“I’m fine. I dumped him.”
“I know. It was pretty obvious from the fact that he was crying like a baby.”
I put my hands in the front pocket of my sweatshirt. “He was not.”
“Yes, he was. Of course, that was after he hooked up with Amanda…sorry about that.”
I shrugged. “It’s not my problem.”
“He hooked up with Amanda?” Reed’s eyes nearly bugged out.
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t mention that.” He stared at me.
“It wasn’t important.” In other words, I didn’t want to admit it. It made everything worse. I’d meant nothing to Dylan.
Kyle played with his ID card. “Are you heading back to your dorm? I can walk you.”
“Yeah, that would be cool. That way Reed doesn’t have to.”
Reed took a step closer to me. “I don’t mind.”
“But your house is here.” I probably sounded ruder than I wanted to. The truth was, I still stung over his quasi-rejection.
“If you’re sure.” Reed turned to Kyle. “Make sure she gets back okay.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “I think I can handle it.”
“Thanks for listening.” I gave Reed a small smile.
“Anytime.” He took his keys out of his pocket. “Take care of yourself, and try to have fun tomorrow night.”
“I’ll try.”
Kyle and I walked off.
“What’s tomorrow night?”
“A Halloween date party.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that.” He looked like he was going to say something but stopped himself.
“Why’d you do it?” He walked so close to me that his hand brushed against mine.
“Your brother’s an asshole.”
“I know he is. But what did he do this time?”
I unwrapped the scarf. “That’s why I finally dumped him.”
He squinted to see. “For giving you a hickey?” Kyle eyed me incredulously.
“For giving it to me so guys would stay away. I can’t take his games anymore.”
“That’s Dylan. He got all psycho over you.”
“Yeah…”
“What are you going to dress up as?”
“The original plan was a nightclub singer.”
“Yeah? A sexy one?” He arched an eyebrow.
“That was the plan. But with this mark, I’m going to make it a vampire’s victim or something.”
He laughed. “That’s awesome.”
“Reed thought of it.”
“I’m guessing he’s going to be your vampire?”
“Nope. I’m going alone. The vampire will have skipped out after his snack.”
Kyle looked over at me. “He doesn’t have to… I may be free tomorrow night.”
“Really? You’d go with me?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. You know I like you…and getting to spend a night with you dressed all sexy… sign me up.”
If only he hadn’t added on the part about liking me. I’d have loved a friend date, but anything more than that wasn’t going to work. “Thanks so much for offering, but I’m going to go it alone.”
“But you sounded excited…”
“I’m just not ready to start something new. Especially not with my ex-boyfriend’s brother.”
“You have to see me as more than that. I’m more than Dylan’s brother.”
“Yes, which is even more of a reason not to go with you.” I’d known Kyle a long time. Stringing him along would be unforgiveable.
“What happened?” He slowed his pace. “We kissed that summer before ninth grade. We talked on the phone and online, but the next summer you didn’t even look at me anymore.”
“Do I have to answer that?”
“You liked him that much?”
“He was older. Had I known you’d look like this…” I gestured at him. Of course, I was joking. Nothing could have ended my crush on Dylan other than actually being with him.
“So it was all superficial?”
“I guess. I built him up to be this superhuman, you know? This older guy who was going to sweep me off my feet and teach me everything I needed to know.”
“Not so much…”
“Yeah. Who knew skinny dipping could be so dangerous?” We reached campus.
“We’ll have to do it sometime.”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but I assumed he wasn’t. “Oh no. Never again.”
“It would be different…”
“You know how weird this is, right?” I hoped Kyle realized nothing was going to happen between us. I’d just broken up with Dylan, and I wasn’t looking for any relationship, especially not with another Bradley.
“What?”
“Talking about skinny dipping with my ex’s brother.”
“I liked you first. You liked me first.”
“We were kids.”
“I bet you’ll change your mind.”
“You’ll be the first to know if I do.”
***
The hickey faded ever so slightly by the time I woke up the next morning. I tied on Cara’s scarf, glad the temperature had dipped into the forties overnight. I grabbed my books, and Cara and I walked out together.
Dylan leaned against the wall just outside the dorm.
I groaned. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Then talk.”
His hair was all messed up, and it looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. Dylan never left the house without looking put together. He was worse than a girl that way. “Alone.”
“You want me to stick around?” Cara asked.
“No. I’ll get this over with. See you for lunch.”
She waved and walked away.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Us.”
“There is no us.”
“We had a fight. Couples have fights.”
I chortled. “Maybe it could have been ‘just a fight,’ but you decided to screw Amanda. It’s one hundred percent over.”
“It wasn’t my fault. I got drunk, I was so mad you left like that, and Amanda was over, and she let me talk and—”
“You fell into bed?”
“No…but.”
