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Chapter One

Love was like a loaded gun You slid your bullet inside the cold uard for the inevitable day that everything went to shit At the first sign of trouble, you blew your opponent to pieces, long before their finger found the trigger At least that’s what ht me

I downed the warm beer and scanned the frat party fro fro insideat it again Our other friend, Rachel, an even bigger player thanout with another university jock And I wasn’t about to be the only one leaving eht

Guys were easy to figure out—at least in the hormonal sense You needed only appear helpless or horny, and their pants instantly dropped to their ankles Except none of the guys here tonight appealed to me Maybe I’d text Rob for a booty call on ood for one, unless he’d already hooked up with someone else

My gaze landed on the guy entering the back door through the kitchen A red baseball cap was slung low on his head and inky black curls escaped beneath it His ared his lean chest He was Grade A Prime Meat and probably knew exactly how to put those full lips to good use

I watched as he high-fived one of the guys and then propped his forearnetic, and I pictured hi it on me in another five htened e—the little I had—and strode toward the keg with my plastic cup

As I drew nearer, I sa alaruy really was The one hand fisted in his pocket tugged at his jeans, revealing a small sliver of a taut sto doard made heat pool low in my stomach

I tried catching his eye, but he wasn’t going for it

His friend was a different story, though He practically growled in my direction

The friend was cute, too, but paled in comparison to Hot Boy But maybe his friend was my ticket in Too bad I wasn’t the type to take on both of the

Bile scorched the back of my throat Hell, no Two ht happen, even if I thought I was in control There was a reason I only did one willing guy at a time

When I stopped at the keg, I overheard Hot Boy telling a friend that he was

Hopefully not out of state No ruff, sending a ripple of satisfaction through me

Hot Boy’s friend reached over and grabbed hold of my cup “Let me help you with that”

Hot Boy looked up and our gazes meshed for the first time Warm chocolate eyes pinnedaway, sending my stomach into a free fall

He pushed aside thein his eyes and resumed his conversation

I wanted to run h those unruly curls at the nape of his neck Ion top of me

His friend handed ain

“Thanks” I clenched ht line

“So, what’s your name?” he asked as he stepped closer His breath was sour with beer and cigarettes and I knew I could’ve taken him oh-so-easily As simple as the arch of my eyebrow But I didn’t want hiht

“My nah for Hot Boy to hear

Hot Boy only paused at the sound of irlfriend, or y The pretty boys alere

“Nice to meet you, Avery I’m Nate” His friend slid his hand tohi it

“I’ll be right back” I left hi unsteadily on his feet

I headed back to Ella and Joel, ere still hot and heavy on the couch

“I’ to head home,” I said, close to her ear

Ella caht?”

“One” I glanced overfor me “But I’m not really into it”

“Bitch, you’re always into it” Her lips curved into a devilish grin “Gonna hook up with Rob tonight instead?”

“Maybe” I didn’t want to disappoint her I was ready for a good tih she didn’t really approve, she was ready for all the gritty details the next day Ella hadn’t gotten h school, and she wouldn’t now But if I wasn’t in theit to her

I looked around for Rachel to say good-bye, but she was already somewhere private with jock boy

Ella went back to raue into Joel’s mouth

She’d probably felt stranded by Rachel andher with Joel actually thawed a corner of my frozen heart A real live boyfriend hat Ella had alanted

Soot her, she’d said Whatever the hell that meant

Hopefully Joel would keep treating her right, or he’d have to answer tothose balls down hard My self-defense classes had taught ive Hot Boy one last shot as I passed by hi hi his friend, too

“Excusepast his arm He smelled like coconut shampoo Like warm sand, hot sun, and sex I wanted to wrap

“No problelance

Daain That made me want him twice as much

Just as , I felt a warm hand reach around my waist I almost fist pumped the air Got him

I turned to greet Hot Boy, my breaths already fluttery But the smile slid from my lips and slurabbed me instead

“Hey, baby, where you going?”

“I’ to break his embrace

But he kept in step with er?”