Chapter One

"He's looking at you, again."

"So?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"If you don't care, then why'd you insist on coming here tonight?" I gave a shrug as a reply and sucked the remainder of my Coke through my straw. "Hails?"

"I don't know, Mick. Maybe I'm a masochist and like seeing him flirt with other girls," I said it offhandedly, pretending like it didn't bother me, but it did. It bothered me a lot. I would never admit that out loud, though. I wouldn't admit that I'd fallen for his game and he'd won. I wouldn't admit that I had some serious feelings for him and I was nothing but a toy in return. I had my pride. "I'm going to get another drink. You want anything?"

"A refill, please. Diet, as always. Ooh, and get us some fries." She pushed her glass towards me and I picked it up, walking towards the bar, allowing my hips to sway a little more. I knew Reid was watching me. I could feel his eyes on me. I risked a glance at him and my suspicions were confirmed. He placed his right hand over his heart and gave me a smirk. I rolled my eyes angrily and caught Nicky's attention.

"Which one is Micki's?" he asked me. I pointed to the one in my right hand as he filled it with Diet Coke.

"I need an order of fries, too, Nick." He nodded and turned to put the order in. I gasped when a body knocked into mine.

"Hello, honey," Reid said, his back against the bar, arm pressed against mine.

"Can I help you?" I allowed my anger to show in my voice. I wasn't in the mood for his attitude, but at the same time, I was gracious for his attention.

"I was, uh, wondering what you're doing later," he said very flirtatiously, twirling a tendril of my hair around his finger. I moved out of his reach. "What?"

"Don't touch me."

"Yeah, that's definitely not what you were screaming last time." I widened my eyes at him and let my jaw drop. Nicky set the plate of fries in front of me and I thanked him and his perfect timing. "Need some help?"

"No." I balanced the two glasses in one hand and carried the plate with the other. I sent him a victorious look and returned to mine and Micki's table.

"What was that all about?" she asked, as soon as I set the fries down in front of her. Her drink followed before I took my own seat.

"What was what all about?" I received a look.

"You and Reid at the bar."

"I think I got an invitation to be his bed mate for the night."

"Again? You must've been pretty good the first time." And second, and third, I added in my head. She didn't know about those times. No one but Reid and I knew about those times. "Are you going to go for it?"

"No, I don't think so."

"What? Why not? He's gorgeous, and that body, I mean, wow." I glared at her and she gave a small laugh. "Oh, come on, Hailey, I'm just saying. I don't understand why you jumped into bed with him the first time and all of a sudden you don't want anything to do with him."

"I didn't jump into bed with him, Micki. And way to make me sound like a whore."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know that, but still. Anyways, I thought I had feelings for him before, but I realized I don't." I didn't have to say anymore, so I didn't. She knew what I was thinking, she was picking up what I was putting down. I could see it in her eyes: she realized that I was lying and did still had feelings for Reid.

"Oh."

"Don't say it like that, Mick."

"I really don't know what to say to you." I sighed.

"Not much you really can say." The jukebox cranked up all of a sudden, and I looked over to see Sarah standing in front of it. Shocker. I watched as she walked over to the pool table and grabbed Caleb, pulling him onto the dance floor with her.

"Does she have to do that every time we come here? I mean, good God, we realize he's hers." Other people began to file onto the dance floor. I smiled and went to turn back around when I saw Reid grab a gorgeous blonde and pull her onto the floor. He positioned her in front of him, her ass to his crotch as they, too, started grinding. I quickly turned around and faced the table but I knew that Reid had seen me looking at him. A surge of jealousy shot through my body as I gritted my teeth and stared at the wall behind Micki. She looked at me and gave me a sad smile.

"No, Mick, no. Don't you dare feel sorry for me." She said nothing, only stuck a fry in her mouth. "Let's go."

"You got it." We got out the front door and down the steps before Reid appeared behind us.

"Hailey, where're you going?" I ignored him. I'd fallen for this exact trick last time. He was following me, so obviously he cared what I was doing, right? Wrong. He was following me to give the impression that he cared. "Hailey," he grabbed my arm and turned me to look at him. "Why are you leaving?"

"Reid," I said warningly, looking down at his hand wrapped around my arm. He let go and took a step back, holding his hands in surrender position, out in front of him.

"Are you leaving, for real?" he asked. I nodded and my eyes flicked to Micki. She wasn't getting in the car, she was watching the scene in front of her. "Hey, Micki, let me take her back to the dorms."

"Reid, I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Mick, come on, please?" He gave her his best innocent look and she sighed and looked at me.

"Don't you dare leave me with him, Micki," I told her, opening the car door. I got inside and gave a bitter laugh when Reid slid in the backseat. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Catching a ride. Is that okay with you?" He sounded angry and I smiled, happy to see that I could get a rise out of him. If he wanted to play games, I could play, too. Only this time, I knew the rules.

"You're asking the wrong person." He asked Micki and she agreed to give him a ride back.

"So," Micki began, trying to fill the silence in the car, "Aaron looked pretty hot tonight."

"Are you serious?" Reid and I both asked at the same time. I rolled my eyes and turned to the window.

"Aaron's a dick," Reid muttered.

"Well, a lot of people are dicks, but they're still attractive." I glanced at Micki and saw her smirking.

"Ain't that the damn truth," I agreed. Reid's eyes caught mine in the rearview mirror as he flashed me a grin. He knew we were talking about him, and couldn't have cared in the least.