Destroying the Game

by L. Grubb

  I’ll fucking show her. I’m upping my game to epic proportions.

  Jumping off the treadmill, I start to pick the weights up, giving my arms the same treatment that my legs just had. I slowly start to feel good about everything, I’m not gonna let her get to me anymore. She can fuck who she likes for all I care. Even Dylan if she really wants to.

  Placing the weights back down on the rack once I’ve finished, I head straight back to the house. I know that Callie and Jasmine have classes this afternoon and I fully intend to be there when they come out.

  Once I’m back at the house, I remove the condom with a piece of tissue and strip my bed. She thinks she’s so fucking clever but that shit isn’t even bothering me right now. I’ve let her take up too much space in my head as of late and I’m not gonna give her the satisfaction anymore.

  Leaving my mattress to air, I open the window to try and get the smell of sex out of my room. I jump in the shower and trim my stubble, making sure to use the body wash that drives the chicks wild.

  I throw on a pair jeans, some combat boots and a black t-shirt then put some product in my hair and spray on some cologne. I grab my sunglasses and head straight back out the door, ready to make a start on my plan. This chick is going down.

  It doesn’t take me long to get back to campus, stopping to buy a cup of coffee as I go. Spotting a bunny cookie on the counter, I pick it up for Jasmine. That will make me look good. Chicks dig animals, right?

  Handing the cashier the money, I smile and wink at her before spinning around and heading for the building that I know they’ll be coming out of in approximately ten minutes.

  Waiting on the bench outside, I watch as they all pile out and try to spot Jasmine in the fray of people. My eyes scan the area and I spot her frizzy hair in the distance, her head turned down, facing the ground. Pushing off the bench, I jog after her, debating whether to call out her name or not.

  “Jasmine?” I say when I’m closer to her, trying not to startle her. She doesn’t acknowledge me, instead she starts to speed up. Damn, she’s gonna need more work than I originally thought.

  “Come on, I got you a cookie.” I smile, hoping that will get her to turn around. Her head lifts and her feet slow down, giving me the opportunity to jump in front of her. “It’s in the shape of a bunny,” I say, hearing how pathetic and desperate I sound even to my own ears.

  She turns to face me as I fall in step with her. “What do you want, Dante?” She sighs as she pushes her glasses back up her nose.

  Holding my hands up in the air, I smile, trying to disarm her. “I saw this and thought of you.” I pass her the cookie and point at her bag that is covered in bunnies. Score.

  “Oh,” she says, her mouth forming a perfect ‘o’. She frowns as she takes the cookie from me, her eyes scanning the quad. “Erm… is that all you wanted?”

  “Well...” I say, suddenly feeling nervous. Why am I so damn nervous? “I was wondering if… you… wanted to go out on a... date?”

  She scoffs and tries to step past me but I spin around to face her and move back into her path. I’m not gonna be turned down by Jasmine of all people, not when there’s a line of chicks just waiting to get a piece of me. Her eyes move to the left and she frowns, obviously not liking what she’s seeing.

  I start to turn my head to where she’s looking but her hand landing on my arm stops me. I raise a brow at her when she steps closer to me, her whole demeanor changing.

  “You know what?” She smiles, revealing perfect, straight, white teeth. “I’d love to go out on a date with you, Dante.”

  “Yeah?” I ask unsure. I didn’t expect this reaction, I thought she’d at least make me work for it a little. “How’s tonight sound?”

  “Tonight’s great.” She leans up onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek before walking past me. Shock runs through my whole body at her reaction, guess she isn’t as immune to the Dante charm as I first thought she was.

  Turning to watch her walk away, I jump out of my skin when I see Jay stood five feet in front of me.

  “Bro!” I smirk, moving towards him. “I didn’t know you were there.” I wait for him to answer me but his eyes aren’t on mine; they’re on Jasmine.

  He doesn’t answer me, instead he spins back around and gets into his car; the tires screeching as he drives off. His reaction confuses me even more than Jasmine’s.

