Page 42 of Pucking Bad Boys

The first person I spot is Becks with one of those turquoise cocktails in hand and my ex-girlfriend wrapped around him like a koala on a eucalyptus tree.

Gen’s best friends Madison and Olivia are flanking them and the three women are talking Becks’s ear off.

I stifle a laugh when I notice the pained expression on his face. He’s known Gen as long as I have. What did he expect by coming here as her date?

The game Gen is playing is more than obvious. She thinks that being seen on my brother’s arm is going to make me jealous. It sucks that Becks got roped into her scheme, but I meant it when I said that I don’t care what they do. If having someone holding his balls in her purse is what my brother wants, who am I to tell him what to do?

My eyes scan the backyard in search of the woman I wouldn’t mind holding my balls sometime soon.

Talia looks like a million bucks in a little black dress that highlights her toned body.

Her blonde hair flows down her back in loose waves, and her makeup is minimal and tasteful.

Gen was always a “full face of makeup” type of girl. She made me watch countless videos about contouring and on how to shape one’s eyebrows, and apply fake lashes.

I honestly don’t care what a woman prefers to do with her face. As long as she feels happy and comfortable in her own skin.

But if I had a choice, I would prefer a more natural look. Makeup that doesn’t change your facial features but rather highlights and enhances.

Gen and I have had this conversation countless times. Not because the amount of makeup she used bothered me. That wasnone of my business. But because I hated how she thought she had to do all that to look pretty. She felt that she couldn’t leave her room without “the works.” That without layers upon layers of makeup she was ugly.

I can say many things about my ex and why things didn’t work out between us. But her looks were never an issue. I wish she had believed me when I told her that she didn’t need all that to look good. That she would still look beautiful to me even in a pair of sweatpants and not one lick of makeup.

As my eyes rove over Talia, I can’t help but imagine her first thing in the morning.

But my imagination goes further than putting her in sweats and very little else. I imagine her in one of my t-shirts or my jersey. Waking up in my bed and having a lazy morning cuddling and talking.

The image is so vivid in my head that I take it as a sign. An omen that it’ll become reality. I just have to play my cards right and hope that Tucker won’t kill me when he finds out.

Talia is holding one of those turquoise drinks, and she’s talking to her friend Sam.

I spend thirty seconds psyching myself up to go and talk to her. Tucker isn’t here to barge in tonight, so it’s the perfect opportunity.

“How is the Frozen Knight?” I ask, stopping next to them.

When she smiles, her whole face lights up. “Your guess is as good as mine. I just took one not to offend our new president, who came up with the idea, but I’m not drinking it. Giovanni is a little heavy-handed when he measures alcohol, and no drink is worth how shitty I’ll be feeling tomorrow if I partake.”

“I love how you sayhewhen you talk about Giovanni.” Sam chuckles.

Talia’s eyes light up with amusement. “He looks after us so well, he deserves the pronoun. No one knows the exact temperature I like my shower as well as he does.”

Oh, fuck. I have to force my mind away from any thoughts of Talia in the shower, or I’ll embarrass myself.

“Maybe we’d need a Giovanni at the Gamma house. I think the plumbing there is older than us and it takes a good five minutes of cussing while scorching my skin off one second and freezing to death the next before finally finding the ideal temperature.”

I know, lame. But this is the most words I’ve ever spoken to Talia, if you don’t count asking her to be my tutor. Guess one has to start somewhere.

To my surprise, Talia doesn’t seem bored by my small talk. “Actually, the current Gamma Delta Tau house was built by an alumnus in the mid nineties. So it’s over thirty years old. It has been updated a few times, but it still has the original plumbing.”

“Interesting.” I muse and I mean it. “How do you know all that?”

Her cheeks flush pink. She looks adorable.

“My elective last year was a class about the history of Star Cove with a special feature about the history of campus. Sorry, I’m a huge nerd. I’m sure you don’t care about how old the plumbing is on every building on campus.”

“No,” I argue. “That’s really interesting. And maybe it’s time for us to ask our president to look into updating a few things.”

Talia’s laugh is like a breath of fresh air. “Good luck with that, since your new president is Tucker. Although maybe he isn’t as hopeless as he used to be. He’s grown up a lot in the past year. Before that, he’d have blown the entire year’s budget on parties.”