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When I head back inside, Declan and Parker still occupy the same space of couch, so I stride in the opposite direction, aiming for the kitchen and a cold bottle of water instead.
I get more than I bargained for.
A girl in a bright red dress and matching heels saunters over, stepping directly into my space without touching me. I mark a point in her favor for keeping her hands to herself, welcoming the distraction.
My draw to Declan is one thing, this jealousy is another. An emotion I can’t afford to feel when she’ll be halfway across the country in a matter of weeks, Coach’s threat still looming above me. I find I give less and less of a shit about his warning the more time I spend with her, though. Which is all the more reason to entertain the attention of the girl standing before me.
“Hey, Jude Carter, right?” she asks, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she throws a coy look my way. One that doesn’t at all match her forward intention.
I confirm her assumption with a dip of my chin, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and striding to the opposite end of the kitchen where it opens up to the loft.
Fucked up intentions or not, I still want to keep my eyes on Declan. And, for the sake of full transparency, I want to see if this jealousy flows both ways. I’ve seen her reactions to me—a light flush in her cheeks, a quick intake of breath, a flare ofinterest flashing through her gaze. I’d like to know if it reaches any deeper than that, though. If the thoughts playing on a near-constant loop in my mind happen to be nagging at her as well. Which is pointless. A stupid fucking move on my part considering I can’t do anything about it, regardless.
Can’t, or won’t?The question invades.
“I’m Stacy. Stacy Lancaster,” the girl offers with an outstretched hand, and I clear my throat as I return the gesture, dragging my mind from thoughts better left ignored. “We had English together, I think. Or maybe it was History,” she says, and a breath of laughter trails behind her words. Her smile is easy. Bright. Doesn’t hold a candle to Declan’s.Why thefuck do my thoughts keep coming back to Declan?“Anyway,” she continues, tone dipping down an octave. “You looked kind of lonely out there all by yourself. I was going to come join you and see if you wanted the company, but now here you are.”
I don’t know why I humor the girl, but I do.
Folding my arms across my chest, a smirk pulls at the edge of my mouth. “Were you now,” I respond, but the statement isn’t for her benefit, only mine. Some women can be so presumptuous, so sure a man is willing to take any piece of ass that comes his way should he be so lucky, while some women manage to be the complete opposite. It can be amusing, if not wholly fucking irritating.
Declan, I note, falls nowhere in between.
Stacy—at least I think that’s the girl’s name—steps closer, diving into a conversation all her own as she reaches out, a hand gripping onto my forearm. My bicep. My shoulder.
I grind my molars, irritation flaring.
Taking her hand in mine, I lower it between us and drop it down at her side where it belongs. But she doesn’t take the hint. She steps closer than before, the length of her body pressing into mine. Her hand brushes up my chest, and a muscle ticksin my jaw—once, twice—the distraction no longer worth it. I don’t appreciate being touched without my permission. Don’t appreciate the memories it triggers.Phantom hands gripping my chest. Brown eyes flared wide in shock, begging for—
The warmth of her mouth reaches the shell of my ear as she rises on her toes, straining to reach me. “You want to get out of here?” She finally offers up the proposition I have no interest in accepting. “We can head back to my dorm since my roommate isn’t home. Or we can just find a room here, and—”
A shadow steps into my periphery, stopping the girl’s words dead on her tongue.
I glance down at Declan.
A suspiciously smiling Declan.
But in the next instant, her blue stare hardens, ocean becoming ice, and for a moment, I’m taken aback. Until I realize her intimidating stance is intended for the girl plastered against me. She peels herself away, hand falling from my chest, and I can finally take a full fucking breath, haunting memories bleeding back into the recesses of my mind.
“Who is this, babe?” Declan says, and my lips tick up at the corners unwittingly. I don’t know how the hell she manages to do it—drag my mind from the irritation of the situation so thoroughly. But here I stand, fuckingamused.
“Babe,” I echo, mocking her tone, though the only two in on this apparent game are her and me.
How close was Little D watching? Did she notice my shift in demeanor with this stranger’s hands on me? Or is she simply jealous, too? Is this intrusion for her benefit, or mine?
“Who areyou?”Stacy snaps back, true colors rising to the surface. That, or she’s pissed she wasted the last ten minutes trying to get me up her skirt only to find out I might be taken by the infuriatingly gorgeous girl beside me.
The thought rings truer than it should.
But Declan’s head dives backward with her laughter, and I’m torn from the notion. “I…” she responds, gaze meeting mine, silently asking for permission in the same breath. I dip my head in approval, eager as hell to see where this is going. More than I’d like to admit.
Perhaps she isfeeling some jealousy of her own.The assumption leaves a trail of warmth blazing through me.
“I… am this guys’ date. And the only girl at this party who should have my hands all over him—if hands all over him is what he’s even interested in to begin with.” Her eyes meet mine as the statement leaves her mouth, and I’m certain I’m reading too far into it, certain my mind is already a clusterfuck of suppressed thoughts when it comes to this girl, but it doesn’t read as if she’s just messing around, merely playing a role.
“Is that so, Little D?” I question, tone darkened by the possessive thoughts that have been plaguing me all night, stealing further through me the longer I stand here and hold her stare.
I watch as she works it over, the riptide in her gaze calming into a soothing undertow.