***
“You would’ve met Jack in class the next day anyway,” Haley said, bringing Alice back to present.
“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for this little guy”—she kissed Blue and set him back on the floor—“we wouldn’t have gone together. I wouldn’t have sat next to him that day, or the next, and now I wouldn’t be stuck in the stupid friend zone.”
“It could be worse,” Haley insisted. “You could’ve slept with Jack freshman year and now he wouldn’t even remember your name.”
On Alice’s other side, Madison blushed a furious red. She was very self-conscious of one-night stands and guys ditching her afterward.
Alice crossed her arms and pouted. “Say what you like, I’m tired of waiting.”
“What’s your evil plan to make him jealous?” Madison asked.
“He’s going out with the team tonight,” Alice said. Jack played varsity basketball for the Harvard Crimson. “He doesn’t know I know his plans.”
Haley narrowed her eyes at her. “And how do you know?”
“A girl in my photography class is dating a guy on the team. She told me.”
“And what are these plans?” Madison pressed.
“Halloween house party; I’m going, and you’re coming with me.”
“To a party populated by tall basketball players?” Madison smirked. “Who am I to complain? Where’s the party? Is it walk-in, or do we need an invite?”
“It’s someone’s house off campus, and all Kappa Kappa Gamma are invited.”
Their sorority was where Alice, Haley, and Madison had met. After becoming close friends, they’d moved in together at the beginning of sophomore year. Greek life at Harvard wasn’t residential, so no sorority house. Both Haley and Alice had been recruited as freshmen, while for Madison Smithson, being a Kappa Kappa Gamma was a family legacy. Just as it was going to Harvard, and then Harvard Law School. The sorority was also where Alice had met Madison’s cousin who, at the time, was a senior and chose to mentor Alice. Now Georgiana was in law school. Weird how many people in Alice’s life shared the same surname. Ethan, too, was a Smithson. The only one ever to quit the family’s law firm to start his own real estate business. He was the black sheep of the family. Alice, Ethan could be a golden sheep, you don’t care. He dumped you! Stop thinking about that particular Smithson.
“What about Emily’s party?” Haley asked. “I told her we were going.”
“Yeah, but her parties suck. We can stop on our way to say hello, stay half an hour, and then join the real paaarrrtyy.” Alice bobbed her shoulders up and down to an imaginary tune.
“We’re sold on the party switch.” Haley nodded. “But just showing up won’t be enough to mess with Jack. So…?”
“I’ve no idea. I figure I’ll make it up as I go.” Alice looked at her friends with a conspiratorial air. “Your task is to make me as hot as I can be in my costume.” She struck a pin-up pose, pushing her chest forward and locking her hands behind her head. “I want to show him what he’s saying ‘no’ to.”
“All right, miss femme fatal,” Haley joked. “Let’s make you irresistible.”
Madison extended her hands toward Alice and pulled her up from the bed. All three friends giggled as they readied themselves for a long beauty routine.
Four
Jack
Jack was late. In less than an hour, he had to be Halloween-ready, and he was still in the bathroom shaving. This was the last Saturday before the basketball season kicked off, a.k.a. the last game-free weekend for the next five months. To celebrate, the entire team was going to a house party. The address he had was just a few blocks off campus, meaning Jack could get as wasted as he liked with no car to drive. And he needed to get wasted tonight.
As he stared at his reflection, Jack couldn’t concentrate on what he was doing. What an awful weekend he’d had so far. First, a kidnapping and traumatic breakup, and then his best friend trying to kiss him at the library. Women were crazy; time for a guy’s night.
Women, one in particular. Jack didn’t care about Lori; she’d get over it. Ice, on the other hand… Dodging her once had been hard, but what if she tried again? He wasn’t a saint, and with her looking like a completely different person his self-control was at risk. Jack blinked, picturing her. The dark hair was unsettling—it made her… Sexier. No longer the Ice he was used to. And she’d tried to kiss him. Don’t think about it, Jack. He’d mistaken his connection with a friend for something more once, hurting Felicity deep and hard. A disaster, one he wasn’t going to repeat with Ice.
Even if it was impossible to forget the thrill he’d felt when she’d come close to him. How their lips had almost touched before he’d come to his senses and pushed her back. Jack involuntarily jerked his head and cut himself with the sharp razor. He threw the blade in the sink and washed the cut with fresh water. To stop the bleeding, he reached for a paper roll and pressed a sheet of paper on the small wound. This Ice business was affecting him way more than it should. She was just acting out because her boyfriend had ditched her. That was it. When girls dyed their hair and made a move on their best friends, they were acting out. It was nothing more. Ice would be back to normal as soon as she found someone else to date.
Jack flinched. All of a sudden, the thought of Ice dating someone else wasn’t that pacifying. What’s wrong with me? Jack had never had a problem with her dating other men. Well, she’d never tried anything with him before. Since the day they’d met, Ice had been locked in the friend zone. Okay, maybe not since day one. Jack remembered fondly the girl barging into his room looking for her bunny. She’d been impossibly cute with her messy blonde bun and worried frown. At once, Jack had vowed to make the human bunny his first college catch. But when they’d started seeing each other every day in class they’d become friends. And now Ice wanted more. Not going to happen.
