by Hamel, B. B.
“I’m doing great,” he says. “Oh, boy, I can totally see why Reed picked you. I mean, Iris said you were nice, but you’re also smoking hot.”
I blink, totally taken aback. “Uh, thanks?”
He doesn’t seem to realize how completely awkward he’s being. “No problem. The girl I picked is smoking hot too but she doesn’t seem all that into me.”
“Sorry to hear.”
“I thought it would be easy, you know? I just throw around some money and the girls fall in love with me. But that’s not really how it’s working.”
I wince a little bit. “I’m sorry, Albert. I’m new to all this.”
“Right, sure. You come from a poor family, right?”
“I like to think we were middle class and comfortable. But I guess compared to everyone here…”
“Oh, yeah, dirt poor.” He laughs loudly. “Anyone that calls themselves middle class is actually dirt poor. There’s no in-between these days.”
I push back my anger and keep a smile on my face. “Thanks for the tip. I was just headed downstairs.”
“Let me join you.”
I slip past him and hurry to the elevator. He keeps pace like I’m not trying to run away from him right now.
“You know, you seem more like my type,” Albert says.
“What about Iris?”
He waves his hand dismissively. “Way too rich. And not pretty enough.”
I stop and stare at him. “Is that all you care about?”
“I’m looking for a wife.” He shrugs. “I don’t want to marry someone ugly.”
“Oh, my god.”
“Sorry.” He grins at me. “But it’s the truth.”
“You don’t have to be so…”
“Crass?” He sighs. “This whole enterprise is as crass as it gets. I’m just not pretending like everyone else is.”
I bite my lip, still pissed, but he does have a point.
“Listen, Reed, he’s a good guy.” Albert steps closer to me. He’s about my height and I find myself looking into his eyes, unable to get away. “But he’s not the kind of guy you need. A man like me, I’ll worship you. I’ll give you everything. I can be exactly what you need.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“Sure you do, sweetie. Come here.”
He reaches for me. I pull back but he lunges anyway. He grabs my wrist and pulls me close to him, shoving his lips at my mouth.
I swing back my hand and slap him as hard as I can.
The sound echoes through the hall. He blinks, shocked, and stares at me.
“Are you… fucking kidding me?”
I wrench my wrist away and suddenly I don’t feel hungry anymore. I hurry back to my room as Albert stands there.
“Fuck you!” he shouts at me as I get to my door. I swing it open and slam it shut, locking it behind me. I stand there against it, heart hammering in my chest, terrified he can get in here. He’s a sponsor, after all, and Reed says sponsors can get away with anything.
Maybe even kissing a girl against her will.
“Shit,” I whisper and I feel the tears in my chest. I try to push them away. I can’t let this insanity get to me. I won’t let it hurt me.
But it’s too late. I’m already hurt. I feel the tears run down my cheeks and I choke them back as best I can.
God damn it. That bastard Albert just made Reed look like a puppy dog.
One thing’s for sure, though. I’m not safe, not anywhere on this damn campus. I thought I might be safe here but clearly that’s not true. As I’m standing there, I suddenly notice the landline phone hanging on the wall and groan out loud.
I can’t help myself. My stupid tears turn to laughter as I remember what Reed told me.
I can just call down and order whatever I want and they’ll bring it up to me.
I feel so stupid. I could’ve avoided that so easily. It’s not like it’s my fault I got assaulted just walking down the hallway, but still. God, what a sick joke.
I force myself to stand, get my shit under control, and call down for something to eat. Even though I’m not hungry, I’m going to force myself to choke something down, even if just in defiance of that bastard Albert and what he did to me.
12
Reed
I kick my feet up on a black satin ottoman in front of a roaring fireplace, a velvet smoking jacket hung around my shoulders. I puff on a cigar and sip a snifter of brandy and god damn, if I don’t feel like a rich bastard from the turn of the century or something like that.
The sponsor’s lounge is suitably snobbish. I usually avoid this place, but tonight it’s actually perfect. There’s nobody else here, just me and a bunch of paintings that look way too expensive to be anywhere but a museum and some dead stuffed animal heads that I swear won’t stop staring at me as if I’m the one that pulled the trigger on them.
Décor aside, it’s empty and that’s what I wanted. A little peace away from all the bullshit, away from the girls and the other sponsors and my fucking family. I puff on my cigar, make a face, and dab it out in a silver ashtray. I don’t even like cigars but figured it would fit nicely in here.
I put the spent cigar aside and sip my drink again. I keep thinking about Kayla, about how I’m going to get her to understand that I’m not just another bastard trying to use her. Nora kissed me and I pushed the girl away as soon as I realized what was happening. That just doesn’t matter, though.
I never should’ve put myself in that position. I know these people and the games they play. These women will play dirty and do anything they can to win. Nora doesn’t give a shit about me or marrying me, she just wants to piss off Kayla and ruin things for her. I’m sure Nora has her eyes set on a different sponsor. She’s not stupid enough to think I’d actually pick her.
