Page 33

Kota

G ood thing I wore this fucking dress.

Bobby was sitting at a table across the room with his friends, his eyes trailing over to me every few minutes.

It was taking a lot of focus to not walk over and smack him across the face. Gladly, Jett and TJ were a great distraction.

“I’m disappointed in you, Jett.” I could feel my high ponytail sway as I shook my head. “A porn box? Really? That’s the best you could do?”

“Hey! It was better than everyone else’s ideas. This one right here,” he said, tapping TJ, “had the worst of all.”

TJ let out a small scoff, raising his beer. “My ideas were good!”

“They were not good at all,” Crew said, seated beside me.

I turned the opposite way as I chuckled lightly, refusing to face him as I did so. “It’s three against one then, TJ.”

“Um,” he challenged, “you weren’t even there. So, really, it’s two against one.”

“That’s not much better,” Crew said.

Other than a few occupied tables, with Bobby and his friends being one of them, the bar was practically empty. Everyone else was gone for the weekend, home for Thanksgiving break. Since Bobby was a local, I’d assumed he would still be in the area, which had also led me to assume he may be out tonight. In other words, I was glad I came prepared.

It was kind of nice to be at Stallions when it wasn’t packed with people. There was space to walk around freely, no wait at the bar, and we didn’t have to scream over music and people just to hear each other.

Jett tipped his head back with a laugh, turning to TJ. “You know you’re the dumbest one out of our friend group, right?”

TJ’s eyes narrowed. “That’s bullshit. Matt’s the dumbest.”

Crew smirked with amusement, and I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t at least a little enjoyable to be around when we weren’t at each other’s throats. “That’s debatable,” Crew said.

We hadn’t fought once all night. The closest thing we had to an argument was the little attitude he’d given me back at our apartment.

It might’ve all been in my head, but I think he was checking me out earlier?

The image had popped in and out of my mind throughout the night, taunting me. His eyes had seemingly glazed over, darkening while they lingered on my legs for a moment too long. He’d wrestled his gaze away from me as if looking at me in a way that wasn’t filled with hatred was a crime.

And I sure as hell was feeling like a criminal for liking the feeling.

TJ leaned forward into the table. “It’s not debatable at all. How many times has that fucker gotten his hand stuck in a goddamn Pringle’s can? How fucking dumb do you have to be to do that once, let alone numerous times?”

An explosion of laughter took over our table, and although I had no idea what they were talking about, I still had a goofy smile on my face as if I did.

I would never admit it aloud, but I was thankful Crew invited me out tonight. If he hadn’t, I would’ve spent the rest of the night with my ice cream and Nicholas Sparks movies, wallowing in all my negative feelings.

But right now, I felt like a bad bitch in my hot dress, sipping on a beer while my almost-ex was eyeing me from across the room.

“Speaking of Matt,” I butted in, “what’s up with him and El?”

That earned another explosion of laughter, along with some fists hitting the table.

El and I had been talking a lot lately, and I truly really liked her. If I had just seen her Instagram profile without ever talking to her over direct message, I probably would’ve thought she was just a preppy rich girl. Her profile gave off that vibe based on her aesthetic photos, trendy clothes, and traveling habits. Not to mention that she was studying to become a lawyer. But to my surprise, she was really cool and relatable. Based on some of the stories she’d told me, she seemed to have a little bit of a bite to her when it came to guys, so we were similar in that way.

She told me the other day that if the guys made it to the NCAA tournament this year, then she’d come visit for one of the games. I hoped that was the case because I really wanted to meet her in person.

“Absolutely nothing,” Crew shook his head through laughter.

“Matt wishes,” TJ said.

Jett’s piercing blue eyes looked like ice cubes, shifting back and forth between the boys. “Remember that one time he had a girl over and accidentally called her El in front of everyone?”

Crew twisted to the side, doubling over in laughter.

Shoulders bobbing up and down with a chuckle, TJ added, “Let’s be real though. What do we think the odds are of him accidentally saying her name during sex?”

“High,” Jett said with confidence.

“Extremely high!” Crew agreed with a bright smile.

I raised a delighted brow. “So, you guys think he’s in love with her?”

Jett brought his beer up to his mouth, speaking right before it touched his lips. “Um, we don’t think; we know .”

“Oh, I’m so telling her,” I said with a devious smirk.

“No need,” Crew waved me off. “She already knows.”

“Yeah,” Jett agreed. “Sometimes we think she feels the same way. Other times, it’s hard to tell. I don’t know. They’ve got some weird thing going on.”

“They’re probably gonna end up married,” Crew said.

TJ pointed at him with his beer. “I’d put money on that.”

“Interesting,” I nodded along.

“I’m grabbing another beer,” TJ mumbled, seemingly to himself as he wandered off.

“Wait up!” Jett called out, jogging after him.

“Kota!” a high-pitched voice called. I swiveled around as a small, brunette girl hurdled towards me with an eager grin.

“Oh hey!” I grinned back as she approached. Pivoting towards Crew, my grin turned satisfied and cocky. “Crew, this is—”

“Patricia,” she finished for me, extending her hand past me and into Crew’s face.

The corners of his mouth tugged upwards as he shook her hand, his eyes shifting over to me with an I can’t even fucking believe it look.

I’d be lying if I said Patricia was a close friend. She was just someone that Bridget and I met freshman year while we were out. We used to hang out with her a lot that year, going to parties together and drinking in the dorms. Now, the only times we usually hung out with her were when we ran into her somewhere. Other than that, we didn’t talk much.

But when Crew put me on blast earlier for Bridget being my only friend, I couldn’t let him know he was sort of right. I had a decent number of friends, but none of which I really hung out with outside of class or seeing them at the bars. Sometimes I told myself it was because I was such a bitch that no one liked me. Other times, I told myself it was because I never let anyone into my circle.

They were both probably a little bit right.

Patricia tugged on my hand, yanking me out of my seat. “Come hang out with us for a bit!”

“Who’d you come with?” I asked, pulling my dress down.

She started listing off her friends, some of which I knew, as she dragged me along. I let her, but when I quickly glanced behind me, a knot of anxiety started forming in my core.

Bobby’s strides were purposeful, seemingly heavy with anger as he headed towards our table, his dark eyes fixed on Crew.