asked me out, I thought he was the perfect boy; smart, gorgeous, kind, athletic, popular. But over the past two years, I’ve replaced some of those adjectives to Ben Lester’s personality.
Cocky replaced popular.
Arrogant replaced smart.
Manipulative replaced kind.
Yeah, he was still gorgeous and athletic, but those seem like his only good traits these days.
We even started having sex a couple of months ago because I, somehow, foolishly believed-like most stupid teenage girls-sex would make things better.
Newsflash: It didn’t and doesn’t.
Yeah, it felt great, and he was good at it. But a part of me thought he put in the effort so that he’d get good reviews and not necessarily because he was sensitive to my sexual needs.
The last two years were on again-off again with us because some days I just couldn’t take his bullshit. He wasn’t exactly mean to me, just…mean-ish.
And he could be a manipulating bastard, too.
Every girl was just a friend. Or it wasn’t what it looked like. Or I was overreacting. Or I was just too insecure.
The truth was, I was just a goddamn idiot.
I foolishly gave my virginity to a boy after rationalizing that two years was an appropriate length of time to not be labeled a slut if I slept with my boyfriend. And I stayed with the jackass for that same reason.
I didn’t want to be labeled as easy.
And now I was rushing to leave this fucked-up party because, once again, I caught Ben acting way too familiar with Mitzi Drumell, a girl I knew he dated before me.
That’s one crossing over the line too many.
I made it down the stairs, and I was about to turn the corner to storm through the living room and out the front door, when I was grabbed around my waist and hauled up against a strong, hard chest that shouldn’t belong on an 18-year-old boy.
The jacked-up thing was that I automatically knew who that chest belonged to.
Will fucking Creston.
He had a bad habit of using this tactic when he wanted to grab my attention.
The dick.
“Whoa, Stems,” he chuckled. “Where you going in such a rush?”
“Screw you, Will,” I replied-like I always did.
He let me go, but grabbed my hand, dragging me underneath the stairs. And I was so pissed off at Ben, I let him.
Now, don’t get me wrong. William Creston was stupid gorgeous, and it wasn’t a hardship to have to look at the guy. He wasn’t quite as…captivating as Damien, but he was hot, nonetheless.
Will had dark blonde hair with warm brown eyes that glowed when he had that cocky grin on his face. He was at least six-feet tall with a hard body honed from years of playing sports. Describing him you’d think he looked like a cliché California surfer, but he wasn’t.
He was the shark in the water, not the surfer.
I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes and asked what I always ask, “What do you want, Will?”
The edge of his lip lifted in a smirk I wanted to smack off his face because I was man-hating right now. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Stems.”
Games.
That’s all this was.
Some sort of twisted game he learned how to play from Damien.
“Where’s your latest piece of ass, Will?” I asked, my voice full of contempt. “Shouldn’t you be balls deep in your latest plaything?”
His right hand came up and his fingers started dancing across my bare collarbone. I couldn’t conceal the goosebumps that broke out over my skin. “You seem overly interested in who I’m fucking, Vicky,” he replied, his voice deep and rough. “If you’re not careful, I’ll start to think you might be jealous.”
Even though I was mad at Ben, and had just broken up with him for good, I didn’t want Will Creston thinking I would ever be in line to be one of his disposable sluts.
“It’s only jealousy if you have something I want, Will,” I retorted. “I’m not suffering in that department, thank you very much.”
Will leaned in closer, and as much as I disliked the jerk, I couldn’t deny the buzz of excitement that danced down my spine when I got a whiff of his cologne. “From what I hear, there aren’t many girls who are suffering in that department when it comes to your boyfriend, Stems.”
I wanted to slap the shit out of him, but I knew deep down he was right. I was just the stupid girlfriend who wanted to matter to the boy who she’d given her virginity to.