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“No one wants to see you as the bachelor,” she said.

“Sure they don’t,” I replied, leaning back in my chair and putting my hands behind my head. I couldn’t help but notice as her gaze flickered toward the muscles on my arms.

“Fine, some of the idiots on your football team might want to watch you make a fool of yourself. But no one’s going to vote for me. Everyone knows I’m with Jake.”

She looked satisfied with her argument, as though she’d just proven she was right. But I simply shrugged. “We’ll see,” I said. “We both know you have one vote at least.”

She scowled at me one last time before turning back to the front of the room. Her dark locks fell across her face as she did, forming a curtain between her expression and me. Her shoulders were still tense, and she started tapping her pen against the table. I felt a wave of satisfaction over her reaction. I’d gotten to her, and I was definitely still on her mind. Although, it was unlikely she was thinking anything good.

* * *

“I heardyou were flirting with Madi again in English,” Tanner said, as we walked into the cafeteria. I lifted my brows in surprise. I didn’t realize anyone in the class had been watching us, let alone taking note of our interaction.

“Flirting?” I protested. “I was just giving her a hard time.”

“That’s pretty much the same thing with you, bro.”

I frowned, rubbing my neck as we paused at the back of the lunch line. How did Tanner even know about it? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He always seemed to be the first person to hear any rumors that were spreading around the school. It was pretty useful having Tanner as a best friend because I tended to find out second.

“Who told you this?” I asked.

“Lee.”

“Lee’s not in my English class…”

Tanner shrugged in reply.

“Right.” I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it all. The school had a vicious gossip circuit. I tried to stay out of it for the most part, but this wasn’t the first time I’d heard people talking about me. It wasn’t like I was some wallflower.

“Let’s just hope Jake doesn’t hear about it too,” Tanner said. “We don’t need any more bust-ups on the field, and you know how he hates you talking with his girl.”

“Too right,” I agreed. Jake was always ready to blow a gasket over things, especially when it came to Madi. Two of our teammates had nearly ended up in hospital last year after he found out they’d voted for her on that stupid hot list that went around. I had refused to participate in the list, which was lucky, as I probably would’ve picked Madi as well.

“Though who knows how long they’ll be together after the weekend…” Tanner added.

I paused as I made my way down the lunch line and turned to look at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Did you see Jake at Lee’s party on the weekend?” Tanner asked.

“Briefly,” I shrugged. “The dude looked wasted.”

“No more than usual. Apparently, Laurie was all over him.”

I frowned before glancing over at our table. Jake was already sitting there with Madi at his side. Laurie was seated a few places down from the two of them, but I could see her trying to catch Jake’s eye.

“He cheated on Madi?” I asked, trying to control my temper. The words felt like acid in my mouth, and I had the sudden urge to punch something—or someone.

Tanner shook his head. “I don’t think so. I just heard that they were close and he wasn’t really pushing her away.”

I lifted an eyebrow at Tanner. That definitely didn’t sound promising. Laurie could be relentless when she wanted something. I’d been the subject of her desire before, and it had taken weeks to get her to leave me alone. She was one of the hottest girls in school, but also one of the craziest, and I didn’t need that kind of shit in my life.

“Does Madi know?” I asked.

“Probably not,” Tanner replied. “Why? Are you going to tell her?”

“No,” I muttered. Talking to Madi about something like that probably wouldn’t end well for Jake, her or me. Still, it was tempting. Jake had put a stop to my friendship with Madi when they started dating. He’d threatened me not to go near her, and I’d been stupid enough to listen. I didn’t want to break the bro-code. I let Madi and I drift apart and never told her why. She was clearly hurt by that, and by the time I started talking to her again she was so cold towards me that the only way I knew how to handle her was through jokes and teasing.

It was stupid that I blamed Jake for the rift between Madi and I. I knew I was mostly to blame. Still, it would be slightly poetic if I were the one to break them up. I only thought about it for a second before I knew I couldn’t go through with it. There was no way I could hurt her that way.