Page 84 of Frat House Fling

Instead, I looked idly out of the window as I thought about Hailey. Now that the summer was drawing to a close, who knew where she’d live after she moved out. What would she think of when she remembered her summer here? And why the fuck had she put on that sexy little French maid costume for my buddies and not for me?

It rankled, I could admit it. Theo and Ian were great guys, but we were a set. She couldn’t mess around with two of us and ignore the third—especially if I was the one being left out in the cold.

Despite my party boy persona, I wasn’t an idiot. Deep down, I knew that this was about being hurt as much as it was jealousy. I’d really thought that Hailey and I had made a connection. That we’d gotten to know each other through our conversations. But evidently, she didn’t feel that way at all.

My mood didn’t improve when I exited the bedroom and saw Bennett sitting at my table. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he said. “How’d it going?”

“Same as usual.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Bennett laughed. “By the way, who the fuck is Wombat?”

“What?”

“That chick you’re sexting.”

I saw my phone on the table next to him, and it felt like I’d just been gut punched. “What’d you do?” I snatched my phone up and flicked it open.

“Nothing. But you’re never going to get anywhere with that one. She’s a total prude. Wouldn’t even send me some nudes.”

I wanted to tell him to get the fuck out, but years of family conditioning kicked in. So instead, I stormed out, without another word to him.

What thefuckhad he done? I was almost afraid to look. If Hailey hadn’t trusted me before, then she sure as hell wasn’t going to after this. She’d move out, and I’d never see her again, and this would be her lasting impression of me. Of Night Owl.

I took a deep breath, but I still couldn’t look. Jesus, when had I become such a fucking coward?

But maybe she’d let me explain. Maybe. We’d built a rapport with all those nights of texting back and forth. It had felt so intimate, talking to her in the dark when everyone else was asleep—as if she was lying in bed next to me.

So maybe she’d let me explain. That thought made me finally see how bad the damage was, and fuck. It was bad. The more I read, the angrier I got at Bennett for treating her that way.

Then I reached her last message, and my heart sank.

Don’t ever contact me again.

If only she’d listen to me one last time. My fingers shook as I typed on the tiny keys.Please just let me explain.Then I pressed send—only it didn’t.

Hailey had blocked me.

25

HAILEY

The next day,I practically had whiplash from all the ups and downs of the day before. It had been so amazing finally learning the truth about Ian. Seeing him in a new light. And even surprising was how he’d been able to make me see myself in a new light.

Maybe he was right, maybe there were some legitimate reasons why I struggled so much. Maybe it wasn’t just because I wasn’t as smart as my classmates.

I’d been riding the highest high—and then I got those disgusting message from Night Owl and plunged to the lowest low.

What a day.

I sighed. Ian had almost convinced me that I wasn’t dumb, but now I knew I had another glaring personality flaw—I was a terrible judge of character. Because I’d really thought that Night Owl was a good guy.

Even after he’d talked me through my first orgasm, a very pleasurable experience, he hadn’t made me feel awkward about it. At least until yesterday. I’d never heard the expression offlicking one’s bean, but it wasn’t all that hard to figure out what it meant.

And it made me feel dirty that he’d said those things. It was probably ironic because I’d done naughtier things in person with Theo and Ian. But it was this text exchange that made me feel cheap.

He’d likely meant for me to feel that way.