All eyes were on me and I was trying to come up with a way to back out of it, but Ryan seemed to be warming to the idea with each passing second. “What’s the matter, Jax? You chicken?”
I scoffed. “What is this? A fifties movie? Are you going to challenge me to a street fight next?”
My lame joke fell flat and everyone ignored it.
“You gonna do it, man?” Tom asked from across the table.
“What? No, of course not.”
Ryan smiled in triumph. “Because he knows it can’t be done.”
“Because there’s nothing in it for me,” I shot back. I knew Simone was going to kill me for this later, but I didn’t care. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder in Rose’s direction and turned back with a smirk. “Been there done that, remember?”
Ryan’s smile faded fast and his nostrils flared with anger. The fool still thought she was his. He was possessive and jealous and…such a freakin’ moron. He deserved to be taken down a notch. Or twenty.
“Fine,” Ryan said.
For a second the tension at the table eased and I drew in a deep breath of relief. Even with adrenaline coursing and my gut churning with anger, I knew that this was trouble. Whatever was happening here was a bad idea, and if he was ready to drop it, I would too.
“Fine,” Ryan said again, his eyes narrowing as he focused his attention on me again. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
I blinked. Um…what?
Simone stiffened beside me like she was going to lunge between us. Every guy at the table was tense and quiet.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Ryan’s smile was slow and cocky. “A hundred bucks.”
I stared at him in shock. He couldn’t be serious.
But he was. A hundred bucks was nothing to a guy like Ryan. He lived on the rich side of town and had his own brand-new car. Unlike me he didn’t work a part-time job or have to save every penny just to grab some food at the vending machines.
“Two hundred,” he said when I didn’t answer.
My lips parted with shock. He was serious.
He was totally serious.
His brows drew down as he leaned across the table. “Five hundred if you get her to be your girlfriend through the dance next month.”
Five hundred dollars.
That was more than I made in a month at the tire store and enough to buy the new amp I needed for my band.
“Done.” The word was out of my mouth before I could really think it through. I heard Simone hiss something in my ear, but I ignored her.
I barely even noticed Ryan’s smug grin or the other guys laughing and talking about this dumb bet. I was too busy seeking out Rose once more.
She was laughing at something her friend said and my heart did this crazy hard thud against my ribcage.
I was going to do this. For the money, obviously, but also because…
I’d never backed down from a challenge. There was only one other time in my life where I’d been caught so off guard and had walked away the loser, and it wouldn’t happen again.
Rose tipped her head back with a laugh and my jaw clenched with determination.
Me and Rose?
We had some unfinished business.
The bell rang and I was the first one out of my seat and hurrying toward the door, my gaze never leaving Rose as Ryan’s buddies laughed behind me.
“Good luck, man!” one called out.
“You’re gonna need it,” another said.
Simone hurried to keep pace beside me as I jostled my way through the crowd. “Please tell me you’re not actually doing this,” she said.
I ignored her.
“You can’t honestly be this stupid,” she continued. A basketball player bumped into her, sending her flying into me. I caught her and steadied her.
“Hey, watch it,” I said to the guy.
“Sorry.” He said it to me, not Simone, which annoyed the crap out of me, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay, fine, maybe you could be that stupid,” she continued as if we hadn’t been interrupted. “But you’re not this mean.”
I stopped short and someone behind me bumped into me before moving around. “I’m not being mean, Simone. It’s just a stupid bet.”
“Someone’s going to get hurt.” Her jaw was set in that stubborn way of hers and she looked every inch the goody-two-shoes.
I gave a snort of amusement, but my eyes locked on bright purple hair that stuck out in the sea of brown and blonde hair up ahead. I made a beeline for her, Simone doggedly following at my side. “No one’s going to get hurt,” I said as we turned the corner to follow her.
“Oh please. Like you didn’t get hurt when she dumped your butt two years ago?”
“I was going to dump her,” I said for what had to have been the millionth time. “Of course I wasn’t hurt. I was just shocked, that’s all.”
“Fine. Then what about Rose?”
I stopped again, this time pulling over so Simone didn’t get trampled by the post-lunch crowd. “What about her?”
Simone’s brows arched meaningfully. “What if she gets hurt?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Simone was too sweet for words sometimes. And because of that, she just couldn’t understand someone like Rose. “Trust me, Simone. She won’t get hurt. She’d have to have actual feelings to get hurt.”
Simone opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off with a shake of my head as I kept going in the direction of Rose’s locker.
“I know her better than you do, Simone. The girl is as shallow as they come. She needs a steady stream of male admirers to keep her vanity happy and she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process.” I spotted her at her locker. “If anything, I’m doing her a favor. Maybe this will teach her a lesson.”
“Teach her a lesson?” Simone sputtered. “Do you even hear yourself right now?”
I ignored her protests right up until I reached Rose’s side. “Hey.”
I leaned against the locker beside hers and noticed the slight widening of her bright blue eyes when she saw me. “Hi,” she said slowly, her voice rising at the end and with a hint of a question. Her gaze never left mine as she reached for a book in her locker. “Can I help you?”
