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She hesitated before answering. “I think we… I mean… yeah. Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea.”

At least it was out in the open so I could make my feelings clear while she was sober enough to hear me.

“Arden, I told you at the party a couple weeks ago, I don’t want to get back together. I’m sorry. I wasn’t the right person for you, and we both know it. And now…” Did I dare? I kind of wanted to draw a line in the sand she could no longer cross. “I’m kind of seeing someone.”

It wasn’t true. Not really. It was another lie like the paper that wasn’t due tomorrow. But maybe it was enough to get her to realize she and I were not happening.

Her eyes widened, and it seemed almost like she was going to cry. “Already?”

“You and I broke up like… six weeks ago,” I reminded her gently.

Her face crumpled, and tears spilled over. “I need… I need you to break up with her. Whoever she is.”

I turned to face her, surprised to see her still this upset.

I hadn’t been a great boyfriend to her. Yes, I’d tried to please her physically, and I’d tried to prioritize her when I could, but I’d also let myself be distracted by school and football and summer internships. I’d been a jerk about going to her sorority stuff and barely remembered to invite her to my frat shit. She’d hated that I wouldn’t text her before games, wouldn’t let her be in charge of my social calendar, wouldn’t talk much—or at all—about anything important.

Hell, I’d talked more to Vaughn than I had to her, and I wasn’t sure I even liked Vaughn. At least not when orgasms weren’t involved.

“That’s not gonna happen, Arden. Listen, I’m sorry things didn’t work out, but I really do have to go,” I said. “I’m late to class.” I hesitated, hating to leave her while she was crying. “Do you want me to call Cassie or Becky for you?”

She shook her head as tears continued to stream down her face. “They wouldn’t understand,” she whispered.

I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Text me later and tell me you’re okay, please?”

She continued to cry as she nodded. Movement over her shoulder caught my attention, and I turned to see Vaughn glaring at Arden’s back from a distance.

I wanted to beam. Laugh. Fist pump or some shit.

He cared.

He fucking cared that I was standing out here being nice to my ex-girlfriend.

Jealous bastard. What the fuck was that? He wasn’t jealous of a relationship. It was more like… possession, maybe? More like… he didn’t want someone else playing with his toy.

My stomach swirled with excited nerves as I turned on my heel and jogged off in the direction of Constitutional Law, which I was now definitely late for.

It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like I was going to be able to pay attention to a damned thing the professor talked about. Five minutes after sliding into a seat in the back, I remembered Vaughn asking to fuck me last night.

Images flooded my brain. Me, face down on the bed while his larger body covered mine, his fat cock splitting me open. His lips against my ear crooning nicknames or teasing me mercilessly.

Vaughn’s fingers digging into my hips as sweat dripped from his nose onto my spine.

His harsh breaths as he told me to take it like a good girl. I still didn’t know why I was so okay with him calling me a girl sometimes, but I was. Maybe it was the idea of him being sweet with me—or taking care of me—the way he would with a girl. Hell, maybe he’d simply unlocked a new kink. I honestly didn’t want to look at it too closely. Overthink it the way I did every fucking other thing in my life.

When he said it, I liked it. Period.

“You okay, man?” the guy next to me asked.

Collin Pearson and I had been in several classes together over the years and were on a group project together last semester. Nice guy, but definitely not close enough to consider a friend.

“Er, yeah, why?”

“You’re kinda breathing funny. Not a fan of the Fifth Amendment?”

My face was dangerously hot. I tried my hardest to stop thinking about Elliot Vaughn, but it was impossible. Thank god for the flip-out desktop holding my laptop, but sitting in this class while my dick was impossibly hard was torture.

Would I ever want to try it? Maybe he’d let me fuck him.