I really should start on my revisions for Call-Me-David, but I have no clue what I’m going to write about and my toes could use a fresh coat of polish.
As if reading my mind, Haley offers me a bottle of remover and a handful of cotton balls.
We work in silence as we strip our toenails bare, but the instant I start sorting through the collection of colorful bottles, Haley makes her move.
“How did you get home last night?” she asks, expertly applying a coat of fuchsia polish to her toenails.
Leave it to Hales to get right to the heart of the matter.
“I ran into Cooper.” I grab a bottle of hunter green polish, striving for nonchalance even though I’m low-key freaking out because Cooper-I-have-enough-big-dick-energy-for-the-entire-Waverly-football-team-DeLaurentis was in my bedroom. “He gave me a ride home.”
Haley freezes. “Cooper DeLaurentis was in our apartment?”
“Yeah.”Be chill. It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal.
“Quuuiiinnn.” Haley whines, her frustration evident. “You’re killing me. I need. All. The. Details.”
I bite my lip, considering. If I don’t spill, she’ll just keep at it until she wears me down.
Why am I holding back anyway? Haley is my best friend. We tell each other everything. Or we did BC.Before Cooper. Before the annoyingly charming jockhole came swaggering into my life with his larger-than-life personality and not-so-noble mission to preserve my virginity.
“Seriously, there’s not much to tell.” I prop my foot up on the edge of the table and twist the top off the polish. “I ran into him at the bar. He cockblocked me—again. Then he gave me a ride home.”
All true, but guilt noshes at my insides as I slather paint on my toenails.
I want to tell Hales every delicious detail, but there’s another part of me that wants to keep them for myself. The dancing. The banter. The way his touch electrified my skin. The memory of him kneeling before me, every nerve in my body screaming for release.
It was hot AF.
Hell, just the thought of Cooper on his knees has my lady bits tingling.
“Oh. My. God.” Haley sets her polish aside and turns to study my face. “You’re into him.”
“What? No!” I sit up, my hand jerking and leaving a trail of dark green paint on my second toe. “He’s a player. And he’s about as deep as a puddle. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to fall for the world’s most arrogant cockblocker?”
It’s overkill. I know it the moment the words are out of my mouth.
“You wouldn’t be the first.” She shrugs. “And the only thing that’s stupid is his hotness level. I swear, men like that were put on this campus just to torture us.”
“Truth,” I huff, reaching for a cotton ball. “It’s the only explanation for the fact that out of all the bars in town, he showed up at The Wildcat’s Den.”
“The football team always hangs out at The Den.” Haley rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows that.”
Apparently not everyone.
My phone buzzes and I reach for it, knocking over the nail polish.
“Dammit!” I scramble to grab the bottle as liquid green oozes out on the table, sinking into the tiny cracks and crevices of the faux wood surface.
There goes the security deposit.
Haley hands me some more cotton balls, and I sop up the mess as she grabs my phone and reads the message on the screen.
“How was the manhunt?” A crease forms between her brows, and she holds up the phone so I can see the screen. “Unknown.”
I take the phone and unlock the screen, tapping theCreate New Contactbutton. Then I type in Frat Bro Yoda as Haley peeks over my shoulder.
“Who’s that?”
