The Game Series (2 page)

I have no fucking idea who this chick is who's hanging onto my arm. I'm pretty sure I've never seen her in my life, but she's kinda hot with nice tits so I guess she can stay for a bit. She's not hot enough to bang though, so she won't be around for that long.

Blondie presses her lips against my ear, and I hide my cringe by looking around the frat house. My eyes find Maddie Stevens – Princess of University of California, Berkeley.

She's sitting at the bar with that bi girl. Shit, what's her name? Oh, never mind. Megan and Lila are sitting with her, and I watch as they knock back shot after shot of whatever it is Kyle is throwing down their throats tonight. She shakes out her auburn hair and the bi one drags her up.

My eyes sweep her body, and I'm vaguely aware Blondie is now sitting on my lap. Two hard globes press against my chest, and I know instantly she's got fake tits. They were way too good to be true.

Megan takes Maddie's hand, and she smiles, almost shyly. She starts to move to the beat of the music and
fuck,
there's nothing shy about that. She puts her free hand in her hair, looks at the floor and her hips move perfectly in time. She glances up through her eyelashes and smiles again, more confidence in it this time.

“She's so fucking hot,” Aston says, appearing next to me. Ryan steps up behind him.

“Maddie?” I ask, my eyes still on her moving body.

“Who's Maddie?” Blondie purrs. Fuck, she still here?

Maddie looks up, her bright green eyes taking in Blondie on me. Her lip twitches in disgust, and she turns away.

“No one you should worry about, babe.” I peel her off me. “Be a doll and get me a beer.”

She flutters eyelashes caked in mascara. “Of course.” She hops off of me and I pat her ass, turning my attention back to the guys.

“Who was that?” Ryan asks.

“Good question, dude.” I shrug. “Some chick.”

I catch sight of Maddie pushing her way through the crowd, Megan, Lila, and bisexual girl following her.

“Hey, reckon the girls would be pissed if I chased after her?” Aston asks, following her with his eyes.

“Megan would beat the shit out of you.” Ryan nudges him and leans against the arm of the sofa. “Lila and Kay, too, actually.”

Kay. That's the bisexual girl.

“Maddie would likely kick my ass, too,” I add, looking at them. “You'd need to get that girl down the aisle before she dropped her pants for you.”

“Marriage? Fuck that.” Aston shakes his head. “I'm too hot for that shit, dude.”

He isn't far off, at least not in the eyes of the girls here. He's never short of a quick one or two on a weekend.

“Marriage?” Ryan repeats. “Nah, you just gotta make the chick fall in love with you. Make her fall in love and bam, there it is. Piece of ass, and a hot one, too.”

I tilt my head slightly, studying them both. “She's like a fuckin' china doll, though. If you did it too hard, she'd break.”

“I'd break it,” Aston says. “Just without the love shit.”

“I reckon you could do it.” Ryan takes a swig of beer and glances at me.

“A week?” Aston taps his chin.

“Nah,” I say.

“A month,” Ryan says with finality. “She ain't gonna be easy to break, but she'll give it up in a month. You could do it, Braden.”

“Dude, you realize that's your girlfriend's friend? You're askin' me to get her to fall in love with me, fuck her, then dump her.” Not that I wouldn't mind a chance to fuck Maddie Stevens. In fact, I'd pay for that damn chance.

Ryan shrugs. “Like Lila will ever find out. This shit stays between us three. Braden Carter seducing a girl ain't exactly gonna be out of place, is it?”

“Do it.” Aston grins. “Make her fall in love with you. If anyone can, you can.”

“Dunno.” I lean back and look at the dance floor. She's back – all four of them are.

She's doing that hip thing again, swaying them from side to side. She shakes her hair out and laughs. Lila exaggerates a wink over to Ryan, and he smirks. Lila turns back and says something, making Maddie look over her shoulder. Her green eyes meet mine.I smile slowly, the smile that gets me anything. I wink. One side of her glossy pink mouth curls up, and she looks away again, her hair flicking with the movement of her head.

“Well?” Ryan nudges my head. “You gonna do it?”

“Challenge accepted, boys,” I say, resting my arms behind my head. “One month from now, Maddie Stevens will be in love with me and in my bed. You can count on that shit.”

I roll over, wincing at the light coming in through the curtains. How much did I drink last night? Too much, clearly.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Kay shouts and kicks the dorm room door shut.

“Nope, not over here.” I bury back under my covers.