  What the hell has got into everybody lately?

  I’m stood, hiding behind one of the pillars of the building I’ve just emerged from, eyes narrowed at Dante who’s riveted to the spot as his eyes follow the car that’s just pulled away. What the fuck was Jasmine up to? She leaned into Dante, kissing his cheek. Is this what she’s been fucking hiding from me today?

  I can feel a frown marring my forehead, the feeling of being deceived stabs me in the chest. I’ve trusted her with everything, including telling her about Dante and me, for the most part anyway, not my in-depth feelings for him but you get the gist.

  I turn, storming off in the other direction, pushing through the throngs of students as they pour from the psychology building that I’ve just vacated. I can feel the hot burn of tears at the back of my eyes. No, it’s not from Dante, though only a matter of hours ago he had his tongue shoved down my throat, but because I thought I trusted Jasmine.

  “Hey!” some girl says to my back as I push her to the side.

  “Eat shit!” I shout back with my middle finger in the air. I don’t give a shit who she is at this moment in time, all I can think about is getting back to my dorm and barricading myself in.

  I walk toward the edge of campus to the dorm house, my sunglasses covering my eyes which I’m sure are bloodshot to shit from keeping in the tears. I can’t even remember the last time I cried, maybe my emotions are on alert for the time of the month which I’m sure is soon? Fuck knows, I just know that if I can’t trust Jasmine, I can’t trust no-one.

  The anger soon overrides the hurt I feel, simmering just under the surface and I hear myself growl as I walk up the steps to the front door. I shove the doors open, hearing them slam against the wall and a few shocked gasps can be heard from the communal living area. I don’t bother turning to face them, I stomp up the stairs to the first floor and go toward the room I share with a fucking traitor.

  I know she won’t be there because she has study group at the library with her little cronies. Hopefully, by then, I can calm myself enough to not look like a complete fucking hell-raiser. Hell, someone has probably already sent her a message to her cell to let her know my mood.

  I flop onto my bed after slamming my door shut, the lock clicking in place as it does. I beat my fists against my pillow and scream into the soft cotton that covers it. Now I’ve got that off my chest, I feel a little lighter and the anger evens out. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s still there but it’s manageable. The urge to cry has gone though, thank fuck.

  I must lay on my bed for a good hour, staring at my poster of Lukas Rossi and thinking to myself. There has to be an ulterior motive for what transpired today, it’s so unlike Jasmine to just flaunt herself at someone and especially at a person like Dante Frazier. It just doesn’t add up to the quiet girl I have known since the first time I met her in Junior year. She’s quiet, introverted, scrunches her nose up at the mere mention of a boy, she’s squeamish about sex and she’s a total book whore. These things have stuck with her since I met her and nothing about that has changed… until now.

  My head is telling me to not beat around the bush with her, just ask her outright when she makes an appearance, whereas my heart is telling me to keep it from her so there’s no strain in the living quarters. Ugh, I’m so fucked up, this is so fucked up.

  Another agonizing thirty minutes pass before the lock on the door turns and she walks in. I sit up and swing my legs over the side of my bed and my eyes narrow onto hers.

  “Callie? Is everything okay? You look like you’ve been dragged through a bush backwards.” Her concern laced words are like nails o
n a chalk board and I grit my teeth as not to lose my temper with her.

  “When were you going to tell me?” I ask her, my voice calm and devoid of any emotion.

  “Um, tell you what exactly?” I notice the confusion across her face and I can’t decipher whether it’s her acting dumb or she genuinely doesn’t think I know so soon.

  “You and Dante?” I watch her closely, my eyes scanning her features. I can see when realization dawns on her because her face pales considerably.

  “How…” she’s stammering and she sits on the edge of the wooden chair at the desk, hanging her head in her hands.

  “I saw you both.” Like I said, don’t beat around the bush.

  “It’s not what it looked like, I swear.” Her panic makes me want to laugh, I saw her kissing his cheek and I was close enough to hear about a date tonight.

