Give Me You Read online

  After we’ve both added makeup to our ensembles we stand side by side in the full-length mirror on my closet door. My legs are bare under my secondhand Versace white lace skirt. I paired it with a sheer tank and black leather jacket and boots. I like conflicting looks—soft and sweet plus biker chick badass.

  “I doubt many guys will notice me with you around,” she says, nudging me gently.

  I look at her reflection and frown. She’s gorgeous, naturally, in a way that I could never be. I need two layers of primer and foundation to hide my freckles and she could go out barefaced and stop traffic.

  “Layla, I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror, but I was just thinking that you look like the girl every guy wants to take home to Mom. And I look like the slut he hooks up with behind your back.”

  She scoffs like I’m being ridiculous. “You don’t look slutty, Corin.” She shakes her blond head. “You look like a friggin’ supermodel. The only reason a guy might even talk to me tonight is to get your number. Makes me wonder what the person in charge of assigning roommates was thinking.”

  I kind of wondered that too. But this girl seriously does not see herself. Maybe that’s what she needs me for. “They were thinking that you needed me,” I say, nudging her back. “And hey, I was thinking—”

  “Oh no. She’s thinking again.” Layla rolls her eyes at me, and I can’t help but smile. Thank the good Lord, the girl actually has a sense of humor.

  “Shut up. Seriously, I am all for getting you kissed tonight because honestly, you don’t know true bliss until someone has made the world spin around you. Made you dizzy and tingly with a deep, hot as hell kiss that goes on and on until you don’t care if you ever get to breathe again.” I sigh because damn, I do miss those kinds of kisses. But this isn’t about me. “But I can be kind of pushy, in case you haven’t noticed. If you don’t want to do this, say the word and I’ll drop it.”

  Layla looks slightly stunned and I worry for a second that I’ve overloaded her virginal senses. “No, um, I mean, I’m in. It’s time. It’s way past time I think.”

  Atta girl. “Hells yeah.”

  She tugs her skirt down lower, and I snicker. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  I take her arm and we leave, setting out to get her kissed. God, I hope she really is ready and I’m not just corrupting some sweet innocent girl from Georgia.

  You’re wasting your time, Corin. They won’t let a bargain basement hooker into college.

  Layla looks over as if she’s noticed that I’ve tensed, and I force a smile.

  Fuck you, Eddie.

  “Think a case of Natty will be enough?” The cheap bell overhead jingles as we enter the Stop-N-Shop right off campus.

  “For me,” Landen answers heading to the beer coolers. “But what are the rest of you fuckers going to drink?”

  Tension is rolling of him and I wish he’d just lighten up already. One girl blew him off, big damn deal. I lift a case of beer from the cooler and am about to suggest he crack one open right now to take the edge of when he starts chatting up the cashier about nearby liquor store. I’m starting to think this girl stole his dick or something.

  We get into his truck and even though I don’t feel like hearing the high school drama, I can’t help but ask.

  “Dude, liquor?”

  “It’s necessary,” he says, like I’m a dumbass for not getting it.

  “Have anything to do with that girl blowing you off at orientation earlier?”

  He frowns without looking at me, his eyes still searching for the liquor store. “Something like that,” he says, licking his lips like he can’t wait to be shitfaced.

  O’Brien sober is intense. I have a feeling a wasted O’Brien is going to be akin to wrangling a wild animal. Part of me wonders if we should say to hell with it and call it a night early. But then I remember Kelsie and those short fucking skirts and tight tit-revealing tank tops she wears. Surely she’ll bring a friend or two. Landen might need more than one girl to deal with his shit. Threesomes always helped me to take my mind off the pain.

  O’Brien is already deep into his bottle of Johnnie Walker by the time we arrive at Blackburn’s. The townhouse is a two-story with a balcony and it’s packed.

  I keep making comments about how stoked I am to kick Blackburn and Taite’s asses at beer pong, but really I could give a fuck. I just want to him to relax and find a chick to help him forget the blonde from orientation.

