Kerri dropped the bowl into the sink and hopped down from her perch on my counter.

“So, what’s this about your roommate?” I asked, leaning back against the counter.

She turned her hard glare to Sean, who refused to look her in the eye. “You said you were going to talk to him,” she said, her voice growing shriller with every word. Her voice was like taking a chainsaw to a chalkboard.

Sean shrank in his seat. “Sorry, babe. I forgot.”

She groaned and stomped into Sean’s room, slamming the door. Sean dropped his head with a dramatic sigh before taking off to beg for forgiveness. Pussy.

***

“So, what’s got Kerri’s panties in a wad this morning?” I asked Sean as we drove to the liquor store. We were throwing a party that night to celebrate moving in to our new dump of an apartment and needed to stock up on the essentials. The place was nothing to celebrate, but, as usual, Queen Kerri will use any excuse to throw a party for her horde of minions.

He sighed. “She wants to set you up with her roommate.”

Sean knows I hate to be set up, especially when it’s Kerri who is setting me up. That girl hates me, mostly because I won’t bow to her whims, like Sean. It doesn’t bother me because one, the feeling is mutual and two, pissing her off is just too much fun. Besides, all of Kerri’s friends are just like her—shallow, vapid girls who can’t talk to you without smacking their gum and twirling their hair around their finger.

“What? Why?” I chuckled.

“She thinks you two might hit it off.”

Kerri was up to something. She’d probably cooked up something with her roommate as some sort of joke at my expense. “What’s her angle?”

“What do you mean?” Sean asked, his eyes intensely focused on the road. He was trying way too hard to sound innocent. Great.

“You know what I mean. What’s Queen Kerri up to?”

“Don’t call her that.”

Sean is my best friend and I know that it grates on him that I hate his girlfriend. I need to try harder to get along with her, but that girl is impossible to like.

“Dude, why do you put up with that girl? I don’t get it.”

“You don’t know her like I do, man. She has a sweet side. She wants her roommate to get out more, meet new people, have some fun, which is where you come in.”

Yeah, sure she did. Kerri never did anything that didn’t benefit her in some way.

“You mean she wants her to get out more so the two of you can bang on every surface of her dorm room.”

“Look, I’m not asking you to hang out with her all night. Just talk to her. If you don’t like her, fine.”

He looked at me, pleading with those big dumb puppy dog eyes. “Fine.”

I was going to regret this.

***

Later that night, we kicked off the party of all parties. As I leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, I took inventory, checking to see who’d showed up more out of habit than anything. A cute brunette sat on the couch by the window. I was pretty sure I went out with her last year. She’d spent the entire night talking about her hair extensions. Sean had to call with an emergency to bail me out of that one.

There was a couple making out a little too enthusiastically on the makeshift dance floor while creepy Jason watched from the sidelines. Some of the guys on the football team were dropping ice cubes down their girlfriend’s cleavage, laughing as the girls squealed and frantically pulled at their shirts to get it out.

This was my party and these were my so-called friends, but outside of Sean, there were really only a handful of people here I actually liked. It seemed to always be the same cliché group everywhere we went. It was a little hypocritical of me to feel such disdain for these people considering I was technically one of them, but while the parties and the easy pickings had been fun for a while, I was bored.

Scanning the room again, I spotted a redhead standing by herself against the wall. She had on a pair of tight jeans, a loose fitting tank top, and a pair of black chucks. Her fiery red hair fell down long past her shoulders in silky waves, just begging me to run my fingers through it. She had a tight little body, curves in all the right places, and an ass that just wouldn’t quit. She was beautiful and seemed like the kind of girl who knew it, but wasn’t aggressive about it. If it was something different I wanted tonight, Red would do nicely.

She wasn’t talking to anyone or dancing. She was leaning against the wall as she picked at the chipped blue nail polish on her fingers, which were wrapped around her red solo cup. Occasionally, she would glance up and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, lips tight and eyes unfocused. Everything about her body language said fuck off, which made me wonder what brought her to a party where she so obviously didn’t want to be. Everyone around her was swaying or jumping to the pulsing music, but Red was trying her best, and failing, to go unnoticed.

Guys all over the room were checking her out, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I bit my lip to stifle the smile spreading across my face while watching some poor bastard try to talk to her. As soon as he approached, she just shook her head and pointed toward the door. She didn’t even have to say anything. The look on her face said it all. Keep walking, buddy!

Behind her, there was a loud crash. Some asshole jumped through a beer can tower his buddies had made. The crowd cheered as his friends picked the moron up off the floor, but Red just rolled her eyes in their direction and turned her back.

Now was as good a time as any to make my move. I walked up behind her, leaned in close, and spoke directly in her ear so she could hear me over the music. “You’re not very friendly, are you?”

“Excuse me?” she sneered. She turned quickly and I held my position so we were practically nose to nose. Her bright green eyes widened for a moment before narrowing to a hateful glare.

“You don’t seem like you’re having a good time,” I said, propping my hand on the wall behind her head. I was coming on a little strong, but old habits die hard.

Red crossed her arms across her chest and my attention immediately dipped to her breasts. When our eyes met, her glare intensified. Oops, busted.

I smiled and straightened, matching her stance. “Why is that?” I asked.

“Why do you care?” She dropped her arms and leaned against the wall, creating a bit more distance between us.

Closing the gap, I asked, “Why shouldn’t I care?”

She cocked her head to the side, appraising me like she was trying to figure out my motives. “Isn’t there someone else you can bother?”

I kind of liked that she was making me work for it. Girls usually just giggled and pressed up against me, but Red was different. She wasn’t flirting, but from her rapid breathing and the slight rise in the smooth skin of her throat when she swallowed, I could tell she wasn’t completely uninterested.

“I think I would rather stay and talk to you.” I dipped my head to meet her eyes, hoping to see them soften a bit. The cold stare remained, but the corner of her mouth twitched, like she was trying hard not to smile. Maybe she wasn’t all bite in there after all.

“What, the sea of short skirts and baby tees isn’t enough for you?” she asked as a sarcastic smirk spread across her face.

“If I’m being honest, no, it’s not.” Her eyes widened for a moment. I took the opportunity to step closer. “I’ve recently developed a thing for redheads.”

She smiled up at me, distracting me with her full pink lips. I couldn’t help but wonder how they would taste.

“If we are being honest,” she said, pressing a hand to my chest, “then I should tell you something.” She bit her lip and pushed herself against me, forcing me to back up a step. It looked like she was starting to come around, and I congratulated myself on making a small amount of progress.