Jason nodded like he approved of my major. “That’s awesome. You were always a sweetheart in school, figures you’d do something like nursing.”
Sweetheart in school? He’d thought I was a sweetheart? Then why had he led me on and made me look like an idiot?
“Right,” I said. “Well, it’s nice to know what you thought of me.”
Why on Earth had I said that?
He raised an eyebrow and took another sip of his beer. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing really.” I shook my head. Damn it, I’d botched this attempt, though at what I wasn’t sure. But I’d just botched it. “I just mean that…you didn’t seem like you thought I was a sweetheart in school. You only talked to me a few times and when you did, you practically led me on and then went after my friend.”
“What?” he balked. “I did not.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was laced with bitchiness. Seriously, that was what he was going with? Denial? Taking another little sip of my drink to calm my throat once more, I decided I was going to finally get this off my chest.
It was time to enlighten Jason Bryant.
CHAPTER FOUR
JASON
Honestly, I didn’t remember doing anything to lead her on. From the bitchy gleam entering her big blue eyes right now, I knew she was about to tell me the exact moment with vivid detail. The only thing I cared about was that she was still here talking to me.
“Darcie Bell,” she said as though the name should mean something.
It did. I’d dated the girl for a while in tenth grade. In fact, I’d taken her virginity. But I wasn’t about to tell Blaire that. She was obviously heated about something from then involving her, me, and Darcie and I intended to keep her talking until I found out more about it. Then I could fix it, whatever it was, and finally get a taste of Blaire Hayes.
“Darcie Bell,” I said, dragging her name out purposely. “I remember her. We dated for a while.”
Blaire’s eyes heated. “Yeah, you did. She was one of my closest friends. Do you remember how you two started dating?”
I took another swig from my beer while thinking back. And then it hit me. Oh, shit. We’d started dating because I’d used Blaire to get to Darcie. Well, tonight wasn’t going to end the way I’d hoped. Blaire was getting ready to tell me to fuck off at any moment. And here I’d thought she was swooning after me while I filled her cups a moment ago. Speaking of, who was the second cup for? Surely some dick hadn’t sent her to refill it for him.
“You introduced us,” I said. I flashed her my most charming smile, the one I’d trained myself to use for moments like this. “See, that’s what I meant when I said you were a sweetheart.”
She tucked a strand of her short brown hair behind her ear and dropped her eyes to the carpeted floor beneath her heels. She noticeably took in a deep breath before bringing her eyes back up to meet with mine.
“Yeah, that’s not exactly how I remember it,” she said with a little snap to her words.
The smirk that twisted my lips right then couldn’t be helped. A lot of guys used the line of “Damn you look sexy when you’re mad.” Hell, I was positive that I’d even used it myself a time or two, just to make a girl smile instead of glare at me all pissed off. Never had I ever witnessed a girl that I actually thought looked cute as fuck when mad… That is, until right now.
Taking another swig of my beer to hide the smirk, I pulled my eyes from her and then slowly let them drift back. This was my way of pretending that I still didn’t know where she was going with this.
“How do you remember it then?” I asked over the music.
That was one thing I hated about parties—the loud music. I only ever noticed this when I was trying to hold a conversation with someone though. Right now, all I wanted to do was talk with Blaire. I started walking, still making eye contact with her so she would follow. She did. Soon I’d be able to hear her sexy voice and not have to yell over the music to be heard as well.
We were standing outside the little apartment in a second. The cool night air felt refreshing and the loudness of the party was left behind. There were others standing outside, smoking cigarettes and sitting on the banisters, lost in conversations of their own, but there was enough space between us and them to feel a sense of privacy.
“I remember having English class with you,” she said. She sat both of the drinks she held down on the banister in front of her. Guess whoever the other drink was for wasn’t important to her anymore. “I remember having the biggest crush on you.”
She’d had a crush on me? How had that slipped by me?
“Really?” The tone of my voice sounded a little more shocked than I wanted it to be right now. Truth was…that little tidbit had floored me.