  Music fills the townhouse as we make our way inside. A few girls give us interested looks so I smile back. O’Brien doesn’t bother, probably hurting their feelings. Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong, and he’s the perfect wingman. He can piss them off and I can kiss it all better.

  The kitchen is at max capacity as we squeeze in and set our case of beer on the counter. O’Brien clutches his bottle like a security blanket. I would get the awkward psycho as a roommate. Naturally. I vow to fix him, because hell, I’m a fixer apparently. I check my phone and send texts to a few other female friends in case Kelsie doesn’t show or disappoints with her friend selection.

  “Hey, man. You okay if I take off?”

  I glance up to see O’Brien looking like a cornered animal ready to bail. “Aw hell, dude. Kelsie’s roommate is all excited to meet you. What’s the problem, man? You need a hug?” I slip my phone in my pocket and mock his intense ass with open arms. “Come to Papa.”

  “Get the hell away from me, dickslice,” O’Brien says, shoving me backward.

  I frown, because damn. Dude can pout. “Come on, O’Brien. Don’t be a pussy. So some chick blew you off. There’s probably a dozen or so here who’d probably be happy to blow you off in a way that doesn’t make you all pouty.”

  “Fuck you,” he returns, before taking another long pull from his bottle.

  “What’s going on, ladies?” Ben Blackburn booms, swiping Landen’s bottle and taking a swig before handing it back.

  Christ. This should end well.

  “I’ve killed guys bigger than you for less,” O’Brien tells him. Blackburn laughs like he’s amused, and I picture Landen smashing the bottle over his head.

  “Don’t piss him off. He’s already trying to bail,” I say as a few other guys from the team cram into the obscenely overcrowded kitchen.

  “Afraid we’ll kick your ass at beer pong?” Blackburn challenges, backing up to lean against the fridge.

  “Yeah, shit keeps me up at night.” O’Brien takes another swig from his bottle.

  “Let’s get Taite and do this,” I say while stepping in between them. I am going to pay for sex tonight, I think to myself. Only not for me. Never in my life have I met someone more in need of a vagina.

  “Taite’s working something right now. Probably best to leave him be. Besides, I can handle you girls all by myself.” I follow Blackburn’s line of sight to where Taite is hitting on some chick. I can’t see her but I can see a short dress and long legs, so yeah, good for him.

  “I’ll be on Blackburn’s team,” a younger guy whose name I can’t remember volunteers.

  We make our way into the living room, which is thankfully less crowded. I’ve just started setting up cups in a triangular formation when Landen bugs out. I watch in horror as he darts around the table, leaps like goddamn Olympian over a couch, and presses Lucas Taite against the wall with his forearm.

  “Jesus, O’Brien. What the fuck?” I hear Taite choke out.

  My thoughts exactly.

  Making my way over to them, I hear Landen say, “There are a hundred other girls here. Find one.”

  Oh hell. I look over, and sure enough, the girl next to Taite is the very same blonde hand grenade that set O’Brien off earlier. Wonderful. Mentally I try to do the math and figure out if I’ll have enough cash on hand to bail him out of jail tonight.

  “I’ll have you kicked off the team for this,” Taite threatens, but O’Brien isn’t deterred.

  “How about I break your goddamn legs and then neither of us will p
lay?”

  “Taite, you good?” Blackburn calls from behind us. A small crowd is forming.

  “Yeah,” he says, straightening as O’Brien backs off, allowing Taite and me both to finally fucking breathe.

  Taite mutters something to Landen that I don’t catch before my crazy roommate storms out the back door.

  “Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for watching our improv hour,” I shout with a bow. “Please enjoy your evening and don’t forget to tip your beautiful waitresses.”

  The crowd disperses with the exception of a redhead who has a mouth that stops me dead.

  Her lips were made for kissing, and well…some other things I probably shouldn’t say, but most likely will. The slap to the face will be worth it.

  She doesn’t look like any of the girls here. She’s sure as hell not from California. Her hair is a deep dark reddish-brown with a hint of almost purple. The lacy dress thing she’s wearing is short enough that I can already imagine getting my hands under it. But it’s the black boots that hit just above her knees that do me in.

