Destroying the Game

by L. Grubb

  I’ve only seen him a handful of times in the last couple of months since he’s been out.

  “How you doin’, Dante?” he asks, pulling back from me. His ice blue eyes assess me and I fucking hate it. He always does this shit, trying to psychoanalyze me.

  “I’m good.” I walk around his car taking stock of the rims and the interior. “Shit, Jay. This is one motherfucking beast of a car.”

  He chuckles as I get in the driver’s side and I can’t resist pushing the button to start it and listening to the purr of the engine. She sounds like a fucking dream, pushing my foot down onto the gas pedal, I rev the engine for good measure before Jay comes around, spoiling my fun and switches it off.

  “It’s not a toy,” he grumbles, rolling his eyes.

  I step out of the car and nod my head at the guys who are hanging around, signaling for them to get lost. Jay has that look in his eyes, the one that says ‘I have bad news’.

  “How’s football going?” he asks, obviously trying to make normal conversation before he drops whatever bombshell he’s about to.

  “Yeah, good.” I nod and watch him, waiting for him to tell me why he’s here. “Just fucking spit it out already, Jay.” I huff in frustration.

  “Spit what out?” He smirks and leans next to me, adjusting the cuff of his white shirt. I watch as his tattooed fingers pull it one way and then another, my brows raising at the new choice in clothes.

  “Whatever it is you’ve come to say. I fucking love you, bro, but you don’t just visit for the fun of it.”

  Clicking his tongue, he watches all the chicks that walk past, not even bothering to pay them a lick of attention. He’s always been like that, the more he ignores them the crazier they go for him and now that he’s suited and booted, he’s getting even more attention.

  “Mom’s back.”

  Two words. That’s all it takes for my mood to go from on top of the world to right down in the fucking gutter. I push off the car and start to pace in front of him, my mind going a thousand miles an hour. Why the fuck is she back? What does she want this time? More fucking drugs? Money? To show me up in front of all my teammates high off her face? Fuck!

  “She’s been told to stay away, Dante.” Jay comes closer, his hand landing on my shoulder and squeezing. I pull away from him, not able to get my thoughts together. The last time she showed up, shit hit the fan big time and the last thing I need is for her to come here and ruin my fucking rep. I’ve worked hard on that shit.

  “If she comes here…” I grit out, leaving the rest unsaid. I won’t be held responsible for anything that I do if she turns up. She’s the worst fucking mother in existence of mothers and some of the shit she pulled when we were kids would make you feel sick. I don’t want her back in my life, I want her to stay away; far, far, away.

  “I’ve got a lot of business coming up in town so I’m moving here for a while. That way if she turns up, I’m close. ‘kay, bro?” Jay says, trying to reassure me.

  I turn to him, a smirk creeping on my face. Fuck, him moving closer will make things a lot more interesting.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” He frowns and steps forward. “My place ain’t gonna be anywhere for you to come and fuck girls. That shit doesn’t fly with me, lil’ bro.” He smirks, knowing that I hate it when he calls me that.

  Just as I’m about to open my mouth to say something, the door to the building swings open and Callie and her frizzy haired friend come out. I watch them walk away and then look back to Jay.

  “Bro?” I ask, nudging him but he’s not paying me any attention, his eyes are firmly on Callie and her friend. “Bro!”

  “Yeah?” He clears his throat and shakes his head, turning to me but then looking back to where they were walking.

  “You know Callie?” I ask, my hands clenching into fists at the thought of him and her together. I know that we’re playing one big fucking game but if she’s fucked him, I’m going to go fucking nuclear on his ass.

  “Who?” He frowns, looking back at me.

  “The chick that you were staring at like you’ve seen a fucking ghost.”

  “The one with the glasses?” he asks, his eyes guarded.

  “No…” I say raising my brows. I watch him for several seconds but he’s not looking at me, he’s still staring at the empty path that they walked down. When he doesn’t answer me, I lean back against his car and chuckle. “Gonna work on that one, bro, shit, she may be a fucking geek but she has one fine ass.” I lift my hands out in front of me and make a squeezing motion, damn, just thinking about it has me needing to adjust myself.

