Before (After 5)

In order to win, he had to, right?

Why does she have to come again?” Molly asks the small group as she takes a drag of her cigarette.

“Because she is Steph’s roommate, and Steph likes her for some heretofore unexplained reason, so she’s bringing the kid along,” Nate explains.

“She’s a total bitch, though. Super fucking obnoxious.” I groan, rubbing my head. She irritates me even when she’s not around. Molly must like my reaction, because she leans into me. I move away before she touches me, pretending that I didn’t realize her intention.

I spent the afternoon fucking her, burying my cock inside of her and thinking of someone else. I could feel the soft curves of her hip, the full breasts. I could hear her voice saying my name. I wrapped my hands in pink hair I imagined blond and came hard into the condom. Molly was so proud of herself for finally getting me off without her mouth.

If only she knew.

“She’s hot, though,” Nate adds.

Has everyone noticed how hot Tessa is by now?

“Hot? No, she’s not,” I lie through my teeth.

A tan hand swipes over neatly gelled hair. “She’s definitely hot, dude,” Zed says with surprising certainty. “I would fuck her in a heartbeat.”

“You wish. She’s a total prude, obviously. I mean, who’s a virgin in college?” Molly mocks Tessa.

Nate laughs. “Right—when did you become friends with her and she told you that?”

Molly scowls at him. “Me? I wouldn’t talk to her, but Steph has to, and she overheard something about it when ‘Princess’ was talking to her boyfriend, it seems.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s such a bitch, because she hasn’t been fucked properly,” I say, and move a few inches away from Molly, hoping she won’t follow.

“I may need to do that, then,” Zed says, trying to make everyone laugh. He fails.

“Yeah, right. You couldn’t even if you tried,” I taunt him.

“And you could? I would have a better chance than you!” he counters.

He can’t be serious. Does he not remember his precious Samantha?

“What did I miss?” Jace sits down on the concrete and pulls a joint from his pocket.

“Steph has a total snob for a roommate, and Zed and Hardin here are arguing over who could fuck her first,” Molly informs him with a growl.

Does Zed actually think she would fuck him? I look around the group, annoyed that everyone is thinking about her that way. If her body is as pure as they say, I can just imagine what the smallest touch would do to her. I would have her twitching beneath me, begging me for more. Zed could never make her come the way I could.

But would she let him try? If the playing field were completely equal, would Tessa choose him over me?

“You know . . . we could make this much more interesting. You up for it?” I turn to Zed.

Zed smiles. “Depends.”

“Hmm . . . Okay, so let’s see who can hook up with her first.”

What’s the point of this? I ask myself the moment I say the words.

And another part of me replies, It could be fun. At least it will give me something to do and a reason to annoy her further.

“I don’t know . . .” Zed’s voice is full of doubt. I figured he would be all for beating me at something, given our past and the unspoken grudge he holds against me.

“Come on, don’t be a pussy. It won’t be that hard. We’ll get Steph to make sure she comes to the next party, get her to be friendly with us,” I explain to them. “She’s young and naive—it’ll be simple.”

I’ve done this sort of thing before—different stakes and different prey, but a game all the same.

“This is stupid. Who gives a shit who can take some random girl’s virginity?” Molly huffs, whining like usual.

“If you’re so convinced you can do it, I’ll give you a week.” Jace chokes on the smoke in his lungs and passes the joint to Molly.

“A week? Dude, she’s super bitchy and we already don’t get along. I think I’ll need longer than that.” They don’t know how stubborn this chick is. She’s rude and fucking pushy.

“How long? Two weeks? Look, if you get it within a month, I’ll give you five hundred,” Zed says, leaning back against the concrete.

“Five hundred dollars?” Molly gapes. Her fury is amusing. She’s an attention whore, through and through, and she hates Tessa for stealing the limelight from her.

“And I’ll add three. Eight hundred. You think you can do it?” Jace asks with bloodshot eyes.

“Yeah, of course I can do it. I just hope she doesn’t get all psycho and clingy,” I say, deciding whether or not to brag about the times I’ve won games like this in the past. I decide against it. I’m impressed by how easy it is for my signature smirk to come back, the one that Mark, my old friend from Hampstead, always called “the seal.” It’s the look I get when I know I’m going to win something, or someone. Here I am, smirking at Zed, plotting in my mind as the group waits for someone to take me down a few pegs.

“Doubt it.” Nate laughs, lighting another cigarette.

“She isn’t going to go for you. She doesn’t seem that stupid.” Zed glares at me.

Jace laughs, looking directly at me. “Yeah, so we need proof when you hit it.”

Proof? That shouldn’t be too hard. I can be creative.

“What about a video? I could use some new material.” Jace leans back, still eyeing me.

“No, no. That’s too risky,” I argue. I’ve been down that road before and want to steer fucking clear of it from now on. “Trust me, you’ll get your proof without all that.” I look directly at Zed and pull out that smirk again. “I’ve never fucked a virgin. This should be fun.”

I smile a fake smile and bring my fingers to my lip ring like I’m trying to hide it.

Molly interjects, “Wait, how exactly are you two idiots going to get this show on the road? It doesn’t make sense: all of a sudden you’re both just trying to fuck her?” She flips her hair in annoyance. “At least be fucking smart about it,” she gripes, and holds her hand out to borrow Nate’s lighter.

“Good point,” Jace says. “How about a game?”