I can't believe it. I'm jealous.

Me, a six-five, two-hundred and thirty pound, PAC-twelve starting quarterback is jealous of a short, thin, curly-haired library geek that I could bench press with my eyes closed.

Because he's with Ellie tonight and I'm not.

I abandoned the homework I'd blankly stared at since the door closed behind them and walked into the kitchen. My feet stopped when I saw her vase of roses on the counter and frowned as the thought that I shredded them in the garbage disposal crossed my mind.

She said it wasn't a date, but this reeks of one.

My hand raked over my hair in frustration. Ellie was still naïve about guys, although this one definitely read non-threatening except for the tiny fact he had her tonight instead of me.

Ten minutes later, my foot tapped impatiently as I checked the time on my phone for the more-than-I'll-admit-th time. I debated calling someone, anyone, but knew Mom or the Prakashes for sure asked about Ellie and all I wanted was a diversion.

Instead, I did possibly the worst thing I could've done. With an embarrassing Google maps footpath, I followed them to Meany and nabbed the aisle seat in the auditorium's last row. The concert was sold out but due to a no-show, I got the ticket for free with my student ID.

Despite the odd, annoyed looks from the concert penguins at my delayed entrance, I quietly stuffed myself into the last row's aisle seat and half-spilled my long legs into the aisle. After an insanely irritating visual scan around the room, I spotted James and Ellie in the middle row of the lower section. He sat on the edge of his seat and her shoulders were slumped down, but at least they looked like they had no interest in each other.

After ten minutes of elevator piano music, I passed out asleep. A nearby scoff and, "Seriously?" woke me up some time later, when I realized ten minutes remained in the concert. I stood up, excused myself, then bolted quietly out the doors.

I rushed home ten minutes before Elile and James, then like a total creep, watched through the door's security lens when that little geek leaned over and kissed my Ellie.

My only reaction was how I saw red. Anger blazed through me like a wildfire and pushed my feet out the apartment building. I stomped aimlessly around campus like an angry bull, probably breathed like one too, until the anger reduced to smouldered embers that were quickly replaced with bitterness.

Aimless step after step, I ended up next to a divided road with two lanes on each side, separated by a grass median, with a brick statue base that had a big, black block-W statue on it.

Great, Greek Row. Why did I walk here?

Even for a Tuesday night, the sounds of house party music thumped out of a few of the sorority and fraternity houses. No part of me wanted to attend a party with strangers but I was tired of being alone in my thoughts, so I walked down the street and observed example after example of why I abstained from drinking during the season. Among other activities, small herds of people clustered on the lawns. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and looked down when a few people whispered, pointed at me, or worse, called out with loud yells.

I need to find a quiet spot here.

With what little downtime I had at UCD, I hung out mostly in my apartment. While the quiet solitude was lonely, I appreciated how I had time and decompressed, even if most of my thoughts went back to Ellie. Right now though, she was the last thought I wanted in my head.

A warm contact on my left arm tugged me to a stop. I turned and looked down at a slightly hazy pair of blue eyes that blinked up at me from under chunky black mascara. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail and her breasts practically spilled out of a tight, baby pink tank top with the letters 'ZTE' stretched across what little was still covered.

"Logannn?" Lydia slightly slurred out the last letter in my name. Her eyes looked up from the red cup in her hand at me, wide with an understandable surprise because even I wasn't sure why I walked down this street.

Before I answered her, she shifted her cup to the other hand and her cold, clammy fingers intertwined with mine. With disinterest on the tip of my tongue, she yanked me in the direction of a red brick house with a two-story, triangular, white entrance with four very tall columns. The same block letters across Lydia's chest hung on a bed sheet between two of the columns, while another sheet hung between the other two. With how fast she yanked me over the lawn, I couldn't make out the other sheet's letters but assumed from the music that pumped even through the closed windows that it was a party announcement.

"Lydia," I warned her and stopped my feet on the Zeta Tau Epsilon sorority house's front porch. "I'm not feeling this."

She turned back, then slipped her cup into my empty hand. "You look like someone who has a lot on their mind that they want to forget about."

"Right," I scoffed, dumped her drink into the closest bush, and handed the empty cup back to her. While I assumed she wouldn't have spiked her own drink, I wasn't stupid enough to accept anything I hadn't poured myself.

Learned that hard lesson in high school. Plus I have class tomorrow morning.

"Alright..." she mumbled, then stepped towards the house. "Stay here."

She disappeared through the front door, then was swallowed up by the sea of bodies inside. As it closed in front of me, I realized this wasn't where I wanted to be, so I stepped off the porch. I made it three steps into the lawn when a female voice behind me called out, "LT!"

