CHAPTER 3

"Take a seat," he said, nodding towards the bed. I looked at him uncertainly. "You can sit at the desk if you're more comfortable."

I opted for the latter. "So what's up?" I asked.

"I'm sorry about what happened downstairs with Scott. I kinda feel like it was my fault. I was talking about getting you in the sack and I guess after a few beers it sounded like a good idea to him, too."

"Why can't you just accept that I'm Simon's girlfriend? Jackson, I don't wanna sleep with you, if I did, I would've waited for you to ask me out. Not that it ever would've happened." I rolled my eyes at his expression of disbelief. Jackson wasn't used to girls telling him that they didn't want to have sex with him. "You just want me because I'm Simon's, and you have a reputation to uphold."

He sighed and buried his hands in the pocket of his jeans. "That's not entirely true… The fact that you're Simon's girlfriend does make you a bit more desirable, and I might not have ever pursued you if you weren't dating him… but you're a pretty girl, Sophie. Before you were dating Simon I'd see you at lunch or whatever, and I noticed that. "

I scoffed at him. "Oh puh-lease."

"I'm serious!"

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know what you're trying to do!"

"What am I trying to do?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"Charm me right out of my pants."

He chuckled, his green eyes glistening with mischief. "Cupcake, if I wanted you out of your pants, it wouldn't take long."

"Are you suggesting rape?"

"No. I could convince you. You've seen me naked, you can't tell me you'd say no."

I got up. "You know, when you started this conversation you actually seemed like you were gonna be a decent guy… and now you're back to being your usual repulsive self."

He shrugged, batting his eyelashes at me. "It's who I am, what can I do?"

I left walked out and returned to my boyfriend. When I opened the bedroom door I found him curled up, asleep. I stood just inside the room, wondering how I was going to get home. Jackson was drunk and I didn't hang out with anyone that was downstairs.

"You can take the guestroom," said Jackson. "I'm too wasted to drive." He went into his brother's room, got a t-shirt out of his drawer, and tossed it to me. On his way out, he bent down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Don't do that!" I hissed.

"I'm sorry. You're kinda irresistible."

I hurried down the hall to the guestroom before he could pull another stunt. Mostly because if his lips touched my skin again… he'd be right about my pants coming off; not that I'd ever admit that to him. I changed into Simon's t-shirt and got into bed. After a few minutes it became apparent to me that sleep wouldn't come easy.

I tossed and turned, thoughts of Jackson whirled in my head. He kissed me… sure, it hadn't been on the lips, but it was enough to leave me feeling all hot and bothered. Jesus, I was a horrible girlfriend. It wasn't as if I'd invited Jackson to kiss me, though. I rolled over on my stomach, trying to without success to get more comfortable. I wondered if I should tell Simon about what had happened with Scott, or more importantly, what had happened with Jackson. It wasn't a huge deal as of now, but if I told Simon, it would become one very quickly. I decided to keep it to myself, at least for now. After about thirty minutes of staring at the ceiling, I finally succumbed to sleep.

When I woke up, someone's arm was around me. Assuming it was Simon, I snuggled against him. As soon as I felt his rock-hard body against mine, I realized my mistake. It was Jackson.

"What the hell!?" I shrieked, pushing away from him, which ultimately resulted in me rolling right onto the floor. "Shit!"

I heard Jack groan. "Shh… I've got a headache."

"What are you doing in here!?" I cried, ignoring his request for me to lower my voice. "Jackson, Simon is going to kill you when he finds out about this!"

"I didn't do anything," he muttered, sitting up. He ran his hands over his face. He looked disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot. "You're dressed, I'm dressed… it's all good."

"No it's not! You had your arm around me! Why were you in here?!"

"You cuddled into me last night, cupcake. I'm in here because Scott and some chick went into my room last night, and I was ready to go to bed."

"There's a thing called a couch," I growled sardonically.

"I'm too tall for that couch. It's not the end of the world, Sophie. We shared a bed, not bodily fluids."

I cringed at the thought. "You have no respect for your brother, do you?"

"Where do you expect me to sleep?"

"The floor?"

"This is my house! Why should I have to sleep on the floor?"

"You're the dumbass that let your slimy best friend use your bed." I got off the floor and left the room. "I'd wash your sheets twice, if I were you," I told him, before slamming the door.

Twenty minutes later, I was back home. Luckily, Simon was feeling well enough to bring me home, so I didn't have to deal with Jackson again, at least not until his party later on tonight. It was unlikely he'd even speak to me then, since all of his friends were going to be around.

My mom and dad were sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast when I came in.

"Where were you last night, Sophie?" My mother asked, not looking up from the newspaper.

"I stayed at Ellie's. We were babysitting Connor." That was Ellie's little brother. "You guys didn't call, so I figured you weren't too worried."

"Well, we went out, so we didn't notice you were gone until this morning."

Typical. My parents weren't bad people or anything; they were just kind of wrapped up in themselves.

"How's Simon?" asked my mom, straining to appear interested.

"He's sick, but other than that he's okay. Anyway…" I edged towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go upstairs now."

"All right, sweetie. We'll see you later," Mom said sweetly, and I went up to my room.

I went into my room and flopped down on the bed. God, I hated my bedroom. It looked like it belonged to an eight-year-old, which made sense, considering that was the last time I'd redecorated. The walls were pale pink and my bedspread had tiny roses on it. The furniture was all white and I was still stuck in a twin bed. Mother and I had talked about redoing it last summer, but of course, it didn't happen. There was no use worrying about it now, I decided. For a while, I just sat there, staring at the little roses and thinking about Jackson. Being in bed with him hadn't been all that unpleasant. He'd been warm and I'd fit against him perfectly. The thoughts started to get a little out of hand, so I called Ellie to distract myself.

"How was the ride home with Jackson!? I want details!" Ellie blabbered at about a million miles-per-hour.

I held the phone away from my ear, grimacing. "Take it easy, will you?" I sighed. "Nothing much happened on the ride home... but stuff did happen. Meet me for a smoothie, why don't you? I'll fill you in."

"Okay! I'll meet you in ten! I'm so excited, it's juicy isn't it?!"

"You'll find out soon enough, Elle." I said and hung up the phone.