Chapter 10

Jennie

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

I ducked out of the way just in time to dodge a beer funnel being lifted up over my head, but didn't move in enough time to escape the driblets that slopped over the edge of it. Beer spritzed into my hair and on my shoulders, and Lisa laughed at my expression of horror before grabbing my shoulders and guiding me off to the side.

The Snake Pit, as Lisa had called it, was a large house in a surprisingly nice neighborhood that was currently dark, loud, and crawling with NBU students. A DJ spun popular tracks in the main living room, the old couches with torn cushions pushed off to the sides to make way for a giant dance floor. Lights flared and flashed all colors of the rainbow around the scene, girls dancing and guys trying to find a way to join them.

"I love her outfit!" I yelled over the music to Lisa, pointing toward a girl in the middle of the dance floor. She wore a white top that criss-crossed over her slight cleavage, accentuating her toned stomach and paired with shorts that did her already lean legs a favor. Her hair was long and curled down her back, makeup like that of a movie star.

"That's Olivia Bradford," Lisa yelled back.

"Bradford?" My eyes shot open. "As in the university president?"

"That's his daughter."

I assessed her again, even more impressed with her outfit knowing she had a stern father who ran one of the top universities in New England.

My eyes continued scanning the party, taking in the various games of beer pong and flip cup happening all around the house. There were pods of students laughing and talking, drinking and making out, and — to my surprise — even doing drugs. Though none of the football players were in those specific circles. They'd lose their scholarships and position on the team if they were.

"This is kind of overwhelming," I admitted, but it wasn't anxiety simmering in my gut. It was… excitement.

I was at a college football team party.

It felt like something that would happen to a character in one of my favorite new-adult books, and I found myself eager to get into trouble, to try something new, to dance or play beer pong or—

My thoughts were interrupted when Kai slipped into my view, a calm, confident smile on his face as he weaved through the crowd. He couldn't make it more than a few steps before a girl was grabbing him by the arm or belt loop. I didn't have to read lips to know they were telling him how much they loved his music, how much they loved him. It was all written in the fake-blush he wore, and the way he mouthed thank you over and over again.

He wasn't modest. He didn't need to be, not with how hot he was or how uniquely velvet his voice was. It was like Caleb Followill from Kings of Leon had a child with Adele, and they bestowed the best of both their voices onto their bouncing baby boy.

Lisa cleared her throat, right up next to my ear so I could actually hear it, and I bit my lip against a flush when I turned to find her watching me watching Kai.

"Ready for the game plan?" she asked with a grin.

And just like a football player tugging on their helmet before hitting the field, I nodded, expression serious. "Ready."

Lisa pulled me under her arm, so close I felt every inch of her body pressed against mine as she spoke low into my ear. "I'm going to ignore you," she said. "Hang out with my friends, maybe flirt with some other girls. Use that to your advantage. Talk a little shit about me."

I frowned. "What? To Kai?"

Lisa nodded. "Drop hints that you're unhappy, that you're used to being ignored in situations like this."

"That makes you seem terrible."

She shrugged. "So? That's the point. It'll take Kai's piqued interest and turn it into a burning desire to save you and show you what you deserve."

"That's cliché," I said on a snort. "And ridiculous."

"Have I not proven to you yet that I know what I'm doing?" Lisa pulled back enough to hike a brow incredulously. "Just trust me. Oh, and invite him to hang out with you somewhere a little less chaotic. Maybe say you need some air. You can ask about his music, stroke his ego a bit."

I shook my head. "You're a little too good at this."

Lisa just smiled, glanced back in the direction of Kai, and then slipped into a more severe persona. It was the wildest thing, to watch how she schooled her features, looking bored and almost a little pissed off as she lifted the red plastic cup in her hand up to her lips. With a long pull of her beer and her eyes nowhere near looking at me, she said, "Good luck," and disappeared through the crowd.

I watched her go, watched as she high-fived a few players she walked by before joining Leo Hernandez in the kitchen. It just so happened to be when Leo was lining up shot glasses, and he poured an extra one for Lisa once she joined.

Except, they didn't take the shots out of the glasses.

Instead, Leo cleared the kitchen counter with a sweep of his forearm, littering the sink and floor with plastic cups, discarded lime wedges, and who knew what else. He turned to the girl beside him then — Olivia, I recognized, from the dance floor — and wrapped his hands around her hips before lifting her onto the counter. She laid back, flushed and giggling as he lined her stomach with salt and pooled a healthy amount of tequila in the valley of her abs and belly button.

I watched him do a body shot off her as she squirmed beneath him, and then as soon as she hopped down, another girl crawled up to take her place.

Lisa didn't even hesitate.

