JAX (The Beckett Boys #2) - Olivia Chase Page 0,78
evening.
No, it wasn’t a date.
A date would imply him asking me out, and he hadn’t. He’d just given me a piece of paper with a time and a place on it. This was an appointment, basically.
I repeated this to myself over and over as I got dressed that evening— wearing one of the outfits I’d bought with my ticket money. Jacob Everett had consumed my thoughts for most of the day, and I was slowly growing furious over the fact. I was here to study, not to get stalked by some sort of football god. I ran through all the things I wanted to say to him tonight to make sure he understood that I had no interest in being one of his pre-game blowjob girls, thank you very much.
Except, when I thought that, I started thinking about what it would be like to give him a blowjob, which consumed my thoughts to the point that I considered touching myself for a bit to calm myself down, relieve some tension. But then it occurred to me that that was the exact purpose of Jacob’s pre-game blowjobs, and I didn’t want to have anything in common with him, since he was obviously just a big-headed jock that was just messing with my head.
Right?
Right.
“What are you all dressed up for?” Piper asked when I emerged from my room. Piper had settled down a little after the drama of the Football House party and the free tickets, though she was still edgy around me. Kiersten more often than not served as the in-between, the person whose presence made the air in our home a little less tense. Still, it was clear to me that in a pinch, Kiersten would always team up with Piper.
“I’m just going to a thing at some bar called the Manhattan,” I said.
“That place is great. Get the Tipsy Duck, if you’re into cocktails,” Kiersten said.
“Got it. Tipsy Duck,” I said.
“Meeting someone?” Piper asked absently.
“Sort of,” I said, stooping to clasp my heels. They were kitten heels, tiny things that made me tower over people in Tifton but made me look like a little girl playing dress-up in Atlanta.
“Who is it? Anyone we know?” Kiersten asked.
“Um, it’s…” I hesitated. I could avoid a fight now by lying, and saying I was meeting a nobody— but with the way people, especially Piper, knew Jacob Everett’s business, I reasoned it was very likely Piper would eventually figure it out. Then, there’d be a fight over my going out to this bar and the lie.
Better to rip the Band-Aid off, right?
“It’s Jacob Everett. I’m not sure what he wants. I don’t think it’s anything like…serious,” I said quickly.
Piper made a noise in her throat, and when I dared look her way, I saw my roommate’s jaw was clenched.
“Jacob Everett asked you to the Manhattan?”
“I think it’s just something to do with the anthropology class I’m in,” I said hurriedly.
Piper considered this, then gave a short laugh. “Probably. I mean, what else would it be for?”
“Exactly,” I said. I turned to look at Kiersten, whose eyes were wide. When I looked her way, she blinked, then shrugged.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing. He’s not really into your type,” Kiersten said, giving Piper a meaningful, supportive look.
“Yeah,” Piper said, though it was clear the hurt was deep. I almost felt bad— wasn’t it some sort of college law to not covet your roommate’s crush or something?
“I’ll mention you to him, if you want. Maybe I can get you on the…um…list. For the pre-game…thing?” I said haltingly. Had I ever actually said the word blowjob out loud? Not that I could remember.
Piper’s eyes went dark, and I immediately realized I’d hurt more than I’d helped. “I don’t need to be mentioned to Jacob Everett, Sasha. He knows exactly who I am, and it’s only a matter of time before he realizes how much I can offer him. That’s why I know this isn’t anything serious— you’ve got nothing he can’t get from me, and I’ve got far more to give than you ever could, got it?”
I was stunned. An array of witty comebacks circled my head, but as per usual, they stalled rather than emerging from my lips. This was one of those circumstances where freezing up wasn’t a bad thing, though— after all, it’s not like a snappy response would do anything to fix things between me and Piper at the moment. Instead, I nodded.
“Yeah, I get it,” I said, and hurried out the door.