  “Don’t fucking touch her,” he thunders, the warning in his voice clear.

  My eyes widen, shit, he’s never spoken to me like that before. I open and close my mouth like a fish. For the first time in my life, I’m speechless.

  He walks around me, jumps into his car and switches the engine on, not saying another word to me. I manage to push off the car just in time as he speeds off and I’m left wondering what the fuck just happened.

  Sitting there and listening to Dr. Jonston drone on and fucking on in class is making me antsy to get my little plan into action, thought after thought swirls through my brain at the possibilities of the outcomes I’m sure will follow. I’ve seen the look his bestie throws me when Dante’s not in the room and I’ve never acted on it. But if he thinks he can fuck around with my friend then he has another thing coming.

  I look at the wall mounted clock above the whiteboard, ten minutes to go and I groan, not giving a shit if people are staring at me.

  “Is there a problem, Miss Ward?” My head shoots up and our teacher crosses his arms over his chest.

  “Not really. Was just really admiring that color shirt on you. Very handsome today, Sir.” I wink at him as the corner of my mouth tips up. I’m always fucking about with this guy, I know he’s happily married with two-point-five kids but come on, he’s still fucking hot for a teacher.

  Shaking his head as goes back to addressing the rest of the class. I just ignore whatever he’s saying and doodle on my notepad, willing the time to go by a little quicker. Tick tock, ugh why do classrooms have to have the noisiest fucking clocks in history?

  Looking at my doodles, I chuckle. Nothing beats a little note taking on a plan then making them into little characters. I always make Dante’s head a tad bigger than everyone else, almost to the point of explosion. That’s practically the truth and if he was ever a cartoon, that would be him. I circle my little image of Dylan with a twisted smile on my face. What I’m planning will break their bond and maybe all this shit would stop. I may put up the persona of a whore but I don’t want to be that forever. I love sex and that will never change but this game with Dante is getting tiring, boring even. I need something a little spicier to make it interesting.

  The blessed sound of the bell has me saying a silent prayer to the non-existent people in the sky and I bolt from my seat, shoving items into my bag hastily. There’s another shit hot party tonight and that’s where I’m going to put my plan to work.

  The Frat house has a party almost every other night, but now it’s the weekend and it’s the hottest party of the week. Everyone and anyone will be there, unless your Jasmine of course, so they’ll get to be witness of the shit storm I’m about to create.

  I hum a tune to myself as I maneuver myself along the hallways of the building. I’m so lost in my own head that I don’t realize I’m walking straight into a wall. “Oomph.” The loss of air in my lungs has me stumbling to keep my balance and I lift my head to throw daggers at the douchebag who walked into me. My eyes land on a pretty pissed off Dante whose eyes have narrowed on mine.

  “Look what the cat dragged in,” I sneer, eyeing him up and down. He doesn’t look like he’s been dragged anywhere mind you, the guy is delicious and he knows that too. “Stalking me?”

  “I don’t think human dogs get stalked on but if that’s what you want me to do, baby, I’m all for it.” He licks his lips
sarcastically, which is shit hot by the way, before raising a brow at me.

  “Oooh, name calling, I guess guys never do grow up even after having an STI… how many times now?” His shit never gets to me because he’s a little boy in a grown man’s body, evidently, but this bantering bullshit was so last century. “I’d love to stay and chat but I have hair to straighten and a tail to fluff up. Catch you later, Dante!”

  Giving him a salute as I round him, I noticed the frown on his face knowing he didn’t get to me one single bit. He’ll be eating out of the palm of my hand before the end of senior year; end of college. I’ll never have to see his gorgeous face and tight ass again either. That’s a plus, right? I make sure I sway my hips just a tad more than usual because I know he’s back there watching my junk. Who could resist this after all?

  When I finally make it back to my dorm room, after walking in the sticky heat, I throw my bag onto the bed and start fishing through my half of the wardrobe for the outfit of the night. I would say I need something hot to wear but damn all my shit is smokin’!