It’s just malicious, plain and simple, and I should’ve seen it coming. Fucking hell, I was stupid. These may be young women, but some of them are vicious and ruthless. I can’t forget that for a second.
I shift in my chair. It’s starting to get hot in front of the fire with this fucking smoking jacket on. I don’t know how people used to do this all the time. I stand up and slide the jacket off, and just as I toss it over the back of my chair, the back door opens and a man steps inside.
I recognize him instantly. He frowns at me and walks directly over.
“Wesley,” I say. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Heard a nasty rumor.” He clears his throat, frowning. “I don’t like to get involved in this sort of thing, Reed. But it’s something you should hear.”
“Yeah?” I ask, cocking my head. Wesley’s right, he’s not the conniving type. So it makes me very curious why he came here.
“Albert made a pass at your girl.”
“Excuse me?”
He nods once. “At Kayla. Attempted to kiss her.”
“That…” I blink rapidly. “The motherfucker.”
“I doubt the others will tell you, but I can’t abide rule-breaking. I can’t abide it at all.”
I grunt. Of course that’s why he’s telling me. Wesley doesn’t give a shit about me or Kayla, he just cares about everyone following the damn rules.
“Thank you,” I say.
He shrugs and turns away. “You can find Trim in his office if you wish to report Albert. I’ll back you up if you choose to do so.”
“Where’s Albert?”
Wesley pauses and looks back at me. “Don’t tell me you’re going vigilante.” He doesn’t seem amused.
“I’m going to have a talk with him before I decide anything.”
He frowns again then nods once. “Prudent.”
“Where is he?”
“His girl’s room,” he says. “Two doors down from your own.”
“And where is Kayla?”
“That I’m not sure, but I did see a food tray wheeling toward her door about an hour ago.”
I grunt and nod. “Good. Thank you.”
“Just don’t break any rules,
Reed. I won’t hesitate to do this to you.”
“I know you won’t.”
He turns and leaves without another word. I grab the black fucking jacket and fling it across the room. It lands on the antlers of a particularly large and angry-looking buck.
I growl and clench my fists. Fucking Albert, making a pass at Kayla. That scumbag. I thought he was interested in Iris, not in Kayla. But maybe he was just using Iris to get closer to….
“Fuck,” I say and storm out of the lounge, leaving the jacket tangled in the buck’s horns. I hurry up the steps, taking them two at a time, until I come out on our floor. I go right to the door Wesley mentioned and knock on it rapidly.
I hear some movement inside and someone says something before the door opens. A pretty brunette girl glance up at me with a frown, her phone held in her hands. She has bright blue eyes, big, full lips, and a nice figure. She looks more like a model than a college student.
She immediately looks back down at her phone like she doesn’t even know I’m here. “We didn’t call down for anything.”
“I’m here for Albert.”
She doesn’t look up. “He’s inside hiding.”
I grunt. “Go get him.”
“I don’t take orders.” She turns sharply away. “Albert! Go talk to him!”
I step inside the apartment. It’s the mirror image of Kayla’s, except this one’s been decorated. I suspect Albert did most of it since everything looks expensive and sleek but you never know.
The girl sits on the couch, nose buried in her phone. Albert slowly, sheepishly, comes out from the back bedroom.
“Reed,” he says, laughing nervously. “So good to see you.” He shoots a look at the girl but she doesn’t even know he’s there. She’s too busy typing away with a total blank expression.
I vaguely recognize her from the draft kit. I think she’s the heiress to some ketchup dynasty, if I’m not mistaken. I bet she was in high demand and I suspect Albert must’ve picked right after me in order to snag her.
Clearly he made a terrible decision. The girl couldn’t give two shits about anything but her phone.
“We need to talk,” I growl at Albert.
“What about?” he asks nervously. He stops on the other side of the room.
I slam the door shut behind me and advance on him. The girl never looks up.
“I know what you did,” I say gently. “I heard.”
“I don’t know what—”
“You kissed Kayla. Tried to, anyway.”
The girl looks up, surprised. “You did?”
He glances at her and giggles nervously. “Misunderstanding.”
“Scumbag,” I growl.
“Interesting,” she says.
We both look at her.
She shrugs.
“I didn’t think you had the balls,” she says then looks back at her phone.
Albert looks utterly dismayed and I just shake my head. These fucking people.
“What were you thinking?” I ask him, closing the distance.
“I was, ah, I was—”
“You’re a fucking snake.” I stop inches from him and grab his shirt, bunching it up in my fist. “You know that?”
“I just—”
“You wanted what you couldn’t have, is that it? Didn’t care if you broke the rules to do it.”
“Rules?” he squeals.
“Don’t play fucking dumb,” I growl at him, tightening my grip.
The girl still types away at her phone. Probably Tweeting about this right now. The whole fucking campus is going to know.
“I don’t know,” he whines.
“You stupid fuck.”
“I couldn’t help it. Your girl is just so…”
“Go ahead. Say it.”
He shies away. “So pretty.”
I cock my fist back. He winces and turns away, practically screaming in fear. I want to smash his face into pieces so fucking badly it hurts right now.
