Three

Will Parke @TheoryOfBecause Dec 16

To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent

– Johan Cruyff #willwinbecause

Ashton

I could not believe he followed me to the bathroom. Fucking asshole. Was fifteen thousand new followers not enough for him? “You want to live tweet me going to the bathroom now?” I spat.

And I wanted to hit him. I really wanted to ball up my hand into a fist and punch him right in the face. But I’d never punched anyone and I’d probably end up breaking my own hand if I tried. And then he’d live tweet #bathroomthrowdown and it would go viral thanks to his thousands of new followers.

He shook his head. “I just wanted to apologize. I—”

“Fuck you.” His apology wasn’t going to change things. I pushed at his chest for him to get out of my way. “Move.”

But his jaw tightened and he refused to budge. “Look, you were the one who decided to have it out in public yesterday, not me.”

“Have it out?” He made it sound like Braden and I had been screaming or causing a scene or something. We’d been at a table in a coffee shop and we were talking at a normal level. “We were having a discussion that you decided to broadcast to the world.”

“A heated discussion without any concern for anyone else around you.” Will Parke shook his head and his dark eyes were level on me, almost like he could see into my soul, which was unnerving. “But I didn’t know it would go viral. Nothing I’ve ever said has gone viral before. It wasn’t even a possibility I’d considered.”

Oh, well, then that made it all right. “Just stay away from me, asshole.” And I started to brush past him and then a horrible thought popped into my head. Neither Braden nor I wanted to be outed as the #whestonbreakup couple and no one but us knew we were…Well no one except us and Will Parke. And he could really ruin my life, especially if TV news wanted to interview him.

I looked up at the asshole and his dark eyes were still on me. It was almost uncomfortable how intense his stare was, but I shook off the feeling. I had to.

“I swear to God if you tell anyone that was me, I’ll sue you for slander.” That’s what my dad would threaten, anyway.

“You mean libel,” he said as a little smile tipped the corner of his mouth, which really made me want to hit him. “Slander is spoken, libel’s in print and they were tweets. But either way, you only have a case if what’s been said or printed isn’t true.” Then he leaned in close and whispered, “And we both know it was you last night. So try again.”

Blood was pounding in my veins and I could barely see straight. What was he saying? That he was going to tell everyone? And that there was nothing I could do about it? “Fine, you tell anyone and I’ll kill you. How’s that?”

“If I was afraid of you,” he said a little smugly, “that would be criminal harassment. It’s definitely intimidation. Either way it’s a criminal offense with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.”

Was he serious? I shook my head. “What are you in law school?”

“No.” He heaved a sigh. “Just raised by an attorney. A good one.”

There was no such thing as a good one, not after all the divorces I’d suffered through. But that was neither here nor there. If I couldn’t threaten Will to keep his mouth closed, what could I do? Appeal to his human side? I was pretty sure he didn’t have one. But I didn’t know what else to try. “Look, the stuff you said was personal.”

“The stuff I repeated,” he corrected.

“Yeah, with a megaphone,” I snapped.

“Look, Ashton.” He shook his head. “You don’t have to threaten me with lawsuits, you don’t have to threaten me with murder. If you don’t want me to tell anyone, you might want to try asking. You know, nicely.”

“What?” The air whooshed out of me. Was he serious? All I had to do was ask him not to tell anyone?

“Just a nice simple, ‘Will, please don’t tell anyone’ will do,” he said softly.

Was he serious? Where did he get off? I folded my arms across my chest and had to remind myself that he could ruin my life in a 140 characters or less. “Just ask you?”

“Yeah, give it a try.”

What did I have to lose, right? I took a deep breath and looked up into Will Parke’s dark eyes. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Why?”

I blinked at him. He was such an asshole. “Why?” I echoed. The why was pretty obvious. Did he just enjoy torturing me?

“You’re starting to sound kind of shrewish,” he replied smoothly, and the urge to hit him raged through me again.

