So it was, in fact, Micah’s fault that I picked up the bad habit. He was to blame for a lot of shit, including my vow to never trust a flirt like him.
As I put the cigarette between my lips, the front door burst open. “Maddy.” Micah’s voice echoed over the porch into the long driveway.
The back of my neck tingled, which then pissed me off on top of him still not getting my goddamn name right. I hated that my body betrayed me.Traitor.
I didn’t turn around, didn’t look at him, but instead kept my eyes on the stranger as a stream of smoke expelled from my lips. I hadn’t truly inhaled, just let the smoke swirl around. The mysterious guy lifted a brow, his dark blue eyes twinkling as if he could read my mind.“I’m fair game if you are,”he seemed to say with a cocky grin.
The cigarette wedged between my fingers, I moved in, pressing my lips to his. He didn’t pull away or hesitate, just kissed me back, letting me decide how far or how deep I wanted to take it.
It was stupid, considering a few seconds ago I decided not to use someone the way Micah used me, and yet faced with the opportunity to make him jealous, to let him know he hadn’t hurt me, that he meant nothing to me, I jumped at the chance. All lies.
But I didn’t regret it. Not like my choice to sleep with Micah Asshole Bradford. I wasn’t a pawn in a game I never agreed to play—the Elite’s game.
I don’t play games.
CHAPTERONE
MADS
Present day
Squinting against the sun, I stared at the map on my phone, trying to figure out where the fuck I was. Kingsley University campus was like navigating through a foreign city, and right now, as I stood on the sideway, spinning in a circle, I looked every bit like a lost tourist. It was obvious I was a freshman.
Kenna, Josie, Ainsley, and I had moved into our dorm a few days ago, and after getting settled, we had spent the days leading up to orientation wandering the expansive campus and attempting to acquaint ourselves with the layout. On the map, it made sense, but out in the wild, I couldn’t tell the science hall from the library, and I’d been too damn busy giggling and talking as the four of us strolled through campus instead of paying attention to where we’d been going.
Now I was paying the price. Lost on my first day of class. If I didn’t figure this shit out soon, I would be late as well.
Fucking great.
Way to make an impression.
Not that I cared what anyone thought of me. I’d gotten over that insecurity in high school.
Right?
A group of girls passed by, giving me a once-over and then not-so-inconspicuously laughing. I rolled my eyes and mentally flipped them off. Girls were pretty much the same no matter where you went, and it seemed college would be no different. It didn’t help that most of them came from money. KU wasn’t an easy school to get into if you didn’t have wealthy parents or influential connections. I had both, not that any of it mattered to me. I knew my lifestyle was posh and pampered, that not everyone had the same opportunities, and because of that, I tried not to take it for granted. I never splashed my money around. I didn’t care about designer clothes like Kenna. That didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate them; I just bought what I liked, regardless of the name sewn on the tag.
Returning to my map, I chewed on my lip and lifted my head, staring at the white brick building in front of me. If this was the A4 building, then I needed to… Twisting my body so the phone lined up right where the building was, I needed to take a right at the end of the pathway.
I was pretty sure.
Why did I think this would be easy?
I started walking again, readjusting the bag on my shoulder. Why did I have to be so damn stubborn?
Fuck. It was pathetic that I had to use Google Maps to get around school, but if I ever wanted to get to class, I would have to rely on an app to get me there, because my map reading skills were obviously shit.
The sun was warm for ten in the morning, but I didn’t mind. I liked the heat and preferred summer over winter. Snow and ice could kindly fuck off. It was so bright that I regretted not grabbing my sunglasses this morning. Normally they were in my bag, but I’d been in a rush to get out the door this morning thanks to Kenna and Ainsley, who were arguing over whose shirt Ainsley had been wearing. I didn’t know how I got dragged into it, but after less than a week of living together, this was just a prelude to things to come.
Four girls plus one dorm room equaled recipe for disaster.
We were two sets of best friends who last year, under unusual circumstances, were thrown together, which created a bond not many people understood. Ainsley and Kenna didn’t know each other well, but it wasn’t off to a good start. Their personalities clashed like Titans, leaving Josie and me stuck in the middle.
Story of my life.
“Turn left here,” the voice on my phone instructed as I walked past the roman fountain, a landmark of the university. Water trickled into the round pool from the raised stone bowl held up by a circle of four carved gods. The turnabout path tended to be a popular place for students to gather or meet up. Checking the instructions Google was spewing, I glanced at my phone, blowing up the map with my thumb and index finger. I only looked down for a second or two, literally, but that was all it took, a moment of distraction for me to ram into a wall.
Son of a b—