Love You Better (Better Love 1)

Curse that smirk. I frown. I’m too tipsy to handle it.

I let my eyes drift downward. The top two buttons on his dark grey Henley are undone, exposing a sliver of smooth, golden chest. The shirt fits him just snug enough to draw attention to his defined pecs and biceps, and his long sleeves are pulled up slightly, to show off his forearms.

Frankly, it’s borderline indecent.

The way he’s flaunting his forearms for everyone in Keggers to see. The way his biceps are outlined through his shirt. If I stare hard enough, I could probably see the indention of his six-pack. I’m surprised we’re not swarmed by thirsty women and men trying to sneak a peek. And I am the biggest hypocrite.

When I let my eyes fall down to his tight, dark wash jeans, I hear him laugh. It’s low, rough, and seductive. I feel it everywhere.

“You’re acting like you’ve never seen me before.” I can hear the cocky grin in his voice.

I lift my eyes to his. Who is this unbelievably sexy man in front of me, and what has he done with my best friend?

“Maybe I haven’t.”

A boyish, giddy smile engulfs his face, and he tucks his chin and looks away briefly. If that isn’t a sight to memorize. Kelley Pierce is embarrassed. I take a mental picture and hope that I’m not too buzzed to store it properly.

“Hey, Jesse! Hi guys!” A female voice infiltrates the imaginary, secluded bubble I’d been standing in with Kelley, and I remember suddenly that we are in the middle of a crowded bar. I glance at my friends, and they’re both watching us with huge, troublemaking smiles. But there’s a third person standing with Jesse and Bailey, and she definitely isn’t in on their joke.

“Hiya,” I say and raise my hand to wave awkwardly. I am the smoothest. The Queen of Cool. Definitely do not need another vodka cranberry.

“Ivy, you’ve met Cassie, right?” Kelley gestures toward the gorgeous girl standing next to Jesse. She’s got to be 5’10” and her legs are probably twice the length of mine. A plump, glossy pout. Sleek and shiny dark brown hair. She looks like a dang Jenner. The model one, not the other one.

“I have not met Cassie.” I shake my head and force a confused smile. What in the hello...are they here together? On a date?

“Well, I feel like I’ve met you,” Cassie chirps, and she smiles sweetly up at Kelley in a way that makes me grit my teeth. “Kelley has told me a lot about his best friend.”

Before my buzzed brain can decide if that was supposed to be a dig, Kelley slides his arm over my shoulder and presses a kiss to the side of my head. In my mind, I picture him getting a face full of my stylish top knot and I snort out a giggle.

“Ivy’s my best girl,” I hear Kelley say, and I watch as Cassie’s smile falls a little. The butterflies in my stomach do a little victory lap that I refuse to analyze, and I giggle some more.

Good grief, I’m floaty.

“Cassie, this is Bailey,” Jesse cuts in.

“I’m Ivy’s roommate, and I think we all need to dance,” Bailey exclaims, then she hooks her arm with mine and pulls me farther out onto the dance floor.

I can feel the bass pulsing up through my stilettos as I move my body to the music. Surrounded by people I love and trust, the crowded dance floor feels like the safest place in the world. No stress. No anxiety. No baggage. Just a carefree twenty-one-year-old woman enjoying her last year of undergra

d.

Cassie has turned out to be pretty freaking cool. The two friends that came here with her and Kelley—So not a date, thanks—joined our group a few hours ago, and we’ve been laughing and singing and dancing together all night.

I absolutely love seeing Kelley having fun. He never comes out with us, and Bailey rarely does anymore, so this has been a perfect night.

Well, except...

I’m struggling with a niggling sense of disappointment deep in my stomach. Kelley hasn’t been outside of an arm’s length from me all night, but our physical contact has been minimal. I’ve felt his eyes on me way more than his hands, and that disappoints me.

Ugh.

Every so often, our arms would brush, or I’d feel the heat from his body behind me as we danced, but despite the way the connections electrified my blood to boiling, every encounter has been...friendly. He’s acted the same with me as he has with Bailey and Cassie and even Jesse tonight.

But the looks?

The looks have been anything but friendly.

Sultry. Suggestive. Sexy. But definitely not friendly.