Page 126 of Zero Chance

“What?”I exploded, gaping at him.“Why are you justnowmentioning this?”

He looked cornered and surprised before sputtering, “Honestly, I forgot all about it until just now.But damn…” He whistled under his breath and shook his head slowly.“You and Library Girl.”

I pointed threateningly.“Stop picturing her naked.Right fucking now, asshole.”

Alec’s eyebrows shot sky high.Then he snickered.“Wow.This from the guy who usually forces me to look at every girl he checks out right along with him.Dude, you reallydolike her, don’t you?”

“No,” I snapped, scowling at him.Only to point accusingly toward the exit of the kitchen where Xander had just departed.“At least I’m not gaga over some meddling pain in the ass she-devil who doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.”

“Xander isnota meddling pain in the—” Alec countered defensively, only to cut himself off abruptly and scowl at me for outinghimand his crush.Coming to his feet, he sniffed bitterly.“Look, if you’re having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that you finally like a girl and want more than just sex from her, fine.Stew and brood to your heart’s content.I don’t care.But stop attackingmefor it.It’syourproblem to deal with, not mine or Xander’s or anyone else’s.Jesus,” he muttered and walked from the kitchen, leaving me alone with the echo of his words to haunt me.

Finally like a girl.

Damn him.

I didn’t like Waverly.

I mean, yeah.Of course, Ilikedher.We were friends.I appreciated her in a very non-romantic, platonic way, and being in her presence was a refreshing break after being around my usual crew.She always had a way of making me feel centered.And?—

Shit.Where had I been going with this?

Right.I didn’tlikeher, like her.

This whole sexual awareness thing she’d made me notice was just a minor glitch, a hiccup I had to get over before we could be chill again.

Not a big deal at all.

Except when I had a break in class later that day.I usually would’ve headed to the library to hang out with my mom to kill time, but I faltered instead.Because I realized it was Waverly I was most anxious to see.

Fuck.I needed more time away from her to get this out of my system before I faced her again.

Or texted her again.

Because bantering with her the day before while I’d been in class had been like a straight shot of adrenaline to my core.

I’d been tempted to head straight to the library after my lecture too.I even made it halfway there before I realized how much she truly had me under her control.

If I wasn’t careful, she’d have me married off with half a dozen kids before I even knew what hit me.

And so I stayed away that day and the next.

By Friday, I was miserable.

At lunch, I hit the buffet at the student union and found a table to sit at by myself, until this annoying asshole decided to join me, ruining my perfect plans to brood miserably.

“Hey, you going to eat that?”Foster asked, sitting across from me and instantly reaching for something on my tray.

I had no idea what he was even going for, but I threw up a hand, blocking him and scowling.“Motherfucker.Yes, I’m going to eat that.”

“Damn.”Whistling out a dismayed breath, he pulled his hand back and settled for grabbing a grape from his own tray.“What’s wrong with you today?”he asked, popping the fruit into his mouth.

“Isn’t it obvious?”Hudson answered, joining us and making it two annoying assholes ruining my lunch.Ivey stole a grape from Foster’s tray before Foster could stop him.“Duggie needs to get laid.”

Union laughed and turned back to me.“Seriously,” he added, falling sober.“What’s wrong, man?”

“No.”I shook a finger toward Hudson, realizing he was onto something there.“Ivey’s right.I’m having sex withdrawals.Dude!That’sall this is.”

Well, that made me feel better.It wasn’t Waverly and her monogamous, marriage-minded draw that was getting to me.I just hadn’t had sex in too long.

---