“Hey, girls! Who wants a drink?” I yell to the braying crowd around me, consisting mostly of girls.

As all of them yell and cheer back gleefully, I demand the best champagne the bar has to offer. Unfortunately, this is the only student bar on college campus, so it isn’t like I can get a good selection, but it’ll have to do. The girls are all pleased anyway, it’s more than they can afford, even if it’s peanuts for me.

God, I love having a billionaire father, it’s opened up so many doors for me. I thank my grandfather up in heaven every single day for the hard work he put into his department store, turning it from a small time company that had been in the family for generations, into an international sensation. Thanks to him, I get to kick back and really enjoy my life, safe in the knowledge that I’ll inherit something already successful. All my dad needs to do now is keep things running smoothly, I can sure as hell do that! I don’t even need to be at college really, I’m not learning anything useful from my bullshit business studies class, I’m only here because my father wants me to have some qualifications. The girls are a bonus too, I have to admit that.

Once I have the bottle and a selection of glasses, I move the group over to a table where we can all sit around and drink the rest of the day away. Maybe it’s only midday, but why not start the party now?

“Oh, Kade Roberts, you’re so damn flash,” the stunning brunette, Tiana, giggles next to me. “I have so much course work to do but somehow you’ve lured me here to party with you. If I get kicked out…”

I wrap my arm around her and slide her along the chair until her body has crashed into mine. “I won’t let them kick you out, I couldn’t allow that to happen, it would be a travesty! I’ll pay the right people off.”

“I heard you live in a mansion!” Amber, one of the brasher girls who’s yet to get into my pants yells. Maybe, if she can stop herself from getting too drunk, tonight will be her lucky night. I adore Tiana, she’s a lot of fun and great in bed, but we’ve already hooked up a few times and I’m not interested in making it anything like a relationship. Keeping things casual is my game, and I’ve learned that’s easier to do when I keep things simple. I’m upfront, and never have sex more than five times. “You should have a party there some time! I’m sure we would all love to see the mysterious Robert’s mansion, wouldn’t we, girls?”

Everyone murmurs in agreement, aside from me. There’s no way in hell I’m inviting these reprobates back to my home town. They’re fun for here, but my family has respect there. We hold glamorous, elegant dinner parties, not loud boozy events that will keep the neighborhood up. We might be relatively new to money, but we don’t behave so. I think my dad wants everyone to believe that we’re old in money, just for the sake of respect.

“Hmm, maybe some time, but it isn’t anywhere near here, is it? It’d take too long to get there.”

“Totally worth it though. I bet you have some legendary parties. You’re the ultimate party boy.”

I can’t keep on down this road or they’ll end up convincing me that it is a good idea. I even have a helicopter stored on campus, so all I need to do is call up the pilot and I could be home soon. I could even take Tiana with me for some sexy alone time before anyone else turned up. Or Amber, depending on my mood. Even if I get my bollocks removed afterwards by my dad, it would still be fun… but no, I just can’t.

“Instead of worrying about going anywhere else, why don’t I get some more drinks in first? The champagne is nearly done. Why don’t I send the bar tender out to get some real stuff? Don Perignon.”

Thankfully, they all get swept up in this new plan instead. I know the poor bar staff won’t be able to get the top stuff in, but for a few I can send them out and get them to get something more suited to my expensive tastes. I give the guy a wink, a smile, and a tip, and I send him out on his way.

“Hey there.” All of a sudden, I feel a stray hand making its way up my thigh. I turn to see Amber giving me the filthiest look that I’ve ever seen from her before. “Want to come outside with me for a cigarette?”

“But I don’t smoke…” I start, before I realize what she’s getting at. She’s more interested in me than the expensive booze. I could take her back to my room now for an afternoon fool around and be back on the prowl tonight. It wouldn’t be the first time, my record so far is four, but then two of them were at the same time. Best day of my life so far! “Oh, I see.” I give her a wink back. “Yes, I think maybe we should.”

Amber grabs onto my hand and she leads me towards the door. I glance backwards only for long enough to see Tiana’s crestfallen face. She looks gutted to see me with someone else which is dumb. She knows as well as everyone else does that I’m only a good time guy. I won’t be settling down for a very long time. I have too many women to explore, too many wild oats to sow, too much experience to be had…

“Here you are, Kade.” We’re only stopped when the bar tender returns much too quickly with my drink, leaving me with a choice; party or sex. “The very best for you, and I have your change here…”

“You keep the change,” I shoot back quickly. “Thank you very much, that’s wonderful.”

