Page 41 of Foolish Games

Her high-top sneaks pound the stairs as she jogs up, stopping beside us, a little out of breath. “Hey, y’all,” she says casually, like she doesn’t look like the hottest sex I’ve never had in my life. “What’s up?”

“Dude,” Tommy says, eye-fucking my fake girlfriend right in front of me. “Nice.”

“Shut up,” I growl, punching him in the side. I turn back to Vivienne. “Damn, girl.”

“What?” she asks, but she can’t hide the little grin trying to sneak onto her face.

“You look… Like you need my letterman jacket.”

She plants a hand on her hip. “Excuse me?”

“You think I’m going to let my girl walk around giving every guy in school a boner all day? Here, I’ve got my jacket in my locker. Let’s grab it on the way to class.”

“It’s eighty degrees outside,” she points out, glaring as I take her elbow and lead her down the hall. “I don’t need a jacket, Sebastian.”

“You don’t need a bunch of dudes groping you all day because you’re wearing half a shirt,” I snap, stopping at my locker.

“The only hands you need to worry about are yours,” she says, crossing her arms. “And Lexi said you’d like the new look.”

“Lexi?” I ask. “The leader of the Slut Club?”

Her pink lips tighten, and her brows shoot up. “Are you saying I look like a slut?”

Shit.

“No,” I say, pulling her in. I can’t help my hands from going to the exposed dip of her waist, and my eyes about roll back in my head when my calloused palms skim over her silky soft skin. “I’m saying I don’t want anyone but me seeing this much of my girlfriend.”

She glances up and down the hall and lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’m not your girlfriend,” she reminds me.

I’m about to peel myself off her, but before I can, she slides her arms around my neck and smiles up at me from under her lashes in a way that must be illegal in at least forty-eight states.

“It’s just my bellybutton,” she purrs, batting her lashes.

I’m confused as fuck for about ten seconds, until I see Nerd Boy Chad and Chiclet walking by. I gulp down the stupid disappointment that wells up when I realize she’s doing all this for him, not for me. She doesn’t care if it pisses me off to see other guys looking at her. She only cares if it pisses him off.

“Vivienne,” he says, his voice catching like a preteen. Dude probably hasn’t even hit puberty yet. “You’re…”

“Yes?” she asks, turning her most innocent look on him while still hanging around my neck. Chick needs a gold medal or whatever shit they give actors when they win.

“You—you look… Different.”

Chiclet snickers. “I think the word he actually means is desperate,” she says, looking Vivienne up and down. “But then, it’s fitting, considering you have little enough self-esteem to join a harem.”

“I’m sorry, are you talking to us?” I ask. “I can’t understand what you’re saying past those huge teeth. Have you tried going to the dentist? Bet they can file those down for you so you can talk to people and not just other rodents.”

Chiclet’s mouth drops open in shock, like no one’s ever dared to say to her face what everyone’s thinking.

“Come on,” Chaz says, giving Viv one more look that makes me want to snap his neck like the twig it is. Then he takes Chiclet’s hand and pulls her off down the hall.

“You’re going the wrong way,” I call after them. “Fievel went west!”

“Stop,” Vivienne hisses, covering her mouth to hide a giggle.

I start singing at the top of my lungs. “Somewhere out there…”

“Sebastian,” she says, grabbing my face. She pulls my head down.

I don’t think. I just kiss her.

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