Blaire shifted her gaze to one of the beers she’d sat down and I noticed her cheeks tint to a light shade of pink. “Really. The day you asked me if you could walk with me to the science building was one of the best days of my life. You even held my books for me.”
She smiled at the memory and I instantly began to feel like shit. I knew where this story was going. It wasn’t headed in a direction I was proud of. In my defense though, I’d never thought Blaire was even the tiniest bit into me.
“I did do that, didn’t I?” I laughed, hoping it would lighten the mood a bit.
From the way her arms crossed over her chest, I realized the mood had not been lightened. It had instead headed further south quickly.
“Yup, you did. And then you led me on by letting me believe you had a thing for me and instead went after my friend Darcie, who used to meet me in front of the main building bathroom so we could walk to science class together,” she said.
Even though it was years ago that this happened, I could see the moment had become fresh in her memory. This was it—my make or break moment. Blaire would either let me apologize for my ways back then and things would be all right between us for the rest of the night, and potentially lead to what I’d wanted upon first seeing her tonight. Or, it was all getting ready to explode in my face and she’d walk away for good.
I pulled in a deep breath before I spoke. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I really had no clue you were into me at all. If I had known, then I would have asked you out. You know how it was back then… We were fifteen and ran by our nerves and hormones. Girls intimidated me, still do in fact.” I paused and flashed her a little smile. “I never meant to lead you on. I swear.” Taking another swig of my beer, I prayed this would be a good enough apology for her.
She flung her hand, waving off my apology, and made this weird duck face. Why did girls always resort to that face? I’d learned over the years it held two meanings: One, they were attempting to look sexy. And two, they were faking not being hurt or pissed by something you’d said.
Shit. She was still pissed.
“It was forever ago,” she said. Her blue eyes met with mine. There was no trace of pissiness or hurt within them. Maybe I’d been wrong this time. “Besides, I got over you real quick-like after that.”
My chest tightened. Ouch.
“I’d better head back inside. My friend is probably wondering where I went with her cup.” She scooped up both beers from the railing. There was a twinkle in her eye I couldn’t decipher. “It was nice catching up with you again, Jason.”
Damn. What a strikeout. I cleared my throat, hoping to release the building sting of rejection gripping my vocal cords.
“Yeah, nice to run into you again too,” I said. She was already halfway through the door though, so I couldn’t be sure she’d heard me.
Finishing the last of my beer in two gulps, I hung around outside for a bit longer. Why was I letting Blaire Hayes get to me so badly? It wasn’t like I’d never felt the searing sting of rejection before. I guess the thing was, I’d never expected to feel it from her tonight.
Sitting my empty cup down on the banister in front of me, I rubbed my hands over my face, wondering what the fuck I was do
ing here anyway. Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I checked the time. 12:42 AM. I’d give Matt about twenty more minutes and then I was gonna see if he was ready to call it a night. I sure as hell was.
I got over you real quick-like after that.
Blaire’s words repeated through my mind. Fuck me. That little twinkle had been the sweet sparkle of a long-harbored revenge served cold. I laughed out loud, causing the few people scattered about out here with me to look in my direction in alarm. I didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted about me. I’d just figured out Blaire Hayes had played a game with me…and I liked it.
Gripping my empty cup, I started back inside with two goals in mind: One, to find Matt and tell him I was out in twenty and ask for a ride home. And two, to find Blaire and tell her nice serve.
CHAPTER FIVE
BLAIRE
The smile on my face was not one I could remove. Normally I wasn’t one for games or to do things out of sheer spite, but what had happened outside with Jason Bryant was a long time coming and freaking priceless. The look on his face—it was like my pointed remark had been drilled into him and he’d never felt anything like it before.
Searching the crammed apartment, I spotted Lauren and Susan right where I’d left them. Walking over, I realized the conversation was right where it had left off, too. Awesome, I hadn’t missed any jokes Susan made about old men’s balls.
“Here’s your drink,” I said. I held the slightly warm cup out to Susan and hoped it would shut her up. At least for a moment.
