Natalie
“Hey, Natalie, wait up.”
Recognizing the voice, I groan and pick up the pace, hustling my ass down the path. With any luck, I’ll lose him in the crowd of students moving like cattle across campus. Reed Collins is the last person I want to speak with. After Saturday night and the ugliness he hurtled in my direction, I don’t know how he has the audacity to approach me.
But he does.
What a jerk.
As tempting as it is to lump Brody and Reed into the same hockey-playing-manwhore category, they’re nothing alike. Until now, I hadn’t realized it. Yeah, they’re both players—that goes without saying—but there’s an egotistical self-centeredness to Reed that I didn’t notice until it was too late. He doesn’t give a damn about anyone else’s feelings but his own. And he doesn’t care who he hurts in the pursuit of his own pleasure either.
Brody doesn’t strike me that way. But that’s something I’m still trying to figure out. And until I do, my guard is up, and I’ll tread carefully.
Catching up to me, Reed slows his jog and gives me a smile full of charm and bullshit. It’s the very same one that used to make my heart hitch and bring a dreamy smile to my lips.
Now it makes me want to throat punch him.
“I’m glad we ran into each other.” He falls in line with me as I walk. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of in a hurry at the moment.” Even if I had all the time in the world, I wouldn’t waste a single minute of it on him. Hoping he gets the message, I give him a bit of side-eye and hasten my pace. “Maybe some other time?”
Or never.
Never works just as well. In fact, it’s preferable.
“Where’re you heading?”
“Brighton.” I keep my eyes focused straight ahead. Even looking at him makes my blood boil.
“What a coincidence. I’m going that way, too.”
“Awesome,” I mutter under my breath.
Without any further preamble—which I can appreciate—he gets straight to the point. “So, what’s up with you and McKinnon? Are you two really a thing?”
My mouth falls open as I stop in my tracks. This guy is unbelievable! “Seriously? You embarrass me in front of a ton of people Saturday night, and instead of apologizing like a normal human being, you want to know if I’m dating Brody?”
He blinks in confusion and gives me a what’s the big deal look. “Yeah, that’s what I asked.”
I laugh.
Why?
I have no idea. The way this guy’s brain works is impossible to understand. I’m not even going to try. And the fact that I wasted four months of my life on the asshole only makes me laugh harder.
A flicker of annoyance crosses Reed’s pretty-boy features as the giggles roll off my lips. Deciding to ignore him, I walk away.
“Hey.” He grabs my arm and hauls me over to the grass so we’re no longer in the stream of student traffic. “I’m not done talking to you.”
The laughter dies a quick death as my brows lower. “Wanna bet?” I try jerking my arm free. When his fingers tighten around me, I growl, “Let me go, Reed. You and I have nothing further to discuss.”
All polite pretense falls away. “I want to know what’s going on between the two of you.”
“Excuse me?” Who does this guy think he is? The extent of his douchebaggery is almost mind-boggling.
“Why are you slumming it with McKinnon?” he snaps, eyes narrowing. “If you’re doing it to fuck with me, it’s not going to work.”
I rear back like I’ve just been slapped. “You’re insane to think that you have any bearing on the decisions I make. You stopped being a consideration a long time ago.”
“Sure.” Reed rolls his eyes. “Cut the crap, Natalie. I know you’re still pissed that I dumped you.”
I gasp and fire back, “If you remember correctly, it was me who dumped your ass. Not the other way around.”
He smirks, and I’m tempted to slap the smile right off his face. “Only because you found out I was getting a little side action. Come on, admit it…we had a good thing going. You should have chilled out and overlooked it.”
I fist my hands and try to rein in my temper so I don’t explode. But that feels impossible. “Are you suggesting that the appropriate action would have been to turn a blind eye to your screwing around?”
He reaches out with his other hand and trails his knuckles over my cheek.
I scowl and bat it away.
“None of it ever meant anything. You’re the girl I liked having by my side. I saw a future for us.” He shrugs. “At the time, I wasn’t ready to settle down.”
The scary thing is, I think he’s being serious. He wanted to have his cake and eat it, too.
Or maybe I should say, he wanted to have his pie and eat it, too.
“So, I was just supposed to stand there like a dumbass while you fucked all the puck bunnies you wanted?”
A cocky smile curves his lips. “Is that really such a big deal? It’s not like you were into having sex.”
The blood drains from my face as I choke out, “Excuse me?”
“I have a high sex drive.” He shrugs. “You didn’t. Plus, you didn’t know what you were doing. Maybe you should have watched some porn and gotten a few ideas. If you had tried spicing things up, I wouldn’t have gotten so bored.”
I can only stare in shock that all of this nastiness is spewing from his mouth.
“You know what?” I jerk my arm away again and this time, he releases me. If he hadn’t, I would have junk punched him. Hard. I’m not going to put up with his manhandling. “I can’t believe I let you take my virginity,” I hiss, stepping toward him. My hands are still balled. My nails dig into my flesh. “And I can’t believe you’re trying to blame me because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants. You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
He holds his palms up. “Look, we’re getting off topic here.”
“Off topic?” I shriek. “Are you kidding me?”
My elevated voice doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.
“Yeah. What I’m trying to say is that if you’re so desperate to have me back again, I’m more than willing to give you another shot. You don’t have to stoop to dating McKinnon to get my attention.”
I can only shake my head. “You’re delusional.”
Not taking my comments seriously, he chuckles. “Am I delusional or am I right in thinking that you’re trying to make me jealous?”
“Delusional. And I sincerely hope you get the help you so desperately need.”
“Why else would you be with McKinnon, huh? You couldn’t stand that guy when we were together.”
“My relationship with Brody is none of your business.”
“Listen, babe, we both know that I’m the one you want.”
“You,” I emphasize, “are the last person I want.”
“Whatever you say.” He walks toward the crowd of people on the pathway. “Whenever you’re ready to stop playing games, just shoot me a text.”
“Don’t hold your breath!” I shout.
He gives me a little wink and disappears into the crowd.