Black Number Four (28 page)

I punch him in the shoulder and wrap my scarf tighter around my neck as we file back out into the cold. “Trust me, I’m staying away from boys for a while.”

A loud laugh escapes his throat. “Good luck with that. I have a feeling you and Nerd Boy aren’t done causing drama in Greek world just yet.”

Tucking my hands into my pockets, I laugh, too, but the possible truth in his statement makes me shiver. “What’s college without a little drama?”

Six minutes before class starts, Kip walks in the classroom. My hands that were freezing just minutes ago outside are sweating now and I rub them on my jeans, wondering if I should avoid eye contact or act normal. Whatever I
should
do, it doesn’t matter because I can’t look away from him. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a gray pea coat over a white collared shirt. So simple, yet so enticing. And of course, he’s wearing his freaking glasses. Why those damn specks have such power over me, I’ll never understand.

When he spots me, he gives a lazy smile and my stomach tightens as he walks toward me. I shift in my chair as he sits down in the seat beside me just like he’s done every class since the beginning of the semester. He shrugs his messenger bag off his shoulder and I realize he’s holding two cups of coffee. He hands one to me before stripping off his jacket, which distracts me more than I care to admit.

I hate this.

I hate this so,
so
much.

“Take a sip. I think I got it this time,” he says, sitting down. For a moment I just stare at him. What the hell is he doing? Why is he even talking to me at all, let alone acting like everything is normal between us? Is this a joke? Am I in the Twilight Zone?

He lifts his brows, waiting, so I take a sip. It’s a sweet, caramel-flavored latte of some kind. It’s not half-bad, but definitely not my drink. I smile a little and shake my head. “Nope, sorry,” I say, the words just above a whisper.

“Ah.” he shrugs, retrieving his books and notepad from his bag. “Damn. I thought for sure you were a caramel girl. I’ll get it one day.” He winks and flips open his book to the chapters we were supposed to read this week. “So how has your week been? Any plans this weekend?”

I stare at him, my hands still clasped around the warm cup. When I don’t answer, he turns to face me and I really wish he hadn’t because now his electric blue eyes are fixed on mine and I can’t swallow.

“What?”

Gripping the cup tighter, I nervously chew my lip until the words finally make their way out. “Kip, why are you acting like nothing happened? I mean, this is weird, right?”

He smiles, shaking his head. “Listen, Skyler – I’m sorry. I blew up on Friday and I know that wasn’t fair to you. I was upset, okay? I was having fun with you and I wasn’t ready for it to end. Plus, Adam has kind of been a prick to me since we started hanging out, so that just added fuel to the fire. But hey, I’ve been there before. I know what it’s like to want an ex back,” he says, smiling a little at the last part. My chest tightens at the thought of Erin. What does that smile mean? “I just wish you would have told me. Hell, I could have put on a way better show if I would have known that was your aim this whole time.”

He laughs but I’m still staring like an idiot, trying to spot his tell – his giveaway that he’s bluffing. There’s no eye twitch, no nervous ticking, no licking of the lips or shifting of the eyes. He seems completely normal. Calm. Collected.

What the hell?

Kip sighs. “Listen, I really like hanging out with you. And I still want to help you train for the tournament in May. The casino downtown has a tournament next Friday. Have you thought about entering?”

I still can’t stop staring at him like he has three heads and neon blue skin. On Friday, the look in his eyes when I lied to him literally broke me. And now? He’s acting like we got in a tiff over who should do the dishes next. This is weird, and I can’t figure out what his angle is.

“I heard about it, but no, I haven’t entered yet.”

“You should,” he says as Dr. O’Neal walks in. “I’ll go with you. I think the buy-in is like eighty bucks, so it’s not a very big payout, but it would be good practice.”

“All right, class.” Dr. O’Neal starts writing frantically on the whiteboard. “Let’s discuss the chapters on character development from the assigned reading.”

Kip leans in close and whispers, “Come on. We can still be friends, right?”

Something deep in my gut tells me there’s something Kip’s not telling me, but the goofy smile on his face paired with those blue eyes that have haunted my thoughts for the past week are too much to handle. I can’t think straight, not when it comes to him.

“Yeah, of course. Friends.”

He smiles, giving a short nod before turning toward the front. “Guess I should break out the old friend zone crash helmet, then.”

I can’t help but smile and Kip gives me a sideways glance, his eyes playful. It feels easy between us, like nothing has changed, yet everything is completely different. I have no idea what this means or what we’re doing, but maybe I shouldn’t try so hard to dissect everything. I like being Kip’s friend. I can’t be with him, but that doesn’t mean I have to give him up altogether, right?

