Kissing the Player - Maggie Dallen Page 0,36

was the last I’d see of her tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found her making out with another guy next time I turned around.

A panicky sensation I didn’t want to acknowledge had me tensing at the thought.

Where was she? Where could she have gone? She was my date, dang it, whether we arrived together or not.

That anger was back and it had me moving into action, Ryan’s mocking laugh following me as I set out after her.

“Where are you going?” Simone stopped me. I’d almost missed her standing there with a group of girls from the art department. Unlike Rose, Simone had a tendency to blend in with the woodwork. Or…the woods, as the case may be.

I nodded toward the thicket of trees behind the house. “Got a date to track down.”

“So you’re really doing this, huh?” She trotted alongside behind me. Being as tiny as she was, she always had to half-run to keep up with me if I didn’t shorten my strides.

I didn’t shorten my strides right now because I was so not in the mood for one of her lectures. “Look, we agreed to disagree on this one, right?” I looked down with one eyebrow cocked and she frowned.

I had her there and she knew it.

She huffed. “What kind of friend would I be if I just stood by and watched them get hurt?”

I sighed, my head tipping back as I shook my head in exasperation. “How many times do I have to tell you. She won’t get hurt. Rose can’t get hurt. She’d need to have feelings to get hurt.”

She smacked my arm. Hard. “First of all, I wasn’t talking about her. And second—” She smacked me again. “Are you really that dumb that you think just because you can’t see something it doesn’t exist?”

I stared at her in confusion. “You’re worried about me getting hurt?” I latched onto that first part because…seriously? What did she think? That I’d go and lose my heart to that shallow flake?

I might have been an idiot when I was a sophomore, but my eyes were wide open now. She couldn’t hurt me.

“You seem to forget,” she said. “I was there the last time she walked away from you, remember?”

I stared at her. “I remember. But I wish you’d forget. Things are different now. And besides, I was going to dump her, too, she just beat me to it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered.

I started to walk away but she clung to my side as I followed the trail into the woods. “If you’re not worried about yourself, then think about her. You are not this guy.”

“Aren’t I?” I stopped to glare at her. “Why not? Why are you so sure I’m a good guy?”

“Because I know you!” She stomped her foot, looking like the little kid I remembered. The one who’d welcomed me into her family and her house when she heard the fighting coming from my house. “You’re not a bad guy, even if you want to tell yourself that you’re all tough and untouchable.”

I rolled my eyes, but she was on a roll.

“And even if you were such a tough guy, I don’t think Rose is as tough as you think. She’s not heartless and she’s not shallow.”

I stared at her for a long moment. “And you know this…how?”

She shrugged. “I just do. I think there’s more to her than you realize.”

I scoffed as I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Oh yeah, I’m sure she’s real deep.”

“Everybody has their stuff, Jax. Everyone has thoughts and feelings and a whole world going on inside them. Some people just hide it better than others.”

I couldn’t quite meet her eyes, so earnest and caring—so I scanned the trees for any sign of my so-called date. There were people moving about, couples most likely, off to find a quiet spot to hook up. But no sign of Rose.

“Just think about it, okay?” Simone said. “Don’t hurt someone for the sake of some stereo equipment. You’re better than that.”

That had me staring at my friend again. “Would you relax? I’m not going to hurt anyone. Everyone knows that Rose is too self-absorbed and vain to get hurt by a guy.”

“Right,” Simone said with a sniff. “Just like everyone knows I’m just your tagalong nerdy best friend who has no sense of fun and no sense of humor.”

My mouth fell open in protective anger. “Who said that about you?”

She planted her hands on her hips with a scowl. “I know what people