I heard Simone’s soft laugh and Rose must have too because her gaze flickered from me to my friend who was half hidden behind me, and half hidden inside her oversized hoodie. The girl was good at hiding. I’d never once won hide-and-seek as kids.
“Hey, Simone.” Rose’s pretty features softened in a genuine smile and it was only then I remembered that Rose and Simone likely knew each other somewhat well thanks to Simone’s involvement in the art department. She did a lot of the set work for the plays that Rose starred in.
Simone waved her hand and wiggled her fingers but when Rose’s brows arched in question, Simone looked to me to keep talking. They both did.
The vibe was far from welcoming and more like ‘what on earth are you doing here?’
I shifted uncomfortably but my smile never faded. “I, uh…I heard what happened between you and Ryan.”
Her expression didn’t so much as flicker. Her blank stare was…unnerving, actually. She waited patiently for me to make my point.
And my point was…what exactly?
I gave her a rueful wince. “He’s not exactly taking it well.”
Rose turned away to reach for another book and I felt the loss of her gaze. I felt the loss of her attention. “If you’re trying to play matchmaker or whatever, I’m not really into the whole passing notes through friends thing.”
Her tone was as flat and uncharming as I’d ever heard it and Simone choked on a laugh at my expense.
“No, no, nothing like that.” I scrambled to salvage this situation. “All I meant to say was…you have nothing to worry about.”
That got her attention, at least. She shot me a sidelong look that I couldn’t decipher. “Really?”
I straightened a bit. See?
This wouldn’t be so hard. I knew girls, and I absolutely knew how to play this girl. “He’s all bark and no bite,” I said with an assured smile. “He’ll get over it eventually, and until then…I’ve got your back.”
She blinked once. Twice. Then she slammed her locker shut and turned to face me. No, she didn’t just face me. She leaned into me, her body softening like she was melting against me. “Is that right?” her voice was so breathy, so tempting…
I fought hard to swallow or else I might have drooled. Man, I’d forgotten just how tempting she could be. How the world seemed to stop spinning when she was looking at you like this. Like you were her Prince Charming and the center of the universe.
Like you were the only man on the planet.
Her fingertips trailed over my chest, tiptoeing up toward my shoulder teasingly as she batted her lashes. “You’d do that for me?”
It was the slight hint of a Southern belle accent that made me blink and threatened to ruin this haze of desire. “Uh…yeah.”
“You would protect little ol’ me from that big, bad wolf?” There was no denying the teasing—nay, mocking—glint in her eyes as she leaned in even closer and batted her eyelashes dramatically.
She moved back so quickly I felt a rush of cold where she’d once been and she smacked her forehead with the back of her hand as her voice rose in that ridiculous accent. “Why, I do declare, you are such a brave gentleman.”
Simone collapsed into hysterics beside me, bending at the waist as she laughed at Rose’s antics.
Rose straightened and dropped her hand along with the accent. She gave me a grin that softened the mockery and then she reached out and patted my cheek lightly. “You’re cute, Jax. Did you know that?”
I opened my mouth and nothing came out.
“Bye, Simone,” she sang as she left.
“See ya!” Simone sounded way too giddy as she said goodbye to Rose who was sashaying away from us like she was on a freakin’ catwalk.
“Don’t say it,” I said.
Simone laughed.
I glared down at her. “Do not say a word.”
3
Two Years Ago: Bobby Newman’s Party
Rose
Jax's gaze met mine evenly, his dark eyes glinting with amusement.
"Please tell me you're joking right now," I said.
His lips twitched as he tried to smother a smile. "I would never joke about something that clearly means so much to you."
I leaned back on the ratty old sofa in Bobby's basement, ignoring the birthday party going on around us like I'd been doing for the better part of an hour. Who could focus on cheesy music and awkward conversation among fifteen-year-olds when Jax Hadley was flirting with you?
I mean, yes. I’d made this happen. And I was already planning out the thank you letter I'd send to Cosmo because, holy crap, their article about how to get your crush to notice you totally worked.
Ask him to do a small favor?
Check.
That's why I was sitting here pretending to nurse the punch that someone had spiked when Bobby's parents weren't looking. I'd had Jax fetch some for me.
Little touches?
Check.
I'd touched his forearm, his shoulder, and even his chest. I was rocking the flirting, and the best part was? Once I'd gotten his attention, it was so easy to keep up the flirting.
With Jax, flirting was like breathing. It was a give and take, a push and pull. Everything we said seemed to have a hidden subtext, every look a different meaning. We were in innuendo city over here and it was heady.
He was freakin’ intoxicating.
I’d had a crush on Jax since I’d transferred here in the eighth grade. Who wouldn’t? Dark hair, lean body, and he played the guitar! Every girl had a crush on Jax, and I was the one flirting with him.
Life was good.
“So, it’s that good, huh?” he asked. He reached a hand out and brushed a lock of my platinum blonde hair out of my face.
I held my breath as the butterflies in my belly went into overdrive. Oh heck yeah. Either he’d read the same Cosmo article I had, or he was just looking for an excuse to touch me.
