Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
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Kittycat ❤️: Can I bunk at your place? Ava's being slutty without me.
Me: Sure, the door's unlocked.
There's a seventy percent chance that this will come back and bite me in the ass. The remaining thirty percent consists of me drinking myself into a stupor and passing out on the couch.
I've been all hot and bothered since what happened earlier. I can't seem to forget how good Cat felt beneath my hands, how her breathing had halted when I pulled her closer, how absolutely amazing she looked tonight.
And if a fully clothed moment in a room crowded with strangers can turn me on that much, what wouldn't happen if we were in the same bed?
Nothing good. Well, obviously, if something were to happen, it would be very good, but that would be bad. You know?
Yeah, I'm sleeping on the floor. Or in the bath or in Aran's freaking bed. Anything to avoid being too close to Cat because I'm only in charge of my body half the time around her. The other half is all hormones.
I circle the room again, chitchatting with people I don't give a fuck about while I wait for Cat to fall asleep. The longer I stay down here, the bigger the chance that she'll have slipped into unconsciousness.
And then we're out of danger.
Except for all the emotional damage, it might do me to see her peacefully asleep in my bed.
I'm passing through the kitchen again, silently cussing the twins for roping us into yet another party when I collide with a petite brunette. As I look down, I'm met with big, amber eyes and internally groan.
"Reed! Hi," Daniella beams at me, shifting from one foot to another.
There's a brusque remark ready on my tongue when I remember Aran's words from the locker room.
You still have to treat people like people just because you don't want to fuck them.
Crap. My best friend moonlights as my moral compass; unfortunately, he's never wrong.
"Hi, Dani."
Her smile widens, pleased that I answered somewhat cordially. "How are you?"
I momentarily wonder which of my roommates extended an invite to her, but figure that Cadin just mass-invited all the cheerleaders to increase his chances of getting laid.
Although the blonde he dragged upstairs earlier looked eerily similar to Cat's roommate...
I take a sip of my beer to buy time, meanwhile checking out Dani's costume. She's wearing shoulder pads, tight, sturdy pants, and a football jersey that's like four sizes too large. Judging by the number, it belongs to one of the other starters. Maybe she's moved on.
"I'm fine," I finally say, feeling like a piece of shit for not asking her back but also not at all in the mood for small talk.
"That's great." She blinks a couple of times, an awkward silence stretching between us. God, we used to fuck like bunnies; when did talking become this difficult? "Um. You've been doing really well this season. You really deserved being picked to the all-ivy team."