“I have coffee and muffins!” She pulls the covers down and I groan, opening my eyes.

“Why? Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do I feel like I just got run over by a herd of wildebeest?”

“One, I have no idea what a wilder beast is, and two, it's called a hangover.” Kay holds out a Starbucks take-out cup and my favorite blueberry muffin.

I sit up and take them from her. “Thank you. Why are you not feeling this way?”

“I'm one of the lucky ones.” She snickers and chucks herself on her bed. “I don't get hangovers. You, however, do, it seems. Megs is the same. She'd usually be in bed all day.”

“Sounds good to me.” I take a sip of the coffee.

“But not today,” she sings. “Today we're getting down to business.”

“Down to business?”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “Do you remember our deal last night? Your mission, Ms. Bond?”

Ah. Play The Player. “I thought we were joking.”

“When have I ever joked about anything as serious as sex?”

“Fine, fine.” I give in and sigh. “What do you mean, down to business?”

“We need to draw up a plan of attack!” She crosses her legs, Indian-style, and bounces twice on the bed.

“A plan of attack,” I repeat dumbly.

“Uh, duh! You think we can go into this blind? Oh no, honey.” She shakes her head. “Braden Carter has got more charm than the Irish leprechauns-”

“Which don't exist.”

“And that means he's dangerous. You're trying to make him fall in love with you, yet if he lays it on thick you could end up falling in love with him.”

“There would be no hump and dump, which would defeat the object of Play The Player.” I sigh.

“Precisely!” She claps once. “So we need to figure out a fool-proof plan that ensures while he's losing his heart, you aren't losing yours. Because that would just be disastrous.”

“Kay, I don't know.” I sigh again. “Braden Carter doesn't fall in love. If he has a rulebook, that's it, right above the rule that says rules are for losers. I have a month to do this, right? I just don't know how it's possible.”

“Nothing is impossible if you believe in it enough.”

“But I don't know if I believe in it.”

“You will,” she says confidently. “You will.”

“I hope you're right,” I reply. “Because this is looking like a fail before it's even started.”

“Knock knock on your cock,” Lila opens the door and Megan follows her in, a large roll of paper and marker pens tucked under her arm.

“What is that?” I ask, taking it in.

“Operation Play The Player,” Megan answers, sitting on the floor between our beds. She unrolls the paper, uses two books to hold it flat and writes 'OPTP – Operation Play The Player' at the top of the sheet.

I shake my head in disbelief. Am I actually doing this? I was under the impression that college meant growing up, but I was wrong. I feel like I'm thirteen again and trying to trick my lifetime crush into admitting he's crushing on me too.

“Stop shakin' your head.” Lila jumps up on my bed next to me. “It's gonna be okay. You can do this.”

“You guys do realize that in terms of love and relationships, a month is short, right? And in terms of Braden Carter, a month is a lifetime?” I question. “Who says he won't get bored after a week and go and find one of his floozies to warm his bed?”

“You have to stop him from doing that,” Megan says softly. “You have to make him never want to leave your side. I give you a week to reel him in, get him interested, and then this is in the bag.”

“A week?”

“If you can get him to be by your side in a week, he'll fall in love in three,” she clarifies, uncapping a blue pen. “Stage one. Attachment.” She jots it down on the paper, giving me until next Sunday.

“Hold up, this isn't even starting until tomorrow!”

“Wrong.” Kay shakes her head.

Lila nods in agreement with Kay. “The guys are having a football game in the yard of the frat house later. We're all heading down there.”

I huff. “Fine. It starts tonight.”

Megan flashes me a grin, green pen in hand. “Stage two, next week, is Public Appreciation and Attachment.”

“Which translates to what, in my terms?” I frown.

“Hand holding, public kissing, exclusivity.”

I snort. “You guys have a hell of a lot of faith in me, you know.”

“Stage three, week three,” Kay continues. “Almost Sex and Public Knowledge Relationship.”

“Everyone will know?”

“Well, yeah.” Lila raises an eyebrow at me. “Humping and dumping will be so much more satisfying if everyone we know, and then some, knows.”

“It seems a little
... Harsh.”

“You have to be cruel to be kind, baby girl,” Kay says.

“They're right,” Megan agrees without looking up from the paper. “I don't much like the idea of hurtin' him, but he needs to sort his head out. If he's this bad five weeks into college, I dread what he's gonna be like in two years. He needs to get a clear message and soon.”

