The Wrong Girl_Hanson University_Book Two

by McKenna Kerrick

  “I don't know,” I frown. I don't get where he's going with his question. And it's not like I have an answer. Within a week of breaking up I left for college in January and Gramps never said anything one way or the other.

  Jesse continues, “I just think that maybe you need someone with you when you go home. Someone who can be there if it's worse than what you've thought, that way you have support for when you're ready.”

  “And you think that my support needs to be Alex?” I ask in confusion. “Why would I do that?”

  “Face it, Grace, you still have feelings for him. And maybe this is an olive branch you can use to help.”

  “To help with what exactly?” Was I being obnoxiously obtuse? Yes, yes I was. And so be it if the only thing Jesse was going to bring up was my ex-boyfriend. “We’re supposed to be best friend chilling, not talking about my problems.”

  “Talking about your problems seems like the easier route than best friend chilling. Besides, best friends talk about boys. Hence, our discussion of boys.” Jesse pauses then looks around the room like Lila is going to pop out of nowhere. He drops his voice to a whisper before continuing with, “Have you seen Alex? I’m not ashamed to admit I stalked online pictures. That man is so much more than hot.”

  “Then you get with him.”

  Jesse narrows his eyes. “I’m not his type.”

  “Who knows. Maybe he switched teams?” I grin cheekily.

  Apparently that scores me no brownie points as Jesse shakes his head. “I want to see him.”

  Panic rises in my throat, momentarily cutting off all oxygen and making me wonder if I’m hearing things. “You want to do what now?”

  “I want to go see this mythical Alex.”

  “Uh, I’m going to have to give a strong pass to that idea.”

  “Baby cakes, I’m up here for you, pretending to be your boyfriend, the least you could do is let me have my amusement,” Jesse states firmly.

  There’s no room for discussion, he’s made up his mind. And with the dancer stubbornness that seems to exist inside all of us to achieve success, there’s no way I can win if we go toe-to-toe. We would be in a locked match and eventually something would give.

  And that would probably be me.

  “Fine,” I huff. “We can go stalk my ex. But I just want it on record that this is a stupid idea.”

  “Noted.” Jesse rubs his palms together and grins over towards me. “Let’s go. Where’s he at right now?”

  I balk, “How the hell am I supposed to know that?”

  “Well, you dated him.”

  “Almost four years ago! Times have changed.”

  Jesse shrugs his shoulders like the time difference means nothing. “If this were four years ago, where would he be?”

  “On a football field.”

  “Call Lila and ask where Killian is. I bet they’re all together hanging out.”

  Part of me wishes I was part Italian and could give Jesse the evil-eye. Some voodoo related curse to make him regret wanting to meet Alex. Even if in some round-about why this is my fault for starting this whole fake-boyfriend drama.

  “Maybe they’ll be shirtless too,” Jesse sighs happily, lost in his daydream.

  I make a face at him, though. “That’s gross.”

  “Your ex shirtless is gross?”

  “No, you thinking about my ex shirtless is gross.”

  Jesse shrugs his shoulders and glances from my face and then towards the coffee table where my cell phone is lying. “Call Lila.”

  Huffing in annoyance, I do as I’m hold. Waiting as the phone rings and silently praying that it goes to voicemail. Maybe she’s far too busy in class to pick up, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

  “Hello?” Lila’s voice cuts through my fog of happiness, dousing it in disappointment.

  “Are you busy?” I ask quickly. Maybe she’s too busy to talk.

  “No, not really. What’s up?”

  I pause, glaring over my shoulder at Jesse and his expectant look. “Are you meeting up with Killian soon?”

  “I was going to run and see him for lunch,” Lila says warily. “Why?”

  “Do you care if Jesse and I join you?” I clear my throat, feeling awkward about this whole thing.

  “Um, that seems like a dumb question. Of course you can bring Jesse to lunch. We’ll be at the Union, though. But I can see if Killian is alright sitting at a different table. I’m sure the group would be a little too intimidating for Jesse.”

  “Oh,” I wince, “no, that’s okay. Jesse actually wants to meet a few of them.”