  Think, Callie, think… What does Dylan like? I’d have no idea because he’s one man I know I shouldn’t go near but it’s time. Little black dress or the raunchy red? Decisions, decisions. No point asking Jasmine when she gets back because she has the fashion sense of a chimpanzee.

  Putting each of the dresses against myself one by one, I peruse myself with a tilted head in the floor length mirror. It’s time I busted out the red one I think, it’s not one I’ve ever worn before either which is an added bonus. God damn, I can’t wait to see Dante’s face tonight. I think this is the most fun I’m going to have in a while, for sure.

  I watch as she walks away, my cock getting harder because of her swaying ass. Fuck. I need to do something drastic, this shit isn’t working on her anymore. Six months ago, when we bantered back and forth it affected her, I saw just how much it did in her eyes. But now? That shit doesn’t bother her in the slightest, which means I need to make her go crazy and the only way I can do that is with the frizzy haired girl.

  Shaking my head, I turn around, making my way back to the frat house. It’s finally the fucking weekend which means this will be the optimum time to get to her.

  My mind keeps wandering back to Jay and how he left. Shit, he couldn’t have been talking about frizzy hair, right? I mean he can have anyone he wants and he warns me off her? Nah, he was probably on about someone else.

  At least, that’s what I’m gonna keep telling myself.

  Walking past the library, I spot her again, sat on the steps with a book lying open in her lap. Not wanting to waste a chance to talk to her without the Pitbull around, I stalk over to her and sit one step down from her. Makes them feel like they’re in control if I’m lower than them, yeah, I actually do listen in class sometimes.

  She doesn’t look up at me, just keeps her head bent down and in her book. I try to see what she’s reading but I can’t tell from this angle so I clear my throat to make my presence known.

  Her head flies up and I watch as her glasses fly down the bridge of her nose, she doesn’t bother to push them back up so I move my hand closer and push them back up myself, taking my time, knowing that my touch will affect her.

  Gasping, she pulls away and I try my best to hold my smirk in.

  “What ya readin’?” I ask, leaning my arm on the step next to her. I don’t miss the slight shuffle that she does to get away from me.

  “A book,” she says in a snarky tone. “They’re these amazing things made with paper and have words in them.”

  I raise my brows at her, shit, I didn’t expect her to come back at me like that. Throwing my head back, I laugh to which she huffs and slams her book closed. Standing up, she picks her bag up, her body leaning to one side at the heavy weight of it.

  How the hell does she carry that around with her all day?

  Jumping up, I take the bag from her and jog down the steps, waiting at the bottom for her before she can even say anything.

  “Can I have my bag back?” she whispers, looking around us, probably to see whose watching. I don’t give a damn who’s watching. In fact, the more people who watch the better, it means it will get back to Callie faster and ruffle her feathers.

  “You heading back to your dorm?” I ask, ignoring her question. “I’ll carry it.” Not waiting for her reply, I start to walk towards the dorms, not knowing which one she’s in.

  I hear her audible huff behind me as she catches up and I ask, “Which one?” when she falls into step beside me.

  “I’m Callie’s roommate.” Ah... Now it makes sense why they know each other.

  Smiling, I walk towards the building that I know Callie is in. I want nothing more than to walk… wait what is her name?

  “What did you say your name was again?” I stop on the sidewalk, not wanting to go any closer to the dorm building before she tells me.

  “I didn’t.” She huffs, holding her hand out for her bag.

  Raising my brows, I keep her bag hostage and we stare at each other, having a silent standoff.

  “Jasmine,” she finally mumbles, motioning with her hand and pointing to her bag on my shoulder.

  “Nice to meet you, Jasmine. I’m Dante.” I stretch my arm out and take hold of her hand before she can pull away and I shake it. She makes a noise in the back of her throat and when I let go, she wipes her hand furiously on the leg of her jeans.

  I hand the bag back to her and watch as she slowly moves forward to take it from me.

