Page 20 of Sneaking Around with the Player
“Yeah. We just finished.”
“Cool.” It’s the first time I’ve felt like I don’t know what to say to Beau. Even in the beginning, we were never at a loss for words.
“You know I didn’t really bang a girl in the library, right? Even I’m not that smooth.”
I laugh, but it comes out stiff and brittle. “Hey, it could be worse. It could have been the dining hall or the computer lab. I swear I walked in on two guys seconds from tearing each other’s clothes off one time. I can’t bring myself to use public computers anymore without sanitizing the keyboard and mouse first. And don’t even get me started on people who make out in the—”
“Stella?”
“Yeah.” I take a big breath and let it out slowly.
“You’re acting weird. I didn’t have sex with her.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He stops walking, a light from somewhere shining across his face. His brows tug together and his mouth is in a flat, serious line. “Wait. Are you jealous?”
“What?” The single word comes out high-pitched. “No, of course not.”
He chuckles. “I think you are and it’s sexy as hell.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. Hot girls not wanting other girls to touch me is suuuper sexy.”
“But you don’t date.”
“Even still, it’s sexy.”
“Fine. I was jealous,” I admit.
“Wanna know a secret?”
“Always.”
“Every time you mention that prick ex-boyfriend, I want to pummel his face.”
“You’re jealous of Eric?”
He shrugs.
“You’re right. It is sexy.”
“I like you. I thought that was obvious.”
“I know you like me as a friend,” I say.
“You think I talk to my friends this much?”
“I don’t know,” I say, and then. “No.”
“I like you, Stella. I’m not hooking up or even talking to other girls right now.”
“You’re not?”
“No.” He pauses. “I guess we’ve been talking so much I haven’t thought about it.”
“Yeah.” My pulse races. “We have been talking a lot.”