Leo poured the body shot in just the same fashion, and Lisa bit her bottom lip, eyes hooded where they appreciated the girl's ample cleavage heave as the cold liquid met her skin. Lisa's hands came down to frame either side of her, and Lisa placed a lime wedge in her mouth with a wicked grin as she watched wide-eyed.

I couldn't tear my eyes away as Lisa ran the flat length of her tongue along the salt on her stomach, as her fingertips dug into her skin while Lisa sucked and licked that tequila off her. Then, Lisa was hovering over her face, and she bent slowly and seductively to bite the lime wedge in her mouth.

For only a brief second — then, the lime was gone, and Lisa's mouth was on hers.

Pain spiked through my chest like an ice pick, intensified when the girl threaded her manicured nails through Lisa's hair. She opened her mouth to let Lisa in, and though the swipe of Lisa's tongue against hers was only a split second, it made my neck heat, made my stomach turn, made me…

What, exactly?

I stared and stared at them, trying to dissect what I was feeling, but didn't solve the puzzle before a husky voice was at my ear.

"She doesn't hold a candle to you."

I shivered, the rough lilt of syllables tumbling down the back of my neck and leaving chills in their wake. I angled my head, finding Kai staring down at me with a playful grin.

I laughed. "Yeah," I said, but without even trying, without having to fake it… my eyes trailed back to Lisa. "Sure."

I watched as Lisa helped the girl off the counter, her hands staying at her waist once she was safely on the floor. I knew I'd stared for too long because when I glanced back up at Kai, he was watching me with his brows folded together, with pity and something like longing in his eyes before he leaned close to whisper in my ear.

"Want to get some air?"

While the front yard of the Snake Pit was crawling with students, the back yard was a serene garden, a hidden oasis that it seemed no one bothered to investigate because it was far too quiet to be part of the party. Kai and I walked by a small pod of people passing around a joint before we found a bench along the stone path, a bubbling bird bath and feeder in front of it along with a rose garden that I was fairly certain had to be landscaped by a paid company.

No way was there a college football player with that green of a thumb.

Kai gestured to the bench for me to sit first, and once I had, he sat right next to me, his thigh brushing the outside of mine. My cheeks heated at the contact, but he seemed unfazed, simply reclining and widening his stance as he threw an arm along the back of the bench.

"Color me impressed," he mused, eyes trailing over the garden.

I chuckled. "Yeah, not exactly what I expected to find back here. I was assuming it'd be more of a trash-littered patch of dirt."

"Is it your first time here?"

I tucked my hands under my thighs. "Yes. Although, from the time I've spent in the locker room, I'm pretty used to the noise level. And the smell."

"The locker room?" Kai frowned.

"I'm the Public Relations Assistant Coordinator for the team," I clarified.

Kai sat up a little straighter. "No shit?" He shook his head. "You're just full of surprises. Forgive me, but… I can't picture you in that role at all."

"That's part of the reason why I picked it," I said with a smile. "Who would look at me and see someone confident enough to boss around ginormous football players?"

"I guess I should expect the unexpected with you, shouldn't I, Jennie?"

Kai offered me a lazy smile, and I bit the inside of my lip, heart picking up its pace inside my chest. I was so used to staring at him on a stage. It was unnerving to have him staring back, and so closely.

Talk about his music.

Lisa's words snapped me back to the present. "I'm surprised you don't have a gig tonight," I commented.

Kai relaxed into the bench. "I like to take a Saturday off from time to time. And believe it or not, I'm a pretty big football fan. I wouldn't miss the first game."

"It is kind of hard to believe," I admitted. "That someone so artistic would also be a football junkie."

"What, I can't sing John Mayer songs and also paint the school colors on my chest and scream like a banshee in the stands?"

I chuckled. "Body paint? Now that I'd like to see."

It was a joke, light and effortless when I said it, but Kai cocked a brow at the insinuation that I wanted to see his body, and I instantly paled.

"Um. I mean, the school spirit, of course. Not the body paint. Or the body. Not that I wouldn't like to see your body. I mean, not that I would—"

Kai just smiled, letting me ramble on, no trace of any intention to stop me from embarrassing myself further. So I clamped my mouth shut, burying my face in my hands.

"Sorry," I murmured through them. "It's been a long night."

When I peeked back at him, his smile was gone, concern etched into his features. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I frowned, wondering what he meant, and I was just about to tell him I only meant that I was a little tired after staying out so late last night when I realized he was referring to Lisa.

Talk a little shit about me.

I folded my arms over my chest, sinking back. "Not really."

I aimed for sad, poor neglected girlfriend as I trained my gaze on my kitten heels, not offering anything further.