  See, I want nothing more than to walk her to her dorm room and make Callie aware of me walking Jasmine back but that wouldn’t serve my purpose. If I’m going to get to Callie and win this game once and for all, I have to bide my time and work on Jasmine. Which means I need to not be around her when Callie is. Shit, this is going to be so fucking easy.

  I give myself two weeks. Two weeks and I know Jasmine will be in my bed, screaming my name.

  Once she has her bag firmly in her grip, she walks off as fast as she can.

  I can’t help but chuckle. Anyone would think she doesn’t want to be seen with me. Fuck, she should be thanking her lucky stars that I did that.

  The last time I carried a chick’s shit was in middle school and I got a kiss for carrying her books. This time, there wasn’t a kiss but that wouldn’t mean there wouldn’t be next time.

  Spinning around, I jog to the frat house to get ready for tonight’s party. There better be some hot chicks coming tonight, I need to get my dick wet; maybe I’ll even get laid twice.

  Now that sounds like the perfect fucking plan.

  I fling the front door open and take the stairs two at a time and go straight into my room, throwing all my shit on my bed. Then I jump straight into the shower, needing to relieve the giant fucking boner I have going on. Shit, I don’t know how much longer I can keep going like this. Every fucking time I think about Callie I go as hard as a rock and let me tell you, when you can’t find relief straight away, that shit fucking hurts.

  I snort the line from some dude’s abs and wipe away the excess powder from under my nose. I think that’s the third line I’ve done from the same guy’s stomach. I don’t care who the fuck it is; I just care about the euphoric high I receive after.

  Straightening up, I feel the buzz tingling on my skin as I make my way to the kitchen for a beer. I don’t do that red cup bullshit; I drink from a bottle. Who knows who could spike the punch bowls? I’ve seen that shit happen enough times to know better than to take a drink from one.

  Grabbing a bottle and popping the cap, I sway my hips in time to the music, my high making me let loose and have fun. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t do drugs often and generally try and stay away from them, but at weekends it’s fun to get a little down and dirty with the stuff. I never have the same shit every weekend, I experiment and only take it from those I know.

  As I’m making my way back to the main communal room of the house, I spot Dylan lounging against the door frame leadi
ng to the multiple hallways. Some brown haired, skinny bitch is grinding up against him and she isn’t even doing that shit right. It’s actually quite cringey to see.

  Rolling my eyes, I sway my ass over and give her a pointed look and then rake my eyes up and down in disdain. I’m not a complete bitch but I do use it to get what I want a lot. She gets the hint, shrugs a shoulder, does some weird wink shit with her eye and sashays back in to the main heart of the party.

  “Hey, Dyl,” I coo, fluttering my lashes. “Great party tonight, right?” I drag a finger from his sternum, down to his waist band and smirk at him when his eyes glass over.

  Clearing his throat, he replies, “Yeah, aren’t they always this rad though?”

  “True.” Shrugging a shoulder, I lick my lips and blink slowly. “But wouldn’t be so much better with a little extra fun on the side?”

  “Callie.” I’m not sure if he was trying to be pushy and get me away from him or not because he’s not very convincing if that’s his intentions. “I can’t. Not with you.”

  “Aww, scared of big bad Dante?” I tut at him as I lean into him, kissing the side of his mouth. “No one needs to know, babe. Just be between me and you.”

  A slight moan escapes his mouth when I press myself against him. I can feel his hard-on against my belly and my arousal has my mouth salivating. I’ve always wanted a piece of Dylan, every woman in their right mind would want a taste. Knowing the rules of the game though, I kept my distance. But after the stunt he pulled today? All bets are fucking off. I’m going after what I want with no guilt, no regrets and giving not one iota of shit. “See, Dyl, you want me as much as I want you.” I can feel eyes on me and I just know they’re Dante’s, I have a sixth sense about him, always have done. Call it a connection, whatever, I call it an irritation.

  His response? Grabbing my wrist and pulling me along the main hallway and up a flight of stairs. I take a quick glance back and the thunderous, murderous, look on Dante’s face and it has me smirking coyly. I blow him a kiss before we disappear out of sight. He can go fuck himself because I’m done with his shit.