“Zack,” he said with a nod before he nuzzled into my neck.
“Cole,” he returned, narrowing his eyes at Zack, and clenching his fists at his sides.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Thankfully, Aubry opened the door and greeted Cole with a hug asking him if he had met his teammate, Zack. Cole replied that he had, his green eyes never leaving mine. I could tell by the smirk he gave me that his eyes were still undressing me. I shivered in response to his smolder and shot him a warning look that he shrugged off. I turned back to Zack and looked up to see his face and found him glaring at Cole. Great.
“Zack, I have to finish my paper, so I can’t go anywhere tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow after class,” I said quietly as I turned my body into his embrace.
He turned his attention to me and ran the back of his palm down the side of my face. “Or I can just stay here,” he said in a suggestive tone.
I shook my head. “I have to turn in this paper tomorrow,” I emphasized.
He pulled my body into his and leaned down to give me a very long goodbye kiss, leaving me breathless. I knew he was putting on a show for Cole, but I went along with it. He doesn’t even know the half of it. He stepped away from me and gave Cole a smug smile before saying goodbye to Aubry. The minute Zack left, I walked back to the living room to find Aubry laughing while Cole looked like he wanted to murder somebody.
“Oh man,” Aubry said in between fits of laughter. “That was so wrong, yet so right.”
“Karma’s a bitch,” I smirked as I walked into my room, shutting the door behind me.
Four years ago, after our first semester of college—and after that dreadful visit to Duke University—we all went home for the holidays. I was at the mall, Christmas shopping with Becky, when we saw Cole and Sasha making out. Making. Out. I could see her tongue invading his mouth, in the middle of the mall. In plain daylight. I gagged, like literally, I gagged at the sight of them. I couldn’t believe that he would hook up with her again. That wasn’t the best part though—of course, it couldn’t just end there. As we passed them, they stopped kissing, and Sasha looked at me. A slow, sly grin spread on her face, that I wanted to claw it off—better yet, I wanted to shove a grenade in between her teeth.
“Hey, Blake,” she said, her voice dripping mirth. “Thanks for putting Cole back on the market. He totally rocked my world when I visited him at Duke. Oh, that’s right, you were there.”
I felt like I got punched in the chest and kicked in the gut simultaneously. I glared back and forth between her and Cole, who was missing the color from his face, and looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him. Becky grabbed my arm and said something to Sasha about being a loose slut, and we walked away. We left the mall right after the incident. I didn’t even cry. I was so mad and sad—overall, just feeling a whole mix of emotions. He wasn’t mine anymore. He could do whatever he wanted. Why Sasha, though? Why her? Why couldn’t he just turn her down and pick someone else? Then I remembered how she was all over him at the lake that day, and at Duke, and I clutched my stomach. The rest of our trip Cole tried to get me alone to talk, but Becky intervened. Thank God for girl power and solidarity. We drank to that a couple of times during that break. At least I had my girl time with Becky to smile about.
After that, I made it impossible for Cole to contact me directly. Well, not really. We text messaged each other back and forth once in a while, even though I hated his guts. The loud knock on my door snapped me back to the present.
“What?” I called out.
“Open the door, please,” Cole said in a pleading tone.
“Cole, go away. I have too much homework to do, and I’m not up for your bullshit.”
“Just let me in. I won’t bother you.”
“You’re bothering me now. Go. Away.”
“Please, Blake.”
“Why don’t you walk around the building? You might find a girl willing to keep you company. Actually, I’m quite positive that you will find one.”
“Blake...please.”
I ignored his begging, plugged in my earbuds, and blasted my music mix as loud as I could. I was rubbing my tired eyes as I looked back at the time, it was past midnight and I could barely keep my eyes open. When Alicia Keys started blaring in my ear, I groaned as I pulled the earbuds out, and tossed them on the desk. I loved Alicia Keys—I really did—but every song made me think of him. After I finished printing the paper, I got up to stretch and get water. I unlocked my door and idly wondered if Cole and Aubry were still here. When I opened my door, I found Cole sprawled across the floor directly in front of my room. I stepped over his body and tilted my head to look at him. He was sleeping. He fell asleep outside of my room. What the hell? I tiptoed to Aubry’s room and opened the door slowly.