JAX (The Beckett Boys #2) - Olivia Chase Page 0,80

I felt my palms go sweaty—

And then he walked away, over to a crowd of guys who were clearly on the football team with him.

I shifted, uncomfortable, unsure where to go. I certainly wasn’t confident enough to go over and join the conversation— those guys probably wouldn’t even see me standing there, they were so huge. Perhaps I was meant to go have a seat with the other fan girls, make conversation with them about Jacob Everett’s sexual prowess?

I’d tried not to put too much stock in this being a date, but now that I was finding out just how much of a date it wasn’t, I couldn’t help but feel a ball of humiliation circling in my stomach. Piper was right— Jacob Everett wasn’t interested in me at all. He’d just wanted to see if I would come when called.

And I had.

I took a step backward, wavering a bit on my heels. I caught my balance, thank god, and turned to go—

“Wait, are you leaving?” Jenna called out.

“Yeah, I think so. Good to meet you,” I said, smiling weakly.

Jenna looked puzzled. “Didn’t Jacob ask you to come?”

“He did. But he’s clearly busy,” I said, motioning to him and the other football players, who were now laughing raucously.

“Hey,” Jenna said kindly, though her nearness made me feel even smaller. “This is just how he is. Don’t take it so personally.”

“I guess I’m not really interested in how he is, then,” I said firmly, and saying the words aloud made me feel stronger. “Maybe I’ll see you around campus sometime,” I said, then started for the door.

I wove past girls wearing candy-scented perfumes, athletes with a comically low amount of body fat, and at least a few guys that I was pretty certain could be actual Nordic gods. The air outside was thick and heavy with late summer, but still felt refreshing compared to the Manhattan’s boozy atmosphere. I took a deep, much-needed breath, and started for home. In some ways, I was relieved. At least I knew now that it was all a game. Sure, I’d gotten caught up in it, but it could have gone a lot worse. Plus, maybe me and Piper could settle things once I explained how Jacob Everett had more or less ignored me entirely.

“Hey!” a voice shouted. It was the middle of a busy street, so I didn’t bother to glance over my shoulder at the source until the voice called again, “Hey! Mime!”

I froze, glanced toward the sky, then turned around. It was Jacob Everett and, I was pleased to see, my body didn’t go into total lockdown mode. I lifted my eyebrows at him as he walked toward me, his long legs closing the distance with shocking ease and swiftness.

“You left,” he said, shaking his head, smiling a little, like I had made a careless mistake rather than a conscious choice.

“There wasn’t really anything for me in there,” I answered. Amazing what accepting the fact that you’ve been played will do for your confidence, I thought, pulling my shoulders back.

Jacob looked confused, then laughed. “I invited you.”

“You invited a lot of people, it seems. Every athlete at Harton and some arm candy to match.”

“No— it’s hype night. Most of the teams have some sort of regional or game or contest coming up this weekend, so we all go out, get a little drunk, take the edge off with plenty of time to recover before we’re on.”

“And the arm candy?” I asked, folding my arms.

“They’re here for the athletes,” Jacob said, grinning wolfishly.

“Yeah. Not my thing,” I said, and started to turn. Jacob caught my arm, not tightly, but firmly enough that I froze and turned back. I looked down at my arm, then his eyes; he seemed to realize he’d overstepped, and the expression he gave was as much baffled as it was apologetic. It was as if no girl had ever done anything but cream in her pants the second he touched her.

He released me.

“I invited you because I wanted to see you again,” Jacob said seriously.

“Ok, sure. But you’re a little too busy with your friends in there to see me, so I guess it just won’t work out.”

“Another night, maybe? Football House is hosting—“

“I’m not really interested in being just another admirer at your parties,” I cut him off. “And I’m not interested in getting in line to suck your dick before games. And I’m not interested in fighting with Piper over any of it. So thanks for the