“Why not just talk to him?” I try. “Why go to extreme measures?”

“Because Braden Carter only understands things in extremities.”

“Okay, so say this works.” I tap my finger against the bed. “And he does fall in love with me. I'll hump and dump him and then what? You know he won't leave it. He'll fight to get me back. What do I do then?”

Everyone stops, and Megan sits back, putting the end of the pen in her mouth. Kay tilts her head to the side, and Lila chews her thumbnail.

“I didn't think about that,” Megan says quietly. “If Bray has one thing going for him-”

“Besides the obvious?” Lila snickers.

“Besides the obvious.” Megan smirks. “It's that he goes after what he wants. Girls, I hate to say it, but Maddie has a point. If he falls in love with her and she walks away, he'll go bat shit crazy trying to get her back. He won't let her go easily. If at all.”

My eyes widen.

“But what if Maddie falls in love with
him
?” Lila asks. “What if she can't hump him and dump him?”

“Please.” I shake my head. “Braden embodies everything I hate. He's arrogant, egotistical, and a pig. I'm not likely to fall in love with
that.
”

“But he's also funny, really caring, and beneath his man slut exterior, he's the kind of guy you'd take home to meet your mom.” Megan sighs. “I know him, Mads. If he wants something he'll do whatever it takes.”

“So we remind her every day of why she hates him.” Kay shrugs.

“It might not be enough.”

“It will be,” I reply firmly. “It will be.”

“Okay, back to the original issue. If he falls in love.” Lila rocks back and forwards, swinging her legs.

“Then we deal with that when it gets here.” Kay shrugs. “I don't know what else we can do.”

Ugh. “Okay, what's the last stage?” I ask.

“Stage Four, Hump and Dump.” Megan writes it and underlines it with a flourish. “I don't think I need to elaborate on that one.”

“No,” I agree. “You don't need to.”

I look over her shoulder at the colorful piece of paper on the floor. It's split into four, color coordinated, and every stage is explained. I sigh, wondering what the hell I've let them talk me into this time.

I rub my face with the bottom of my shirt. The high fall temperatures aren't football-playing weather for most of the guys in this house, even I struggle sometimes and I've played it since I could throw the damn ball.

“Break,” Tony Adams calls. “Please?”

I shake my head. “You're a fuckin' wimp, Adams.”

“Sorry, I'm from Maine and not used to these desert temperatures.”

“We don't live in the desert, idiot.” Kyle slaps the back of his head and we head back to where all the girlfriends – and Maddie – are sitting.

“Fuckin' may as well be,” Adams grumbles. I shake my head, grab a bottle of water and head over to Megan and the girls with Ryan.

''Ladies.'' I smile at Maddie, and she smirks.

“Turn down the charm, Casanova.” Megan laughs and tugs me to sit. “No one here is interested.”

“Except me.” I wink at Maddie.

“Yes, Braden, we all know about your vested interest in yourself,” Lila says and rolls her eyes.

“Ryan, control your girl,” I joke.

“Watch it, Carter,” Lila retorts. “Or I'll control your ass to Timbuktu.”

I grin and catch Maddie's eye. She's laughing silently, looking hot as hell in a short sun dress that shows off long lean legs.

“So, Maddie.” I lean back.

“So, Braden,” she replies, looking up at me through her thick curly eyelashes.

“Move your ass,” Kyle says, sitting in next to me. “Hey, guys, Maddie.” He nods towards her.

“Kyle.” She smiles widely at him and my hackles rise a little. I knew the guy was rude, but fuckin' hell.

“How are you, gorgeous girl?”

“Good, you?”

“Better for seeing you, that's for sure.” He winks and she smiles.

I narrow my eyes slightly, and Megan nudges me.

“Jealous, Bray?”

I snort. “Of Kyle? Yeah, right.”

“Okay,” she whispers disbelievingly. “But you're turning into a walking green-eyed monster.”

“Whatever, Meggy.”

“Seriously, Bray, if you wanna talk to her, just talk. She won't bite.”

“I might like it if she does.”

“You're such a pig!” She shakes her head. “I can see you're interested in her, so just ask her out.”

“I don't do dates, Meggy, you know that. If I decided to take her somewhere, I have no idea where.”

“You'd take her out?” She grins.

“I'm not saying yes or no,” I reply. “But I might consider it.”

“Starbucks. She likes their blueberry muffins.” She smiles, satisfied and amused. “Just let her get to know you. Not walking horn-dog Braden, the real Braden.”