Shrewish! “You have no idea what this has done to me. I couldn’t go anywhere on campus today without someone talking about those tweets. People calling my family fucked up. Girls mocking me with whiny voices. Guys calling me frigid. My own friends—”

“You’re not frigid,” he said, making me lose track of whatever I was going to say next.

“What?” I breathed out.

“Inexperienced,” he added with a nod as though he was sorting me out. “Probably picked your partners poorly, but that doesn’t mean you’re frigid.”

I could not believe he just said that. “Excuse me?”

“I just doubt you’ve ever been fucked properly.”

Will

“What did you say to me?” she asked, and her pretty blue eyes narrowed as she tilted her head back proudly. She had a little color in her cheeks again and I was so turned on by that, by the whole verbal sparring, really.

She probably expected me to look away or be embarrassed after saying something like that. But I didn’t embarrass easily and as she was finally, really looking at me, there was no way in hell I was going to look away.

“I said,” I began, dropping my voice to a low rumble so no one but her could possibly overhear me, “I bet you’ve never been fucked properly.” And then I let me eyes sweep across her. She really was pretty. Probably the prettiest girl at Wheston. Long red hair that I just wanted to touch, stunning blue eyes, and the most perfect lips I may have ever seen anywhere.

Ashton sucked in a breath and I could tell I’d shocked her. I’d noticed her enough over the last semester. She was a rich little girl who was used to always getting her way, making demands and getting exactly what she wanted. The problem was she didn’t know the right things to ask for.

“You’re an ass, and my love life is none of your business.”

Except she and Campbell had made it my business yesterday, but I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything, I just watched as the color in her cheeks got even brighter with indignation. God, she really was beautiful.

“If you even think about tweeting that—” she continued.

“More threats, Ashton?” I asked, and I had to bite back a smile. She really didn’t have any idea how to get things done without making some kind of threat, did she? But threats would never work with me. So I shook my head and leaned a little closer to her. “And I didn’t say anything about love, Ashton I was talking about sex. And I’d bet anything in this world that I can fuck you better with just my mouth than Campbell ever did with his dick.”

She took a step away from me and swallowed nervously. “How dare you say something like that to me?”

I shrugged, feeling more emboldened as our conversation went along. “Because you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. And it’s a Goddamn shame you’ve never been touched like you should’ve by now.” It really was a fucking travesty and Campbell should be strung up by his balls if you asked me. There was no way she was frigid, she had too much fire in her. She just didn’t know what to do with it.

Ashton blinked at me, her brow all scrunched up. “I’ve been touched just fine.”

“Fine isn’t good enough,” I said.

“Better than fine,” she sputtered.

“No you haven’t.”

“And what makes you so sure?”

Well, she’d asked…“You’re way too uptight, Ashton. And this is coming from me.”

She blinked again, like that didn’t make any sense to her. But she didn’t know me, so it probably didn’t make sense. But it was a true statement all the same.

“You’re just a freshman,” I continued. “So I’d bet you’ve had a total of two lovers your whole life. Some boyfriend in high school who fumbled around in the dark and barely knew where to put his dick. And then Campbell who strikes me as someone only concerned with getting his own nut. And for a girl as pretty as you are, that’s just a damn shame.”

“Don’t talk to me,” she said. “Not ever again.” And then made a direct path back to the group.

Ashton

I could barely breathe, I was so pissed. I’d never had a conversation with Will Parke before in my life, and I never wanted to have another one. I mean, how dare he say those things to me? I’d bet anything in this world that I can fuck you better with just my mouth than Campbell ever did with his dick.

And how could he possibly know any of that? About Andy and Braden? Was I so transparent to everyone? Or just him? And if it was just him, that completely sucked because he was the worst possible person to be able to tell things about me just by looking at me.

And it sucked that he really hot. His sandy hair, his dark eyes that seemed to notice everything. The confidence that he carried himself. It was all very attractive. I bet there were a ton of girls who’d fallen for him. But he was a total asshole and I would never in a million years let him touch me.

