by Rebel Hart
10
Devon
I had to admit it. I was officially growing less fond of waking up in my own bed as opposed to down in Nina’s room.
Nina had stayed true to her word over the weekend and apologized to Sydney for the attitude she gave her, but she was honest about the way she felt, prompting a sleepover. Sydney stayed in her original room with Nina from Sunday night to Monday. Henry didn’t wake up in such a foul mood over it because he’d been prepared this time. On the contrary, it was me who woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
“You were in such a good mood all weekend. What went wrong?” Henry asked when he noticed me grumbling my way through my morning routine.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
Henry crossed his arms. “Why were you in such a good mood over the weekend, anyway?”
I didn’t have the answer to that question, either. No matter which way I looked at it, nothing had really happened to put me in a better than average mood, apart from the fact that I’d had a pretty nice Friday evening with Nina as we got to know one another. For all the jokes I made about it, I actually really enjoyed myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat down and opened up with someone like that, if ever. I very nearly let my big secret about my record slip out. I bailed and just told Nina that Henry had been a really great friend to me, but the weird thing was, I didn’t feel like I couldn’t trust her. Part of me really wanted to talk about it with her. I felt like it would make me feel better if I did. I’d never had a relationship like that with a woman before, something so serious and open. I’d never had anything like what Henry and Sydney had, but I wanted that.
“Nina?” Henry asked, piercing my thoughts.
I looked over at him. “Huh?”
“Your good mood. It’s Nina, isn’t it?”
I knit my brows together. “No.”
Henry scoffed. “You’re a horrible liar. When are you gonna ask her out?”
I was shoving things into my backpack, preparing to leave for class. “I’m not going to ask her out. Nina isn’t my type.”
“Oh, right.” There was thick sarcasm in Henry’s voice. “Your vast and consistent dating history surely points to that.”
I looked up at him. “Are you trying to say something specific?”
Henry opened the door to our dorm. “Nope,” he said, and he was gone a second later.
I was fully aware that my romantic life wasn’t overactive. I did well with women, and I always had. In middle school and high school, any girl I brought around was compared to Dante’s girlfriends, so I stopped bringing them home. When I stopped bringing girls home, they started wondering why. Thanks to that and the fact that I didn’t often open up in my romantic interactions, women started to think I was just toying with them. They would eventually get tired of me and leave. I eventually earned myself a reputation as a player, even though I’d never really played with any girls. They eventually became more trouble than they were worth for me. The constant rotation of women made people think I was a dog, but really, I just couldn’t keep a girl around. I wasn’t relationship material.
For a second, I considered Nina—bringing her home to my parents and daring them to find something wrong with her. She was pretty, smart, goal-oriented, and didn’t let herself get pushed around. Plus, she had a sweet innocence that gave her a certain appeal that was difficult to place my finger on. She was just a sweetheart. I doubted my parents could find anything wrong with her.
“No,” I said aloud to myself.
I wasn’t actually entertaining the idea of dating Nina or bringing her home, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t look for qualities like those I found attractive in her in someone else. Shit. Maybe Nina was my type.
The day was mostly a blur with Nina on the brain, and before I knew it, the end of the day was upon me. I headed for the Dean’s Club. I’d probably regret not paying close enough attention during my psych lecture, but I put that behind me. That was Wednesday-Devon’s problem. I entered the admin building and made my way toward the meeting room where the Dean’s Club met, and I saw Kai talking to a woman who was all smiles. It made me angry at first, thinking that Kai had gathered another woman for his harem, but as I got closer, I realized it was actually Nina.
“Anyway,” I overheard Kai say when I was close enough to hear. “Thanks for walking with me, Nina.”
Nina giggled. It was sweet and high-pitched, way different from any way she’d laughed when I was involved. What was the tinge of disappointment that I felt deep in my stomach? “I mean, I was coming this way anyway, but you’re welcome.”
I smiled. A solid shot at acting aloof—she was taking my advice. I was proud.
“Sure,” Kai said, “but still. I enjoyed your company.”
“I’m glad,” Nina replied.
It was time to up the ante a little bit. I didn’t know if Kai had taken my advice to break things off with his girlfriend yet, but it was obvious he was content to string Nina along. If he didn’t realize the pot of gold he had standing in front of him, then he was an idiot. There wasn’t much I could do besides what I promised to do—help Nina land Kai by any means necessary.
I took a breath and started taking confident strides toward where Nina and Kai were standing. “Wow, you came all the way over here to see me, huh?” Nina looked up, and Kai looked over his shoulder as I walked up. I continued until I was at Nina’s side and slid an arm behind her back. “Couldn’t wait until tonight?”
“D-Devon?” Nina’s face registered a bright blush, and even though I knew she was just embarrassed by the sudden interjection into her conversation with Kai, it really played into my ploy. “Hi.”
I smiled down at her. “You know, if you wanted to see me sooner, you could have just called.”
Kai cleared his throat, and a glance in his direction revealed he was seething. “Devon. Do you and Nina know each other?” He glanced at Nina, and Nina looked at him, then back at me. “Are you a…a thing or something?”
