19. Rose
Rose
DO NOT ANSWER
Can’t wait to beat Callaghan’s ass for touching what doesn’t belong to him.
Rose sucked on her bottom lip, staring at the message that had been sitting waiting for her all day, taunting her.
With a sigh, she took a screenshot of it and sent it to her mother.
The lawyers were fighting, but the Goodwins had their claws in deep, and nothing had come of their attempts yet.
She could have sworn she saw Preston’s G-Wagon the other day, but when she looked again, it was gone.
She buried the nausea that accompanied it, flipping back to her list of messages from Kirin.
Today 4:43 PM
Kirin
Big night! Are you ready?
Rose
I have assignments to finish before I get there.
I’m trying not to think about it.
Kirin
So studious.
It won’t be bad.
It’ll all work out like we planned.
Rose
You gave me no definitive plan for this.
And “let it play out” does not count as a plan.
Kirin
We’ve done the groundwork.
And being seen around campus helped.
But nobody is going to believe we are dating.
Rose
You literally told me your sister caught you making out and sexing women up at parties. I don’t see how kissing is going to make me any different from your other conquests.
Kirin
This isn’t going to be some lust-fueled thing. Trust me, it’ll be different.
Rose
Trust is earned.
How is this going to be different?
Kirin
It won’t end in me taking you to a bedroom mid-party for one.
Rose
Ha! Damn right.
Kirin
I’ll buy you a chocolate malt if you just go with it.
Rose
You are the worst thing in the world for my nutritional plan.
Make it a triple chocolate.
I’m going to need it. I can tell.
Kirin
Anything for you, Flower.
Rose
Kirin told her to get there around ten-thirty, and she’d stupidly arrived early thinking he would be there. When ten-thirty rolled around and he still hadn’t made an appearance, she texted him.
Rose
Where the hell are you?
Kirin?
I swear, if you ditch me, I will hunt you down and key your truck.
Today: 10:38 PM
Kirin
Coming! Got caught up helping my mom.
Sorry! Don’t key my truck! I’m still trying to get the insurance to fix whoever did it last time!
Wait, that wasn’t you, right?
JK
I’m on my way.
The mention of someone else keying his truck had her thumbs hesitating over her phone’s screen. But another look around the party and the pitying looks people were shooting her now and then had her fingers flying again.
Rose
Hurry, everyone is looking at me like I’m some flea-infested kitten.
Pretending she didn’t exist at a birthday party with the theme of “sexy-slumber-party” for the basketball captain was an impossible task. She didn’t know the theme when she agreed to go. To arrive and find a bunch of skimpy silk negligees, pajamas, sleep masks, and half-dressed men was a surprise.
She’d paced around her apartment for an hour and changed her outfit four times. All that work, and she still didn’t look like the other girls, but why would a guy care about a theme? Most of the guys who came in after her had yanked their shirts off at the door and called it good.
With a sigh, Rose edged into the kitchen, squeezing between a couple making out against the counter and the island so she could grab a soda from the fridge, cracking it open as she turned into a bare shoulder.
“Oof, sorry.” She cradled her soda against her collarbone, stepping back into the fridge’s cold front, wincing when the owner glanced at her, then glanced again and smirked.
Liam Hopkins.
“Adeline.” Liam’s hazy, but predatory gaze swept over her as he took a long drink from his beer, and from the smell on him, she’d guess it wasn’t his first. He had lipstick marks down one side of his neck, another shade smeared across his pec.
Her skin crawled while she worked to keep her sneer contained. Unfortunately, this was like riding a bike. How many times had she sidestepped handsy drunks at Westmont? Too many.
It was painfully easy to use that muscle memory to fall back into that false calm. An unbothered smile slid across her face when she sidestepped and nodded. “Liam.”
It was less graceful, but she edged back out of the kitchen, careful to avoid the couple practically humping one another on the counter until Liam’s arm reached around to trap her against it.
Hell no.
No way was she getting stuck with another asshole.
“Callaghan dump you already?” Liam chuckled, his beer breath tickling the skin of her neck. He pressed closer with every word. “Not much of a challenge for him anymore, huh? Or maybe he can’t risk his reputation ahead of the draft, and lost interest now that—”
“Step back,” she warned, her spine straightening as a different type of muscle memory had her adjusting to prevent her from cowering under him.
Preston’s go-to move was backing her into corners as he towered over her, his arm around her waist like he was ready to make out.
It was a great strategy; he perfected it after she tried to get away from him the first few times, holding her in place while hissing his annoyances at her, cutting her down before he showered her with loving words in front of his parents and showed her off.
“It’s all good.” Liam’s grin was lazy, his eyes unfocused as he finished his beer and leaned away, chuckling. “Figured you were joining Callaghan’s cast-offs.”
He looked meaningfully toward the dance floor where a group of girls were dancing, their gazes trained on the front door.
Even the ones with men attached to them were adjusting now and then to look at the door like some better option would walk through at any moment.
She rolled her eyes. “No, I am not in that category.”
He snorted. His eyes dropped to her V-neck just as she turned back to look at him. Rose backed out of the kitchen, taking her soda with her, and breathed a small sigh at the minimal opening she could slip into. “It’s been such a pleasure. Let’s never do it again.”
He snorted again. “Whatever.”
She turned away at the same time he did and took it as a good sign.
Maybe they’d ignore one another going forward, and she wouldn’t have to worry about him popping up out of nowhere again.
Rose wandered back into the living room and joined the half-naked dance fest while she waited for Kirin to show his face and get this fake relationship going.