Dare You to Hate Me by B. Celeste (classic fiction .txt) 📕

He raises a hand, chortling. “Yeah, yeah. Hands off the goods. We got it. Can we eat now? I don’t think any of us are going to bitch about the new addition to the house. Most of us already like her for putting people in their places in class, and now that we know she can bake that means we have our own Martha Stewart living downstairs.”

I roll my eyes. “She’s not here to cook, bake, or do anything for you. Any of you.” My eyes go to each one of them until my point is across.

DJ keeps going. “Plus, it isn’t like any of us are going to start anything with her when you two will be going at it like— Umph.” Caleb smacks him in the chest, causing DJ to glower. “Jesus, dude. Fine. I’ll shut up about it. I was making a point none of you fuckers can refute. Can we eat the pizza now?”

All the others watch with interest, some of them darting between me and the food waiting in front of us, others waiting to see what else I have to say.

Christ. “Eat. I’m going downstairs.”

I push off the counter and turn to leave when Caleb stops me. “At least take some down with you. She might be hungry. Something tells me she won’t be willing to come up and get any herself for a while.”

I cuss and accept a couple pieces before nodding at him. When I make it back down to her, Ivy is sitting on the end of the couch with her legs curled under her and her arms crossed over her chest as she stares at the blank TV.

Dropping a slice of pepperoni pizza on a napkin on the table, I gesture toward the flat screen. “That turns on, you know. It’ll show you magic pictures with a click of a button.”

Slowly, her fierce eyes peel away from it and toward me. She blinks once, the honey tone darkening, then drops her gaze toward the abandoned pizza. “I know what a TV is and how it works, ass. Just because I didn’t have one of my own for years doesn’t mean I forgot how one works.” I try to say something to ease her irritation over the bad joke but before I can, she adds, “And I’m not staying here.”

“The guys don’t care.”

“But I do,” she states, dropping her legs onto the floor. “Christ, don’t you listen? I don’t want your charity or pity. I don’t want your pizza, or your teammates opinions about me t—”

I bark out a laugh, realizing what this is really about. “Think with your head, not your pride. Who the fuck cares about what my teammates think?”

She stands and faces me, our height difference making it hard to find her as intimidating as she probably wants me to. I fight the smirk that wavers my lips, making her scowl harder. “I don’t need your friends thinking that we’re screwing. It’s bad enough I’ve had to hear about you and Sydney, I’d like to be shown some courtesy about who I do or don’t choose to hook up with and who knows it.”

My face twists. “Sydney?”

“My former housemate,” is her dumbfounded response.

When I was directed to her old housemate’s room, I honestly wasn’t sure who’d open the door. All I knew from Raine and Caleb in prior conversation is that Sydney rules the place with her catty commands and spiteful personality. The day she opened her door, I’d been surprised that it was the only girl at LU I’d messed around with to blow off some steam. “I know who she is. I’m wondering what the hell there is to talk about. Her and I aren’t anything.”

“Not according to her.”

Sydney has always been a clinger which is why I should have never agreed to hang with her to begin with. It was DJ who introduced us and Caleb who warned me away. I hadn’t spoken to her in months before knocking on her damn door that day. Whatever she’s been telling people is obviously an exaggeration. “Whatever you heard is bullshit. Don’t let people like her get to you.”

Her eye twitches.

“And,” I add, stepping toward her without breaking eye contact, “don’t let whatever shit my team gives you go to heart. They like to talk smack. It’s nothing. You deal with a few of them in class, so you know that already. Quit making excuses as to why you can’t stay. None of us are asking for rent, or for you to do chores or cook us shit. There are no strings, only a place to sleep. Which, in case you’ve forgotten, you need right now. It isn’t like you haven’t taken me up on the offer before. The pact, remember?”

This time, she says nothing. Her eyes don’t falter from locking with mine, the challenge to go as long as she can without blinking evident in her gaze. I succumb first, breaking contact and sighing.

“Being stubborn is going to get you nowhere, Chaos. I’m going to make that clear now before you try convincing me otherwise. Feel me?”

Bending forward, I hear the sharpest inhale of breath come from her as my face nears hers. The caress of her hot breath brushes my cheek as I reach around her and grab the food from the table, my lips grazing her jaw in the process. I wonder if she can hear how hard my heart is beating right now, all because of her. Her citrus scent, her hot breath, her warm body heat soaking into me. It drives me fucking crazy, and my cock hardens just being near her.

Returning to full height, I try to act like she doesn’t affect me. “Eat up.”

She stares at the food offering with a small frown on her face that I’d like to think is disappointment. Lips curling, I pick up one of her hands and place the pizza on her