The Love Game (The Game #1)(8)
Author: Emma Hart

Sneaky little witch! “I guess not, then. I’ll warn you though, I don’t talk much when I’m studying.”

“Neither do I.” He smiles at me, and I inwardly sigh. I appear to be sighing an awful lot lately.

I set my iPod on shuffle and put the other earphone in. I turn my attention back to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and attempt to sift through the old language. It doesn’t go well.

I’ve been fighting against thrices and m’ladys and hasts for way too long when I feel Braden’s arm rest across the back of my chair. He grasps a bit of my hair, teasing it between his fingers. I ignore him. Or, I try to.

He’s sitting next to me, so casually. He’s chewing his pen and flicking through pages of what looks like a chem book. He’s also oblivious to the fact I’m looking at him.

I’m looking at him? Sheesh. I turn my attention back to the book, with him still playing with my hair, and carry on dissecting the scene for Mr Jessop.

An earphone falls out of my ear.

“Ready?” Braden asks.

“For what?” I frown.

“To go to class?” He smirks. “You really do get lost in studying, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” I answer, shoving everything into my bag. I stand, and he takes my bag from me. “I can carry my bag, you know.”

“I know.” He starts walking, and I follow him, shaking my head. He holds the library door open for me, and I pass through it, holding my hand out.

“Bag. Please.”

“Why won’t you let me carry it?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Braden, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you carry someone else’s bag for them.”

He shrugs and puts a hand on my back, leading me towards our English room. “You’re not anyone else.”

I purse my lips, and my eyes widen when I see Megan sitting in his normal seat next to Aston. I glare at her, and she smiles sweetly.

“Apparently I’m sitting with you.” Braden smiles.

“Apparently.” I sit down and he hands me my stuff. “Thank you. It was unnecessary, but thank you.”

“Any time.” He turns to me, blue eyes bright under his messy mop of blonde hair. “Have you decided if I get that second date yet?”

I turn my eyes to the front as Mr Jessop walks in. “I’m still thinking.”

Braden leans in to me, his mouth millimeters from my ear. “You’ll give in, Maddie.”

“Will I now?”

“Yep,” he breathes. “I’ll have that second date, and a third, and then more.”

“You’re really confident for someone who messed up on the first date.”

“And that’s why you’ll give me more dates. They’re chances to redeem myself.”

He’s right. He’ll get more dates, of course he will.

Just not for the reason he thinks.

Chapter Eight – Braden

I’m pretty sure dating isn’t supposed to be this f**king hard. A simple yes or no answer would do. All this waiting is driving me up a damn wall. So why am I waiting outside her dorm block for her?

Because it’s Wednesday, two days after our first “date” and two days before our second “date”. In which I will miss my own damn party for her.

The door opens, and Kay steps in front of me.

“Any reason you’re stalkin’ my dorm, Carter?” She puts a hand on her hip and looks me over.

“Maddie around?”

“You could call and ask that, you know. Lurking outside girls’ dorms isn’t a good look for you.”

I clench my teeth. “Just answer the f**king question, Kay.”

“Yes.” She rolls her eyes. “She has class in half an hour.”

“Any chance you could call her down, like now?”

She sighs and pulls her cell out. She holds a button and puts it to her ear. “You have a stalker down here.”

She hangs up and storms past me.

“Thanks, Kay!” I call after her and she flips me off. Bitch.

I run my fingers through my hair, and Maddie appears at the door. Two girls run past her into the building, giggling, and she shakes her head.

“Isn’t stalking a little below you, Braden?” She smirks at me, her pink, glossy lips turning up at one side. Her green eyes are wide and lined with a soft brown liner, her auburn hair pulled to one side revealing her very lightly tanned neck.

“You tell me, Maddie,” I reply. She leans against the wall, and I mimic her movement. “Will you come on another date, or do I have to stalk you some more?”

She plays with a piece of her hair, sliding her fingers up and down it. It makes me wonder what else she could slide her fingers up and down.

Not the f**king time, Braden. Make her fall in love, don’t take her on the damn sidewalk.

“Maybe,” she replies, bringing me back to the conversation. Except now my brain is focused on the way her lips move when she talks.

“Maybe you’ll go, or maybe I have to stalk you some more? I gotta say, Angel, I’m down for either.” I rake my eyes down her body, the tight tank top and cut-off shorts, and back up. “Stalking could definitely have its perks.”

She gasps and slaps my arm. Ouch. That stings. “You’re a pig.”

“So I keep being told.” I sigh. “At least I’m an honest one.”

“True.” She laughs. “I guess it depends what you have in mind for this second date.”

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Because you have no idea?”

Shit. She’s too smart. “I just have a few things to finalize.”

“Presumptuous,” she challenges.

“I prefer to think of it as hopeful,” I counter, laughing. “What do you say, Maddie? Please?”

She bites the corner of her thumb, and I shove my hands in my pockets.

“Okay,” she agrees. “One more date.”

“Really?”

“Really, Braden.” She closes her eyes for a second and turns to the door. She punches the code in and opens it, looking at me over her shoulder through her lashes. “Mess this up, and there won’t be another. I don’t do games.”

She steps through and the door swings shuts. I turn and walk down the sidewalk.

Maddie does do games. The only difference is, she doesn’t even realize she’s playing it.

~

I have no idea what to do for this ‘date’. Honestly, trying to get an idea out of my no-dating brain is like getting water from a stone. It’s f**king impossible. I’m considering the walk on the beach shit Ryan suggested, but I can’t just leave it at that. Can I?

Fuck this. When life gets hard, ask Google. Google knows everything.

I pull my laptop from under the bed and start it up, my leg shaking. The hassle I’m going through just for sex should be illegal in every damn state. Do people do this in real life?