Page 19 of Huge Games

"Yeah. You know them?"

"Of course. Man, I love this song."

Celine starts to sing along with a voice that's way too sweet for the strumming guitar and gritty lyrics, but she knows all the words.

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I can't help but smile as she presses her hands against her heart and throws everything she has into the song. She's so enthusiastic that I find myself joining in, and we spend thewhole journey to the club trying to outdo each other with perfect renditions of the seventies rock classics we both seem to love so much.

The club is only half full when we arrive, but that's okay. I get us drinks, and Celine leads the way to a booth in the upper section that I didn't know existed. The music is loud and pumping and not the kind of thing I enjoy listening to, and I can't drink because I'm driving. But Celine beams at me and touches my arm.

"I know we don't know each other very well, so I appreciate you doing this for me."

"Any friend of my sister's is a friend of mine."

Celine smiles at that. "Gabriella is a really good friend."

"She's a good person."

"And what about you? Are you a good person?"

I let my attention drift to the bar where a blonde bar waitress stacks drinks onto a large tray. Am I a good person? I like to think so, but we all have thoughts and feelings that rest uncomfortably under our skin. I've been having more of those than I'd like recently.

"I try to be," I answer. "I guess that's all we can do."

Celine focuses on her drink, sucking half of it through the straw. "What I'm doing isn't good, is it?"

"Trying to make Eddie jealous?"

"I don't want him to be jealous," she says quickly. "That isn't what this is about. I don't want him back. I wouldn't touch that man with a ten-foot pole. This is about me showing him what he's going to be missing for the rest of his goddamned life. And me washing away all the horrible feelings I have with some new, more enjoyable experiences."

"And how's it working out?"

"Good, so far." Celine tucks her hair behind her ear and rests back in the booth.

"Have you been on dates with Dornan and Elias?"

"Yeah." Her answer doesn't give anything away, but the blush on her cheeks and avoiding eye contact does.

"And did Eddie see you?"

"His friends did."

I nod, understanding that this is about more than Eddie witnessing her moving on. It's about his friends all seeing and realizing how much Eddie screwed up.

"And does that make you feel better?"

Her pretty green eyes meet mine, and the sadness in their depths wraps around my heart and squeezes. But her response is markedly different. "Absolutely." She blinks and plasters a fake smile across her face, but I saw the truth. These bullshit games aren't making her feel better. Not really. They're just something to take her mind off her true feelings. The trouble is, we can bury our hurt beneath layers and layers of distractions, but it still lingers and needs to be dealt with.

"Can I take a selfie of us to post on Instagram?" she asks, already fiddling with her phone and fluffing her hair.

I hate social media, but I get that Celine wants to extend the reach of her games beyond the four walls of this nightclub. Throwing my arm around her shoulder, I focus on the image of us framed on her phone. We're a total contrast now. Light and dark. She smiles broadly, and I focus on looking mean and moody. If Eddie sees this image, I want him to realize that I'm not some simpering college dude he can fuck with. I left all this behind a long time ago.

I watch as she posts the image with some hashtags. When she's done, she places her phone on the table.

"We should dance," she says. "Make sure we get seen by as many people as possible."

"We could sit at the bar," I say. "Would that work?"

Her shoulders slump, but she nods. "Sure."

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