Page 23 of Hate the Game
She laughed and tossed a glue stick at me. “Come down here. Grab the brownies first, though. I like to get a little arts and crafty when I’m sad and no one else likes to do it with me. I was hoping that maybe you were an arts and crafts type.”
Tears peppered my eyes when I saw the hopeful look in hers. I barely knew her name and already I could feel a real friendship forming. Grabbing the brownies I sat across the unrolled paper from her and looked at all the things she’d laid out.
“I like to use finger paints. I know it’s weird and a lot of people don’t want paint staining their nails but it helps me feel calm. But I have other paint, markers, crayons, and-”
“It would be rude for me to turn my back on your favorite medium without giving it a try.” I pulled my shirt over my head, leaving me in a camisole I wouldn’t mind staining, and cracked my knuckles. “Wait. I want a brownie first. I know it makes no sense when I was just thinking about fat rolls a few minutes ago but I need chocolate sustenance.”
“Oh! I also brought ice cream!” She pulled a large, flat thermos type container out of the bag and opened it. “I made it myself!”
I leaned forward and looked into the bag. “What the hell? How many things can you get in this thing?”
She pulled two small wrapped sets of utensils out and blushed. “Before my family found me annoying they called me Poppins. I’m just really good at stacking a bag to make things fit. Or a car. Or…anything, really.”
While unwrapping my spoon I frowned at her. “You’re not annoying. I think Poppins is a brilliant nickname for you, though.”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ll think up a name for you, too.”
Feeling vulnerable and hopeful at once, I swallowed and took a deep breath. “My family calls me Vannah.”
She leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Nice to meet you, Vannah.”
I squeezed back. “Nice to meet you, too, Poppins.”
***Jax***
Atension headache pounded in my head as I made my way back to my room. I couldn’t shake it, or my shitty mood. I’d had to sit through a student government meeting and act like I wasn’t so angry that I wanted to flip the tables and scream at everyone. They wanted to talk about raising money to redo a park off campus and I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman living across the hall from me who had danced with me at Billy’s while plotting to ruin my career.
No matter how much I told myself to get my shit together, it was useless. Savannah had gotten under my skin and I wanted to surgically remove her as fast as possible.
I swore to myself when I opened the door to our hall from the stairwell and heard giggling coming from the bathroom just past our suite. Several of the cheerleaders lived at the other end of the hall and it wasn’t unusual to find them in the bathroom getting ready for one party or another while dominating the middle bathroom instead of their own.
I stopped at my door when I recognized my sister’s voice. I knew Blaire didn’t hang out with the cheerleaders so I couldn’tmake sense of why she’d be in our bathroom. Until I heard Savannah’s voice.
Fury burned even hotter in my veins as I stomped down to the bathroom and stopped in the open doorway. The fire shifted from fury to lust the second I saw Savannah bent over one of the sinks, her long legs and thick thighs on display thanks to the tiny pair of shorts she had on. She was washing a rainbow of paint off her arms and face while laughing at something Blaire was saying. I could see her face in the mirror and she looked as happy as she had at Billy’s.
I was struck frozen as I watched her duck her head and splash water over her face. I watched in the mirror as water ran down her chin and dampened the front of her tank top. My dick thickened in my pants and I had to force myself to move before either of them saw me. I stumbled into the suite and leaned against the door after slamming it shut. Then, not trusting myself, I turned the lock and jammed my hands in my hair.
My mind was fucked. I couldn’t make sense of it. The Savannah we’d first met felt fake and it was easy to believe that version of her had been trying to trick us into opening up. The version I’d had at Billy’s, the version I’d just witnessed in the bathroom, it didn’t feel fake. It felt too real, like I was catching little pieces of her that she didn’t mean to share. That version didn’t feel like some sort of journalistic spy.
Ryder was staring at me from the couch when I looked up. He grunted and I knew him well enough to know he was asking if I was okay.
“She’s in the bathroom with Blaire.” I didn’t need to explain thesheI was talking about.Shewas the onlyshewe’d been talking about lately. I walked over to the apartment sized fridge we kept stocked full of drinks and grabbed a beer. “Covered in paint. Barely dressed at all. Laughing like she doesn’t have a fucking care in the world.”
He shifted on the couch and swallowed so loudly that I heard it from across the room.
“I fucking know. My dick reacted without any hesitation over her being a goddamn traitor and I had to get the fuck out of there before I ended up scarring my sister with the sight of her brother getting a boner.” I chugged the beer and then threw it at the trash can. It hit the rim and missed and that just pissed me off even more. “This is bullshit.”
Cole came out of his room rubbing his face. “Who pissed in your cereal, man? I haven’t heard you swearing like this since the Rams lost the Superbowl.”
Ryder took a deep breath and stood up slowly. “Time to start the plan. She wants to write an article about the monsters we are? I’ll show her just how monstrous I am.”
I held my hands up and shook my head. “You’re not ready for the clothes she’s wearing, or not wearing, right now, man. None of us are.”
Cole’s eyes lit up. “It’s fine to look and enjoy still. Even if she is a little traitor.”
Ryder stumbled at the door since we never locked it and shot me a look over his shoulder before stomping out.
“He’s fucked.” I grabbed another beer and hesitated before tossing one to Cole. “She was bent over and I swear to god I could see the outline of her pussy. I’d say she’s trying to fucking kill me but she had no way of knowing I’d come by. Which meant she’s just letting anyone and everyone see her like that. Why does that piss me off so much? It shouldn’t. I mean, it doesn’t. It doesn’t piss me off. I’m fine. Just thirsty.”
