Farah cupped my face like maybe we’d make out. “Be the best Bailey you can be with him. Don’t be fake though. When he falls for you, he should fall for the real you.”
Smiling, I pretended her advice was aces even though it was the same crap Lark told me. No way did I buy into their “real me” shit, but I’d already been mean enough to Farah over the last year. No reason for me to smack her around more by mocking her dumb advice.
After watching Farah scarf down corndogs while I fought the urge to point and laugh, I left the house with Winnie.
“How will I manage to be Nick’s slave? Should I offer to clean his apartment?”
Winnie said nothing. She didn’t even look at me either, but I still felt her mentally rolling her eyes.
“I’ll take that as a no. Maybe I can make him laugh. Or he can make me laugh. Yeah, humor is good. I could also spill something on him then clean it up without asking. Ooh, I’ll be submissive to him.”
Winnie glanced at me as I prepared to drop her off at the Todds’s 1970’s inspired Brady Bunch house.
“What?” I asked when she said nothing.
Rather than pissing me off, Winnie hoped to make a getaway. She climbed out of my SUV then said, “Don’t spill anything.”
“What should I do then? I’m studying with him in an hour and I need a plan to land my man.”
Winnie sighed. “Go with your gut.”
“My gut gets me into trouble.”
“When the Devils came here and one of them tried to grab you, your gut told you to fight back by shooting at him. That was a good move.”
“Are you still having bad dreams about that?” I asked softly.
Stepping back, Winnie lowered her gaze. “Good luck with Nick.”
After waiting until she was safe in the house, I drove to New Hampton College with the goal of sweeping Nick off his feet. Too bad my plans remained iffy.
At no point during our study session did Nick look at me. He looked at other girls. Even smiled at them, but I was right there and he didn’t see me.
I noticed Nick the first day of our freshman year. He was cute with his thick brown hair always falling in his eyes. He also had a great smile, but his bright green eyes were what drew my attention.
Back then, he hadn’t been so buff or bruised. Having gained around forty pounds, he had wider shoulders, thicker arms, and a stronger chest. A perfect body for fighting, Nick battled guys a few days a week at the Thunderdome. I noticed a healing bruise on his jaw while he had a fresh one near his temple. His hair was shorter these days, but occasionally his bangs covered those amazing green eyes. Though the guy hypnotized me with his sexiness, I couldn’t even get him to flash a glance in my direction.
Probably downing a gallon of Sprite before study group was a mistake. Or maybe I was sick of sitting across from him and being ignored. No more playing it cool when I ran hot whenever he was in the same room.
I slammed my hand down on the book he was reading. Not even flinching, Nick didn’t seem startled at all, even while the others jumped. He lifted his gaze to meet mine then waited as if I was a spoiled child and he was the ever patient parent. Fuck him for his patience.
“You suck.”
“Bailey,” Emma said.
When I turned my angry gaze to her, she probably pissed herself. I didn’t care about Emma or the others. I wanted Nick to pay attention to me.
“I’m storming out of here,” I hissed at him, “and you better fucking follow after me to see what’s wrong. If you don’t, I’m coming back here and making a scene.”
The corner of Nick’s mouth lifted into a half grin. “You’re already making a scene. Think of a better threat.”
“I’ll set fire to the building,” I growled. “I know how to work dynamite and I love blowing shit up.”
The other half of Nick’s mouth lifting, Nick smiled at me then lowered his gaze and returned to reading. The fucker was calling my bluff! Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about dynamite and loud noises made my head hurt. Fucker knew I wouldn’t do shit.
Storming out of the library, I couldn’t just stay there and show him that he’d won. Once outside, I felt like crying or screaming. Even felt like finding dynamite and proving I wasn’t full of shit. None of those moves would fix my problem, so I sat on a bench and sulked.
Nick was stupid to want Farah even after she hooked up with Cooper. He was a sap. A fool! Much like me wanting a guy hung up on my sister-in-law.
I blamed Farah’s fat lips. They were too sexy and made guys think of blowjobs. While I considered putting poison in my lips to make them fat like hers, I didn’t want anyone thinking about blowjobs when they looked at me. I wanted them thinking I was special. No, I only wanted Nick thinking that, but he was a loser stuck on a girl who didn’t want him.
“Out of dynamite?” Nick asked from behind me.
“Yep. Used it on the last loser who pissed me off.”