And I loved it.
The air between us was freakin’ vibrating. I’d read about first love a million times over, but nothing had prepared me for this. It was magic.
He was perfect.
“That good?” I repeated, making him laugh with my exaggerated speech. “That good? Jax, Grease is a classic. It’s a staple. It’s one of the definitive movie musicals of our time.”
He arched his brows. “I guess I’ve been missing out.”
I leaned in farther and patted his arm, letting my hand rest a little too long and thrilling at the way his eyes darkened at my touch. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you all you need to know.”
His lips curved up into the sexiest smirk known to man. “About…musicals.”
I nodded with a pert expression. “Of course,” I teased. “What else would I be talking about?”
His gaze dropped to my lips and I held my breath.
He was thinking about kissing me.
I just knew it.
My heart went wild in my chest.
“Tell me more about this musical,” he said. “Which part are you?”
I couldn’t tell if I was disappointed or relieved that he wanted to talk. I’d never kissed a boy before, and I didn’t want my first kiss to be in Bobby Newman’s basement. And besides…flirting was just so much fun.
I curled my legs up underneath me as I told him more about the community theater production I’d just been cast in. “I got the part of Rizzo.”
“Is Rizzo good?”
“She’s the best,” I gushed. “The true lead is Sandy, she’s the sweet young ingénue role.” I shifted closer to him, getting even more comfortable as I warmed to my topic. “She’s got some good songs, but overall she’s pretty boring.”
He shook his head. “I can’t imagine you playing anyone boring. You couldn’t be boring if you tried.”
I beamed as I tossed my hair. “Exactly.”
He laughed and I grinned.
A song came on that I loved and my eyes widened. “Let’s dance.”
He looked around with arched brows. “But…no one is dancing.”
I leaned over and wrapped my arms around his neck so I could talk directly in his ear. “Come on, Jax. Live a little.”
His arms tightened around my waist and he held me even closer. “You are something else, did you know that?”
I pulled back just far enough that I could look in his eyes. “I do. And you’re cute. Did you know that?”
The male satisfaction in his eyes was undeniable, the curve of his lips smug and sexy. “You think so?”
I looked up at him through my lashes the way I’d been practicing in front of the mirror. “I know so.” I bit my lip with a coy expression. “You know what else I know?”
“What?”
“You and me? We are going to have so much fun.”
4
Rose
Not just any mom would laugh in her daughter’s face.
Mine?
She was currently bent over at the waist, having a good chuckle at my expense.
I dipped my peppermint teabag into my mug of hot water as I waited for her to stop.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she said, without a hint of apology. “But an acting coach? That’s out of the question.”
And this was what I got for listening to Hannah, a girl who wouldn’t know a dysfunctional home life if it reached up and slapped her in the face.
I stifled a sigh as my mom continued unloading the bag of takeout. Steamed chicken for her, chicken and broccoli light on the sauce for me, and no rice for either of us.
Carbs were a no-no in this household, and quite frankly fighting for the right to eat rice just didn’t rank on the priorities list these days. I had to choose my battles carefully, and rice?
That was not the hill I plan
ned to die on.
But my acting career, on the other hand…
“Mom, you always said I should do whatever it takes to give me an edge—”
“I meant getting facials, sweetheart, or investing in braces when you were in junior high.” She reached over and patted my chin. “And I was right. You’ve got flawless skin and a smile to die for.”
I was so not smiling now, not that she noticed. “Sweetie, go get dressed for dinner. Steven will be over any minute.”
Steven was the boyfriend du jour. I looked down at the leggings and oversized sweater I’d changed into when I’d gotten home from school. “What do you want me to wear?”
She waved a hand. “Anything that doesn’t say hobo.”
I got up out of my seat even though my stomach was growling and begging me to dive into the steaming container. But if I wanted my mom to come around, I had to play her games. And that meant changing into something nice to lounge around in, as though this Steven guy cared about me and my wardrobe.
In my mother’s mind, clothes made the woman. Even loungewear ought to make a statement.
I paused in the doorway that led to my room, debating my tactics. If I let it go, there might never be another good moment to ask her. She was in a good mood right now—no doubt because Steven was coming over.
She was always happiest in the early stages of a new relationship. The honeymoon phase. Ironically, by the time the actual honeymoons came around she was typically a ball of stress trying to be the perfect trophy wife.
She might be annoyed if I pestered her now, or she could say yes just to shut me up so she could focus on her date tonight. It was a toss-up, but I’d take my chances. “You know, if I had an acting coach, I really think I have a good chance of winning the scholarship, and then—”
Her loud sigh cut me off, and the way she slumped forward told me straight away that I’d misjudged. Her good mood was fading fast and morphing into the all too familiar exasperation. “Rose, I’m not made of money, you know. I need to think long and hard about where I spend my money, and I’m not going to throw it away on a lost cause.”
Her voice held a note of toxic acidity, and it was all I could do not to strike back—remind her that it wasn’t her money. A large chunk of it was my money, thanks to the hefty child support my father paid every month.
Kissing the Player (The Dangers of Dating a Diva Book 1) Page 4