Kissing the Player - Maggie Dallen Page 0,10

let it go. Let the guy have his pride. But I didn’t. “What would you call it?”

Crap. Me and my big mouth. Simone elbowed my side under the table with a huff and I knew she was thinking the same thing.

All the guys at the table were now staring at Ryan, waiting for him to answer.

His face was still red, but I had a feeling now it was more embarrassment than rage.

Poor guy.

Poor idiot.

Anyone who fell for Rose was such a sucker.

“I was done with her anyways,” Ryan muttered.

Every guy at the table exchanged knowing smirks. This dude had been crazy for Rose and we all knew it. Everyone in this school had known it…except maybe Rose.

If she had, then she wasn’t just a superficial drama queen, she was cruel, to boot.

I glanced over at Rose’s table one last time. Nah. I didn’t think she was that mean, just self-absorbed. I’d bet money the girl had never once been in Ryan’s shoes. She’d never been dumped—at least as far as I knew, and she’d likely never given a single thought to how it felt.

“Sure you were, man.” Andrew gave Ryan’s shoulder a little pat and he managed to say it without sounding patronizing.

This was why Andrew was beloved in this school. He was an honest-to-goodness good guy on top of being an amazing baseball player.

Ryan’s pride seemed to be soothed a bit, and I could practically see his male ego swell along with his chest. “At least I lasted longer than any of you guys.”

There were a few good-natured laughs at that, but I stiffened.

It was on the tip of my tongue to point out he’d lasted exactly as long as every other guy here.

Two weeks.

Was I the only one who noticed that? Wasn’t anyone else paying attention?

For once I managed to keep my mouth shut…thanks in no small part to Simone’s death grip on my arm. So, I could say in all honesty, it wasn’t my fault when Ryan singled me out with a point of his finger. “I lasted longer than you, man. Admit it.”

I scoffed as all eyes flew to me to see how I’d react. I shrugged. “How should I know? I barely remember hanging out with that girl.”

Ryan smirked like he’d just made some point. Like he’d won.

I stiffened all over again, my gut churning with a sensation I was not proud of. I should let it go. This guy was just in a foul mood and looking to make a point…

“I was never stupid enough to actually date the girl,” I said.

Reason had lost the battle.

But seriously. I had my pride, and I had a certain reputation to protect.

“Sophomore year,” Ryan said, his voice a little too loud and way too angry.

I gave him a blank stare before shrugging. “Yeah, okay, I guess.” I feigned confusion as I looked around the table. “Anyone else think it’s weird that Ryan remembers my hookup history better than I do?”

Simone sighed next to me and Andrew gave me another shake of his head like he was disappointed in me. The rest of the guys were laughing, eyeing Ryan expectantly as they waited for his response.

“It’s not your dating history I care about, punk,” Ryan snapped.

“Ah, I see,” I said with a pitying sigh. “You’ve been pining over Rose for that long, huh? That’s…sweet, I guess.” Everything in my tone said sad.

That was just plain sad.

Ryan clearly heard it and he shoved his seat back so quickly it scraped the linoleum.

Simone tensed next to me, but I forced myself to relax even farther into my seat, a smirk fixed on my face as if this was all just so amusing.

As if adrenaline wasn’t racing through my system as anger took root and grew. All this over Rose. Freakin’ Rose. Did she have any idea how much she’d messed with this guy’s head?

How much she’d messed with mine?

But that was ancient history, I’d gotten over it years ago.

“She dumped you way worse than she did me,” Ryan said. “At least she actually liked me. She was just using you.”

I jerked my head back like I’d been smacked in the face. “I’m sorry, what?” I gave my head a little shake as I forced a laugh and tried to recover my chill. I should let it go. Just drop it. He’s hurting and you should just— “How do you figure?”

“She was using you to get in with us,” he said, tipping his head toward the rest of the table. “Face