With a look over my shoulder, I groaned at the sight of another blonde, this one with lighter blue eyes that raked aggressively over me even the back side of me.

"What are you doing here?" Angel took a few tispy steps in her similarly skin-tight ZTE shirt, although hers exposed her stomach over the tightest pair of black shorts I'd ever seen. The door opened again and Lydia quickly stepped behind Angel towards me with more stumbled steps than a squirrel that dodged traffic.

Her voice slurred with the same red solo cup contents, "Please tell me you're here for me."

As if this night couldn't get any worse.

"Nope, leaving," I muttered, stuffed my hands into my pockets, and stepped back towards the street.

If this wasn't a mistake earlier then it definitely is now.

Hands and elbows hooked around both my arms, then tugged me back until I stopped. Before their movements registered, both girls placed a hand on my chest.

"Poor thing," Angel practically purred in my ear while one of her fingers stroked down the side of my neck. "Ellie rejected you, didn't she? Not even being the starter is good enough for her, huh?"

How would she know -

"Don't feel bad." Lydia groped me over similarly on my right arm. "That prude doesn't like anyone."

Right as my lips parted in protest that there was no way in hell these girls knew Ellie, who was on an entirely higher plane of existence in my world than either of them, Angel grabbed behind my neck and directed my face towards hers.

"We like you though, both of us," she said in a low, suggestive voice that I'm sure some guy found flirty and attractive, but I wasn't that guy. Her nails traveled over my shoulder, then traced my left pec muscle before I caught her wrist on the downward path.

"And you can have both of us." Lydia's hand rubbed shamelessly right over my crotch and my disinterested cock retreated inside itself at the contact. "We'll make you forget all about her, trust me."

"Thanks for the offer ladies." I shook both of them off me. "But no."

"Maybe you want to just hang out?" Like a hurt puppy, Angel looked up at me from under her lashes. While Ellie's gaze up at me turned me on like a furnace, Angel's eyes couldn't have been more of a turn off and even my balls cringed.

"Maybe another time." I stepped further away from this duo that reeked of two things, alcohol and trouble.

And morning after regret. So that's three things.

"How about seeing Emmitt?" Lydia's voice behind me stopped me right away.

"Emmitt's here?" Somehow I'd assumed he was at home or still at the hospital in his post-surgery recovery. The two girls exchanged a silent look, then nodded back at me. Since none of me trusted either of them, and especially both together, I just stepped further away and called over my shoulder, "Take care of him then."

Irritation rose inside me when I got to the street and they yanked me back again. I turned around and, right when a frown creased my forehead, Angel's arms grabbed around the back of my head, pulled me down towards her, and pressed her lips into the side of my neck. Not to be excluded, Lydia straddled her legs around my other side, then sidled up and ran her tongue over the outline of my jaw while Angel's lips worked over my other side. My pulsed jumped when both their hands rubbed right over my crotch, not for the obvious reasons but -

"Don't you realize how fucking pathetic you two skanks look rubbing his dick?" A soft, but extremely pissed off female voice called out to us. "He's not interested... and not just by the look on his face."

"Ellie Harrison," Lydia sighed. "Stalking Logan now? Like you'd even know -"

"Finish that thought and I'll rip out your silicon implants one by one," Ellie's voice was steady but laced in anger. Despite how Lydia was a few inches taller, Ellie stared her down until Lydia scoffed and turned her face back towards me.

With a pout, Lydia turned her attention to me. "Logan, you can't possibly want -"

"Want anyone other than Ellie?" I raised my head up and stepped back from any and all contact of Angel and Lydia on my body because, at this point, I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. "Nope."

With just a slight turn sideways, my stomach sank when I saw Ellie stood on the side of the street. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her hip slightly jutted out, and if looks killed then the leeches on either side of me would've dropped dead on the ZTE lawn.

What is she doing here? How did she find me?

"Ellie, it's -" I started when one of her lifted hands cut me off.

"I'm tired," she replied curtly. "And going home."

With just those five words, she spun on her heel and crossed the street. I needed just three long strides and two squeals of disappointment behind me, followed by profanity-laced strings of rejection, before I caught up with Ellie.

"Ellie," I said softly and grabbed her closest hand, which wasn't easy because her arms stayed crossed over her chest. "Please -"

"I came to apologize to you," she muttered quietly, then turned her head away. Her movements weren't fast enough and, even under the dull overhead street lights, I caught the shine of tears in her eyes. While I wasn't sure exactly what prompted her to be upset, the sight still tugged a tightness in my chest.