“Maybe.” I look back at Maddie, and she's looking at me and Megan with her eyes slightly narrowed. She shakes her head, and I glance at Megan questioningly. She looks away, and I shake my head. Girls. I'll never fucking understand them.

A date. Why didn't I consider that shit when I agreed to Aston and Ryan's plan last night? Why did I think dates wouldn't come into it? Of course they fucking would, and they are.

Aston calls for us to start playing again, and I get up, handing Maddie my water bottle with a wink. She half-smiles as she takes it, and I can feel her eyes on me as I go back to play. Kyle pulls his top over his head, and I know this has turned into a pissing contest.

It's no secret to any of us that Kyle has his sights set on Maddie, and if I wanna complete the challenge the guys set, I gotta take it up a notch.

I glance over my shoulder, and her green eyes are on Kyle. Fuck no. I grip the bottom of my shirt and yank it over my head, stretching after and chucking it to Megan. She wrinkles her nose, and I laugh, noticing Maddie's eyes are back on me.

Good.

Kyle narrows his eyes at me, and I smile a shit eating smile, knowing he looks like a ten year old boy compared to me topless.

We all get into position, and the game starts again. Kyle and I seem to come head to head more than often, and I know he's trying to make me look like a prick. Fortunately, everyone already knows I am one and when it comes to football, he can kiss my fuckin' ass.

He catches the ball, and I tackle him. He falls face first on the grass and curses.

“What the fuck, Braden?”

“Slipped. Sorry.” I grin.

“Slipped my ass!” He gets up and comes towards me.

“Woah, woah!” Ryan jumps in between as my muscles tense. “Turn the testosterone down a notch, guys. It's just a game of football.”

“Yeah, Kyle, turn it down,” I goad him.

“If you're tryin' to convince her you're the better one out of the two of us, then good luck. She isn't as stupid as your usual clientele.”

I start forward, and Ryan puts a hand on my chest. “Dude, no. Go and chill.”

I take a deep breath and nod once. “Fine.”

I kick the ball away and turn back to the girls.

“Can't you even play a game of football without turning it into a pissing contest, Bray?” Megan laughs.

I shoot her a look, grab my shirt, and take my water from Maddie.

“Everything okay?” she asks softly.

I sip the water and look down at her. “Yeah, everything's okay, Angel.”

“Good.” She smiles up at me, and Kay sighs.

“I'll move over,” she says in a mock annoyed tone.

“Oh, Kay,” I say and sit in the spot she just vacated. “How did you know?”

“You look like you could rest your back against the wall.” She winks and Megan laughs.

“Or against Maddie.” Lila giggles.

I look at Maddie, and her cheeks flame a little. “I'd rest a whole lot of things against Maddie, none suitable for public viewing, though.”

Her mouth opens and closes once. Megan, Lila and Kay all roar with laughter, and I nudge Maddie.

“I'm sorry. Did that embarrass you?”

“Nope.” She squeaks the word out. “Not at all.”

I laugh and put an arm around her shoulder. “I think it did, and I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention.”

“It's okay,” she replies, a little tense in my hold.

“No, it's not,” I insist.

“Game's over!” Megan calls, and they all stand. I get up and offer Maddie my hand. She places hers in my larger one, and I pull her up, grinning down at her.

“Thank you.” She smiles and takes her hand from mine, making to follow the girls.

“Hey, Maddie?” I ask.

She stops and turns back to me, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Yeah?”

“We have English Lit together tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have a class before?”

“Nope, it's a free. I usually head to the library to study.”

“Make an exception tomorrow?” I ask, leaning against the wall, facing her.

“What for?” She smiles a little.

“We could grab a coffee before class. I hear you like the muffins in Starbucks.” I tug a lock of her hair and amusement shines in her eyes.

“Braden Carter, are you asking me on a date?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Um.” I look around, and Megan has her back to me. She nods once, sharply. “Yes. I am, yeah.”

“Say it,” she demands.

“Say what?”

“I wanna hear you say you're asking me on a date, 'cause this has to be a historical moment.”

“Hey!” I protest. “Fine. Maddie, would you like to go on a date to grab coffee tomorrow before English?”

She smiles widely. “I'd love to.”

“Meet you outside Starbucks about half an hour before class, then?”

“It's a date,” she agrees and turns around, heading towards the girls.

I let out a breath and shake my head. Fuckin' hell.