  “A date with Dante Frazier. Who knew you’d be another girl to add to his notches?” I raise a conniving brow at her and fold my arms under my breasts.

  “I don’t even want to go on a damn date with him, Callie! But his brother was stood behind him and I panicked.” Her reply is muffled behind her hands but I still understand every word she utters.

  “Okay, now I’m fucking confused. You can tell me later, what matters now is that you have a fucking date with the one guy I told you was always going to be off limits!” My voice raises as my blood pumps harder around my body.

  “Oh god, what do I do?” She sniffles and I can tell she’s afraid. Not that I blame her. No-one dates Dante, they fuck him. Nothing more and nothing less.

  “I have a plan.” I smirk as the idea pops into my head. Will Jasmine play along? Only time will tell.

  “Dude! You feelin’ okay?” Dylan shouts across the quad. That fucker has such a loud mouth, I don’t mind being stared at when people are looking at the perfection that is my body but when it’s because Dylan is shouting like a banshee, it’s fucking embarrassing.

  I watch as he walks closer, throwing himself down on the bench opposite me and I huff out a, “yeah,” before looking down at my cell.

  I check my messages, for the hundredth time, frowning down at it when I still don’t see a response from Jay.

  What the hell is the matter with him?

  He comes onto campus then drives off without even talking to me. Today is so goddamn confusing, I feel like I’ve entered an alternate universe. My head’s all over the damn place.

  “Dude!” Dylan shouts, waving his hand in front of my face.

  I bat it away and lift my eyes slowly to his, giving him a warning look that says he’s pushing it.

  “What?” I grit out through clenched teeth.

  “You going on a date with that geeky chick?” he asks and then laughs like it’s all one big fucking joke. I mean, sure, I’m doing it to get back at Callie but that doesn’t mean I want to hurt Jasmine.

  For a second, I start to wonder whether I should go through with it or not. She’s an innocent, getting caught up in mine and Callie’s bullshit. I feel a little bad about it but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna pull the plug on my plan.

  I have to do this. End it once and for all.

  “Yeah.” I shrug and squint my eyes at Dylan, daring him to say something else. As far as he knew, I was going on a real date so he shouldn’t be talking about her like that anyway.

  “Dude…” he says, raising his brows high on his head and holding his hands out in front of him. “I know her ass is out of this world, but shit, what about your rep?”

  I throw my head back and laugh. I laugh so hard that I actually have tears come to my eyes. Wondering if that’s how I sound. Like a complete and utter asshole.

  He sounds pathetic. I don’t know whether it’s me growing up or just not giving a shit now but I’m starting to realize that there’s more to life than what people think of you.

  A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have been seen talking to the likes of Jasmine. But now, I don’t give a fuck. I know that I’m the hottest guy on campus and my abs and guns are in a whole dimension of their own. But, what other people think of me, I don’t give a shit about no more. I’ll be out of this place soon and none of them will give me the time of day again and I couldn’t care less.

  Throwing my leg over the bench, I stand up and look down at him. “I don’t give a shit what people think and if I hear you or anyone else talk about Jasmine like that again…” I warn, pointing at him.

  “Whoa!” He holds his hands up in the air, his eyes wide. “I get it.”

  “Good,” I ground out.

  I turn around and walk back to the frat house. All the way there I can’t get Jay out of my head. What was he on campus for? And why the hell did he speed off like that without talking to me?

  Something is going on with him and I frown as I think about last week when he warned me off a chick. Was it Jasmine that he was warning me away from that day?

  “We need to talk.”

  I startle and look up at Jay. I’m so caught up in my own head that I didn’t even hear him pull up beside me. I step towards his car and pull the door open, sliding down into the soft leather seat.

  He doesn’t say another word as he pulls away from the curb, the atmosphere is so intense that you could cut the tension with a fucking spoon.

  I shuffle nervously in the seat as he drives, finally after half an hour he pulls into a secluded spot on the edge of town and I watch as he grips the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turn white.

