Page 3 of The Trade

“They can. Little problem, we’re not friends.”

“Oh, come on.”

“No, seriously, Cass.” I shrug off her advances for the second time. “We hardly talked before you brought me home that first night.”

“Well, we could start now,” she insists, stomping her foot with a dramatic flair.

“I don’t think so. I’m not trying to confuse things.”

“Confuse things?” she shrieks. “We can’t even talk? Trust me, I’m not that desperate.” Her eyes narrow as she pushes a thick strand of hair behind her ear. “Besides, you talk to O’Connor all the time.”

And there it is. The fucking jealousy that always flares its ugly head. Sure, I occasionally talk to her cheer teammate Shannon O’Connor, the redheaded spitfire who’s been on my mind since freshman year.

“Right, and there’s the difference. I’m notfuckingO’Connor.”

Her shoulders straighten, spine stiff. “Yeah, but you want to.”

Yeah, okay, well ... she’s got me there. Shannon’s not only one of the hottest girls I’ve ever seen, but she’s also a goddamn sweetheart. I’d be lying if I outright denied the accusation.

“Don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

Yeah, sure. It’s an asshole comment to make to the girl you’ve been sleeping with, but I’m not gonna stand here and play games with her. Not right now, at least, when my head’s still reeling from that conversation with Coach.

“Wow, West.” She scoffs, and it grates on something soft inside my brain. “I thought you were different, but you’re just like all the rest of your asshole teammates.”

“Please, Cassidy, don’t act like you would’ve been interested in the first place if I wasn’t a fucking football player.”

“I guess that’s where I went wrong,” she shouts, no longer caring that we have an audience. “You’re all just a bunch of ... slutty, little fuckboys, aren’t you?”

“Seriously?” I raise both brows. “Is that why you had Miller’s cock in your mouth last weekend?”

“What?” she asks, voice low and eyes wide.

“Yeah, think I didn’t know about that?”

“More like I thought you wouldn’t care.” She flicks her hair over her shoulders, that evil little gleam returning to her gaze. “We’re not together, remember?”

“Now you’re onto something.”

“Oh, fuck you, West.”

“You certainly won’t be anymore.”

With a huff, she pivots away from me, her back straight as she strides toward the Intramural building. Exhaling a deep, resigned breath, I shuffle my way back to where Cam is waiting for me.

“What the hell was that about?” he asks, raising a skeptical brow.

“Fuck if I know.” I shrug, devoid of the energy to explain myself. “But I’m definitely done with her.”

“That’s probably good.” He hikes his duffel bag up over his shoulder. “She has those wild eyes, you know.” I snort a laugh, giving him a quick dig with my elbow as we continue up the hill. “No, I’m serious. I’ve always thought so. I never understood why you went for her in the first place.”

“She was there,” I admit.

And isn’t that the cold hard truth of it.She was there. Practically threw herself at me a few months ago, not that I have any right to complain about it. In fact, I was all for it at the time. Unfortunately, Cassidy’s attitude got really old, really fast.

“Damn.” He gives me a tight-lipped wince. “Glowing review.”

“What can I say, man? I’ve got too much shit going on to work for it. She made things a little bit easier on me. That’s all.”

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