"Is she always like that?"

The question was soft, timid, like he wasn't sure he was allowed to ask it.

I shrugged. "She's a football player. It doesn't mean anything. She's just playing the part."

I was surprised how easy that excuse tumbled out of me, and surprised even more when Kai slid a little closer, one hand coming down to touch my knee gently. He waited until my eyes flashed to his, and I wondered if he could hear the way my heart accelerated at the feel of his hand on me.

"It means something if it hurts you."

I melted at the words, at how sincere his expression was. It was a line straight out of a romance novel, further proving to me that Kai was a bonified book hero. My lips parted to answer him, but then his eyes fell to my mouth, and any attempt at speaking failed me.

He stared and stared as I held my breath, and slowly, his eyes crawled back up to mine. That hand on my knee tightened, just a fraction, and he leaned in, just a centimeter, his lips on track for mine…

"There you are, Kitten."

Kai jumped back, tearing his hand from my knee and scooting a couple feet away on the bench just in time for Lisa to round the corner. She wore a threatening grin, one she aimed at Kai before it turned softer toward me.

"Lisa," I breathed, genuinely surprised as I hopped to my feet. I didn't even need to, but I smoothed a hand over my skirt. It was apparently becoming my favorite nervous tic. "Kai and I were just getting some air."

"I see that," she assessed coolly, and again, her menacing gaze slipped to Kai. I watched, impressed, as her nose flared a bit, her jaw tight as she gave Kai a once-over.

Look at her, playing the jealous boyfriend.

"Come on," she said, reaching for my hand. It all but disappeared in her as she tugged me toward the house. "Riley and Zeke want to play pong."

I frowned. "But Zeke doesn't drink."

Lisa gave me a look. "Riley will drink double for him." She barely looked at Kai as she said. "See you around, Karl."

"Kai," he corrected, his frown just as severe, chest puffed.

Lisa didn't entertain him with a response, just threw her arm around me and leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Look back at him while we walk away."

I swallowed, doing as she said, and when my eyes met Kai's, he was watching me with a mix between gut-wrenching pain and passionate jealousy. He opened his mouth, but I tore my gaze away, back to face forward as Lisa weaved us down the stone path toward the house.

"Why did you come get me?" I asked, glancing up at her. "It was going well."

"I can't let you hang out with another guy for too long before it gets suspicious," Lisa answered easily.

I shook my head. "He looked like he wanted to murder you."

"Then the plan is working."

I laughed, but the sound died in my throat when we slipped back into the loud house only to quite literally smack into Diana.

"Oh!" She bounced back in surprise, and Lisa's hand shot out to right her before she could even think better of it. I knew, because in the next instant, their eyes locked, both of them swallowing hard.

It was like being in the presence of movie stars, seeing the two of them together. They were both tall, far too gorgeous for their own good, and had the kind of energy that made others in the room revolve around them. I glanced at her and then at Lisa, back and forth, and again found myself wondering how the hell someone like me was supposed to make her jealous.

Lisa's arm lingered around her, her breath shallow before she finally released her and resumed her grip around me.

"Lisa," she said, her doe eyes flicking to me next.

I smiled, thinking she might introduce herself, but instead, her eyes raked over me, brow arching higher as she took in every inch of my outfit.

"Diana, let's go dance," a girl I hadn't realized was standing behind her said. She had long, jet black hair and tattoos lining her left arm — which Diana threaded her own through before letting the girl tug her away.

She flicked her hair over her shoulder, not looking back, but once she hit the dance floor, her eyes found Lisa automatically.

What the fuck?

She clearly knew Lisa was frazzled from running into her, and rather than talking to her, she was purposefully dancing while looking at her. Diana wouldn't do that if she didn't care that we were together, if she didn't still want Lisa.

But if she wanted Lisa, why wouldn't she just take her? She could do it — right here, right now.

I ground my teeth. "What is her game?" I asked, looking up at Lisa.

Lisa looked like a sick puppy, face almost green as she watched her in return. "I wish I knew."

I narrowed my eyes, then squared my shoulders, grabbing her hand in mine. "Come on."

I didn't know what my plan was as I dragged her through that crowd, but I made sure to parade right in front of the dance floor before squeezing in on one of the couches lining the wall facing it. I pulled Lisa down to sit next to me, and the space was so tight from the other people on it that I was crushed between her and the arm. When I wiggled out of the vise grip, I was half in her lap, tucked under her arm, consumed by every tense inch of her.

"Look at me," I said.

Lisa dragged her gaze from where Diana was on the dance floor, and I framed her face with my hands.

