14. Are You Jealous?
Are You Jealous?
BECKS
Everything happened so fast that my head is fucking spinning.
One second I’m questioning all my life choices and regretting coming to this party as Gen’s date, as she and her friends are talking my ear off about all the gossip on campus.
It isn’t just that I’ve just gotten here and, aside from my teammates; I have no idea who the people they’re talking about are. I’m a head down and mind your own business kind of guy. Mack is the social butterfly between us.
I’m about to fake a headache and go home when I spot her. Talia steps out into the backyard with one of those neon blue drinks in hand.
If she looked pretty in shorts and a t-shirt at work and in jeans at class, she’s a knockout in a black dress that I can’t help but imagine on my bedroom floor.
“Becks,” Gen’s voice goes up a few notches. “Are you listening to me?”
If a second ago I was looking for an excuse to go home, now I just need an excuse to ditch Gen and go speak to Talia without being rude. “Yeah, sorry. I was just looking for people I know.”
Gen follows my gaze. “Ah, yeah. You’ve met Talia in Cantucci’s class. If she weren’t a legacy and if her brother wasn’t Tucker Prescott, there’s no way she would have been allowed to even pledge Zeta Theta Beta. She’s our very own charity case.”
Her words rub me the wrong way. I haven’t spent much time with Gen in the past few years, but I’m beginning to wonder if she was always this catty. “A charity case? What does that even mean?”
“Her mom and my mom were really good friends.” Gen explains. “Liz was pre-med and had dreams of becoming one of the top neurosurgeons in the country, like her father. Then she met her husband, and it all went to shit.”
I’m not sure I understand what she means. Her friends must notice my confused expression, because they fill me in.
“Talia’s mom fell in love with a guy who worked at the mechanic shop in town when she had car trouble. Her family was absolutely against the relationship, and they cut her off. So she dropped out of college and married the boy from the wrong side of the tracks.” Madison says.
“Instead of finishing her degree and going to medical school, she had five kids with the mechanic. She went to night school at community college to get her nursing degree. It took her, like, ten years. She works at the E.R. here in town when she could have been earning millions in L.A. or New York.” Gen adds with a shudder.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a nurse.” I bite out, annoyed by their snobby attitude. “And it’s admirable that she got her degree even after getting married and having kids. My mom never finished her degree after she met my dad and had Mack, me, and Raya.”
Gen’s tone is condescending. “Sure, and you know that neither did my mom. But they both married NHL stars. Not blue-collar workers who live paycheck to paycheck. We never had to worry about our tuition or sell our cars to help parents who can’t afford to keep a roof over our heads.”
That sounds oddly specific. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know?” Olivia chimes in. “Talia’s father lost his business after a work injury, and the family got into debt, and their house was foreclosed.”
“Tucker is going to have a bright future in the NHL,” Gen whispers. “But his sister? If I hadn’t taken pity on her and given her a room in the house, she’d be homeless. She wouldn’t even have a car to sleep in; she had to sell it to pay the fee to stay in Zeta Theta Beta.”
I had no idea about the situation Talia and Tucker’s family is in. “It was good of you to help her, then.”
“Like I said, Tucker is a cool guy. I couldn’t let his sister become homeless. Besides, it would have been a blemish on the reputation of the whole sorority.”
In that moment, Mack walks over to Talia and her friend.
His interest is more than obvious from the way he keeps his eyes on her.
I don’t like that at all, and Genevieve is even more annoyed than I am.
“Although I have to say that I’m beginning to regret helping her. Have you seen that dress? It isn’t even designer.” She says with a shudder.
“True,” Olivia agrees. “It’s definitely an off the rack item.”
Madison’s giggle is full of malice. “Yeah, a clearance rack at a thrift store.”
Fuck. These women are brutal. I’d much rather face a two hundred pound D-man than one of the Zetas any day.
But I can’t let them talk about Talia that way.
There is nothing wrong with her dress. She actually looks stunning in it.
I’m about to say to her that I don’t appreciate that attitude and that not having money doesn’t make someone inferior.
But the DJ chooses that moment to interrupt the background music to introduce a party game.
It sounds complicated, so I stop paying attention and focus on Talia. When is Mack going to leave her alone so I can go say hi to her?
But my brother doesn’t walk away. When the DJ is done explaining the game, he offers his hand to Talia, and she takes it.
I watch him lead her to the dance floor, irritated beyond belief that I wasn’t the one who asked Talia to dance.
