“Would you?”
Jade considers, pausing mid-blend. “Maybe. Could be a fun little fling.”
“But no feelings, right?” I tease, knowing damn well Jade’s motto is “Under no circumstances should you catch an STI, a wedding bouquet, or feelings.”
“It was just sex, Jessie.”
“Of course it was,” I say without a hint of sarcasm.
I haul myself off her bed to look through my closet for something to wear tonight. Jade really does live by her motto. She generally doesn’t sleep with the same people twice, and she hasn’t dated anyone or had a partner since I’ve known her. Nor has she attended any weddings and she gets STI tested regularly.
I throw on clean jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, braiding my long hair to one side and donning a beanie. Vowing to come back in fifteen minutes, we walk the same path tonight to the ATZ frat house, but this time I have less anxiety. Well, I have less anxiety about whether I should be studying, but my stomach churns when I think about trying to find Will. Needle in a haystack.
Everything in the basement of the frat house is the same as last week. The lights, the music, the stench of sweat and beer, the large crowd of dancing bodies. It’s going to be a nightmare trying to find him again.
I start on the edges of the crowd, looking as closely as I can at people without getting too much in their personal space. As I venture through the throng, I politely decline offers to dance with the people grinding against me. That’s something I need more alcohol for and have no plans to indulge in tonight. I push up the sleeves of my shirt, too warm in this sea of bodies. There’s no sign of long sandy-blond hair, and it’s too loud to hear any accents.
When I get through the crowd to the other side of the room, I find Jade chatting someone up.
“Any luck?” I yell to her.
She shakes her head, abandoning her conversation. With a gesture she asks if I found him, and I shake my head as well.
“I don’t think he’s here,” I say once we’ve made it outside. “If he is, his hair is different. Or, I don’t know, maybe my memory of him isn’t very good. He was wearing a mask. I couldn’t even tell you what color his eyes were.”
“Your only option is to make out with everyone that vaguely resembles him until you find him again,” Jade says with a casual shrug, deadpan.
“Ha. Ha. No, I’m done. He has my number. If he wanted to talk to me he would have texted by now. There was a snowball’s chance in hell I was going to see him here again tonight. Let’s just go.”
“Boys are dumb.” Jade pulls me in for a hug, and I hug her back. It feels like such a stupid thing to be disappointed over, but I can’t ignore the way my heart clenches.
Between this and realizing my prospects for scholarships are dwindling, I’m feeling pretty low. This year had a promising start, and after attending the Halloween party and letting loose a little I thought I could maybe be slightly less vigilant. I could let my guard down some. But little by little I’m seeing how wrong I was. I have to stay focused. I don’t need some stupid boy to get in the way of school or my scholarship work.
CHAPTERFIVE
MAC
Brody Jacobs is always fucking late. Our court time for racquetball was set for 8:00 p.m. It’s already 8:15 p.m., and now he’s not picking up the phone. Most likely he’ll do what he always does, which is ignore my calls and waltz up in ten minutes, nearly half an hour late.
I hang up, rolling my eyes. We’ve lost our court time so many times because of this. I’d stop making plans with the guy, but he’s a great racquetball player and we’ve been friends since high school, and besides never being on time he’s not so bad.
I’m about to go in and just get started myself, but I see a familiar figure down the road and do a double-take.
Is that Jessie?
There’s another girl with her I don’t recognize initially, but as they come closer I realize I’ve seen Jessie with her before. She has auburn hair and carries herself with the kind of confidence that would intimidate or challenge most men. She’s gorgeous, but my eyes don’t land on her. Not when she’s next to Jessie. Her presence is a magnet and I’m a mere scrap of metal; if Jessie is nearby, some unseen force will always draw me to her.
“Jessie?” I say when she and her friend are just a few feet away. I watch as she registers who said her name. Confusion and surprise cross her face.
Jessie gives me the once-over, and I roll my shoulders a little, knowing the way my shirt hugs my body. Hopefully she likes what she sees. I know she liked it at the party.
“Hello, Mac,” Jessie says and slows her walk as she approaches.
“Mac?” her friend asks, looking at Jessie and then back at me. “Mac! Hi. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Has she?
“I’m Jade, Jessie’s roommate.” Jessie’s friend extends her hand, a wide smile on her face.
