500 Days by Jessica Miller

else.”
    “ No, I’d recognize those
eyes anywhere.” His close proximity was making me slightly
uncomfortable, but oddly in a good way. What the hell was happening
to me?
    “ Most guys spend half the
night staring at my tits not my eyes.”
    “ I’m not most guys.” He
threw me one of his sexy smiles that I’m sure most girls just
melted over. “And thank you for proving me right.”
    “ How did I prove you
right?”
    “ You just admitted you
work there.”
    “ No I didn – look, I don’t
know what you want from me, but I’m not interested. So really, you
can just give up. I’m not going to be another notch on your
bedpost.”
    “ So you think all I want
from you is to get in your pants.”
    “ I don’t think. I know.” I
searched through more papers trying to find the drawing and making
a mess of Jasper’s desk.
    “ What if I told you I
didn’t want to sleep with you and all I wanted was one night with
the pleasure of your company?”
    I laughed. “Yeah, because I would believe
that. I’ve seen the girls you go home with. I am not going to allow
you to put me in the category with those skanks.”
    “ So you’ve been watching
me?” he asked, his lips twitching into a small smile.
    “ No, that’s not…okay, I
get it. You never had a girl turn you down and now you look at me
as a challenge, but I’m gonna save you the trouble right now. Move
on and forget about it, because I will never, ever go out with
you.” He lost his spark and for a moment I thought I actually may
have hurt his feelings, but then I reminded myself he was just one
those guys who only cared when he was going to get his next lay.
“No need to get upset about it. I’m sure there’s at least one or
two girls you haven’t slept with yet that you could bag. If not
when school starts up in the fall , there will be plenty of willing freshmen that you
can flirt the pants off.” I gave him a sarcastic smile and patted
his chest, but before I could pull my hand away he grabbed
it.
    I felt a shock run down my entire arm. He
smiled, satisfied that just for one second he affected me in a way
that no one ever has. I didn’t know how he knew he did, but the
victory smile said he could feel it. I ripped my hand away and I
could see he was trying to hide his laugh. Not able to meet his
eyes, I looked down to his chest, and that’s when I spotted it. A
tattoo of a heart with ivy wrapped around it and poking through,
piercing the heart. “When did you get that?”
    He looked down at his chest and his smile
fell. He took a step back and it seemed almost painful for him to
answer. “Sometime last year,” he said, unable to look at me.
    “ Jesus Alex,” Jasper said,
startling me.
    “ What?” I growled, looking
at him. He pointed to the mess on his desk. “Oh, sorry, I couldn’t
find the picture.”
    He pulled open a drawer and took out a
drawing pad. “It’s the last one,” he said, tapping the book.
    “ Thanks,” I said and left
without another word.
    “ Sorry, my sister can be a
real pain in the ass,” Jasper said.
    “ I heard that,” I called
over my shoulder.
    “ Good, take the hint.” I
narrowed my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. I was just about
to go back in the break room when I changed my mind. I tiptoed back
down the hall and stopped just close enough so I could hear their
conversation.
    “ Alex is your
sister?”
    “ Yeah man, sorry about
that.”
    “ No it’s fine. You know
Declan then?”
    Jasper laughed. “Yeah, I know Declan. Why,
you got a thing for her?” I heard the buzzer stop moving.
    “ No,” he laughed. “My
buddy Colt does though. I’ve known Declan since freshman year of
college, but only recently met Alex.”
    “ Lucky you,” Jasper said.
I was just about to comment, but then stopped myself. They didn’t
know I was out here listening. The buzzing started again and Colby
stepped out of the break room. I quickly made my way down the hall
acting as if I just came out of