I was going to this party. I was going to see my sorta blackmailing bully, and damn it, I had a feeling I was going to like it.
A lot.
4JEREMY
I’d done the mandatory rounds at the Omega house. The usual. Checking in with my brothers. Making small talk with the new president I couldn’t fucking stand, and I was pretty sure it was mutual.
Being a part of the Omega house as a legacy, thanks to my dad and grandpa, but not really being one of them at the same time made some of them a little distrusting of me and my intentions. Much to my dad’s chagrin, I didn’t live in the main house even though he paid for a room there as well. He couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t live in the house where some of his best alcohol-induced memories stemmed from. My grandfather had even more hazy memories of the good old days.
They were good guys with nothing but the best intentions at heart, but I wasn’t them. I’d never been the kind of guy who had some kind of hormone-driven need to fuck every girl who smiled at me or showed me attention. I’d had sex with three women in my life. One in fucking high school and two at my old college before transferring over. I’d started to think maybe there was something wrong with me until I’d transferred here and locked eyes on Teresa.
Teresa.
Mi cielo. My sky. My fucking everything.
I grinned thinking about her sassy mouth and dark eyes that were never capable of hiding what she felt. The way it was obvious my girl liked the idea of me knowing her second language, mine as well, but didn’t know what to make of me since she’d made her own assumptions of me.
She was my everything.
She might not know it and the way I’d gone about to finally have her by my side might have been a little… well, manipulative. But playing sports my entire life, I’d learned discipline and doing anything to get the job done by any means necessary. And bullying her into this had been my own version of a Hail Mary.
I glanced at my phone and slowly breathed out. She was on her way. Finally. I scanned the place. The party was starting to liven up and get busier. I walked out and saw my best friend, roommate, and teammate out at the back of the yard. His knee bounced with his own nervousness.
Now, Jason was up to something. What, I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling I’d have to get it out of him soon. I approached him quietly from the side, but he was in his own world, so he didn’t even notice me.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked, breaking the silence. He turned to look at me and frowned.Oh yeah, he didn’t notice me at all.
“Nothing,” Jason muttered, staring at me a little too close for comfort. His back straightened, surprise hit his eyes, and for a moment, I wondered just how bad I looked.
“What’s up with you?” he asked, suddenly making me feel like I was under a microscope.
I opened and shut my mouth with a grunt. How the hell could I explain what I’d done to my roommate? I broke his stare andlooked out at the party, my attention focused on those who came outside from inside the house.
For a moment, we were quiet, then Jason whistled low. I shot him a death glare.
“Shut it,” I murmured under my breath.
We were both sitting in the backyard, obviously searching the crowd for someone. I knew the look he had on his face. Shit, I saw it on my own. I ran my fingers through my hair, noting for the first time just how long it had grown. Fuck, I needed a cut. But the idea of any woman other than mine touching me made me sick.
“Which one is she?” Jason finally asked. There were only a handful of girls here since it was early still.
“No one,” I answered a little too roughly. A muscle under my eye twitched with annoyance.
“Liar,” Jason called my bluff. I turned to look at him, and he smirked. “You’re waiting for someone.”
“Should I ask you the same question?” I countered. His lips twitched, but he shook his head.
“It’s like that?” Jason asked, ignoring my own question.
“Exactly,” I sighed. “Maybe worse,” I shared. Definitely worse. I glanced at Jason. He was our shortstop, and the two of us had transferred around the same time.
He was a good guy, mostly. Unlike me, Jason liked to date. A lot. Well, not date so much as hook up. Though now that I thought about it, I hadn’t really seen the revolving door of women stopping by the dorm.
Regardless of who he might be waiting for and whatever he was up to, it couldn’t be worse than what I’d done. Fuck. I was blackmailing Teresa. Bullying her into dating me and giving me the time of day. It ate at me not being completely sure if she flirted or smiled at me because she wanted to or felt like she had to.
Why the fuck did I do that?
I wasn’t cut out for this kind of shit.Because she wouldn’t given you the time of day otherwise.
