I see Will’s eyes fall to her cleavage for a split second when she arches her back to draw attention to her gigantic tits—okay, maybe they’re not gigantic, but they’re much bigger than mine.
Yep. That’ll do it.
“Give me that.” I rip the bottle from Zoey’s hand, chugging it as she cheers me on.
Alex comes in after them, smirking as he elbows Will and shoots him a look I can hear from here: Someone’s getting pussy tonight. I know it, Alex knows it. Hell, the whole party probably knows it. They might as well get a room now.
I spot Winter behind them and wave at her. She smiles, making her way over just as Zoey notices Callie’s arrival and takes off to greet her. So, it took her a whole five minutes to ditch us. Not bad. That’s longer than last time.
“Kass, Luke’s staring at you,” Morgan sniggers ten minutes later.
She and Winter proceed to do the one thing you don’t want your friends to do in a situation like this: turn around and stare. I don’t bother seeing for myself, careful not to return Luke’s attention. I already feel crappy enough about leading him on as it is.
“He’s totally checking you out,” Winter agrees.
“He asked me out two days ago,” I admit.
“What’d you say?” my cousin asks.
“No.”
“What? Why?” Morgan is outraged. I get it. She first thought I had a thing for Will, but I never confirmed her suspicions. Then she saw me flirt with Luke, and it got her second-guessing everything. She must think I’m crazy to turn him down when I was acting so interested mere hours ago.
“Just not looking to date right now.” I choke on my lie.
I don’t think that’s true anymore.
And that’s precisely what scares me.
“I have to go to the bathroom.” Winter downs her drink and takes off.
“Oh, okay, see you lat…”
She’s already gone.
Morgan’s eyes burn with intent. Crap, she’s totally going to grill me over this whole Luke thing.
“Found ’em.” A familiar voice stops her, piercing through the deafening music, and I glance behind me to see Zoey approaching with Callie.
Great.
Just great.
The one time Zoey decides not to ditch us, she has to invite Will’s fuck buddy to tag along.
“What did I miss?” Zoey extends one arm around my neck for a hug. Her tequila bottle, which was full a second ago, is now almost empty. How?
“Hey, girls.” Callie smiles, revealing white, aligned teeth.
Damn it, she seems nice.
Harmless, even.
It’s not her fault. Don’t be a bitch, Kass.
I knock some sense into myself and smile back.
“Hey, where’s your boy?” Zoey asks Callie, who briefly scans the crowd and shrugs.
“Don’t know. Lost him somewhere around the beer pong table.” She takes a sip out of a red cup.
“So… is he your boyfriend?” Morgan asks bluntly.
I glare at her, the plotting grin tugging at her lips giving her away. She’s obviously asking for me.
“Oh, no.” Callie shakes her head. “We’re just… you know.”
I grab Zoey’s booze bottle out of her hands for a second sip.
“Or at least, we were.”
My eyes drift back to her.
“It lasted for a while, but… he stopped talking to me a few weeks ago. Don’t know why. He won’t even answer my texts.”
The pressure in my chest decreases by a thousand.
“I thought maybe he’d found someone new, but then… he invited me here tonight, so that’s got to count for something, right?” she says, a painfully clear shred of hope flashing in her eyes.
Shit, I might’ve overreacted a bit.
“Do you want to date him?” Morgan glimpses at me from the corner of her eye. She’s enjoying this way too much.
“I wish.” Callie chews on her bottom lip, trapped in hot, sweaty Will memories I’m sure. “I mean, who wouldn’t? Those eyes. That smile.” She inches forward as if to tell us a secret, “And between us girls, he’s a fucking god in bed. His dick is huge and a bit curved, so it hits all the right sp—”
Okayyy, I’m not nearly drunk enough for this.
Telling Morgan I’m going to grab another drink, I edge my way through the crowd faster than Callie started oversharing. I can’t believe it. Now I get to hear about how good Will is in the sack, too?
Not cool, life.
Sucking in a breath, I reach for a beer in the stacked cooler on the kitchen table.
“I didn’t take you for a beer girl.”
Speaking of the devil.
I turn to find Will staring at me, a hint of a smirk on his face. I drink him in. His cut body, his right hand tucked in his pocket, his left clenching a Jell-O shot. It’s a no-brainer—he looks like my next mistake.
One I’ve been waiting my whole life to make.
I snap out of it. “I didn’t take you for a Jell-O shot guy.”
“Yeah, well…” He surprises me by stepping closer. “That just goes to show maybe you should get to know me better.”
Flustered by the sudden proximity, I move away, but the back of my thighs bump against the kitchen table, halting my escape. The smug bastard continues to lean in, cutting off my air supply and enjoying it. I’ve got zilch to go on when it comes to this guy’s intentions, so I do the only thing I can: swallow hard and wait for him to make a move—any move.
Finally, he does.
He drops his red Jell-O shot on the table behind me, “accidentally” grazing my arm in the process, and pulls back. Like nothing happened. Like he wasn’t this close to my face seconds ago. That’s his thing. Giving me just enough to make me wonder. Just enough to make me doubt my sanity.
He leaves behind enough bread crumbs to keep me chasing.
But never enough to be caught.
Am I crazy? Did I imagine it all?
Beats me.
Only… this time is different.
There’s a look in his eyes—a knowing look. It unveils the truth, exposes him for what he is. A cruel tempter. He’s doing this on purpose. He likes seeing me shudder.
The question is why.
“Think I know you pretty well already, Willy.” I collect myself. “You know, unless you go around telling your life story to everyone.”
My reference to the biography he graced me with the night he snuck into my room blows him out of the water. I’m right and he knows it. I’d be surprised if he told many people about what happened to his dad. I’m not even sure Kendrick knows.
“Where are your girls?” he deflects.
“With yours.” I motion to Callie, Morgan, and Zoey laughing by the door.
His eyes remain locked on me.
“My what?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Isn’t she your date?” I remind him.
“Oh, right… Yeah, I guess she is.” He looks like he doesn’t give a rat’s ass.
Eager to take the edge off, I begin fumbling with my beer cap, hoping it’s a twist-off—it’s not. Will scoffs, snatching the beer out of my hands and popping the cap in no time.
Breaking news: it is a twist-off.
I’m just weak as shit.