaving her place, I went home and jerked off in the shower to the memory of her falling asleep in my car, how she tried to hustle me out of her house, the angry look on her face just before she shut the door.
Yeah. My beat off material is of Alexandria mad at me. What the hell?
“I think we should close this place down period,” I tell Shep who raises his eyebrows in surprise.
“You serious?”
I nod. “We already plan on shutting it for good at the end of the school
year. Are we even making enough money to make this feasible?” At first, we’d started the gambling house for fun. Something to do—something illegal, which made it even more enticing. It wasn’t about the money. It was about playing poker, blackjack, whatever we could for big money and getting away with it. It was about high stakes and hot girls and all the booze we could ever want.
Don’t think I’d ever admit this to anyone—especially Shep and Gabe—but I’m tired of it. Tired of running this place and having it eat into my time. Maybe I just want to veg out by myself and have a beer, you know? I don’t even hang out at our fraternity house much anymore. To the point where they’re demanding we all show up and go to the semi-formal dance they have planned with one of the sororities.
I get fucking hives just thinking about having to put on a suit and take some girl to a dance who’ll end up with big expectations in regards to me. I’ll have to disappoint her.
It’s what I do best.
“Yeah.” Shep glances around the room, his expression pained. “I have good memories here. It’s where I met Jade.”
He would bring his girl into it. He always does. “You want to build a shrine in here? Like an ode to your guys’ relationship?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” he mutters.
“You’re the one who has to constantly bring her up. It’s always Jade this and Jade that. Gabe’s just as bad. They’ve barely been going out for what—a month?” I don’t know and I don’t really care, I just know it’s not been for long. “And he’s already asked Lucy to move in with him.” I shake my head. These two are so whipped it’s unbelievable.
“You’re just jealous,” Shep says, looking away like he can’t stand the sight of me.
“That is the last fucking thing I am,” I protest vehemently. “I don’t need some ball and chain dragging me down, always wanting to spend time with me. That sounds like a nightmare. Don’t you miss the variety? So many girls are out there, all yours for the taking, man.”