“Who is he, Logan?” I’m not in the mood for this shit and he knows it.

   He sighs. “He’s Maloney’s brother. I’ve seen him around the house a few times. He’s not a frat brother, though. He’s, like, a higher-education type, junior maybe senior, on his way to med school or something. That’s all I got.”

   Med school? I’m the high school jock, and he’s a med school student. Great. I’m fucked. I stand up and walk to a better position where I can watch them.

   “Don’t be an asshole, Jake,” Logan warns, but I don’t care.

MIKAYLA

   Some girl in the corner of the room has been eyeing Jake the whole night. I don’t know who she is, but it’s pissing me off. I’m sitting on Jake’s lap when she comes over to our group. She takes a seat on Matt’s lap. He looks startled for a second then places his hand on her thigh.

   She never takes her eyes off Jake the whole time.

   Jake doesn’t seem to notice or care. But I do. If she were a guy, I’d junk-punch her for sure. After thirty excruciating minutes of her trying to seduce him from across the room, I’ve had enough. I stand up to leave, but Jake tightens his hold on me. “Just ignore her.”

   So he has noticed.

   “You think it’s okay for her to sit there and look at you like that? It’s making me uncomfortable, Jake,” I whisper so only he can hear.

   “And you think it’s okay to talk to some guy I don’t know about whatever the hell you guys were talking about, and the whole time he’s gawking at you like he wants to eat you?” I can hear the anger in his voice.

   “Jake, he was not—”

   “I’m a guy, Kayla. I know what he was thinking.”

   “Jake, who’s your friend?” Tramp-tits asks, interrupting us. I look at her and narrow my eyes.

   Jake sighs next to me. I look at him. “Christy, I’m trying to have a conversation with my girl here,” he says, shaking his head.

   “I didn’t know you had a girl,” Tramp-tits says. He ignores her and looks back at me, trying to return to our conversation.

   I continue. “I thanked him for being there today. He was the TA I told you about. He mentioned there’s an apartment in his building that—”

   “What?” Jake yells then softens his tone. “You mean to tell me that that asshole just happened to be at your work today, and now he’s telling you about apartments near him?”

   I open my mouth to say something, but Tramp-tits interrupts again. “Is something wrong, Jake? Anything I can help with?” she coos innocently, batting her eyelashes at him.

   That’s when rage consumes me, and something I never knew existed takes over. I stand up. Everyone around us falls quiet, waiting for what’s about to happen. Logan and Jake are on their feet, ready. I stalk over to her to get in her face. Lucy and Cam—I didn’t even know they’d arrived—are right next to me.

   “Quit eye-fucking him!” I spit out, pointing my finger in her face. “I’m right fucking here. Do you know how disrespectful that is?” I fume, motioning up and down my body.

   “Yeah, you fucking slut!” Lucy yells. Cam laughs and throws his arm around her.

   “I’m so fucking sick of girls like you, thinking it’s okay to want what’s not yours to have!”

   “Fucking whore!” Lucy yells. She’s drunk. I love drunk Lucy.

   “Calm down, bitch,” Tramp-tits says. Bitch?

   “Bitch?” Lucy and I repeat.

   “Yeah,” Tramp-tits repeats, standing up. “I’m not the only one who’s looking at him, so why do you care?”

   “Because he’s fucking mine!” I growl. “And if I so much as see you look at him again, the next thing you’ll be gawking at is my fist coming toward your face! Got it?”

   “I swear to God, Micky,” Lucy snarls. Cam’s pretending to hold her back, amused by her drunken state. “I’ll cut a bitch for you. Just let me go, Cam. Let me go!” she yells, trying to fight his grip.

   Tramp-tits walks away, and we burst into laughter. I don’t know how it went from heated to hilarious—probably because of Lucy and the fact that we’re all drunk.

   Jake puts his arm around my shoulders. “I’m so turned on right now,” he says.

   Jake later surprises everyone by getting on the karaoke stage. He stands there with a mic in hand, a blush creeping to his cheeks. Looking down, he clears his throat then speaks into the mic.

   “This is, um . . . This is for my girlfr—” He cuts himself off when he sees my eyes bug out, because I’m not his girlfriend—not yet. It wouldn’t be fair to him, because I’m not ready. But I’m also not ready for him to move on.

   “I mean, my Kayla. Just, um, mine.” He has a little smile on his face, and it’s so frickin’ adorable. Then the music starts . . . and we all laugh.

   It’s One Direction.

   He starts to sing. It’s so sexy, because his accent is in full force. I want him with everything I have and hope that one day I can give him all of it.

   When we get home, I go straight to the bathroom and start getting ready for bed. He comes up behind me and kisses the bare skin on my shoulder. He kissed me so lightly, for a second I thought I had imagined it.

   “Kayla?” He’s looking at me in the mirror.

   I close my eyes. “Mmm?”

   He turns me around and kisses my forehead. He places his hands on my waist and lifts me up onto the counter, his chin leaning on my shoulder. He spreads my legs and stands between them, but he doesn’t make a move to do anything else. He looks at me like he’s seeing me for the first time and tears pool in his eyes. I have no idea what he’s thinking or feeling, so I spin his cap backwards and take his face in my hands. “What’s going on, Jake?”

   He clears his throat and looks away.

   “Jake?” I ask again.

   He speaks so softly, I almost don’t hear him. “I know we haven’t spoken about it, but things haven’t been the same between us after that night at the bonfire party.” He clears his throat again. “Are you still mine? Are you still my Kayla?”

   I don’t know what to say to him.

   I don’t know if I am.

   But I know I don’t want to be anyone else’s.

   “If you still want me,” I whisper.

   He sighs, relieved. “I more-than-a-lot want you.”

JAKE

   “Can you sleep with me tonight?” I ask her.