America. I have to be careful, though, because she’s looking a little cagey.
“I do,” I say, because hell yeah I do. I may be the easy guy, but I’m not the knock you up or give you a venereal disease guy.
“What about birth control?”
“What about it?” Now I’m confused. Isn’t that her end of the deal?
“Is she on it?”
“Who?” Stop mind-fucking me, Red.
“That girl,” she begins, pointing toward the house. “The consenting adult in there.”
I shrug. “Hell if I know.”
“And you were going to sleep with her. What if the condom broke? They’re not one hundred percent effective, you know.”
Annndd suddenly this is a public service announcement. No thank you.
“I truly appreciate your concern.” I shake my head because fuck this . “But you’re right, I should get back to my consenting adult. Why I’m out here with a pain in the ass one is beyond me.”
Shaking my head at my own stupidity for following an obvious nutjob outside when I could’ve already been rounding third with Kelsie, I turn to go back inside. Strangely enough, I can’t seem to remember exactly what Kelsie looks like or what she was wearing.
Just as I step into the doorway, Blondie storms out past me and there’s something in her expression that I recognize.
Guilt. Whatever happened, she feels guilty.
I open my mouth to say something but I have no idea what to say. Red shoots me a glaring look, a nonverbal warning to keep my mouth shut. I watch her put her arm around the other girl and lead her gently away in the direction of the dorms.
Maybe O’Brien’s particular brand of crazy is rubbing off on me, because not only am I pretty sure I’m going to see Red again, I think I actually want to.
No, I know…I really, really want to.
“N ot that I’m not enjoying this five-mile sprint after practicing my ass off, but you about done yet?” My shirt is fucking drenched with sweat so I pull it away from my skin. “Because I’m damn sure done.”
Landen doesn’t even slow down. “You can go back to the dorm if you want. Bake some cookies or some shit.”
I pull my arms over my head in hopes the stabbing pain my side will ease up. “Fuck you, dude. Seriously. You need to get laid something fierce.”
“You volunteering?”
I’m so happy his uptight ass made a joke, I could run another few miles. “Naw, but I’ll take an ad out in the school paper if you want. Uptight motherfucker, needs a release, preferably of the vagina kind.”
Finally, dude laughs and stops to put his hands on top of his head. He did seem to patch things up with Taite at practice so that’s a bonus. Might even be able to take him out in public again after all.
I stretch my calves and wipe the sweat from my forehead with the bottom of my shirt. Two girls running by glance over and smile so I smile back. As usual, O’Brien doesn’t even seem to notice.
“Your Georgia peach not giving it up or what?” I lean over to clutch my knees. I’m pretty sure we’ve gone at least five miles from the dorms. “If you love something, sometimes you just gotta set it free, or some bullshit.”
“I can hardly believe you don’t have a girlfriend,” Landen deadpans.
I shrug like I can’t believe it either. “Yeah, well, your girl’s redheaded friend was pretty damn fine looking. Hook a brother up.”
“She’s not my girl.” Landen rubs his side a little harder. I knew I wasn’t the only one getting a cramp.
“So I noticed, and by the way, your pussy lips are showing. You gonna do anything about it or what?” He doesn’t answer so I continue with my motivational speech. “I got Red’s number last night,” I tell him casually even though I didn’t. I can get it if need be. “I could call and see if they want to hit a club or two with us tonight. And while I’m nailing Red, you and Peaches could knit some sweaters together or something. Maybe a nice little satchel for her to put your balls in.”
He actually appears