  That space of flesh between the top of the boots and the hem of her dress has my dick hard already. Kelsie calls out to me from the doorway, but I can’t bring myself to care.

  Red is glaring fiercely at O’Brien’s back and before I can blink, she’s going after him. Blondie tries to stop her but fails so I step forward and give it a shot.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you,” I tell the petite girl with fiery emerald eyes. “He needs time to cool off.”

  She turns her laser beam stare on me and I’d flinch if females intimidated me. But they don’t, so I smirk instead.

  “Well you’re not me. So mind your own fucking business.”

  God help me, that mouth. I want to bite those pretty red lips. Just before I tell her she can put them around my—

  “Corin, I’m fine. It’s fine,” Blondie says. I hadn’t even seen her approach.

  Corin. I like it. It’s unique. Suits her.

  “No, it sure the hell is not fine.” With that, she walks out the screen door letting it bang shut behind her.

  Blondie and I don’t bother with introductions, we just watch Red lose her shit on O’Brien through the screen door.

  “So you don’t want her but no one else can have her either? Is that it?”

  Damn. Girl does not mess around. And she’s obviously a lot more in the know than I am.

  Landen slurs something at her that I can’t make out from where we are. The music is too loud. But I hear Corin loud and clear. Because she’s yelling.

  “I’m Layla’s roommate. And I know exactly who the fuck you are. You’re that guy. The one who tossed her aside for some chick in Colorado and then showed up here to ruin her life.”

  O’Brien looks like she’s punched him. I’ve never seen dude look so beaten down. Blondie walks past me out the door. The three of them engage in some weird triangular exchange and I’m slightly worried for O’Brien’s safety, but he’ll live. Or I’ll get a new roommate that’s less fucked up. So it’s a win-win.

  I turn back to the party while taking a drink of my beer and tip my head back because it’s almost empty. Crazy roommates can drive a man to drink. They should’ve put this shit in the brochure.

  Kelsie is less than a foot away and as I swallow, she slides up beside me and wraps an arm around my waist.

  “Skylar,” she purrs, moving in closer and pressing her full breasts against my side. “Missed you.”

  I nod. This is more like it. If O’Brien won’t blow off steam, I’ll blow off enough for the both of us.

  I open my mouth to ask if she wants to find an open room so we can get “reacquainted” but Corin picks that moment to burst through the door and glare at me like I’ve committed a cardinal sin.

  Her gaze drops to Kelsie at my side and she contorts her face in some feral female look of disapproval.

  “Figures,” she mutters before moving on.

  “Whoa,” I call out, disentangling myself from Kelsie and telling her I’ll be right back. “Slow down, Red,” I call out, following Corin out the front door and catching it with one hand just before it slams in my face.

  She whirls around on the porch and folds her arms across her chest. “What?”

  “What did you mean by ‘figures’?” I make sure to overly mock her with a sassy head tilt and huffy female impression on the last word.

  She grins in spite of herself. “I know you. You’re that guy.”

  “That guy? What guy? The guy that’s about to get laid? At a party? In college—as in two consenting adults enjoying each other while they’re young enough to do so?”

  Her eyes narrow and, holy fuck, I almost back up.

  “Ugh. Get away from me. Go back to your overly spray tanned consenting adult.”

  I frown. Catty little minx, this one. “No. I want to know why I’m some horrible guy because there is a willing participant who’d like to sleep with me. Clearly it’s not you. So why all the hostility, Red?”

  “It’s Corin,” she corrects.

  “No,” I say, stepping close enough to lift a strand of her hair and twist it lightly between my fingers. “That, sweetheart, is red.”

  She licks her lips and so help me, I want to get on my knees and beg her to tell me what it takes to get her to go home with me.

  There’s a flicker, a flash of lust that flares in her eyes and hope explodes inside my chest. Maybe I can somehow work this to where I get to see that clean white skirt on my bedroom floor. I want to hear that pretty mouth moan my name while Red apologizes for being so rude. Damn it to hell, I want to pull her red fucking hair.