I’d bet anything in this world that I can fuck you better with just my mouth than Campbell ever did with his dick. I mean, who said things like that? Who tweeted personal information about other people’s lives for everyone in the world to read? Will Parke was a horrible person. An awful human being. A despicable asshole.

And he was right across the table from me, talking to Nate Carey, pretending for all of our friends that he was a decent guy. But he wasn’t. And we both knew it.

“How do you already know you got an A on your final?” he asked.

Nate winked at Brynne and said, “Athletic department found out for me.”

Will frowned as though that didn’t make sense. And it really didn’t make sense, not that I cared one way or the other what grade Nate Carey got on his history final or if he was lying about the whole thing. I mean, it was none of my business, but Will Parke thought everyone’s secrets were his business, it seemed. Nate should watch his back or find out that #jockhistorygrade would be trending in the morning thanks to Will.

“Hey, when is everybody flying home?” Molly asked. “I need a ride to Dulles on Friday.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Chase said, which was followed up by a bunch of ‘me toos’.

“I leave Friday morning,” Will announced. “You can come with me if you want.”

Why? What motive did he have for helping Molly? Or was he going to suggest he fuck her too? “You know she has a really nice boyfriend?” I said, just as the music died down and my words came out a lot louder than I’d wanted. And then everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. Damn it.

Everyone except Will. I saw an evil little twinkle in his eyes as he replied, “Glad to know she’s not seeing an arrogant prick. Always sad when girls waste their time on the wrong guys.”

How did no one else not see that evil little twinkle? And how did no one else notice that his gaze drifted down to my breasts a half second later? Such an asshole. I really wished my nipples hadn’t tightened just then. But they did and that annoyed me as much as anything else.

“I can take you, Moll,” I blurted out. I mean, I could leave in time for Molly’s flight and then just sit around Dulles all day. At least she wouldn’t have to drive all the way to DC with Will Parke.

Molly, always so trusting and sweet, smiled at me. “But you and Braden aren’t leaving until later,” she reminded me.

“Well, we can just leave earlier.” Shit. Molly and Brynne knew Braden was supposed to come to Connecticut with me. What was I supposed to say with everyone looking at me? “You can come with us. It’s not a big deal.”

Not a big deal at all except that Braden wasn’t going to Connecticut with me. And if I’d kept my mouth shut and driven by myself, no one would know any different. What was I going to do now? How was I going to explain to Molly why Braden wasn’t with us Friday morning?

“Why don’t we all go together?” Will suggested, the evil bastard. “Saving fossil fuels and saving the world, right?”

I was going to kill him. Even if it would land me in jail for the rest of my life. It would be worth it.

“Great idea,” Chase said. “We should all share if we can. What time is everyone’s flights tomorrow?”

But I didn’t pay attention to what anyone else had to say. How could I with Will Parke looking at me with that little evil twinkle in his eyes across the table like he’d beat me, like he’d won? Asshole.

Will

She was so pretty with color in her cheeks, with that fire blazing in her eyes. There was no way in hell she was frigid. She was too passionate about everything else for that to be true. And I really wanted to know just how passionate she could be.

But a couple other baseball players showed up with some friends and Ashton ended up further away from me. I kept my eyes on her most of the night and she kept hers on me. I knew it was because she was pissed and because she didn’t trust me, but I liked her eyes on me anyway.

“What is up with you and the redhead?” Chase muttered, only loud enough for me to hear at one point.

“I’m not sure.” My gaze flashed back to Ashton and I couldn’t help but smile. I was so looking forward to spending the ride to DC with her, even if some other girl was going to be with us the whole time.

“Dude, you know she has a boyfriend?”

But I was the only one on campus who knew that wasn’t true. “Yeah, we’ll see if that’s still the case after I drive her to DC.”

A smirk settled on Chase’s face and he raked a hand through his hair. “You are full of surprises, Parke.”