His eyes flash. “You liked me at one time.”
I lean forward, setting my elbows on my thighs. “I was trying to get to know you for my…former friend. I’m smarter now.”
His mouth tightens. “You’re not doing a very good job of seducing me.”
“Oh, I don’t think it matters how good a job I do. You’re the one who nominated me.”
He raises his brows. “So you think you’ve already seduced me? That I nominated you just to spend time with you.”
I snort. “Absolutely not. I think you get off on being mean. I think you want to fuck with me.”
“Is that what you really think?” His gaze burns into mine. “You think I’m that much of an asshole?”
I glance away, my fingers curling into fists on my lap. “Maybe you don’t know that’s what you’re doing. Or maybe you justify it to yourself, saying you’re just having a little fun. For all I know, assholes have to delude themselves in order to sleep at night. So, yes. I do think you’re that much of an asshole. But the fact that you like tormenting me means I at least have a chance seducing you, even if I only appeal to your sadism.”
A strange emotion clouds his face as he stares at me, but then he glances at the cameraman, and that familiar smirk returns to his face. “I guess I’ll have to find a creative way to convince you I’m not really an asshole.” He reaches out and cups my chin, tilting my face up to his. My heart pounds as his thumb brushes over my lower lip. “You think you know me so well,” he murmurs. “But you have no idea.”
My heart flutters like a butterfly in my chest. He lowers his face to mine. For one breathless moment, I’m certain he’s going to kiss me. But then he chuckles and releases me, leaning back in his seat again.
I look away to gather myself. God, heisan asshole. Always trying to unsettle me. This time in a video the entire campus will see.
“Time’s up,” the announcer calls from the hallway.
Tristan smiles and rises from his seat, offering me his hand. As I take it and let him pull me up, the warmth of his skin sends a tingle up my arm. Just as I start to let go, he turns to me and whispers in my ear. “Meet me at Zeta Nu tonight. Nine o’clock. I have a proposition for you.
With that, he saunters out of the room, leaving me with a tumult of emotions.
“What did you guys do during your five minutes?” Serena asks after taking a sip of her water.
I glance down at my lap to gather my fuzzy thoughts. Serena asked me out to lunch after the opening ceremony ended, and I wonder if it’s because she can sense my inner turmoil.
What on earth could Tristan’s proposition be? My stomach is churching over the uncertainty of our meeting tonight. It has to be related to the game somehow. He has some kind of a plan, probably related to the reason he nominated me in the first place.
Oh God, what if he’s planning to embarrass me tonight in front of all his frat brothers? No, he wouldn’t show his hand that soon. He wants me to stay in the game. He could embarrass me in front of his frat brothers any day of the week.
Should I tell Serena my fears about Tristan? About my entire history with him and Harper? She seems cool, but she is more from Tristan’s world than mine. She’s hot, athletic, a member of the Greek scene. I’ve learned what it means to confide in people like that.
It’s dangerous.
I turn to her, ready to tell her a lie, when her guileless smile freezes my tongue. When did I become so judgmental? Did losing Harper to the popular crowd really make me this cynical? When did I become such a whiney cliche?
I take a deep breath. “To be honest, he mocked me the whole time. He actually nominated me for the game as a prank.”
Her eyes grow huge. “Why would he do that?”
I shrug. “I’ve known him for a long time. Since high school. He gets off on embarrassing me. This isn’t… He’s played pranks on me before.”
She nods slowly, her expression softening. The fact that she’s not asking for more information endears her to me even more. She seems genuinely curious about my life.
“Tristan is known for being that way,” she says, and there’s an edge to her voice that tells me she’s experienced Tristan’s cruelty before. “It makes sense he was like that in high school too. Mean people never change.”
I nod slowly, debating on if I should bring up Harper. She mentioned something about Harper earlier, giving me the impression that she knows her fairly well.
What would I say? That Harper didn’t used to be mean? It wouldn’t do any good. Harper’s changed.
“I used to date his best friend, Nick,” Serena says.
My stomach plummets. Harper’s younger brother. Not that long ago, he felt like my younger brother too.
