Someone to Love (8 page)

“Well,” she begins, “my mom is vying for
‘serial bride’ of the century. My brother and I moved a lot—seven
different schools. It was hard to always be the new girl. My dad is
a lawyer in Oregon where he lives with his new and improved family.
I haven’t seen him since I was four—he split from my mom long
before that. Rumor has it I have six siblings. They live on a farm,
and his new wife makes candles. My brother is at school up there,
and I guess they’re speaking again. So it’s just me out in the
cold.” She purses her lips while untangling the wire from the
frosted star in her hands. “I don’t care though.”

I catch her gaze and hold it. Here we are,
two wounded birds bearing our souls, pretending we don’t give a
shit. Kenny is the princess who grew up without a father telling
her she was special, that she was beautiful, that she deserved so
much more than a series of one-night stands.

“You care,” I whisper, wrapping my arms
around her waist without waiting for an invitation.

“Maybe a little.” Her lips curve as she
touches the back of my neck. “But that’s over. I can protect my
heart now that I know better—now that I know love never works out
in the end. Right?”

My heart thumps unnaturally. I believed in it
once and it didn’t work out in the end, but trying to satisfy my
body with a revolving door of girls isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
either.

“Let’s get that star on top of the tree.” I
hoist her up in the air and elicit a squeal from her in the
process. She starts to slip and I place my hand over her bare thigh
for support. My entire body enlivens touching her this way.

“I’m afraid of heights.”

“Then you’d better make it quick.” I tighten
my grip and sit her on my shoulder. It feels good holding Kenny,
touching her like this without decimating her body in a fit of
smoldering passion—although, that’s pretty damn high on my wish
list this Christmas.

She lands the star on top of the tree and
slinks down my body as if I were a pole. Her face lands next to
mine, panting from the effort.

Kenny sighs into me. Her lips bloom into a
perfect smile, and for the first time in a long while I feel like
I’ve done something right. Suddenly, I want to be the one to tell
her she’s special, that she’s beautiful, that she deserves so much
more than a series of one-night stands.

“Yesterday, at the tree lot, you gave me a
beautiful gift.” I meant for it to come out playful, but it burns
from my lips as if I were stepping too close to the flames. “If you
don’t mind, I’d like to give my gift now.”

“I’ve been waiting for it all morning,” she
says in less than a whisper.

I crash my lips over hers and dive in for one
luscious exchange. The warm pool of her mouth draws me in, and I
fight a groan working its way out of my throat—my jeans already
cinching with a surge of desire.

I can feel the dark cave of my heart
beginning to glow like that star on top of the tree.

If anything, Kenny has made me believe in
magic again.

The next day, Kenny and I hit the gym. My
longtime friend, Cal, owns the place, so I talk him into giving her
an indefinite day pass. Kenny heads off to Zumba while I hit the
weight room.

“So fill me in, dude.” Cal tosses a towel
over his shoulder and awaits the dirty details. I’ve made the
mistake of filling him in with tales from the mattress, far too
many times.

He’s got his head shaved and his body ten
shades darker than his face.

“When you going to dye that bowling ball that
sits on your neck to match?” I lie down on the bench and start in
on a series of lifts. “Spot me, would you?”

“Bowling ball? What are you talking about?”
He ducks and jives until he catches a glimpse of his ugly mug in
the mirror. “I’m a fucking work of art. Three different women
offered to give me a blowjob just this past week.”

“Yeah? How’s that working out for you? Is
Lauren going to stand by and oversee the situation? Make sure
they’re doing it right?”

“
Lauren
.” He balks at the mere mention
of his girlfriend. “She’s got a stick up her ass these days.
Christmas Eve was a train wreck. She full-on expected me to pull a
diamond out of my dick. And when I didn’t, she raised all unholy
hell. Now I’m paying for it, and I’ve got the blue balls to prove
it. Speaking of train wrecks, you hear from Blair?”

“She called. I ignored.” Strange. Haven’t
heard from her since June and out of the blue she’s called twice,
both times I’ve managed to have the stones not to pick up, And now,
Cal’s calling her name out like he’s trying to conjure her
ghost.

“Saw her at a party up at Herald hall. She
must have asked a million questions about you. I guess things
didn’t work out with that douche from Dartmouth.”

“Too bad.” A searing pain jolts through my
chest at the thought of Blair asking about me. Kenny and those hot
kisses blink through my mind. Somehow Kenny instantly made things
better. She applied the salve over my soul with her own lips—began
healing what a thousand girls before her could never hope to do
“What Blair and I had is over. If you see her again, you can be the
bearer of bad news. She’s the one who made that decision. I’m just
backing her for once.”

He holds his hands in the air as if it were a
stickup, and the weights come crashing to my chest.

“Dude.” He hoists the heavy metal off me and
secures it to the post. “You take on way more than you can chew.
That’s been your problem since about the third grade. So tell me
about this new one—the day pass. She Zumba for you in private? When
you’re through, go ahead and send her my way. I have a feeling
Lauren is about to hand me my walking papers.”

Something about Lauren giving Cal his walking
papers doesn’t sit right with me. Sure, he’s always had a touch of
asshole in him, but that’s just Cal. I thought he and Lauren were a
forever kind of deal. I guess Kenny is right—love never works out
in the end.

“You can’t have Kenny.”