The sudden brush of Kip’s skin against mine as he steals my cup of coffee sends a jolt of electricity to the pit of my stomach. He smiles, tipping the cup toward me before taking a sip and continuing his note-taking. My eyes fall to his hand, the sting of his touch still evident on my skin. It’s like my body has been asleep since Friday and all it took was one tiny touch from him to wake me. My stomach flutters and I curse under my breath. How the hell am I going to just be friends with him if every look, every smile, every touch sends me into overdrive?

I need a freaking smoke signal.

S.O.S.

Someone save me.

My head is pounding as I sip on the Bloody Mary I just made while Erin tells me, in great detail, about the most recent sorority drama. I probably shouldn’t have drank as much as I did at the casino last night, but then again I probably shouldn’t have Erin in my apartment, either. My decisions lately have been questionable, at best. But, being in a game you don’t want to play means you’re going to have to do things you don’t want to do – it’s that simple.

And then again, it’s really not simple at all.

“You know what I mean? I’m just so stressed out with all the presidential bullshit that it’s hard to focus on my own grades or just me in general.” Erin sighs and I check the clock in the kitchen behind where she sits. It’s just past nine, but I didn’t leave the casino until almost four in the morning. I blame the lack of sleep for making the decision to call Erin and ask her to come over when I left, but now that I think about it, it works in my favor. Skyler will find out Erin stayed the night and she’ll be pissed or hurt or both. At least, I hope she will be.

“Come here.” I motion to Erin, pulling her down to the floor in front of where I sit on the couch. I move my hands slowly up her arms before resting them on her shoulders, leaving a trail of goose bumps parading across her skin. Gently, I apply pressure. “You need to relax. Let me help.”

I feel the tension in her back release at my touch and she lets out a long exhale, letting her head fall to the side. “You’re amazing.”

She falls quiet and we watch the movie we put in when we woke up this morning, even though at this point we have no idea what’s going on. I use the break in conversation to let my thoughts drift to Skyler. Other than class yesterday, I haven’t seen her all week other than when I would stop by the house for Erin. Last week, she agreed to enter in the tournament tonight, and I took that as my cue to start getting under her skin. I sent Erin flowers after we hung out Saturday night, made sure to stop by “unexpectedly” to see her throughout the week when I knew I looked damn good, and even went to the house early Wednesday morning to walk her to class. Each time, whether by her own accord or the grace of the Game Gods, Skyler noticed.

Yesterday, I brought the same cup of coffee that I had guessed last week to Dr. O’Neal’s class. Skyler was all smiles when I sat down and handed her the mug, but her mood quickly changed when she realized it was the same one. I blamed it on being busy with fraternity stuff and Erin, making sure to smile when I mentioned her name, and that was all we said to each other. She left fifteen minutes before class ended and I didn’t text to ask why, even though I’m pretty sure I already knew.

It kills me to play this game with her, but at this point, I have no choice. Wanting more with her is fucking stupid and I should have seen that from the very beginning. I let myself get too caught up with her and now I have to pay the price. Being friends with her kills me, being anything more than that isn’t going to happen, and being anything less means I can’t do my job. This in-between shit hurts and every time Skyler looks at me with those blue eyes of hers, I feel my resolve weaken. Luckily, my determination is far greater than my weakness, and I’m using that to my advantage.

I’ve been to the casino three times this week. I haven’t entered tournaments, just played at the tables, but I already feel myself falling into a comfortable style that I’ve never had before. I lost my money the first night, but the last two times I’ve come out ahead. Each time I go, I learn my giveaways – my tells. I’m starting to figure out how to play aggressively without being stupid and the cards seem to be playing in my favor. Let’s hope they stay that way through May.

Erin stands, pulling me from my thoughts. I watch as she slowly and seductively turns to face me before sliding her knees on either side of mine, straddling my lap. She bites her lip, her eyelids heavy with lust. “You should let me pay you back for that,” she says, her fingers trailing down my stomach. I groan when she palms me through my sweat pants, my dick reacting to her whether I want it to or not. I swallow hard, reining in my hormones. I already hate using Erin, I don’t need to make it worse than it already is.

“As tempting as that sounds and as sexy as you look right now…” I use my thumb to pull down on her chin, freeing her lip from her teeth before sliding my hand back through her hair. “I need to get to the gym and work on this paper before the tournament tonight.”

Erin’s shoulders deflate. “I don’t see why you have to go.” She pouts. “Poker is Skyler’s thing, not yours. I know you’re trying to be nice and be her friend, but I don’t think she’ll blame you if you bail.”

I shake my head. “I promised her at the beginning of the semester that I’d help her train for May. I never see her other than class and poker, so it’s not like I’m doing too much. Besides, it helps with this script idea I have about a poker player who gets caught up with the wrong people in Vegas. It’s a rough idea, but it might work for my final paper. I’m learning the terms and shit.” I smile through the lie and Erin sighs, still not happy.