The Strings Attached

Chapter 8 - Loni

Loni

"I blocked Eric last night."

"Wow, finally, congratulations," Hadley says with the utmost sarcasm. "It's not like I told you to do that as soon as that bastard broke up with you. But, better late than never I suppose."

"Will you not be such an ass please," I say with a laugh, shoving my gym bag into a locker.

Hadley shrugs and continues tying her sneaker. "All I'm saying is if you listened to me then you would've saved yourself the heartache." She finishes and stands up to face me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I saw you in class this morning, your eyes were all puffy from crying. And not like you just stayed up all night watching The Notebook crying, but like actually crying." She frowns.

A few girls walk past us and out to the gym, ready to start practice.

"I'm fine," I say, shimming out from her concerned grasp. "And if I didn't take the time to stalk Eric last night and feel complete self-pity, I would have never come up with my plan." I slam my locker closed and sashay out of the locker room with Hadley close on my heels.

Goosebumps rise up on my arms as the cool air from the gym hits my skin. I shiver, but quickly brush off the feeling.

"What plan?"

I grin at her from over my shoulder.

"Loni, what plan," she asks again, whispering into my ear. Her shoes nudge the back of mine as we walk.  She follows me over to the bleachers and I sit down to pull up my knee pads. Hadley follows in that act. "Seriously, tell me," she laughs nudging my arm.

I laugh too and look up, my gaze catches a quick glimpse of Jace who saunters onto the court. I practically forgot about our not-so-friendly encounter last night. But it seems like he hasn't by the way he looks over at me with a slight scowl.

Pain pings in my side and I grab it. The cut itself doesn't even hurt that bad. It's my guilt that's creeping back out again. I was such a bitch to him.

"Loni!" Hadley slaps my arm, bringing my attention back to her. "The plan? Tell me."

I put both of my hands on my lap. "You remember when I said I was done with relationships and men completely?"

"Yeah?"

I shake my head. "Well, I take it back. I experienced sex for the first time with Eric and I can't let that be the only defining movement in my sexual awakening. Plus it was good, I guess, and I kind of need more."

"I'm still not following."

"I downloaded this app," I pause to stand and pull my phone out of my pocket. Handley stands too and looks over my shoulder. "It's called Lust Me and—"

"That's a hook-up app, you know that right. It's not for dating." Shock thickens her tone.

"I know," I say to her with an eager grin. "Dating is messy. But hooking up is easy. No commitment. Just sex."

"So you are just going to spend your time hooking up with random men?" She looks at me like I have five heads.

"Men can hook up with as many women as they want and no one bats an eye. But when I do it it's a problem?" I scoff.

"I'm not saying that. I'm just wondering if this is safe." Now her words are filled with concern. She pouts her lips but I ignore her.

"I set up my data so it only finds guys in a five-mile radius. Most likely these guys will all be students at Bayside. And I have a one date minimum rule so I can make sure they aren't like a psycho or something."

"Look, Loni, I'm all about you getting some dick, but are you sure you're ready? The wounds from Eric still seem a little fresh." She tucks her long dark hair behind her ears and crosses her arms.

"I'm sure." I nod. "It's just sex. And I'm not going to do it all the time. Just when I'm... You know." My cheeks go hot.

Hadley grins seductively, nodding. "Oh, I know." We both laugh and walk over to meet the rest of the team. "Maybe you should have Jace be a practice round," she taunts in my ear.

I look to the other side of the net. Jace is standing there, holding a ball, talking to one of the other girls on the team, but his stare is locked right on me. My throat turns dry. I look away but I can still feel his eyes on the back of my neck.

"No way. Jace Maxwell is not my type. I have standards."