"If you're not playing, you're losing, remember?" I rolled my lips together, swallowing past the knot forming in my throat. "So, let's play."

Lisa frowned, tilting her head to the side.

"Use me," I clarified. "Make her remember what you had. Show her what she's missing."

Lisa arched a brow, glancing around before her eyes met mine again. "It won't be just her watching."

"I trust you," I breathed, and then I tangled my fingers in the hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her into me.

I should have been used to it.

I should have been struck with the fact that it was fake, all pretend, every time her lips met mine. But it was the same shock of surprise that flitted through me, and my breath caught in my chest, heart plunging off the highest diving board into a pool of white hot fire as she kissed me.

Lisa inhaled a deep breath through her nose, one hand winding around the small of my back while the other cradled the back of my head and held me to her. Her chest swelled against mine, and then she tilted my chin with the tip of her nose, demanding access to my neck.

My eyes fluttered closed, nipples pebbling under my thin blouse as her warm lips caressed the skin stretched over my throat. Each brush of her lips was more firm than the last as she made her way down, and she nipped at my collarbone, eliciting a hiss from me as I twisted my hands in her shirt.

I didn't have to have my eyes open to know we were being watched.

I felt the gazes of not just Diana, but every person in close proximity at that party burning into my skin just as fervently as Lisa's kisses as she trailed her way back to my mouth. Her next kiss was like a brand, demanding and brutal, and for the first time, she slid her tongue against the seam of my lips, requesting access.

And I opened.

I parted my lips and met her tongue with mine, a sharp zip of electricity stunning me at the collision. It was as if her tongue stroked me between my thighs rather than in my mouth, and I squeezed my legs tighter together against the foreign sensation even as I leaned in for more.

Lisa moaned, one hand tightening where she held me against her as the other slid down from my face, over my neck, and right over the swell of my heaving chest.

The gasp that slight brush elicited from me was guttural and automatic, so violent that my eyes shot open. But Lisa kissed me even more fervently as her hand continued trailing down, her palm warm and confident when it settled over the Inside of my thigh.

It was possessive, the way she cradled me, the way she pulled me in tighter, kissed me harder, her hand slowly pushing up under the hem of my skirt.

I gasped, head arching back as Lisa moved easily from my mouth to my neck once more.

And again… I opened.

The signal didn't come from my brain, but from a longing so powerful in the very core of who I was that it was impossible to fight against. My legs uncrossed, knees spreading just enough to let her push that hand up under the fabric of my skirt even higher.

My next breath was shaky and shallow, and Lisa pressed a feather-light kiss to the skin just beneath my ear.

"Okay?" she asked, simple and soft. That one word seemed to ground me, to bring me back to the room, to reality, to her.

I think I nodded. I think I gave some sort of murmur of affirmation before her tongue licked along my jaw line and back to my mouth. She pressed her forehead against mine, and when my lids flickered open, I found her eyes blazing down at me.

Time stuttered to a stop, the noise of the party dying on a breath. Suddenly, I was acutely aware of where Lisa's breath met my mouth, where her chest swelled and fell in rhythm with mine, where her hand crawled achingly slowly up, up, up.

The pads of her fingertips slid tenderly along my inner thigh, the skin so beyond sensitive I couldn't do anything but quake and hold onto her for dear life. It was unmarked skin, never touched by anyone but me.

Lisa dragged her teeth over her bottom lip, plump from kissing me senseless, and her eyes held mine as she dared to go even higher.

I spread my legs wider, letting her in.

Until she ran the entire length of her index finger right along the soaked cotton of my thong.

I whimpered, a gasp of a moan roaring out of me at the touch, at the feeling of her sure, steady palm against the most private and sensitive part of me. And when she felt my desire, she groaned, her mouth capturing mine just as she retracted her finger only to glide it along that same line of fire with more pressure.

Stars.

No, not stars, a black hole, suffocating and life-ending, was born where she touched me. I gasped, eyes flying open, heart seizing in panic beneath my tight ribcage.

"Meow."

The word was a breathy plea when it slipped unbidden from my lips, and Lisa froze, her heart beating hard enough I could feel it through her shirt as I pressed my hand into her chest and forced space between us.

"Meow," I repeated, louder, firmer.

Recognition hit her face, and Lisa paled, peeling herself off me with concern laden in her eyes. "Jennie," she tried, but I couldn't look at her any longer.

I couldn't be near her, couldn't contain the fire roaring inside me.

I faked a smile, brushed a kiss against her cheek like I was fine just in case Diana or anyone else was watching. I stood as slowly and coolly as I could, fixing my hair and righting my skirt before I strolled toward the bathroom.

But as soon as I was out of eyesight, I took a hard left.

And I ran.