Ice wasn’t the “friends with benefits” type—well, no girl was, really. No matter what they said, girls always ended up asking for more. Commitment, a serious relationship, I love yous, and all that. Jack just wasn’t interested in any of it. He was determined to enjoy his college years with no strings attached.
Jack removed the paper from his jaw. The bleeding had stopped, so he quickly finished shaving and rinsed the remaining shave gel from his face. The cold water was soothing on his skin, and he was tempted to put his entire head under the icy stream to cool off. One freezing shower hadn’t been enough to forget Alice had made a pass at him.
The doorbell rang, announcing Peter had arrived. Good! Peter Wells, his best wingman and the team captain, was the fire Jack needed to melt his thoughts about Ice. If possible, Peter was even worse than Jack with girls. The Crimson captain was a senior and was always dating a bunch of girls at the same time—freshmen to seniors, or even older. Exactly the bad influence Jack wanted tonight.
He dried his face with a towel, then wrapped it around his neck and went to open the door.
“Sullivan, my man,” Peter greeted him.
They clasped hands and bumped chests. Which resulted in Jack’s hand getting smeared with bluish paint. The team had decided to go to the Halloween party dressed as Smurfs. The costume was very basic: white sports shorts, no clothes from the waist up, a white jersey beanie, and a lot of blue body paint.
Peter was wearing a team hoodie, for now, one the blue paint would make unusable. But the captain always wore team-branded clothes. His favorite pickup line was to tell the ladies he was bound to join the NBA after graduation. It wasn’t a lie. It was only a matter of time before he received an offer from one of the big teams. What the girls didn’t realize was they’d be long forgotten by then. But just saying the three little magic letters—N B A—kept the WAGs dream alive, and girls fell right and left for Peter. His blue eyes, dark hair, and impressive height helped, too.
Peter gave him the once-over. “Yo, my man, you’re late,” he complained. “I need you to get blue and do my back. The lady doctor kept you busy?”
“The lady doctor was fired,” Jack said, closing the door behind his friend. It was another lady giving him pause.
“Already? What happened?”
“She drove me an hour out of the city to show me the beautiful sunset, tell me she loved me, and announce she was ready to move our relationship to the next level.” Jack raised his hand sarcastically.
“Ouch!”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I had the worst night yesterday.” And the worst day, today. What the hell, Ice! Jack shook his head.
Peter took his headshake for disappointment about the doctor. “Come on, my man,” he said. “Tonight we’re going to find you a hot nurse to replace the doctor and cure your soul. Now put on your white shorts and let’s get blue.”
***
The Smurf costumes were a rousing success. It was impossible for them to move around the party without being the center of attention. Twenty tall guys were hard to miss in a crowd already—paint them blue, and it became impossible. The ladies seemed to love the idea; it was like getting extra points for daring and originality.
Jack dodged as a girl pushed past him, spilling her drink and nearly missing his legs. As she scurried by, Jack noticed that the girl’s face was smeared with blue paint. At least one of his teammates had already scored. Right, time to get down to business. Jack poured himself a beer from a huge keg and took position next to Peter in a corner with a strategic view of the house.
From his vantage point, he spotted a group of three girls with potential: a blonde and two brunettes. The ladies had their backs turned, but the rear view did not call for complaints. The blonde was dressed in a short, airy white dress, which looked more like a babydoll than a dress. She had little white wings strapped to her back. An angel. One brunette was clad in a tight, glittery black jumpsuit with only one shoulder strap. From her bottom sprouted a tail she’d laced around one wrist for support, and she had kitten ears. Meow. The last girl was wearing a short, sequined red dress and had tiny red horns on top of her head. Hell-O. Jack had a good feeling about the trio.
He nudged Peter. “Angel, devil, or hellcat?”
The captain whistled. “I’ll take the kitty catty.”
A pang of disappointment stabbed Jack’s chest; he would’ve chosen the kitten too. Never mind. Angel or devil? As they scoped out their targets, a dude in an unoriginal vampire costume approached the girls and left a minute later with the she-devil. “I’ll take the angel, then,” Jack said.
“Let’s see the faces first,” Peter cautioned.
Jack stared as the angel spun around; she was pretty and looked familiar. Where had he seen her? Realization hit him a second before the black kitty turned around and they locked eyes. It was Ice.
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Also by Camilla Isley
Romantic Comedies
Stand Alones
I Wish for You
A Sudden Crush
First Comes Love Series
Love Connection
New Adult College Romance
Just Friends Series
Let’s Be Just Friends
Friend Zone
About the Author
Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband in an adventure abroad.
She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.
Connect with me:
My Website: www.camillaisley.com/
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Or just drop me an email: [email protected]
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all my friends. To Ladan in particular for having me as a guest in her house in Boston for ten days. I fell in love with the city and the Harvard campus during that time and I wanted one of my stories to take place there.
For the first edition. Thank you to my editor Michelle Proulx, to my proofreader Emily Ladouceur, and to my beta readers.
For the second edition. Thank you to my editor Hayley Stone.
Finally, thanks to you for your continuous support.
Let's Be Just Friends (A New Adult College Romance) Page 13