  Lila doesn’t respond. I have to pull away from the phone to see if she’s hung up on me, but she hasn’t.

  “Lila?” I prompt.

  “Sorry,” she says. “I was trying to get over the shock of what you said. Jesse wants to meet the football team, that’s what you’re saying?”

  “Yes.”

  “So Jesse wants to see Alex?” Lila asks quizzically. “Are you sure about this? Is this some kind of macho-man pissing contest? Because I don’t really think that’s a wise idea.”

  “Trust me, it’s not going to be a pissing contest.”

  “Grace,” Lila sighs. “He’s your boyfriend about to meet your ex-boyfriend, of course there’s going to be a pissing match.”

  If only she knew, she wouldn’t think that. “It’ll be alright. I swear.”

  “I’ll behave!” Jesse hollers into my ear, almost shattering my eardrum.

  Lila’s laughter echoes over the phone. “Well, if he’s that adamant about it then I guess it’ll be okay. I’ll make sure Killian gives everyone a heads up to be on their best behavior.”

  “They’re adults, Lila. They can behave.”

  “Fine, so Alex will be on his best behavior. He’s been bitchy today apparently. Killian’s ready to murder him.”

  A small piece of guilt ebbs its way into my chest. I’m probably the one responsible for Alex’s bitchy attitude. We even have our dance routine due tomorrow morning, and we’ve only practiced twice so only Lord knows how that will go.

  “Grace, did you hear me?” Lila asks.

  “That Killian is ready to murder him, yeah.”

  “So, we’ll meet you at lunch?”

  “Sounds good.” We hang up the phone and I stare at the call log screen longer than necessary. What did I just get myself into?

  “So, we’re good for lunch then?” Jesse asks excitedly as he nudges my shoulder.

  “Yep, we’re good for lunch with everyone on the football team,” I wince. “Try and not bait anyone into an argument.”

  “I’m not the sourpuss about this whole thing, you are. So you don’t start an argument with anyone while we’re there. I’m just excited to ogle eye candy.”

  Well, that makes one of us.

  Chapter Ten

  Alex

  I sit down at the table, glancing around at everyone who’s idling staring at me with fixed eyes.

  “What?” I frown.

  Killian adjusts his backpack in the seat next to him, the one on the other side that I’m not sitting on. He’s the only one currently not making eye contact and I have a sneaky suspicion he’s the cause for everyone else’s weird behavior.

  “What did you do?” I nudge Killian’s arm with my elbow. “Did you threaten them over Lila again?”

  “I didn't threaten them before,” Killian snorts. “I just advised rather aggressively that nobody bother her.”

  “The key word there would be: aggressively,” I point out.

  “This doesn't have anything to do with Lila,” Killian shrugs, looking off down the table instead of at me.

  “What is going on?” I frown and start to glare at the rest of the team who then decides to stare at their plates. “Why is everyone acting like I've got herpes?”

  “It's Grace,” Killian sighs and finally faces me. “You've been in a shitty mood all day and this involves Grace, therefore everyone is either waiting for your head to pop off or you to
start throwing shit again.”

  “Why would I be doing that?”

  Killian furrows his brows, a sure sign that he's not sure if he wants to tell me something or not.

  “Fine,” I roll my eyes. “Where's Ian? He’ll tell me.”

  “Ian had to deal with his sister, so he's not here,” Killian snorts before going serious again. “Don't be a douche.”

  “Why the hell would I be a douche? What does this have to do with Grace?” I demand.

  Lila rounds the corner before I can shake Killian to get him to tell me what's going on. She drops her bag down on the floor before shoving Killian’s bag on top of hers. Looking around her boyfriend at me, she arches an eyebrow. “Well?”

  “Well, what?” I ask.

  “Did you tell him?” Lila looks down at Killian.

  Killian shrugs his shoulders. “I’m beginning to think we just don’t need to be involved,” he tells Lila.

  Her grey eyes widen as she looks at me. After a moment, she slaps Killian’s shoulder. “You suck!”