Lauren eyed me. “And where have you been? I know the line at the keg wasn’t that long.”
“Eh, around,” I said. I took a sip of my beer and smiled at her.
“Nu-uh.” Lauren’s brown eyes glimmered with mischief. “Were you flirting with someone? Off making out with someone? Fucking someone in the corner?”
“Oh my God!” I smacked her arm and balked at her. “Hell no!”
“Better tell me, because if you don’t my mind will just keep dreaming up things you could have been off doing for nearly thirty minutes. Trust me—a person can do a lot in thirty minutes.” She flashed me an impish smile. “As a matter of fact, I think there’s a T-shirt that says something like that in the back of my closet.”
Susan chuckled and nearly sprayed the warm beer I’d handed her all over. I narrowed my eyes at her. I wasn’t a bitchy person, generally speaking, but there were just those people who rubbed me the wrong way and irked me like no other. Susan Baron was one of those people.
“Fine,” I said. “Walk with me to the bathroom.”
Lauren grinned from ear to ear. “I knew you had something juicy to tell me.”
Smiling, I interlocked my arm through hers. “Eh, nothing major.”
We weaved our way down the even more crowded hallway, heading toward the bathroom. I really did have to pee, but I also didn’t want to be around Susan anymore. Nor did I want her hearing anything I was about to say.
“Enough with the melodrama,” Lauren said with an eye roll. “Tell!”
“All right, all right,” I said.
In the chunk of time it took for Lauren and me to make it from the kitchen to the bathroom, I’d managed to repeat the entire story of Jason and me to her.
“I know it’s immature and dumb,” I said as I finished washing my hands at the sink. I scooped up my cup from the counter. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I ran my fingers through my hair, correcting my part, and then wiped my finger beneath my eyes to get rid of a few smudges of eyeliner. “But it felt so good to be able to get him back.”
“I’m sure it did.” Lauren smiled.
Gripping the knob, I jerked the door open and came face to face with Jason. My heart crashed against my ribcage as our eyes met. I prayed he hadn’t been able to hear what we’d been talking about through the door.
“And we meet again.” Jason grinned.
My cheeks heated at the sound of his voice. I took another sip of my drink. Hopefully the red tint would be discarded and chalked up as being from the alcohol rushing through my veins.
“I guess so,” I said.
Lauren moved to my side. “We haven’t met before.”
Jason shifted his gaze to her. “No, we haven’t. I’m Jason, Jason Bryant.”
“Lauren Myers, Blaire’s good friend.” She elbowed me in the side and I knew exactly what she was thinking without her having to utter a single word. She was thinking how freaking hot Jason was.
“I, uh …” Jason moved to scoot between the two of us and into the bathroom.
There was an awkward shuffling of bodies as the three of us attempted to maneuver around one another in the cramped quarters of the hall, during which Jason’s warm hand found its way to my hip. Ripples of pleasure slid through me from the sensation of his skin pressed against mine, settling in my lower stomach and catching it on fire.
“Sorry,” he breathed against my ear in apology for having touched me in his passing.
The words It’s fine formed in my mind, but never made their way to my lips. His touch had rendered me speechless. There was another awkward moment where we locked eyes again as he started to close the bathroom door.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Would you rather me leave it open so you can see?”
“What? No!” I fumbled my words. My cheeks heated to a whole new shade of red, one that I was sure would not be written off as being caused by alcohol. “I’m fine…I mean you’re fine… I’m—damn it!” I clamped my mouth shut before I could stutter anything else and turned to walk away before I made an even larger idiot of myself. Damn him. It was like sophomore year all over again and my stomach was filled with oversized butterflies in his presence.
“Are you sure?” He leaned against the doorframe and smirked at me. “I’ll even let you hold it.”
Lauren burst into a fit of laughter beside me and I shifted to glare at her.
“I’m sorry, it’s just…your face!” she cried. “I’ve never seen you look so mortified and shocked!”
Jason winked at me and then closed the door.
