“Well, I was wondering if . . . How can I convince my girl to have a threesome with me? She isn’t into it, but I’d like to change her mind.”
My ears started to ring as his words reverberated through my head.
What the hell? A threesome? And he was asking this on the radio, where everyone in the general area could hear and was most likely listening?
I didn’t wait for Dickmaster Dickface’s response before I pressed the power button again, shutting it off, and started pacing back and forth.
My text messages blew up again.
Nice boyfriend.
Tell me you heard Nick on the radio.
Heat spread throughout my body as I fumed with my embarrassment. How was I supposed to study now with my idiot boyfriend’s question replaying over and over again in my mind? The texts just kept coming, so I shut my phone down in order to save its life, since each new message tempted me to see how hard I could chuck it against the wall.
Rachel rushed through the front door minutes later, and wrapped me in a hug before I could even say a word.
“I heard Nick on the radio when I was driving back from class.” Frowning, she pulled back to study me. “I’d ask if you heard, but I can tell that you did.”
“Hell yes, I heard. And I can’t stop hearing about it.” I pointed at my stupid cell phone.
“Has he ever talked to you about having a threesome before?” she asked softly, and I bristled.
“No! Never.” I moved back to my seat at the table and sat down. “I can’t believe he did that. I’m mortified.”
“Mortified? I’m pissed. I really am going to curse that boy before the year is through,” she threatened before breaking off into a Spanish-filled rant I didn’t understand.
“I’m sure I’ll be pissed in about an hour. Just give me time to get there.”
Anger came a lot quicker than I had anticipated. It mixed with the other emotions rolling through me, and within a few seconds, I was so upset I couldn’t even see straight. I felt so stupid.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked as she sat down in the seat across from mine.
Shaking my head, I replied, “Not really.”
“I’m sorry, Jess. This really sucks.”
I sat there staring at my homework on the table. Finishing it now was out of the question.
Finally, I said, “I think I’m going to go to sleep. No sense staying up when I can’t focus on anything other than his stupid voice asking that even stupider question.”
Rachel got up and headed toward her room. “I understand. Good night.”
“Night.”
I hated Nick for embarrassing me and for being so disrespectful. I was half tempted to turn my phone back on and call him, but I was still too shocked to think clearly, and I had no idea what I’d say to him other than yell and swear like some psycho girlfriend. Not that he didn’t deserve it, he absolutely did, but I wanted to maintain some semblance of self-control.
My emotions continued to swing between being pissed off and completely embarrassed, so I climbed into bed and closed my eyes, hoping for a sleep-filled reprieve.
I had tossed my cell into a drawer so I wouldn’t be tempted to turn it on and use it. Now as I walked across campus toward my class, I realized that I had left it at home, still turned off.
Nick’s easily recognizable frame was in the distance, and I watched as he altered his course to head in my direction.
Part of me wanted to turn around and run away from him, but I knew he’d only chase after me. And I couldn’t avoid him forever. People had already started to slow down as they noticed us heading toward each other like two trains meeting head-on. No doubt they’d heard all about Nick’s asshole request last night on the radio.
Once he was within a couple of feet, I raised my hand and smacked him across the cheek. Gasps filled the air around me but I tuned them out, my focus purely on the jerk-off in front of me. When a smirk spread across his face, I lifted my hand to slap him again, my anger only growing.
He grabbed my wrist and pinned it to my side. “Calm down, Jess.”
I squirmed, trying to pull my arm away. “Fuck you,” I spat, still trying to pull my arm out of his grasp, but it was no use.
“Jess, listen to me.” His voice was calm, almost soothing, and I wanted to hate him for his ability to be so in control while I clearly wasn’t. “Listen to me,” he repeated, demanding I do as he asked.
I glared at him, wishing my eyes had the power to shoot darts so I could pummel him with hundreds of them at once. “I hate you!” I yelled with as much venom as I could muster so he’d believe it, even if I didn’t.
“I was just fucking around,” he said.
I set my jaw and glared past him, refusing to meet his stupidly perfect blue eyes. One look in them and they’d soften me, and I refused to be anything but tough in this moment. His fingertips touched the bottom of my chin and tilted it up.
“Look at me, Jess,” he begged until my eyes finally found his.
“What? I’m looking,” I said, my tone bitchy and annoyed.
“I wasn’t being serious. Grand Master Paz is one of my favorite rappers, and I just wanted to talk to him. I’d called a minute before, and they asked me what I wanted to talk to him about. When I told them something stupid, they hung up on me. So I called back with something better. It’s all I could think of that might work.”
My heart rate slowed its frantic pace as his words sank in. I relaxed a little as my anger faded; I wanted so badly to believe him.