For me.
"I don't want to make you do something you don't want," I murmur, and he smiles, diving in for a quick, hot kiss. "I mean it, Jordan. We can forget the party and go up to your room."
"Let's compromise. We'll go talk to people and act like we're having a good time. And then in like thirty minutes, we'll meet upstairs in my room and have a really good time." His smile is downright wicked. "What do you think?"
I swallow past my nerves and smile in return. "That sounds like the perfect plan."
This party is boring as shit, but I'm trying to deal. I check my phone for the time. Only seventeen minutes left until I can go upstairs.
Thank God.
Amanda and I went our separate ways on purpose, and that was her doing. Sometimes I don't get what my girl is thinking. Or what her motives are. They're never bad, but I always think she has some sort of angle.
This comes from years of never really trusting anyone and always being wary of their intentions. Amanda is slowly teaching me that putting my trust in someone is actually a good thing.
"Mingle with your people, Jordan," she told me at the foot of the staircase. She pressed her hot body against mine, teasing me with a smile, a touch, a kiss that I would've taken deeper, but she wouldn't let me. Instead she gently shoved me away from her and waved. "I'll see you in thirty minutes."
And then she left me standing there, dumbfounded as I watched her walk away, staring at her perfect ass in those tight jeans. It took me a few seconds to get out of my Amanda-induced stupor before I started to wander.
I immediately become irritated. There are so many people here, I can barely move from room to room. I find my mother holding court in what she calls the sitting room, surrounded by cheerleaders and members of the drill team, most of them sitting on the floor and listening to her college cheerleading stories with rapt fascination.
The woman is a total narcissist. She loves an audience-when she's composed and not strung out on prescription pills.
I'm sure the majority of those girls sitting there listening to her drone on about frat parties, hot football players and shaking her pompoms think that if they get in good with my mother, somehow they'll get in good with me. I'm not being arrogant when I think this-it's pretty much fact. The problem? I despise my mother. I don't believe she thinks too highly of me either.
The way to my heart isn't through her.
I bolt before anyone sees me lingering by the sitting room, because it feels like a trap. I go in search of and finally find a familiar face-Cannon sitting in an overstuffed chair in the living room with tiny Em perched on his lap. She's balancing a plate on her hand that's full of food and she's feeding Cannon like he's some sort of invalid. I'm about to give him shit for it, but the expression on his face is the happiest I've ever seen him, so I let it go. We make small talk for a few but Em keeps batting her eyelashes at him and murmuring stuff I can't hear. They're so into each other, I feel like an intruder. So I leave them too.
My teammates are in clusters throughout the house and I congratulate them all as I see them. Ryan and Livvy are standing in a corner in the hall near the front door, her arms crossed, his expression thunderous. Looks like another storm is brewing there.
Pass.
I find Eli Bennett and Lauren making out on the front porch, and she pulls away from Eli when she realizes I'm standing there, a drunken smile fixed on her swollen lips. "Jordan, hi!"
I feel like I can do no wrong when it comes to this chick, and it sucks. She needs to get over me for once and for all. "What's up?" I say to the both of them.
"Great game tonight," Eli says with genuine enthusiasm as he slings his arm over Lauren's shoulders and pulls her in close. She doesn't fight him either. She's fully embracing this weird relationship. "That last play was fucking amazing, Tuttle! Is Halsey forever indebted to you and my brother now or what?"
I ignore his question. "Thanks. Your brother did an outstanding job tonight." I clap on Eli's shoulder and give him a shove. "You'll have some major shoes to step into when it's your turn."
His eyes light up and then he goes into complete Bennett bragging mode. "Aw, I've got this. By the time I'm the quarterback they'll be saying, 'Tuttle who?'"
Lauren laughs nervously, sending me an apologetic look. I smile, but I know deep down inside they'll never say that.
They'll always remember who I am.
"You two have fun tonight," I tell them as I start to walk away, but I hear Lauren tell Eli something and then she's chasing after me, calling my name and trying to get me to stop.
Shit. I take a deep breath to prepare myself for the Lauren onslaught and turn to find her standing in front of me, expectation written all over her questioning face. "What do you want from me, Lauren?"