“Felix made me do it! No, don’t! Please!”
I stop, my fist hanging in the air.
“What?”
“Felix,” he moans, cringing. “He told me if I kissed the girl that he’d… he’d make sure Nicole married me.”
The girl on her phone pauses. “I’m not going to marry you no matter what,” she says. “So don’t stress about it.” Then goes back to typing.
I lean close to him. “Felix, huh?”
“Felix,” he groans. “He made me.”
“You fucking slime.” I throw him to the floor. He tumbles down and lets out a groan, but I don’t hit him.
I know this is what Felix wants. The fucking asshole wants me to get kicked out. Probably just because he doesn’t like me, and this is the sort of game people like him want to play. Hitting Albert is just doing exactly what he wants.
Fucking hell. Felix, that fucking shit.
“Stay away from Kayla,” I say to Albert before turning and heading back to the door.
“Should’ve hit him,” Nicole mumbles as I walk past.
I shoot her a look. “Nice.”
She just shrugs and keeps on typing.
I leave the room, practically shaking with rage. That fucking creep practically assaulted Kayla, all just to piss me off. Felix set this in motion and I’m sure he knew I’d lose it when I found out.
I have to stand in the hall and gather myself. I’ve been doing my best to stay out of all these politics and yet here I am, sucked right back in. No matter what I do, they keep making sure I can’t get away.
Fuck these people. Fuck this world. I hate them so much. They’d use a girl like Kayla just to mess with me.
I turn away from Albert’s door and head down the hall. I stop and stare at the handle to Kayla’s apartment. I want to just burst inside so badly and tell her everything, but instead I decide to knock.
I have to wait a few minutes before she finally answers. She doesn’t look surprised to see me.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” she says.
“Guess I’m predictable.”
“Guess so.” She crosses her arms. “What do you want, Reed.”
“Just to talk.”
“So talk.”
“Can I come inside?”
She doesn’t move. “I don’t know.”
“People are listening.”
She hesitates before sighing. “Crazy,” she mumbles, but she steps aside and lets me in. I shut the door behind me as she walks a few feet away and faces me again.
“Listen, what you heard from Iris. I didn’t kiss Nora. I have no interest in a girl like that.”
“I know.”
I frown, taken off guard. “You do?”
“I didn’t at first. But after what happened…” She trails off and cocks her head. “You did hear about that, right?”
“Of course,” I say with a sigh. “There are no secrets here.”
“Right. Well, after Albert kissed me, I realized I may have been giving you a hard time.”
“It isn’t your fault. You’re not used to… to this.” I gesture around me, a disgusted look on my face.
“No, I’m not,” she says softly. “And you know what? I really don’t want to be.”
We stand there in silence and I let that slowly sink in. I hate that I dragged her into this and I’m starting to wonder if any of it is worth it.
“You’re a smart girl,” I say softly. “You could probably get a scholarship somewhere else.”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
“If you wanted that, anyway.”
“Think that’s what I should do?”
I look away. Fuck no, I don’t want her to do that. I want her to fucking stay.
“Don’t know,” I grunt.
“Look, I’m not mad at you, okay? I’m just… I’m confused. And this whole situation is so crazy. I just need some time to think.”
“I understand.” I meet her gaze again. “I just want you to know that I’m on your side.”
<
br /> “I know you are.”
“Good. I hope you believe me. None of this is what I wanted.”
“And yet here we are.”
I nod slowly. “Here we are.”
We stare at each other for a moment and her posture slowly relaxes. I step toward her, heart beating fast. She doesn’t move as I pull her against me and slowly kiss her.
She kisses me back, but it’s not the kind of kiss either of us wants to go further. We slowly break apart, her taste lingering.
“Think about it,” I say softly.
“I will.”
I let her go, turn, and leave. I hate myself for doing it, but she’s right.
She needs time to think. If she wants to stay in this game, she’d better be ready for it. I suspect there’s going to be more and maybe worse coming at us. The only way to survive is to be dedicated… and to trust each other.
We’re getting there on the trust. I don’t know about the rest.
If she does stay, I’ll make sure it’s worth her time. I won’t let her down. I know that for sure.
Now I know who to look out for. And that’s a big help in a game like this.
13
Kayla
I hate feeling like a pawn.
I can’t help but come back to that over and over again. That creep trying to kiss me, those rich asshole girls kissing Reed just to mess with me, the pranks and the whole marriage situation in general, it’s all just so much.
I spend the night in the apartment and wear one of the outfits from the closet in the morning. I meet Iris for class and she seems pretty chipper.
“Have a good night?” she asks.
“Not really,” I say, sighing. “An insane one, actually.”
I catch her up and by the time I’m done, her jaw’s hanging open.
“All that happened last night?”
“Yep.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what to think.”
“I’ve heard that the sponsors feud sometimes but… I didn’t think Reed would be involved in that.”
“I’m not so sure he is.” I hesitate a second. “At least he doesn’t think so.”
“Clearly someone has it out for him.”