I looked down at Nina with a sly grin. “We’re…friends. Right, Sadie?” I threw her a wink, and I could see the realization dawn on her face.
“Who’s Sadie?” Kai asked.
Nina looked at Kai, flustered. “Uh, that’s my middle name.”
“Oh,” Kai replied, and there was a sadness to his voice that gave me a tinge of pride. “I didn’t know that.”
“I guess you could say it’s my nickname for her,” I responded, and I actually could see myself calling her by that moniker in the future.
“So, you are a thing?” Kai asked.
“It’s like he said,” Nina cut in, looking up at me nervously. “We’re friends.”
Kai seemed visibly uncomfortable with the exchange, and whether Nina totally understood what I was doing or whether her innocence was just playing into it, I wasn’t sure, but if she was playing the part, she could have earned an Oscar.
“We have to go. Club is starting soon,” Kai said. “See you soon, Nina?”
Nina nodded. “Yeah.”
I wrapped around Nina, bringing us closer, but not so close that Kai couldn’t see the way I set a finger under Nina’s chin and tipped her face up toward mine. “I’ll see you tonight?” I asked.
Nina looked up at me, and there was a glint in her eyes that let me know for certain she was in on the exchange. “Yeah.”
I smiled. “Good deal.” I tucked some of her loose bangs behind her ear. “See you then.” I released her, turned my back to Kai, and started for the meeting room door.
“Bye,” Nina called after me.
When we were both inside, I sat down at my usual table, and to my surprise, Kai threw himself down into a chair opposite me. I was beaming with pride, knowing I’d done my job in heightening Kai’s interest in Nina, but when I looked over at him, he had a smile on his face.
“Something funny?” I asked.
Kai shook his head. “No.”
“I hope that didn’t make you uncomfortable,” I
replied.
Again, Kai just shook his head. “Nah. I’ve got a girlfriend. I know how it goes.”
I could tell in the way he said the words that I’d completely misjudged the situation. He was content to string Nina along, not because he couldn’t make up his mind but because she wasn’t his priority. He had his girlfriend, and then he had his girl for in case things fell apart.
Nina was his back up.
I looked away from Kai, fuming. I couldn’t explain my sudden desire to clock him in the face, but I resisted. What I could do was much worse. I could tell Nina everything, and I would. I’d think of a way to let her down easy. I just hoped she wouldn’t blame me for sending Kai running back into the arms of his number one pick.
11
Nina
I was so angry that I could spit fire. What the hell was Devon thinking, insinuating we were sleeping together right in front of Kai? I didn’t want Kai to know the truth any more than I wanted him to think that Devon and I were an item, so I had no choice but to play along, but Devon really crossed the line. It’s one thing for Kai to think that I’m looking at other options, but it’s an entirely different thing for him to think that I was actually in a relationship with Devon. Kai was a nice guy, not a homewrecker. If he thought that I had an actual boyfriend, there’s no way he would go for me. Did Devon think that my feelings for Kai were some sort of game? Why would he be all flirty and suggestive, knowing it could cost me everything?
Anger must have been radiating off of me because everyone I passed between the administrative building and the East Tower gave me a wide-berth. No one smiled or waved like usual. Instead, they skated as far away from me as they could without jumping into the grass.
All things considered, I was just as angry with myself as I was with Devon. Sure, he was the one who initiated things, but I got so caught up in him that I couldn’t have corrected things even if I wanted to. The second his large hand settled low on my back, a small fire lit deep in my gut that got hotter and hotter until Devon had my chin in his fingers and was staring down into my eyes. The fire became a roaring hell-storm that consumed me. The feeling of his hands still lingered on my skin, and no amount of telling my brain to knock it off seemed to be doing the trick. I was annoyed, but I also found myself fantasizing.
The dreams I’d already had about Devon were certain to get worse.
I thought Devon was a good guy, but maybe his joke about playing innocent to get in a girl’s pants had some weight to it. Maybe he really did want to get into my bed, but wouldn’t that mean that he was actually attracted to me? Maybe even liked me? It was all too confusing. I should have just shut this whole room switch thing down when I had the chance. Now things were backward, and I had absolutely no idea how to fix it.
I opted for the stairs up to the fourth floor of the East Tower with the hope that the exercise would calm me down. Devon was going to get an earful the second I saw him, but I needed to organize my thoughts. I had a propensity for saying nasty things and just flying off at the mouth when I was angry. As much as I wanted to scream at him, I needed to figure out exactly what it was that I wanted to know. I needed to ask what his thought process was, and I probably needed to clearly explain that it was Kai, not him, who I was interested in—even if my body didn’t seem to have a clear grasp on that concept.
I unlocked my dorm door and threw it open, and when I got in, Sydney was sitting on her bed, reading one of her textbooks. “Jesus,” she yelped when I tossed the door open.
I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess. Henry isn’t home yet?”
“Hey,” Sydney snapped at me. “I thought you weren’t going to do that anymore?”
