Page 4 of Triple Play
Not even close.
My phone buzzes again. Another text from Teddy.
Teddy: Grant says you showed up. Small world, huh?
My stomach drops.
They’ve already talked. Of course they have. Best friends since they were fourteen. Grant probably texted him the second I left the kitchen.
Me: Yeah. Small world.
I don’t know what else to say. Can’t exactly text back:Hey, remember that Christmas party two years ago? When I kissed your best friend and he kissed me back and then never spoke to me again? Yeah, we’re roommates now. Cool, cool, cool.
Teddy: He’ll look out for you. Promise.
Grant Wilder has done a lot of things. Showed me my first clip of porn when I was sixteen. Stole my bikini top at the lake house that one summer and made me chase him for it. Taught me how to throw a punch when some guy at a party got handsy.
He’s been a lot of things to me over the years.
Looking out for me was never one of them. Not when it counted.
I plug my phone in, strip down to a tank top and sleep shorts, and climb into the unfamiliar bed.
Through the wall, I can hear Grant moving around. Hear the sound of his bed creaking as he lies down.
I close my eyes. Force my breathing to even out.
Tomorrow, I’ll be fine. Tomorrow, I’ll have my armor back up. Tomorrow, I’ll walk into my first day of classes with my head high and prove that I belong here.
Tonight, I let myself admit the truth.
Grant Wilder looks at me like I’m a mistake he made.
And I’m going to have to live next to him for the next eight months.
CHAPTER TWO
THE KISS THAT BROKE EVERYTHING
Elise
Two years ago. December.
The bonfire throws sparks into the winter sky like tiny dying stars.
I’m nineteen and consumed by desire. I have been for three years, if I’m being honest with myself. Which I try not to be.
Grant Wilder has been a constant in my life since I was sixteen. Teddy’s best friend. The guy who slept over on weekends and played video games with my brother.
He’s been a lot of things.
The guy I’m in love with wasn’t supposed to be one of them.
“You’re staring.” His voice cuts through my thoughts.
I’m sitting on a log at the edge of Teddy’s Christmas party, nursing a beer that’s gone warm in my hands. Grant drops down next to me, close enough that I can smell him—cedar and some woodsy cologne.
“I’m observing,” I correct. “There’s a difference.”
