Page 14 of Get Even

“What?” Liv said, startled when I strode over and tugged one out of her hand. “Why?”

I grinned at her, “It’s Friday night and we’ve been invited to a party.”

Liv protested half-heartedly for a couple of minutes before giving in and heading to her room to change. It was funny how quickly the room across the hall had become Liv’s in my head, clearly I’d been ready to move on from Taylor for a while and it had taken my brain a beat to catch up with my subconscious. Or maybe it was all about Liv – we just seemed to click. It had been surprisingly fun having her here this past week and I was definitely relieved, what could have been a disastrous drunken offer has actually turned out to be a pretty sweet deal. Plus, she’d offered to help me redecorate the apartment this weekend and I couldn’t wait to get the new color theme going.

After a break-up some people liked to dye their hair or get a tattoo – I got drunk, laid and then I liked to decorate. Not necessarily in that order. Part of the motivation this time was definitely that Aaron had originally helped me paint this place, but it was time for something new anyway.

“Do you think this is okay?” Liv called as she strode out of her room in a hot pink mini skirt and floaty baby pink top that tied around her neck. I grinned and hooted at her, it was girly but she rocked it.

“Yes, oh my god I love it.”

“It’s not too… pink?”

I finished pulling on my boots and smiled, “Oh, it definitely is, but like, in the best way. You look great, don’t worry.”

“I’ve just never been to a frat party before so I don’t know what the vibe is.”

“Drunk and horny,” I supplied, touching up my deep purple lipstick in the hallway mirror and tucking my dark bob behind my ears to show-off the rows of gold earrings I’d put in. “Trust me, there’ll be a mix of people there.”

“Including your ex?”

I glanced at Liv in the mirror, her mouth was pinched and her hands were clasped tightly in front of her like maybe she was remembering the tense encounter with Aaron last week. I put the lid on the lipstick with a sharp click and kissed her on the cheek, leaving a purple lip-mark. “There, now you look edgy.”

She reached up and touched the mark, “Are you nervous to see him again?”

“Nervous?” I took in my tight black velvet skater dress, fishnets and docs and met Liv’s gaze in the mirror. “Not at all.”

Everyone wanted to look good when they saw their ex again for the first time and Aaron had ruined that for me by turning up here unexpectedly, but tonight… hopefully I’d skipped pastgoodand Aaron would eat his fucking heart out.

* * *

There was a bass pounding so hard that the walls seemed to shake and as it pulsed through my body I felt myself relax. Academia was where my future lay, but music was what had always called to me. I had taught myself guitar when I was a teenager, mostly just so I could have an accompaniment when I sang, but I quickly learned from my mother of all people that dreams were just that. If I wanted to go somewhere, make something of myself and my future, I needed a serious career. That’s what my history degree was for me – stability, security, the chance to have the life I’d always dreamed of. So there was no chance in hell I was letting Professor Dick put that at risk.

Liv fussed with the hem of her skirt as I pushed open the door to the party, it was frat-boy-brown, the kind of basic tan that all school buildings adopted – neutral – which was ridiculous considering we were at a school that claimed to care about nurturing individuality and the arts. I slapped Liv’s hands away from her skirt and gave her a comforting smile.

“You’re a boss ass bitch. Nobody in there is worth worrying about. Trust me.” I should know, this party had made up a part of my weekly routine when I’d been dating Aaron. During peak season it was their post-game blow out but post-season, like today, was usually wildest as it was the last chance to get crazy before they had to focus again for their upcoming games. Plus, the big competitive matches had all been done within our first semester. There wasn’t a huge amount of difference between pre-season Aaron and the Aaron who was supposed to be ‘keeping things chill’. Mostly that meant that he swapped coke for weed or xannys.

There was a row of girls sitting up the stairs directly opposite the door as we walked in – part of the sorority I’d left Taylor in the hands of – and they shot me dirty looks as I moved past them. I smiled sweetly and blew a kiss to Brad and Cody when I spied them in the hallway that led to the kitchen.

The place reeked of beer, sweat and marijuana already and a haze was in the air that made Liv look like something out of a dream as she wafted through the smoke and batted her amber eyes at a girl across the room. A warm hand snagged my waist and I inhaled deeply as the scent of Ryan’s cologne surrounded me. I spun to face him and let my eyes move up his body in appreciation before coming to his face where he looked like he was holding in a laugh.

“Hey Ben,” he said and his voice was deep enough that it carried past the shrill noise of whatever the boys standing by the aux had picked to skank to. I winced, I hated Skrillex.

“Jamie,” I corrected absently as my eyes found my ex-bff across the room. She was wearing cut off booty shorts and her boobs practically hung out as she ground against a sorority girl in an attempt to get the attention of the guy sitting next to them. Aaron.

Ry slid a hand under my chin and tugged my eyes back to his before pressing a searing kiss to my mouth that left me dizzy. “What–”

“Public, remember?” he murmured and my gut twisted in something that felt surprisingly close to disappointment but I just smiled and introduced Ryan to Olivia.

“I need a drink,” Liv muttered and I couldn’t help but agree.

“Shots,” I directed at Ryan and he nodded in the direction of the kitchen before following us through. I poured Liv a small shot of sourz and she sipped it gingerly before smacking her lips in appreciation. I laughed, “You’re not supposed to taste it.” She shrugged and I poured us each two shots of vodka and we slammed them back one after the other while Ryan watched.

“None for you?” I asked, raising my eyebrow and licking a drop of vodka off of my pink plastic shot glass. His eyes dropped to my mouth and I bit my lip.

“Nah, somebody has to be sharp for tomorrow’s practice and it’s definitely not going to be Aaron considering the amount of coke I saw him do earlier.”

I rolled my eyes but wasn’t really surprised. Liv, on the other hand, looked absolutely scandalized, “You dated this guy?”

---