I took a deep breath, already very aware of the fact that I was about to get mean for no reason. “Sorry,” I responded. “Misdirected anger.”
I shut the door to the dorm, walked over to Sydney’s bed, and crawled in it, setting my head in her lap. She immediately started to stroke my hair. I did my best to ignore Devon’s scent lingering on the sheets, but it was distracting, to say the least.
“What happened?” Sydney asked.
I took a deep breath before explaining. “Kai thinks Devon and I are sleeping together.”
“Kai… Devon… What?” Sydney said. “I have so many questions.” She muttered for a minute before honing in. “Why does Kai think that you’re sleeping with Devon?”
“Because Devon made it seem like that,” I replied. “He not so subtly used our unique situation to insinuate that we’re sleeping together.”
“Kai and Devon know each other?” Sydney asked.
I nodded. “They’re in the Dean’s Club together.”
Sydney let out an impressed hum. “Devon’s in the Dean’s Club? That’s pretty awesome.”
I pinched her leg. “Can you not right now?”
“Sorry,” she said, but she pinched my arm in retaliation. “I still don’t get it, though. Why would Devon do that at all?”
I sat up in bed. “Devon’s been giving me advice so that I can try to win Kai over.”
“Wha—Nina! I thought you said you were over Kai!”
I stabbed a finger out toward her. “I never said that. I just said that I knew he still didn’t really like me. I’m trying to change that. Or I was before Devon interfered. I don’t get what the big deal is, anyway. Kai’s a nice guy. It’s been me misunderstanding things that led to me getting hurt. He didn’t have anything to do with that.”
Sydney opened her mouth to respond, but then she closed it. She scratched her head as if she was struggling to find the words to say next. “Honey, I just don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” I asked sadly. “I really like him.”
Sydney slid over on the bed and wrapped her arms around me. “Aw, pumpkin. I know you do.”
There was a knock at the door, and since I didn’t lock the door when I entered, I called out, “Come in.” The door opened, and Devon peeked his head inside. I hunched my brow and glared at him. “Oh. It’s you. Shouldn’t you be at your little club?”
“I left early because I need to talk to you,” Devon responded. “Sydney, can we have a moment?”
Sydney instantly started to move. “Sure.”
“No.” I slapped an arm over Sydney’s lap to keep her in place. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my best friend.”
Devon rolled his eyes. “Please don’t be petty.”
“I’m not petty. I’d probably tell her anyway.”
Devon sighed. “Nina.”
“What?” I jumped up off the bed. “Did you come here to cause more problems for me and the relationship I’m going for?”
“Nina,” Devon repeated.
“I thought you were trying to help me. Why would you act like that? You owe me an explanation!”
Devon stepped into the room. “Nina, please—”
“Are you just jealous or something? Can’t stand seeing me getting somewhere with Kai because then I can’t be your little project anymore?”
Devon put his hands on my shoulders and gave a light shake. “Sadie!” Hearing Devon use my middle name knocked the anger right out of me. “I’m sorry I have to tell you this,” Devon said, “but Kai doesn’t feel the same way about you that you feel about him.”
“What?” I asked quietly. “What are you talking about?”
Devon looked truly anguished. “You’re just a backup.”
“A backup?” I recoiled. “What’s a backup?”
“Some guys, really shitty ones, don’t like to think that they’ll be stuck without a girl to call. They have girlfriends, and then they find other women who like them to keep on a string just in case. An emergency booty call.” Devon pushed some of my bangs behind my ear. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s not a thing.” I looked over my shoulder at Sydney. “Right?” Sydney looked up at me for a second before averting her gaze. “Syd?”
Sydney looked back at me. “Sorry, honey. I’ve alway
s kind of thought that was the case.”
“You’ve never told me that.”
“I’ve tried,” Sydney said. “You don’t want to hear it.”
I looked back at Devon. “That’s not true. You’re just saying that to cause problems.”
“Why would I do that? I’ve been helping you this whole time.”
“Yeah, then you threw a fucking grenade today.” I shook myself out of Devon’s hold. “You’re wrong. Kai’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do that.”
Devon shook his head. “He’s not a good guy.”
“He is!” I looked back at Sydney. “He’s always been good to me.”
“With intention,” Sydney replied.
“No. Stop. He hasn’t done anything to suggest that he likes me. I just misunderstood our relationship. That’s my fault, not his.”
“Are you really this dumb, or is it a joke?” Devon asked, and my gaze snapped to him. “Just from you telling me about him, I knew he was up to no good. He’s playing you. It’s plain as day.”
I shook my head. I refused to believe that Kai was trying to hurt me on purpose. He accepted me when I was just an isolated dork in high school. He made friends with me even when everyone else told him to leave me alone. He said nice things about me and was always excited to see me. He wouldn’t be like that if he was just stringing me along.
“Get out.”
Devon’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Get out.”
“Unbelievable.” Devon shook his head at me one last time before turning and leaving.
“Nina. You should listen to him. It really seems like he’s got your best interest in mind,” Sydney said.