  “Is someone going to loop me in on what is happening?” I say loudly.

  “Grace’s boyfriend is here,” Lila sighs.

  I stare at her. She's got to be kidding, right? Dancer-boy is supposed to be in Wilmington at some hoity-toity dance academy thing. Or conservatorium or whatever it's called.

  “Here they come,” Lila mumbles and glares at me. “Be nice.”

  My brain isn't fully functioning right now to understand what she's saying. I'm still stuck on the fact that Grace's boyfriend is here. And that's making me all kinds of fucked up in the head.

  I shouldn't care about this. I know that I shouldn't care about this. But I can't seem to help it.

  Whatever happened in the dance rehearsal room has me feeling all tied up in knots. How were we going to survive going to the same school was beyond me. I simultaneously wanted to grab Grace around her shoulders and kiss her or shake her and ask why she's doing this to me.

  What she's doing to me.

  Because I haven't the slightest idea of what's going on.

  So instead of continuing to wallow in my thoughts, I turn around to catch a glimpse of Grace. She has on shorts and an oversized t-shirt, a bag of ice wrapped around her leg with gauze from where her cramp occurred.

  “Hey guys,” she says as she approaches, carefully avoiding looking at me.

  It's then I notice the guy trailing behind her. He's in cargo shorts and a simple shirt with messy blonde hair. He's tall but skinny like Grace is. It must be some dancer thing to be small. Then again I'm not exactly a normal sized person so I shouldn't judge.

  But I am. I totally am.

  “What's up?” Killian asks from beside me, holding out his hand towards the enemy.

  Yeah, this new guy totally qualifies as an enemy.

  “Hey,” Grace’s boyfriend smiles before shaking Killian’s hand. “I'm Jesse.”

  “Killian,” he points to himself before gesturing to me. “This is Alex.”

  “It's nice to meet you, too,” Jesse smiles politely still.

  But I don't smile as I shake this guy's hand a little rougher than I need to. Does he know who I am? The look on his face seems like he doesn't.

  “So, you're Grace’s boyfriend?” I lean back in my seat to study him more. “Some dancer?”

  “Choreographer,” Jesse nods his head. “Usually I teach Grace different routines for recitals.”

  “That must be hard,” I say.

  Jesse frowns now. “Hard?”

  “Well, if you're dating the girl you're teaching to twirl around on stage it must be distracting. Isn't there some code of ethics that you don't teach someone you're romantically involved with?” I subconsciously pat myself on the back for that slight dig.

  “It happens.” Jesse doesn't say anything more as he traipses off down past Lila to where Grace is sitting.

  “There's got to be some rule,” I tell Killian.

  “And if there is, then what?” he asks in return.

  “I don't know. I hadn't thought that far.”

  Killian rolls his eyes. “I gathered that. You look way too happy about the prospect of getting her in trouble. Plus, they’re not at the same school anymore. Grace goes here now.”

  Grace goes here now. Grace goes here now.

  I’d completely neglected that part of information when I was busy trying to tear a chunk out of her new beau. I sit back in my chair with a huff and turn my head just enough that I can make out where Grace and Jesse are sitting.

  They look pretty cozy, sitting close together and enveloping Lila into their conversation. It didn’t look like anything in the world was going to be able to break that bubble.

  “Don’t,” Killian leans back so he’s blocking my view.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Whatever murder thing is currently going through your head that’s written all over your face, don’t do it.”

  I scoff, “Why do you keep coming at me like I’m going to leap across the table and tear that guy apart?”

  Killian blinks slowly. “Did you just hear what you said?”

  I guff because he has a point, but by God am I going to say it out loud for him to know it.

  “Anyways, I don’t get what the big deal is. Unless, of course, you like her or something.”

  My best friend was a real bastard. “This is why Ian’s my favorite,” I grumble.

  “Ian tried to get with your girl,” he laughs. “But sure, I’m the bad guy for making you have a heart. How dare I.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on in my head anymore,” I grunt. “She’s like this wildfire that came in and burned up everything, and when I started to grow back, she’s back again with another blaze. I don’t know how to feel, what to feel.”