I couldn’t move. Had he really just asked me that? Seriously? Lauren tossed her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m so sorry,” she choked out. “He is a freaking riot.”
“Right, so are you ready to head out?” I asked, forcing my face into a somewhat normal expression as quickly as I could.
“Uh, sure. If you are.” Her laugh died down and her smile faded. “You’re not pissed at me for laughing, are you?”
Softening my features, I glanced at her. “No, I’m not mad. I’m just ready to head home. I’m still not feeling too well. My throat is killing me, actually.”
“Okay, well… Let’s go find Paige then and let her know.”
Paige had moved from the kitchen to the keg, but was still standing with the douche from earlier. Had they really been talking the entire time we’d been here? I watched Paige’s face light up at something Craig said as Lauren and I made our way to them. She was hooked. That much was clear.
“Hey, Paige,” I said. “Are you about ready?”
“Uh.” Her eyes flicked to Craig and then back to me and Lauren. “Yeah, sure. If you guys are.”
Lauren took a sip of her Pepsi and nodded. “Yeah, I think we are. This party has sort of been a bust—at least for me. All I seemed to attract was one fugly redhead guy who wouldn’t take a hint and an overly talkative Susan Baron.”
“Me too,” I said, even as thoughts of Jason came creeping into my mind. “I mean, about it being a bust.”
Lauren flashed me a smirk. “Riiiight,” she dragged the word out, causing me to shift my gaze from her to the other side of the room in search of Jason.
“Can I get your number or something?” Craig asked Paige. His voice was low and husky, clearly infused with alcohol.
“Sure,” Paige gushed.
Craig reached into his back pocket and handed her his cell. She giggled as they fumbled
together with it to enter her number.
“Call me,” she said.
I headed to the door, anxious to get some fresh air. Dumping my cup into the trash can conveniently placed beside it, I gripped the cool metal knob and twisted. My feet were killing me. Heels were not invented with a woman’s comfort in mind. All I wanted right now was a warm bubble bath and some NyQuil.
“Well, glad somebody’s night went well,” Lauren commented. She eyed Paige’s wide grin. “In fact, looks like both of you two topped me tonight.”
“Wait, what?” Paige asked. Her face scrunched up and her eyes darted from me to Lauren rapidly. “What did I miss?”
“Oh, just some guy named Jason Bryant hitting on Blaire hardcore,” Lauren said before I could open my mouth.
We started down the few stairs leading to the parking lot and I bit the inside of my cheek. I hadn’t planned on mentioning Jason at all to Paige; she knew how much I’d liked him in high school.
“It was nothing…and he didn’t even hit on me,” I said. My hand came up and made a grand gesture wave that wasn’t necessary and in no way made it seem like any less of a big deal in Paige’s eyes. “Seriously, all we did was talk. For like fifteen minutes.”
Paige moved to get in front of me and placed both her hands on my shoulders in an effort to freeze me in place. “Jason Bryant…from high school? The one who led you on and then exploded your heart?” she asked.
“He led you on and then exploded your heart.” Lauren gasped, mocking Paige’s dramatic tone perfectly.
Rolling my eyes, I glared at Paige. “Yep, that’s the one. And it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I actually got to tell him how I felt about that little piece of my high school history. It all worked out.”
“Whoa, I missed a lot, didn’t I?” she asked. “But, I did get a hot guy’s number. My future husband’s number to be exact.”
Lauren and I laughed at the same time. This would make future husband number five of the year for Paige. Her broken heart was mended; this night hadn’t been a bust after all, regardless if I liked her new love interest or not.
CHAPTER SIX
JASON
When I exited the bathroom, I was practically trapped in place by a wasted girl who was definitely not Blaire. I’d said everything as nicely as I could while declining her invitation to join her in the bathroom for a little quickie. That just wasn’t my style. I happened to love ladies as much as the next guy, but I still had standards and banging some chick who was too drunk to even know her own name in the tiny bathroom of an apartment party was not up to par for me. With Matt, maybe—I didn’t seem to know the guy anymore. Too much time had gone by.
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