Is this the type of woman I’ve been sleeping with while the ones like Sophia are out there thinking they’re not good enough?
No wonder my phone blowing up with interested parties made me more annoyed than excited.
“I’m going to my cousin’s,” I said. “Not that it’s any of your business how I spend my night.”
She blew out a hard breath and folded her arms across her very exposed chest. “Can I come back another night?”
Does she not get it? My ability to be nice is running out.
I sighed, trying to muster up enough compassion to not hurt her feelings. “Chelsea, you seem like a nice person, so I’m going to be very straight with you. I’m not interested in hooking up with you tonight or any other night. I’m not interested in a relationship or in something casual with you.”
“Well, fine then. I hope she’s worth it,” she sneered, stomping away from me.
Oh, she’s fucking worth it,I thoughtas Chelsea stormed off, as if I had any reason to even think that let alone believe it after a couple of interactions.
“What the hell happenedto you?” Jace asked as he opened the door to his apartment. I stood with my hands on my knees, taking slow, deep breaths at the top of the stairs above Harrison’s Bar and Pub, where Jace rented his apartment from my dad.
“I ran here. I’m catching my breath.” I popped back up and wiped my brow with the hem of my shirt.
Jace raised an eyebrow. “Okay, come on in.” He held the door open, and I walked through. “Beer’s in the fridge.”
I helped myself to one of the craft beers Jace always had on hand while he went to the living room to sit down. One quality beer wouldn’t impact my performance at practice, and I’d never needed it more.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tossed it on the living room table as I sat down next to him on the couch. “I need a new phone.”
“What’s wrong with that one?”
“Everything.” I put the bottle to my lips and took several swallows.
Jace laughed and sipped his own beer. “Seriously, man. What is going on?”
I let out a breath. “I finally did an interview for the school paper.”
“And it ruined your phone?” he asked skeptically.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “The reporter took a unique approach with it since she’s not really a reporter at all but an aspiring romance novelist writing for the paper this year.”
Jace’s mouth turned upward into a grin. “And where would someone who does not go to that school be able to read this little gem?”
“Fuck you, dude.” I shoved his shoulder. “I downloaded it on my phone. But be warned, some of the pictures coming into that thing right now are graphic.”
Jace lunged for my phone, laughing, and turned it on. As soon as it powered up, the buzzing started. “Wow, this thing is basically a vibrator now.” Jace turned it over in his hands, looking intrigued at what he could do with it. He ran a hand through the light brown curls slicked back on his head while he waited for the notifications to stop flying in.
“Hence why I need a new one.” I took another long sip of beer before taking the phone from him and pulling up the article.
I handed it back to him and he read it, a smile spreading across his face as he did. “Did she know what the fallout would be?”
“No, definitely not. She’s way too nice to have caused me this much misery intentionally.” I was certain Sophia had just thought it was a fun spin, like she’d said earlier. She had no experience with the hockey-obsessed women who tried to get my attention.
Jace turned the phone back off. “I see why you came here to get away for the night.”
“That’s not even why I came,” I confessed. “The reporter? Her name’s Sophia. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Jace perked up, looking interested. My cousin was in his late twenties and hadn’t had many serious relationships. He approached sex casually, though usually kept the same partner for a period before moving on to the next. My one-and-done approach had always been something he’d thought I should reconsider, and he looked rather smug at the idea that I might have more than a purely sexual interest in someone for once.
“Say more,” he said.
I took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. She thinks I’m a fuckboy.”
