It's ten p.m. My mom is off at her hotel room, but she made sure to lecture us before she left, since she has some idea of the kind of parties that happen at the house. "Condoms, boys," she yelled at us before she left. "And don't do anything really stupid. Like slide off the roof into the pool, Colt."

I'm sitting in my room listening to the music pounding downstairs. The house won't fill up for another couple of hours, but practically the whole football team will be here now playing beer pong in the yard or running a roll of plastic through the house onto the lawn as a makeshift slide. Normally, I'd drink too much and hook up with some chick whose name I won't remember two hours later, then feel like shit tomorrow. Rinse and repeat.

Except this time, I'm not downstairs with the guys. This time, I'm sitting in my room wondering why the hell I don't really feel like going down there.

And I'm thinking about Cassie. The look she gave me at dinner when my hand grazed her leg, like she's pissed off and turned on at the same time. Her hair falling around her face as she held herself above me. The expression she made when she came, when she let go for just a second without worrying about everything…

And her expression when I said it was no big deal.

I should have texted her today. Or called her. But what my mom said about her kept running through my head all day: She's not the kind of girl you just have fun with. And I'm a just have fun kind of guy. I'm not a relationship guy, which means I'm a total asshole if I go any further with Cassie. She'd think this was something it's wasn't, and I'd be a dick to lead her on.

"Colton King." I hear Sable's voice followed by a loud knock on the door.

Shit. Sable is here. That means Cassie is here.

I jump up, kicking my dirty socks and boxer shorts under the bed and shoving some crap into the closet just so it doesn't look like a filthy pig lives here. When I open the door, Sable is standing there with her hand on her hip, looking at me like I'm scum.

"Is Cassie —" I start.

Sable barges into my room. "It smells like socks in here."

"That's cause there are socks in here."

"I can't believe Cassie fooled around with you in this room."

"She told you that?"

"Not the details," she admits, rolling her eyes. "And she didn't tell me that you apparently treated her like a dick last night. I figured that out all on my own."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why isn't she here tonight?"

I groan in exasperation. "She's... this isn't the place for her."

Sable raises her eyebrows. "How noble of you to protect her honor," she says sarcastically. "I'm sure she appreciates the gesture. What you really mean is that you didn't invite her."

"I wasn't being a dick," I protest. "Why the hell are you even here?"

"Tank," Sable says.

"I didn't know he invited you."

"Yeah, well he did. So now you look like a real ass because you didn't invite Cassie," Sable points out. "So I came up here to tell you to stop being an ass. I don't know why the two of you have this hot-and-cold bullshit going on, but you really just need to get over it and start fucking already because you're both on my last nerve."

"You're nosy and interfering," I say, shaking my head. "You and my mother would get along well."

"That's probably why I like her so much." Sable grins triumphantly. "So I've said my piece. Now I'm going to go hump your roommate."

"Too much information," I call to her retreating figure. "I don't need that image in your head."

"Go get my roommate naked so you have a replacement image in your head."

Well, shit. I wasn't thrilled about this party in the first place. And now Cassie... God, she must think I'm the biggest prick ever.

I take out my phone, and start to text an apology. Fuck. That'll be a lame ass text message.

Grabbing my car keys, I head downstairs instead.

I push my way through the growing crowd, annoyed about all of the people already inside my fucking house. I want some goddamn peace and quiet, not sloppy drunk chicks trying to hang on my arm as I pass. Three of my teammates are standing around in the front room drinking beer and being obnoxious. Someone I don't know is upside-down doing a keg stand.

Dillon yells my name and I keep going. I never liked him to begin with, but since he said that shit about Cassie at the athletic center, he really rubbed me the wrong fucking way.

"Yo, where's the hot tutor?" Dillon yells when he catches up to me.

"There is no hot tutor," I say, ignoring him and heading for the door.

"The chick in the locker room before wasn't your hot little piece of ass?"

I clench my hands into fists. Let it go, I tell myself. I step outside into the humid Texas evening air.

"I think I'll take a turn with her." His slurring voice cuts through the noise behind me, and I turn around, a mixture of anger and adrenaline surging through me.

"I think you'll leave her the fuck alone."

Dillon grins, obviously enjoying pissing me the hell off. "Come on," he eggs me on. "I know you've been hitting that. That girl's lips were made to suck cock."

"She's not like that," I growl. I should walk away. He's trying to rile me up and that's it.

"She looks like she'd know what to do with that tight little pussy —"

I don't let him finish. "She's a virgin, you stupid fuck."

I punch him, square across the jaw. He reels backward, stumbling for a second before he runs at me. The impact knocks me to the ground and he hits me once, but I'm too angry to give a fuck. The only thing I can think about is how much I want to beat his ass into the ground. So I do. I'm on top of him, hitting him, but I only get a couple of punches in before Tank is pulling me off of him.

"Fight's over!" Tank yells. Someone else drags Dillon away from me. When I try to go after him again, Tank blocks me. "You know he's just running his mouth. It's not worth it."

I gulp deep breaths of air, too hopped up on adrenaline to give a fuck about reason. I want to beat his ass, and I want to do it right this second, but people are pulling Dillon back into the house.

"It's over," one of the guys yells.

"It's over," Tank repeats to me. "Go, cool off... Somewhere that's not here."

"Fuck," I yell. I'm amped up and I want to go hit something. Normally that would be the weight room.

Except I don’t go to the weight room. I go to Cassie’s.