  “Have you tried talking to her?”

  “What?” I sit up straighter in my chair. “Why would I do that?”

  “Gee, maybe to see what she’s feeling? Normally it’s not a one-way road, or at least that’s what I’ve noticed. So why don’t you just talk to her like a normal, sane person would? Then you’ll know how she feels and can go from there.”

  “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. Why would I put myself out there like that?”

  “You realize that if I hadn’t put myself out there, that Lila would be off dating some preppy douche-nozzle and I’d be screwing everything that can blink,” Killian shrugs and takes a quick peek over to Lila. “Sometimes putting yourself out there is the best option.”

  I snort. “You mean like your version of putting yourself out there? Get super drunk, make sexy moves on the girl you want to be with and be dumb enough to not realize it’s her until it’s too late? Sure, that sounds like a great plan.”

  “Shut up,” he grunts. “I’m just saying, it’s an option, okay? Take it or leave it.”

  “I’ll leave it,” I quickly reply.

  “Okay, then leave it. Let her be with the dancer dude.”

  Well, I wasn’t exactly all for that option either now that he said it out loud. I guess the best option is that she never dates again and then I don’t have to feel like some jealous rage is boiling in my gut everytime I look at her. “This sucks.”

  “Welcome to the friend-zone.”

  “I am not in the friend-zone,” I scoff. “I’m so far away from the friend-zone.”

  Killian smirks at me. “Oh, so you’re dating her then?”

  God, I hate him.

  “I’m just saying, man. It would make a lot of difference if you were just upfront about your feelings.”

  “We’re men, we aren’t supposed to do feelings.”

  “Tell that to the Hallmark movies they keep producing each year.”

  That was also a valid point. Nothing was ever like a Hallmark movie and yet every girl wanted to star in one.

  Killian leans back, putting his arm over Lila’s shoulders even though she’s not facing us. “It worked for me.”

  “The girl yo
u wanted, wanted you back.”

  Killian mulls that over. “And you don’t think yours does?”

  “She’s not exactly mine,” I huff, angling my head towards the skinny dancers at the end of the table.

  “Alex has something he’d like to discuss with everyone,” Killian says loudly.

  “No, I don’t,” I glare around the table.

  “For Pete’s sake, what are you two going on about?” Lila sighs. “We were having a conversation.”

  “Tell your boyfriend that, he was the one who interrupted you,” I point at Killian. “You don’t have to get all grumpy at me.”

  “It was your name he said,” Lila says.

  “That came out of his mouth,” I concede.

  “Whatever,” she rolls her eyes. “I invited Grace and Jesse to have dinner together with us.”

  Killian frowns. “Why? I thought Alex and Grace had to do some rehearsal thing for class tonight?”

  “Actually,” I clear my throat, “I think we’ll just wing it in class tomorrow. I don’t think we need to really rehearse anymore.”

  “Agreed,” Grace grumbles.

  “Wait, I would like to see the dancing that you two have come up with for class,” Jesse pipes in.

  “So would I,” Killian smiles sweetly at me.

  “This is why Ian’s replaced you as being my best friend,” I snap.

  “Lighten up,” Killian laughs. “I’m sure it’ll go over great.”

  “Yeah,” Jesse nods. “Let’s pick a time and then you guys can show us your moves. Wait, it’s appropriate, right?”

  “Of course it is,” Grace rolls her eyes. “Like Alex could do anything else.”

  “First of all, I have great dance moves,” I say. “And second of all, I could dance inappropriate. Ask any girl on campus.”

  “Smooth,” Killian says under his breath.

  “But you two are doing an easy dance? No lifts?” Jesse asks.

  “I don’t trust him enough to lift me,” Grace’s eyeballs almost bug out of her head. “No way in hell.”

  “Thanks,” I mumble, but no one hears me.

  “I’m just saying, are you going to get a good grade by playing it safe?” Jesse ponders. “Would doing something more risky be more beneficial? I could always help Alex learn to lift tonight if need be.”