“Save it. I really don’t care.”
“Yes, you do.” He touched my arm.
I shrugged his hand off. “It was inevitable.”
“What was? Me cheating? I’m not like that. Does it matter that it’s not going to happen again? We both agreed it wouldn’t be more.”
“Oh, did you? How nice.”
“Juliet. Please.”
“Please what? You didn’t do anything wrong. Is that what you want to hear?”
“No! I want to hear the opposite. We’re still together, and I fucked up, and I’ll have to work hard to earn your forgiveness.”
“We’re not together. And if you want to see Amanda again, by all means do it. You two deserve each other.” I started to walk away.
He grabbed my shoulder to turn me back to look at him. “I only want you.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Let’s see, you’ve already fucked Amanda. I guess I should have left a mark on your neck.”
He must have noticed the scarf, and reached out to untie it. I grabbed his hand and stopped him. “Don’t touch me.”
“I already offered to let you leave a mark… I’d like it.”
“Go bother Amanda. Maybe she actually wants to have sex with you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” I started moving again.
“Wait, Juliet!” He caught up with me. “Are we still on for tonight? Your party?”
“What do you think?” He couldn’t actually be that dense, could he?
“You’re going alone?”
I smiled. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Who a
re you going with?”
“It’s none of your business.” It felt so good to say that and mean it.
“It’d better not be Reed.”
“None of your business.”
Chapter Nineteen
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: sigh
Dear Juliet,
Whatever happened, you’ll get through it.
Your Always There For You Cousin,
Amy
There was nothing fun about being the only one at a date party without a date. It was even worse when your friends got there late because they were having dinner with their dates. After walking aimlessly around the bar for a few minutes, I ran into the last person I wanted to see. Well, maybe second to last.
“Hi Amanda!” I said with fake cheerfulness. I could do it. I could be the bigger person—or at least pretend I was.
“Hi… can we talk?” Amanda asked nervously. I didn’t think Amanda got nervous.
“Why?”
“Come on, please.”
I nodded. What else did I have to do? “Whatever you have to say doesn’t matter. We were already broken up. I don’t care.”
“I messed up. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You wanted to screw with me. Or sorry, you wanted to screw Dylan.”
“He’s the only guy who’s ever turned me down.” She flipped her hair off her shoulder.
“He turned you down?”
“Yeah… I always had a thing for him and finally decided to make a move the first time I saw him this semester. He wasn’t interested. He claimed there was someone else.”
“Oh.”
“It didn’t take long to realize it was you.”
“That’s why you’ve been a bitch to me this whole time?”
“Pretty much, yeah. If I’d known before bid day…well, you wouldn’t be in the house.”
“Honest. Wow.”
“It’s the truth, so I’m glad I didn’t know.”
“Wait, are you actually saying you’re glad I’m pledging?”
“You’re pretty cool.”
“Good to know.”
“He’s still crazy about you. He may have slept with me, but he didn’t really want to. He wanted you.” It sounded like it was hard for her to say it.
“He doesn’t actually want to be with me. I’m not sure where this obsession came from.”
“Me either. Well, I should probably find my date. I’m hoping for a more, uh, a better night tonight.”
I laughed, assuming she referred to the sex with Dylan. “I get that. Have fun.”
“You aren’t here alone, are you?” Her words sounded more surprised than malicious.
“Yeah, I’m going it alone.”
“Wow, that’s brave.”
“Brave or stupid.” I shrugged.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“You’re offering to buy me a drink?”
“Well, I did sleep with your ex-boyfriend right after you dumped him—”
“When you put it that way...”
I followed Amanda over to the bar. She leaned over to talk to the cute, young bartender. “She’ll have a sex on the beach, and keep them coming.”
“Is she twenty-one?”
“Absolutely.” Amanda smiled.
I flashed him my fake ID. When Amy first gave it to me, I didn’t think I’d use it much. That night, it was completely necessary.
“All right.”
“Try to have some fun.” She touched my shoulder and disappeared. Maybe it was a bad idea to let the girl who’d slept with my ex-boyfriend buy me drinks, but if I didn’t get something to drink, I was going to leave. Where the hell were Cara and Mallory? They were never late.
“Where’s your date?” the bartender asked as he set down an orangeish-pink drink.
“Non-existent.” I took a sip. It was sweet. I liked it.
“Really? That’s kind of hard to believe.”
“Is it?” I concentrated on my drink. I was in no mood for small talk.
He laughed. “I like your costume.”
“Do you know what I am?”
“Hmm. I might be off base, but it kind of looks like a vampire took a bite out of your neck…”
I smiled. Maybe this bartender wasn’t so bad. “Exactly. I’m a vampire’s victim.”
“That’s pretty creative. Too bad you don’t have a vampire with you. That would be much cooler.” Okay, he lost any points he’d earned.
