“Having a good time?”
I right myself before looking over at the guy that nearly knocked me down.
“How’s it going, Breck?”
“Always a blast. You know how it is.” His eyes trail over the crowd. Jason Brecken isn’t exactly a predator. I don’t think he’d manipulate a girl if she said no, but he likes them young. I didn’t even go after freshmen when I was a freshman myself.
“How’s the property management business?” I know from previous conversations that he owns several duplexes in town, but he isn’t known for being the best landlord. It has more to do with him being busy chasing women and planning his next party than being a complete dick. Things have gotten better since the petition that went around town when he delayed getting the washers and dryers fixed at his complex.
“Oh shit,” he says on a groan. “The stock is extra fine this year.”
He gives me a clap on the back before sauntering toward a group of what appears to be freshmen on the other side of the room.
“That guy is a total creep.”
I fake a smile as I look to my left.
“Hey there, Mazie.”
She slaps her hand at my chest. “Don’t hey there, Mazie me. You’ve been avoiding me.”
“Been busy,” I say, more lie than truth, my eyes scanning the room.
Rick will end up here tonight. He always comes to the parties despite not ever drinking. He doesn’t stay long, so there’s a chance he made an appearance before I showed up. If that’s the case, it’s the best scenario I can think of.
I turn my attention to the girl at my side, trying not to picture the guy Rick was smiling at earlier. I’ve felt like a psycho all damn day since practice ended.
After lunch with Silas, I went back to the field. Rick was gone. He wasn’t in the room either. I spent the rest of the afternoon, sitting on the lawn people watching, which actually translates into waiting for Rick and that guy he was talking to, to walk by.
They didn’t.
“It can’t be that hard of a decision.”
“What?”
She shakes her head with a quick laugh. “Do. You. Want. To. Hook. Up. Tonight?”
I grin down at her, finding comedy in the way she slowed her question down. It’s obvious it’s not the first time she asked it.
“Not. Really.”
I wait for the angry outburst, for her to lose her shit in the middle of the room like Keira did this past summer, but Mazie just smiles with a shrug. “Dance with me until I spot someone worth talking to?”
I grin, draining the warm beer from my cup. I place it on a nearby table just as she grabs my hand and drags me to the living room.
The crush of bodies gyrating to a country song too damn slow to really dance nearly suffocates me.
She doesn’t grind on me or try to press her luck, and before my mind drifts back to Rick, I wonder if I’m really missing out on not seeing where things can really go with this girl.
Chapter 14
Rick
“If you don’t want to go to the party, then why are you headed that way?”
I shake my head, my eyes locked on the road in front of me.
“Leave him alone,” Joey says.
“I want to go.” I flutter my hands in the air. “I’m super excited for chaotic drunkenness.”
Rex narrows his eyes at me, and when that doesn’t work, he grips my arm, stopping us. Several others, ten times more excited than I am, keep walking toward the party house.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Babe,” Joey warns, but Rex doesn’t listen. He never does when he feels like something is his business. The thing with my friend is he’s a fixer. Well, he deems himself a fixer. But last year when I confessed that a guy I hooked up—well, made out with—wouldn’t look at me in class the next day, his suggestion was to pour sugar in his gas tank. I didn’t because it’s illegal, but somehow that very same guy was stranded on the side of the road when I left campus to go to The Brew & Chew for brunch.
Sometimes it’s great to have friends that are a little crazy and super nosy. Right now isn’t one of those times.
I know the man won’t give up. If I try to walk away, there’s a real chance he’ll tackle me to the ground and sit on my chest until I spill all my secrets, but I can’t do that, not when my secrets are also someone else’s secrets.
“You know how the athletic dorms are being remodeled?”
Rex nods. “And your roommate is an asshole. Blah, blah, get to the point. I have beer to drink.”
Joey scoffs, but otherwise stays silent.
“Landon is my roommate.”
Rex drops his hand from my arm, his jaw hanging open.