Amber has her hands placed firmly on her hips and a fierce flashing in her eyes. The fact that she’s daring me to defy her right now only makes me want to do it. Maybe this is why I haven’t been anywhere near her before, before she’s got crazy girl tendencies. I do not want another one of them.

Last year, during my first year of college, I made the mistake of sleeping with what I now refer to as a ‘nice girl’. She wasn’t slutty, I might have even been her first. I was sweet with her in the beginning because I’d set my sights upon her, and like a predator I really needed to catch my prey, and it didn’t take me long to win her around. Unfortunately, what I missed was the warning signs of her falling in love with me. Looking back with hindsight, it’s obvious, but I didn’t get it at the time. I thought I was just winning.

We had sex twice. Two times, that’s it, but what followed was a long time of hell. She followed me everywhere, sending me love notes that got crazier by the minute, she followed me online, through the campus, cock blocking me at every opportunity until it all culminated in one crazy night where she threatened to kill herself. That was so scary, I had to call the cops. Then… she vanished. She left college, went back home or maybe somewhere else and I haven’t ever heard from her since. But I sure as hell learned my lesson!

Never again, I won’t allow that to happen to me. That’s why I have my crazy sounding rules.

“Amber, I just paid for this and I want to drink it before we go anywhere. That’s cool, right?”

She peers over my shoulder, presumably at her competition. I can see that she wants to tell me that it’s now or never, but she must be able to sense what my answer will be to that, so in the end she nods.

“Fine, but when this bottle is gone, we’ll go outside then?” she pouts, looking like a child.

“You’re more than welcome to go for a cigarette alone,” I reply innocently. “We’ll all still be here.”

She doesn’t, just as I knew she wouldn’t. She follows me behind to the table and takes a seat next to me. She and Tiana both try and squeeze next to me so tightly that it’s almost unbearable. There’s a part of me that wants to snap at the pair of them to back the hell off, but before I actually reach that intense moment of boiling point, something very unexpected catches my eye. Or someone, if I’m going to be more precise about it.

I don’t know why the sight should surprise me, I know that she’s here, but still… every time I see her it leaves me a little bit on the edge. I’m not quite as comfortable with the person I’ve become as I was before.

Lucie Smith, the girl next door, the one I grew up next to. She’s the real ‘nice’ girl.

I knew her well, once upon a time, in fact I would call her my closest friend back then. We grew up next door to one another, albeit a kilometer or so apart due to the sheer size of my house and the land around it. Her house wasn’t even quite the same size as mine, her family didn’t have nearly as much money, but I don’t think Lucie ever saw me as that. She didn’t think of me as the arrogant rich kid who doesn’t deserve friendship.

Way back then, I adored her, I thought that we would always be friends. I didn’t think there was anything that could tear us apart. She was the girl I trekked through the mud with, who I rode my bike with while we hunted for treasure, who was there when I fell down and scraped my knee. We had a bond so tight I didn’t think anyone would be able to destroy us. Little did I know then it would be me who fucked things up.

I sigh loudly, remembering the day when I told Luci to get lost because I wanted to get Marcey May’s bra off. We were fifteen years old, on the cusp of becoming more adult, and my hormones got the better of me. She was so prissy then, almost annoyingly so, and I started to view our friendship as an irritation.

I was a dick, and the hurt look on her face was utterly more agonizing than the way Tiana looked at me today. That cut deep, especially when she didn’t want to hang around any longer. I guess I didn’t try to get her back as hard as I should because I had guy friends then who understood my need for naked girls better. I thought I was okay. I didn’t even think much of us going to the same college, completely coincidentally so, but every time I see her around campus, it’s like a knife plunging into my heart.

She’s the one girl that I’ve pushed away who I actually miss, and there isn’t a chance in hell of me getting her back. Lucie won’t even meet my eye now, I think I must disgust her. It’s a real shame, I’d like it if she looked at me like I was her friend again, rather than the enemy. I much prefer that expression on her face.

But as I see her hunched over her books, surrounded by her nerdy mates who want to study as much as she does for a life that won’t be anywhere near as incredible or wealthy as my own, and I’m here living the dream, I guess I know who’s won. It isn’t a competition or anything, but I’d much prefer my life to hers.