“Way to rub it in.” I finished off my drink. Sweet mixed drinks are so easy to drink fast.
“Sorry, I’m just saying.” He actually looked as if he felt bad. “Want another?” He pointed to my empty glass.
“Please.” I glanced at my watch. I was giving my friends another ten minutes before I left.
He opened a few beers for people and then brought me my second drink. “Maybe you should spend more than five minutes on this one.”
“I’ll try.”
“Juliet! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry we’re late.” Cara slid onto the stool next to me. She looked hot in her angel costume.
“What happened to you guys?”
“We got held up at dinner. I tried calling.”
“So did I. Is your phone off?” Mallory came around my other side. She was dressed up as a devil. Believe it or not, the angel-devil thing was random.
“I don’t know.” I pulled it out of my pocket. I had six missed calls.
“I guess I didn’t hear it ring.”
“Hey, I heard you finally dumped Dipshit.” Aaron patted me on the back.
“Yeah, Dylan’s history.”
“Good for you.” Aaron ordered drinks for Cara and himself. Bill did the same for Mallory.
“Are you here alone?” Bill asked.
“Oh my god. If one more person asks me that, I’m going to scream. Wait, I’ll do it now.” I was already tipsy. I stood up. “I’m here alone and dateless. I’m a loser, okay? There you have it.”
“Juliet.” Cara touched my arm. “I’m really sorry we’re late.”
“It’s not a big deal. I’m just going to go.” I looked at the bartender. “What do I owe?”
“It’s on your friend’s tab.” He picked up my empty glass.
“What friend?” Mallory asked.
“Amanda.”
“What?”
“She felt bad for me. Listen, have fun, guys. I’m going to get a cab.”
“You should have invited Reed.” Aaron said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I kind of did.” I said it quietly, but I was sure they heard.
“He said no?” Aaron asked.
“Isn’t that obvious? He already had plans.”
“Plans?”
“He’s at the Sigma crush party.”
Aaron got a funny expression on his face. “I’ll be right back. Don’t leave, Juliet.” He touched Cara’s shoulder before walking off.
“I’m sorry to ruin everyone’s fun, but I’ve had it.”
“No, wait. Let’s go dance or something,” Cara suggested. I knew she would feel horrible if I left, but I wasn’t in the mood to dance. “I’m okay right here.” We sat and talked for a few minutes, and Aaron returned.
“What was that about?”
He grinned. “You’ll find out in about ten minutes.”
I let it go and sat back down on my stool.
“Does that mean you need another drink?” My good friend the bartender was back.
“No, I think I should probably switch to water.”
“Here.” He slid a bottle of water over to me.
“Thanks.”
I was about to yell at my friends to go dance with their dates when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Reed took a pair of plastic fangs out of his mouth. “I heard you were in need of a vampire.”
“I thought you had
plans. You didn’t ditch your date, did you?”
“My work was done. She was only using me to make someone jealous.” He took the seat next to me that Mallory had quickly vacated.
“You knew that going in?”
“Of course. I didn’t care, and the guy needed a push. She’s been waiting for him to make a move for a while now.”
“That’s kind of noble of you.”
“Yeah? Well, that’s enough about me. How are you holding up?”
“I kind of suck at this whole independent woman thing.”
“No, you don’t. You’re here, aren’t you?”
“If I wasn’t worried about upsetting my friends, I’d have already left.”
“Want a picture?” Those annoying event photography people came by. Sometimes it was fun to get pictures, but I so wasn’t in the mood.
“Yeah, we’d like one.” Reed put his fake fangs back in and pulled my neck toward him. The flash went off just as he placed his fangs against my neck. There was something almost intimate about it even though he was goofing around. Part of me wished the fangs weren’t in the way. Was I really thinking that about Reed? I certainly didn’t need to be.
He released my neck, grinning when it took me a moment to regain my balance on the stool. I was such a lightweight. “Do you like scary movies?”
“Talk about a conversation change.”
He stretched out his legs. “There’s a Halloween marathon going on at an old theater a few blocks from here. Want to check it out?”
“That actually sounds kind of perfect.”
“Do you guys want to catch a Halloween movie marathon?” Reed asked his friends.
“Not a chance.” Cara leaned on Aaron. “I hate horror movies.”
“If you get scared, you can spend the night with me.” He grinned.
“I’ll spend the night with you if you don’t make me watch one.”
“All right. I guess we’re staying here.”
“What about you guys?” Reed looked at Bill and Mallory.
“I think we’re good.” Mallory gave me a funny smile.
“I guess it’s just us, Oakley.”
***
The marathon was at this really old theater downtown. At first, I thought it would be creepy to watch horror movies at an old place, but I was totally wrong. The atmosphere bordered on comical.
The Hazards of Skinny Dipping Page 13