"Sorry if I broke up your threesome." Bitterness in her voice mixed with a thick, sarcastic edge. While that stirred a warmth of interest in me at the idea she was jealous, it also reminded me of why I'd left in the first place.

That's right.

The reason for my solo walk of anger and self-pity crashed back through me and my teeth clenched tightly shut. My voice sounded unfamiliar, angry and jealous, when I spat out, "Where's James?"

"I don't know," she replied quietly, frowned deeply, turned down the corners of her mouth, and picked up her walking pace. If she wasn't so angry then I would've smiled at how fucking cute her short legs looked as they pumped quickly. Her brown hair swished over her lower back with her steps, which were easy for me to keep up with but I stayed one step behind her.

Right when I opened my mouth with a snarky response, she spat out bitterly, "I tossed him out for crossing the friend line tonight. Took the flowers he gave me out of the vase and threw them into his face too."

While her words settled in my brain, I tracked her movements for any sign of her intentions. With a glance over her shoulder, one of her dark eyes met mine briefly and I took in how her iris blazed with emotion. After she huffed quietly, she added, "You... were right, okay? I'm sorry."

The words, "Sorry I was right?" came out before my filter snapped into place.

She came to an abrupt stop, so quickly that I bumped into her from behind. Her feet stumbled a few inches forwards, and my hands reached out and steadied her shoulders before I realized I'd grabbed her. With torturously slow movements, she turned around, my hands still clamped on her. The dark look in her eyes as she glared up at me froze the oxygen in my lungs.

"No," she spoke in a quiet but extremely angry voice. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. Happy?"

"That he kissed you?" My jealousy still wasn't appeased, as the image of James' mouth on hers still burned through my skull. "Of course not."

Without a blink, she only groaned quietly but kept her gaze locked on mine. Two brown eyes, nearly the color of melted dark chocolate, peered up at me. Her voice sounded irritated more than anything when she gritted out words I would've never expected from her.

"What would make you happy then?"

"I think that's pretty obvious," I replied, well aware that my hands still rested on her shoulders. With a slight tug, I pulled her flush against my chest and her head tilted backwards.

"Say it," she challenged me, then silently stood there and stared intensely up at me. If she wasn't so fucking beautiful, even when angry or when I was angry at her, then I would've felt encouraged by her reaction. Instead, my jealousy wasn't willing to budge.

One tiny lift of her corner of her mouth was all the motivation I needed and I replied without a blink, "You."

"Okay then," she tossed out casually, then shrugged herself out of my grip and walked away. Shocked at not just her words but how easily she tossed them out, but the completely casual tone of voice she'd used, I stopped again and gaped at her retreating figure.

"Huh?" Like a dumbfounded and possibly lovesick puppy, I bounded after her. "Wait!"

Again, I only needed a few steps before I caught her but this time I walked clumsily up to her. Her eyes stared ahead with a hardened determination but her nose cringed and the corners of her mouth turned slightly downward. If I hadn't stared down at her like a complete idiot then I wouldn't have noticed her subtle expression changes, but the lines of tension around her eyes softened and her mouth moved into an impassive position.

"But first..." One corner of her mouth pulled into her cheek. "You're going home and taking a shower."

"Shower?" I fought the urge to lift one arm for a sniff test. "Ellie, I've been outside, I -"

Without a glance at me, her hand lifted and one index pointed at the side of my neck. "You need to wash the slut stamps off you."

Like on autopilot, my hand lifted to the spot where she pointed and brushed over a slightly sticky texture on my skin. Even under the dim street lights, I recognized Angel's blood red lipstick on my fingertips and groaned.

"Ellie..." The guilt I felt inside freely flowed into my voice as I mumbled quietly at the back of her head. "I'm sorry too."

Ellie didn't answer but stopped her marched steps again. Her shoulders visibly lifted then dropped like she sighed, then she slowly turned around and faced me. Her eyes were so dark, nearly black as coal and looked straight into me. She never broke eye contact as, this time, she closed the small gap between us. With no hesitation, she quickly extended her arms and lifted both her hands up to my chest and squeezed her hands into two tight fists.

At first, I assumed she aimed to punch me, which I wouldn't have argued that I deserved. How I'd misunderstood her situation with James and allowed girls I had no interest in to be physically all over me, right in front of her, when she'd tracked me down to apologize weren't my best judgments.

She should punch me.

Instead, her hands fisted around my shirt at my collar and tugged me downwards. Under the false assumption that she unleashed her anger on me, she couldn't have surprised me more when she thrust her lips against mine.