His face ticks back a notch. “Dude, you
keeping her?”

“I’m test driving.” For every dick on the
planet, if she gets her way. “She’s got this crazy idea she’s going
to be the female version of me.”

He bobs his head. “Manwhore,” he says without
missing a beat.

“Thanks.” I sit up and catch a brunette
across the room openly molesting me with her eyes so I turn to face
Cal. “She wants me to teach her the ropes.”

“Teach her the ropes?” He starts in on a
low-lying laugh.

“She’s staying at the house, so I thought
we’d take it slow. She’s never done anything before, and I don’t
plan on taking advantage of her.”

“What?” He jumps back at the insanity as if
I’ve just yanked off my balls in a show of dedication to my
newfound celibacy. “You’re Cruise Fucking Elton.
Fucking
is
your middle name—remember? You’ve slammed more hot chicks in one
season than most men fantasize about in a lifetime. Just because
you’ve landed yourself a nice little fuck buddy doesn’t mean she’s
gotta ruin your mojo. You’re spermanating for the both of us
remember?”

“Relax, would you?” I hiss in an effort to
get him to shut the hell up. God forbid Kenny walk in and hear the
words “fuck buddy” being tossed around. “She’s nice. I’m not
instructing her in that arena. The only thing I’m teaching her is
the fact I’m the last person on earth who should be anybody’s role
model. There are plenty of girls like me out there, and believe me,
she’s not one of them. I’ll figure out a way to get that idea as
far away from her head as possible. She needs a boyfriend, not a
line of frat boys leading out of her bedroom.”

“That’s right. Tell her to stay off your
territory. Get her the hell out of the house before she interrupts
the line of sorority ass you’ve grown accustomed to.”

I shoot him a look.

“About that—I’m taking a break.”

“What?” His hands collapse over his head as
if I’ve just dropped some oncology-based bomb that involves his
testicles. “Are you shitting me? You’re taking a break because of
this girl? This
Kenny
—the virgin, who’s pleading for your
instructional services? My God, it’s like you’re whipped!” He
freezes. “You’re whipped, aren’t you?”

“I’m not whipped.” I tick my head back a
notch. “I hardly know her.” Oddly, I know Kenny better than I’ve
known any of the girls I’ve bedded like some fornicating marathon
these past several months.

“We need to find a boyfriend for little Miss
Day Pass.” Cal leans in, solemn, as if Kenny’s relationship status
had the power to unravel the universe. “I’m telling you, buddy,
she’s a fly in the ointment, corrupting the system. Ackerman House
is throwing a New Year’s Eve party. It’s open invite to twelve
different schools. That’s twelve different kinds of collegiate ass
to sift through, my friend. Do not forget your mission
statement—bed, don’t wed.”

I glance up at him and shake my head. “You
really need to stop living vicariously through my dick.”

“You’d better grow a pair and kick the virgin
to the curb before she digs her cute little claws in your back. The
next thing you know, you’ll be buying her flowers.” He slaps me
over the shoulder and takes off. “Believe me, she’s nothing but
trouble.”

For a second, I envision her nails digging
into my back, her legs wrapped around me like a vine. I can’t wait
for that moment with Kenny, but the truth is, she deserves a hell
of a lot better than me.

Maybe she is nothing but trouble.

Maybe she’s the exact kind of trouble I’ve
been looking for all along.

Kendall

Curl up and Dye

The week rolls on, and both Cruise and I are
finding a rhythm in the house. He cooks breakfast, and I make
lunch. Dinner is on the fly and usually sponsored by Johnny
Burgers. Cruise mentioned he needed to help out his mom this
afternoon, so I’m running errands.

Driving on snow-slicked roads feels a lot
like falling in love. Although I’m totally not falling in love—I’m
falling in lust. That’s all that really exists in this world.
Everything else is simply an illusion born of self-inflicted
desire.

I’m dodging some serious traffic, thanks to
an entire slew of after-Christmas sales as I make my way back from
Garrison. I made the mistake of checking on the status of my
imaginary dorm room only to be informed Pennington fabricated the
fact he put me on a waiting list—turns out there isn’t one.

I squeeze my hands over the steering wheel
and pretend its Pennington’s little, red neck. Speaking of the
Alexander clan—I can’t believe Aunt Jackie actually said Russell
Hall was for “losers.” Turns out, Aunt Jackie is nothing but a
bully who kicked Cruise out of his father’s life so she could
slather all of the financial attention on her sweet little Penny
boy. Little does she know Pen is nothing but a stoner with a man
purse.

I pull into the Starbucks parking lot and
speed into the cheery-looking establishment to avoid the arctic
chill. Much to my surprise, none of my warm weather clothes are
capable of keeping my body a toasty ninety-eight degrees. I’ve got
some serious shopping to do and not a whole lot of cash to do it
with.

“Kendall?” A friendly female calls from the
corner, and I spot Lauren and Ally waving me over. I remember them
from the Alpha Sigma Phi party. They’re the ones I wanted to go
home with, but fate stepped in and I ended up with Cruise instead.
Wait, did I just say fate? I so don’t believe in that. Fate is
bullshit people force-feed themselves when they’re too lazy to
carve out a destiny of their own.

“How’s it going?” Ally chirps as I take a
seat.

“It’s great. I meant to find you that night
at the party. I guess Pennington missed the housing deadline and
now I’m homeless.”