“Come on, Becks. Let’s play too.”
No, thanks. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them back. I’m not really in the mood to dance with Gen, but from what I gathered about the game’s rules, we can switch dance partners.
“Sure,” I bite out, determined to get to dance with Talia.
I’ll figure out the rest of the rules later.
All the couples on the dance floor begin to sway in sync to the slow song the DJ selected.
Gen and I are right next to Mack and Talia.
She’s close enough that I can take a better look at her. She’s so fucking pretty.
Our eyes meet for a second, but then Mack pulls her closer and whispers something to her, stealing her attention again.
They’re dancing so fucking close that I wish we were back in middle school with chaperones who would make sure that people keep a decent gap between themselves and their dancing partners.
Where the fuck is a chaperone when you really need one? I’m not even saying that because I want Mack to take two steps back from Talia. I’m the one who needs help.
Gen decides to use me more like her personal lap dancing pole than her dance partner.
Her body is practically wrapped around mine. One of her long legs is wedged between mine and the other is curled around my hip.
We’re barely even moving or following the music as she rubs herself against me.
“Gen, I don’t think the game required to reenact the scene from Dirty Dancing when Baby carried the watermelon.”
I try to push her away and get some much needed breathing space, but her hold on me is tighter than a vise.
This is uncomfortable and confusing. I’m not interested in Genevieve that way. Not anymore. I wish she could go dance with Mack and I could take Talia in my arms and get to know her better.
My body, on the other hand, reacts to Gen’s proximity by sending a rush of blood all the way south.
“Hmm.” Gen giggles. “I think you love dirty dancing with me, babe.”
I’ve never given the expression “saved by the bell” much thought, but I understand the feeling when the music stops and Gen turns to look at Mack and Talia.
“Switch,” she demands.
“Veto!” Mack bites out, dashing my hopes of breaking free from his ex-girlfriend’s grip.
Genevieve’s eyes narrow at his refusal. “Fuck off, Vaughn.” She snarls when Vaughn and his partner ask to switch. “Veto. I’m staying with Becks. Right, sweetie?”
“What?” I didn’t even notice that Vaughn had asked for a switch. I’ve been looking at Talia.
Maybe I’m reading her wrong, but I could swear that she’s been looking at me and Gen, and she doesn’t like to see us dance together.
“Hey!” Gen snaps. “I’m your partner and your date. Eyes on me.”
Fuck. Talia looks so beautiful, I can’t take my eyes off her. When she’s near me, the rest of the world loses focus.
“Becks! I’m talking to you.” Gen raises her voice, but I hardly notice. I need to get the chance to dance with Talia before this party is over.
But not paying attention to my date is a fatal mistake. I’ve known Genevieve since we were kids; I should know that she doesn’t like being ignored. She wants to be the center of attention at all costs.
Her hand cups the back of my head, her stiletto shaped nails grazing over the skin of my neck.
“Gen, I—” I’m about to apologize, but she cuts me off, pulling my face to hers and swallowing my mouth in a sloppy kiss.
“Hey!” The DJ interrupts the music. “The song didn’t change. You weren’t supposed to kiss. You’re eliminated.”
Her move shocked me into a frozen stupor, but the DJ’s voice brings me back to my senses.
I haven’t been kissing her back, and I have no desire or intention of going there with her.
My high school self would have paid to kiss Gen again, but the truth is that I’ve been over her for a while now.
I grab her skinny, sinewy biceps in the fruitless effort to pry her off me.
Rather than getting the message and releasing me, Gen tries to push her tongue inside my mouth.
“What—” trying to protest was the stupidest thing I could have done because it gave her the opening she was looking for.
Her tongue enters my mouth, swirling in an aggressive frenzy. There is nothing sexy or pleasant about it.
I don’t want this, and I’m still refusing to participate, focusing every effort into pushing Gen away.
“Woohoo!” the DJ chuckles into his microphone. “I guess it’s a kissing competition rather than a dancing game. The winner is the couple who lasts longer.”
What does he mean? I manage to spin us enough that I catch what’s happening to our right.
Mack and Talia are kissing, too.
Jealousy burns through me, hot and bright.
Of course. God forbid I dare want something or someone. Mack always gets it before I have the chance.
It’s the fucking story of my life.
The moment I finally succeed in prying Genevieve off me is the same moment the kiss between Talia and my brother ends.
I barely have the chance to notice that Talia looks upset. She turns on her heel and runs into the house.