Page 20 of Get Even

“You dated the co-captain of the football team and don’t know who the rest of the team members are?” Liv asked and the boys all stared at me alongside her.

“Well it’s not like we ever really hung out––”

“Except for the after parties? And pre-season parties? And––”

“Okaaay,” I huffed. “I never paid much attention. Better?”

“Oh yeah,” Liv laughed. “Definitely.”

“So…” I trailed off, hoping they would finally feel some pity and clue me in. Surprisingly, it was Broody who did.

“I’m Xander and this is Kit. I’m pretty sure you and Ry are already acquainted,” Xander smirked and I scowled.

“What do you guys study?” Liv asked and Xander’s eyes seemed to focus on her with a laser-like intensity.

“Art,” Kit called and yeah, I could have called that. “Graphic design specifically.”

“Psychology,” Ry smirked at me like he was psychoanalyzing me –– and let’s be real, it didn’t look too good, did it? Revenge threesome, angry ex, hateful professor, weird sort-of-relationship with ex’s rival… It probably all added up to Mommy Issues, which was nothing I didn’t already know.

“History,” Xander said, shooting me an accusatory glance that made me bite my lip.Fuck. He was in my class? That meant he’d witnessed Professor Dick’s meltdown the other dayandI was possibly the most ignorant person on Earth to not have recognized him – but how was I supposed to pay attention to every single person in that class?

“Oh, haha, yeah same,” I said lightly and he frowned. Okay, so clearly he knew me. Excellent. I turned back to the wall and swapped my brush for a roller, dipping it into the paint and sweeping it across the wall in large arcs.

“So, why the need to re-decorate?” Kit called, his perky voice somehow soothing where I’d expected to find it grating.

“Part of my post-break-up ritual,” I explained, “plus Aaron helped paint this room with me when I first moved in.”

“Gotcha,” Kit sounded like he was smiling and when I glanced up he was. “The pink is a nice touch.”

“You should have seen the color she had picked out before,” Liv laughed and the two of them started chatting as their corners met up. Ryan moved closer to me and I didn’t look up as he got close enough to touch.

“Your wall done already?” I said lightly and felt the air stir when he laughed like I’d said something funny. He didn’t elaborate further, just added his roller to mine and helped me cover the wall inblush,evening out the places where I’d done a shoddy job without comment. He stood slightly behind me and off to the right and his arm brushed mine as he reached up towards the ceiling with the roller to the spots I couldn’t quite reach.

We were done so fast that I blinked and then we moved onto Liv and Kit’s wall, seeing as they were both now standing and chatting rather than painting while Xander looked on as if he wanted to join in but didn’t know what to say.

“So what color would you give me if we broke up?” Ryan said, mouth curling into that grin that invited me to laugh along as he nodded to the wall we were focused on.

“Well,” I said sweetly, “redecoration is reserved for break-ups and we arenotdating.”

“If that’s what you want,” he said with a light shrug and my eyes fixed on a sprinkle of pink paint that had landed on the edge of his jaw. It was what I wanted, right? I narrowed my eyes, damn psychology majors worming their way into your head, making you second guess perfectly rational decisions –likenotto sleep with the guy you’re semi-fake-dating. “Or,” he continued, pretending not to notice my glare, “you could go on a date with me. A real date.”

“Why?” I said, honestly confused. Sure, there was an attraction between us and yes, it was satisfying that pretending to date Ryan pissed off Aaron, but beyond that what did he have to gain?

“Because it’s what people typically tend to do when they like someone.”

“Andyoulikeme?” I snorted and shot Liv a look as if to saycan you believe this guy?But she just raised an imperious eyebrow and suddenly I was even more unsure of what to do – what did I have to lose? Or maybe more importantly, why did I feel like everything was a game, with winners and tallies and a quid pro quo?

“I’ve always liked you,” Ryan said, his small lopsided smile evolving into a fully-fledged grin. “How about Wednesday night? I could pick you up–”

“I’m busy,” I said automatically and a little hurt flashed across Ryan’s face, slanting his eyebrows and tightening his jaw.

“Right,” he said and we painted in silence after that. I hadn’t realized how easy it had felt before until suddenly tension was all I could feel between us, raising the hair on my arms.

“Ryan, I–”

“You know, I think I actually have to take off. I forgot there was something I needed to do this afternoon.” Without once looking at me, Ry set down his roller into a nearby tray of paint and left with a nod in Liv’s direction.

CHAPTERTEN

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