Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(14)

Truly and Creed were ready to head to their room. They didn’t even look back as they got all hot and bothered, staring into each other’s eyes. Deck had already taken off with his ‘baby’. Millie and Brayden invited me to hang out with them but the cozy way they stood so close together, another couple in love, depressed the hell out of me. Even Saylor’s dad seemed content as he filed out holding hands with his girlfriend.

I hung around the empty room for a few minutes, watching the cleanup crew hustle around ripping off tablecloths and stacking dishes. They didn’t appear to notice I was even there.

“Get lost, Chase.”

Why the hell was I dwelling on that and why did it sting so damn much? After all, I didn’t really know Stephanie that well. Sure, I’d been lusting after her something fierce and the very enigma of her personality intrigued me to no end. But she wasn’t the only sulky hot girl in the world. She shouldn’t matter to me, especially now that I’d gotten what I wanted out of her, even if I wouldn’t mind doing it again.

But then I remembered sitting on a campus bench one awful September afternoon. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to go to class. I was hurting like I’d never hurt before. It was the day of Creed’s fight, the day I knew there was a terrible chance I would lose one of my brothers. If that happened, I didn’t know how I would keep going.

Because Stephanie was Truly’s roommate, and because her bookie business kept her in the loop about things like underground gladiator brawls, she knew about what Creedence was up against. Even though we’d never had a conversation that ended pleasantly, she sat beside me that day. We stayed there together for a while, watching the superficial bustling of our fellow collegians and listening to one another breathe. She knew I felt bad and she was searching for a way to make me to feel better. She also knew how f*cking stupid and useless words were on a day like that. Finally I stood up and said “Thanks, Stephanie,” before trudging back home to face the horror of the approaching night.

I wondered if she had understood that I wasn’t being a wiseass. I was glad to have her beside me for that short period of time. I’d been trying to get next to her again ever since.

My room really was on the ninth floor, just like I’d told her earlier. Still, it was located was on the opposite side end of the long corridor. There was no reason for me to walk past her door. No reason other than a faint wisp of hope.

I stood there for a while. I even balled up my fist a few times, fully intending to knock, but then backing off. I’d never had a problem dealing with girls before. They liked me, they laughed with me, and they usually wanted more from me than I wanted from them. I ran my hand along the surface of Stephanie’s door in one long, regretful stroke. I couldn’t hear a thing on the other side. I walked away.





CHAPTER FIVE


Stephanie



Shit.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. After spending an hour watching the post-game commentary and remembering how I’d told Chase to f*ck off, I felt a twinge of sorrow. I’d freaked the hell out on him and he’d looked at me like I belonged in a cage at the zoo. Maybe I did.

With a muffled groan I yanked the fluffy hotel comforter over my head. I had pulled my shorts back on but I could still feel the lingering sensations of what Chase had been able to do. As my mind flashed back to the intense look in his eyes as he moved hard inside of me, my body unwittingly responded. Almost without thinking about it, my hand went between my legs and pressed as those awakening muscles begged for more. Maybe I should have gone with him, even if it meant allowing him to tow me along like a trophy, like a puppy dog.

I threw the covers back with a disgusted sigh.

What the hell did I do?

I’d gotten dirty with one of the most crass and vulgar guys I’d ever known. The number of girls Chase Gentry had screwed was probably more than the number of slot machines in Vegas. I couldn’t even blame him for what happened tonight. The second he’d gotten his hands on me I’d been willing, disgustingly eager. But he’d been trying to make this happen for months and now he had. He’d won. He’d f*cking won!

Still…I couldn’t stop the way my breathing quickened over the fresh memory of how I’d felt with him. I was twenty one years old and I’d had sex with two guys. They had meant as little to me as I had to them and the last one was over a year ago. I didn’t miss them once they were gone. And I’d never felt anything like the furious ecstasy Chase had brought me to. Maybe that’s why I’d kicked him out so violently. If I had told him any part of the truth it would have been a joke to him. I was probably already a joke to him.

I wasn’t tired at all but I needed to be up early to catch my flight so I headed to the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I hated getting up early but now I was ten times more relieved that I had changed my flight time. The thought of sitting on the plane and listening to Chase’s bawdy laughter as he recounted how he’d nailed the hell out of ice princess Stephanie Bransky made me want to kill him. I’d sooner walk back to f*cking Phoenix.

I wouldn’t think about it anymore. Chase would move on to the next girl. He would forget. Maybe he had already.

As I spat toothpaste in the sink I recalled the sharp intelligence in his eyes as he hovered inches away from me on the bed, listening, calculating his next move. No, he wouldn’t forget any of it. Chase Gentry wasn’t a guy who forgot things.