  “Do you have protection?” she asks suddenly.

  Maybe she wants me, too. God bless America. I have to be careful, though, because she’s looking a little cagey.

  “I do,” I say, because hell yeah I do. I may be the easy guy, but I’m not the knock you up or give you a venereal disease guy.

  “What about birth control?”

  “What about it?” Now I’m confused. Isn’t that her end of the deal?

  “Is she on it?”

  “Who?” Stop mind-fucking me, Red.

  “That girl,” she begins, pointing toward the house. “The consenting adult in there.”

  I shrug. “Hell if I know.”

  “And you were going to sleep with her. What if the condom broke? They’re not one hundred percent effective, you know.”

  Annndd suddenly this is a public service announcement. No thank you.

  “I truly appreciate your concern.” I shake my head because fuck this. “But you’re right, I should get back to my consenting adult. Why I’m out here with a pain in the ass one is beyond me.”

  Shaking my head at my own stupidity for following an obvious nutjob outside when I could’ve already been rounding third with Kelsie, I turn to go back inside. Strangely enough, I can’t seem to remember exactly what Kelsie looks like or what she was wearing.

  Just as I step into the doorway, Blondie storms out past me and there’s something in her expression that I recognize.

  Guilt. Whatever happened, she feels guilty.

  I open my mouth to say something but I have no idea what to say. Red shoots me a glaring look, a nonverbal warning to keep my mouth shut. I watch her put her arm around the other girl and lead her gently away in the direction of the dorms.

  Maybe O’Brien’s particular brand of crazy is rubbing off on me, because not only am I pretty sure I’m going to see Red again, I think I actually want to.

  No, I know…I really, really want to.

  “Not that I’m not enjoying this five-mile sprint after practicing my ass off, but you about done yet?” My shirt is fucking drenched with sweat so I pull it away from my skin. “Because I’m damn sure done.”

  Landen doesn’t even slow down. “You can go back to the dorm if you want. Bake some cookies or some shit.”

  I pull my arms over my head in hopes the stabbing pain my side will ease up. “Fuck
you, dude. Seriously. You need to get laid something fierce.”

  “You volunteering?”

  I’m so happy his uptight ass made a joke, I could run another few miles. “Naw, but I’ll take an ad out in the school paper if you want. Uptight motherfucker, needs a release, preferably of the vagina kind.”

  Finally, dude laughs and stops to put his hands on top of his head. He did seem to patch things up with Taite at practice so that’s a bonus. Might even be able to take him out in public again after all.

  I stretch my calves and wipe the sweat from my forehead with the bottom of my shirt. Two girls running by glance over and smile so I smile back. As usual, O’Brien doesn’t even seem to notice.

  “Your Georgia peach not giving it up or what?” I lean over to clutch my knees. I’m pretty sure we’ve gone at least five miles from the dorms. “If you love something, sometimes you just gotta set it free, or some bullshit.”

  “I can hardly believe you don’t have a girlfriend,” Landen deadpans.

  I shrug like I can’t believe it either. “Yeah, well, your girl’s redheaded friend was pretty damn fine looking. Hook a brother up.”

  “She’s not my girl.” Landen rubs his side a little harder. I knew I wasn’t the only one getting a cramp.

  “So I noticed, and by the way, your pussy lips are showing. You gonna do anything about it or what?” He doesn’t answer so I continue with my motivational speech. “I got Red’s number last night,” I tell him casually even though I didn’t. I can get it if need be. “I could call and see if they want to hit a club or two with us tonight. And while I’m nailing Red, you and Peaches could knit some sweaters together or something. Maybe a nice little satchel for her to put your balls in.”

  He actually appears to contemplate my offer for a minute. Then he nods.

  “Yeah, you do that. And maybe don’t mention to Red that you plan to “nail” her. She seems pretty lethal. Probably mess you up pretty good if she heard you say that.”

  I chuckle lightly. “Don’t worry about my game, O’Brien. I got this.”

  Or I’m going to have it anyway—tonight if I play my cards right, which I always do.