He wanted to play games? Fine.
“Yep.” I skipped up the steps ahead of him and headed in the house, not looking back at him.
The house was packed. Speakers blared 50 Cent, and I pushed my way to the pool table, where Jagger leaned over the green felt with a cue. “I need a drink.”
His eyebrows shot up, and he sank the shot. “My pleasure.” He stood, stretching the cue above his head, the movement lifting his shirt to reveal a set of seriously cut abs. But as gorgeous as Jagger was, he didn’t have me desperate to run my tongue up his stomach. “Beer?” He handed his cue off to one of his brothers and walked me to the bar. A minute later, he popped the lid off and handed me a bottle. “You’re a cherry wheat fan, right?”
“Yeah, thanks for noticing.” I offered him a smile, took a long pull of the beer, and leaned back against the bar.
“You’re not exactly dressed for a party.”
A wry laugh bubbled out of me. “Yeah, well, I didn’t know I’d be competing for Josh with the rest of the crowd here.”
His gaze transferred from me to across the room where I knew Josh was already dancing with the bimbo brigade. “You know what you’re doing, there? Josh is . . . Josh.”
I slammed back my beer and peeled off my Henley to just my blue lace camisole, cut low enough to bare my cleavage but not my bra. Catcalls erupted around us. I tossed my shirt on the bar and ran my fingers through my static-ridden hair. Freaking arid air. “That’s better, don’t you think? Dance with me.”
His eyes widened. “I think Josh has his damn hands full.” He pulled me onto the floor so I could dance, but kept a junior-high-dance space between our bodies. No doubt the last thing he wanted was to piss off his roommate.
I locked eyes with Josh from a few feet away, looking over the Barbie rubbing up against him. Get a freaking room. Ugh. The thought sent slices of agony through my chest. His hands may have been on her body, but his eyes were on me, following each move I made with the beat. Energy thrummed through me, not from the music, but from watching Josh move and remembering what it felt like to have him pressed against me.
Barbie turned in his arms and whispered in his ear. He gave her a seductive smile, and she took his outstretched hand. She slid by us first, pulling him through the crowd toward the stairs. Josh cocked one eyebrow up at me in question, but I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eyes. If all he wanted was an easy piece of ass, then he was right to take Barbie upstairs.
But I knew that was a lie the moment I thought it. Sure, he’d taken me farther than any guy had, but he’d stopped before sleeping with me. That kind of guy wasn’t only about an easy piece.
He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, like he was disappointed, and kept his eyes locked on me as he whispered something to Jagger. Jagger nodded, and Josh threw me one last inquisitive look before taking Barbie upstairs.
“Let’s get a drink,” Jagger suggested. I nodded my head absentmindedly and followed him back to the bar. “Beer?”
“Tequila.” Beer just wasn’t going to cut it.
Lick. Slam. Suck. The alcohol slid down my throat like fire, and the cool lime soothed the numbing pain. But the flavor put me back in Breckenridge and the taste of Josh’s tongue in my mouth. Watching him walk that girl upstairs wrecked my soul and tore it down, threatening to bring me lower than Riley ever had.
“I need air,” I forced out, stumbling over a barstool. I wasn’t even drunk. Just devastated. I wiggled my way through the crowd and onto the front porch, which was remarkably empty, and gripped the chain on the porch swing as I lowered my weight into it. Josh was upstairs, touching another girl, kissing her. I took deep breaths to keep from puking.
Jagger followed me out and leaned against the porch railing, watching me silently as he nursed another beer.
“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” I admitted, staring up at the stars.
“Neither does he.”
“Oh, I think he’s pretty well-versed at taking girls upstairs during these parties.” God, it hurt. “Why does this hurt so badly?” It was a rhetorical question, but Jagger answered.
“Love’s a bitch.”
That brought my gaze to his. “I don’t love him.”
“Really? Then why do you care who he takes upstairs?”
I didn’t owe Jagger an explanation. Hell, I barely knew him, but maybe he could understand. Someone in this situation had to, right? “I-I-I don’t care who he takes.”
“You cared when it was you.” Josh’s smooth-as-velvet voice came from the doorway.
I turned to see him leaned up against it, arms crossed in front of him casually. He looked so damn sexy. Had she tasted good to him? “Done already? You know, it’s not about scoring the fastest, right?”
Jagger took one look at the tension in Josh’s face and excused himself. “Yeah, just let me know when you’re ready to head home, man.”
The swing rocked slightly as Josh took the seat next to me. “What are you doing, Ember?”
I bit back the fury that choked me and let honesty rule. “I have no idea. Why would you do that? Take her upstairs with me watching?”
His eyes took a hard glint. “Like it matters? Last time I checked, you have a boyfriend, right, Ember? You choose to be with an asshole who doesn’t deserve a single one of your kisses, and I choose to sleep with vapid girls.”
“I’m not with Riley. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”