She tightened her grip on her pencil before tossing it aside. It rolled across our pile of forgotten homework as she rose from her seat. Steam practically billowed out of her ears, and when she slammed her hands down, she hit the table so forcefully that our water glasses shook.
“Atool? Says who, the great Blake Hawthorne?” She scoffed, pinning me with a steely look that rivaled one of her mom’s best stares. “Football god and playboy of the senior class?”
I regretted opening my mouth.
Her voice rose in pitch but stayed quiet enough to stop it from echoing through the house. “Just because you’re busy screwing your way through the senior class, Blake, doesn’t mean every guy in our grade is, or should be, doing that.”
Awed by her restraint, and slightly terrified, I swallowed.
Then I linked my fingers behind my head and smirked. “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”
“Typical jock response.” Addie flicked her gaze over me, unimpressed. “The guy beingusedfor his dick delivery skills sounds like a bigger tool, if you ask me.”
I rolled my eyes.
Sensing that I planned to stick my foot further in my mouth, Adam interjected. “Hey, you two, maybe we should take a break. Finals. Pressure. I need a soda.”
He got up from the table and left the room, studying Addie and me warily as he went.
Adam didn’t do well with conflict, and with the way she and I interacted, he firmly believed we thrived on it. This wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last time Adam left the room so we could have it out.
“You’re going to give him a stomach ulcer.”
Addie scoffed. “If your revolving door of cheerleaders hasn’t done that yet, nothing will.”
“Someone sounds jealous,” I taunted.
Because I just couldn’t help myself.
She made a show of throwing her head back to laugh. “I prefer my body free of STDs, thanks. Have you had your monthly check yet, by the way?”
“Har. Har.”
I snapped my textbook closed, forcing that jab to roll off my back as I began gathering my things. Addie crossed her arms over her chest and refused to budge.
Despite needing to calm the situation down, I kept speaking. “Five bucks says your date expects you to put out at the end of the night, Addie. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Catching sight of my retreat, she smirked. “Someone sounds jealous.”
“As if I’d try to compete witha sure thinglike Todd.” I scoffed a laugh. “Have you asked for his most recent physical and medical clearance form yet?”
As unlikely as that was, given the horror stories Adam and I had shared over the last two years, teasing her about it didn’t make me feel better. It only irritated me more.
I shoved my stuff in my backpack and zipped it up, suddenly eager to leave.
I sure as hell didn’t expect what came next.
“Of course, I have,” she growled.
My head shot up.
“Todd is clean and will make a perfectly acceptable lover.”
With her stare resolutely pointed at the table, Addie’s golden-brown hair fell forward to shield her face. Instead of tucking it behind her ears, she fiddled with the corner of the nearest object, like she always did when she was nervous.
I tugged the Calculus sheet from under her grasp. “You’re planning to sleep with him?”
She yanked it back. “Not that it’s any of your business, Blake Hawthorne, but yes! I am. He’s booked us a room at the after-party hotel.”