  “Bro-“

  “No,” he growls, shaking his head. I shift in my seat, nerves flowing through me. I never fucking feel like this but Jay is the only person that can elicit this response from me. He’s not the kind of person you want to cross. “Why?”

  “Why what?” I ask, turning to face him.

  He growls then flicks his eyes to me, the anger coming out of him in waves. “Why are you going on a date with her?”

  “Who? Jasmine?” He raises a brow at me in answer. “Shit, bro. There’s this girl...” I scrub my hands down my face; I didn’t want to have to explain all of this to him.

  “A girl?” he grits out, clearly running out of patience.

  “Yeah, her names Callie and fuck… we have this game-”

  “Game?”

  “Yeah…” I nod, “And I can use Jasmine to get to her. End this fucking shit storm.”

  “So,” he says through gritted teeth, “You’re using Jas to get to this girl?”

  I frown. The way he says it makes me out to be a complete and utter douchebag. It’s all well and good when it’s just sex but this was messing with people’s emotions and I was starting to think I may have taken it too far.

  “Well... yeah.” I gulp.

  “Fuck!” He slams his fist down onto the steering wheel. “She knows what you’re doing.”

  “Huh?”

  “Jas, she saw me standing there and that’s when she kissed you.” I stare at him in confusion. Is he saying that Jasmine, the frizzy haired geek girl, is playing me?

  “I don’t fucking understand.”

  “You don’t need to,” he says and turns the engine back on. “Where are you going tonight?”

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead,” I say and hold on to the door handle as he speeds back into town.

  “Right.” He clears his throat. “This girl’s name?”

  “Who? Callie?” I close my eyes as he runs through a light that’s about to change to red. Fuck, he’s crazy.

  “Yeah,” he mumbles and I watch as a smirk grows on his face. “I have an idea.” He chuckles.

  Shaking my head, I listen to him as he tells me his idea. Although, he still doesn’t tell me what’s going on between him and Jasmine. I try to ask again but he just tells me that it’s none of my business.

  By the time he drops me back off at the house, we have a complete plan and I’m smirking like it’s going to go out of fashion.

  “So, you’ll go and visit Callie now?” I ask.

  �
�Yep.” He taps his fingers on the steering wheel and tilts his head to signal that it’s time for me to get out of his car.

  “See you tonight.” I chuckle and jump out of the car, watching as he speeds off towards the campus. Jesus, I didn’t realize how devious he is. Shaking my head, I jog up to the front door and straight up to my room to get ready for my date.

  Shit is gonna go down tonight, and I can’t fucking wait.

  I’ve just finished helping Jasmine get ready for her big date with Dante. I can’t help laughing though because she knows he’s not interested; she’s not even doing it because she likes him. Who knew the quiet little book nerd would have a man up her sleeve… well, not quite, but you know what I mean.

  It took about two hours to get her frizzy hair under control and completely straight. She’s wearing contacts instead of glasses and her make-up is done to perfection, neutral tones that compliment her skin. She looks so different that I’m actually speechless. She’s stunning under those glasses, baggy clothes and uncontrollable hair.

  “Whoa…” I stare at her with my jaw on the floor, eyes wide in surprise. “I always knew you had a cracking figure under that shit you wear but I never fucking knew how stunning you could be with a little bit of effort.” That may sound really shitty but it’s truthful and the blush that creeps onto her face tells me she understands my intent. “Girl, if you’re blushing now, I don’t know how you’re going to handle Dante.”

  “Ugh, please! I don’t even want to do this.” She pouts and it’s adorable. “Why did I agree to it again? Seriously? Is it worth it?”

  “Look, stick to our plan and it will be cool. Flirt with him shamelessly and at the end of the night, when he takes you to the Frat party, ditch him publicly and loudly.” Our plan was fool proof and I will have my camera on my cell ready and waiting because I know his face is going to be a picture. No one rejects Dante Frazier.