He isn't far off, at least not in the eyes of the girls here. He's never short of a quick one or two on a weekend.
“Marriage?” Ryan repeats. “Nah, you just gotta make the chick fall in love with you. Make her fall in love and bam, there it is. Piece of ass, and a hot one, too.”
I tilt my head slightly, studying them both. “She's like a f**kin' china doll, though. If you did it too hard, she'd break.”
“I'd break it,” Aston says. “Just without the love shit.”
“I reckon you could do it.” Ryan takes a swig of beer and glances at me.
“A week?” Aston taps his chin.
“Nah,” I say.
“A month,” Ryan says with finality. “She ain't gonna be easy to break, but she'll give it up in a month. You could do it, Braden.”
“Dude, you realize that's your girlfriend's friend? You're askin' me to get her to fall in love with me, f**k her, then dump her.” Not that I wouldn't mind a chance to f**k Maddie Stevens. In fact, I'd pay for that damn chance.
Ryan shrugs. “Like Lila will ever find out. This shit stays between us three. Braden Carter seducing a girl ain't exactly gonna be out of place, is it?”
“Do it.” Aston grins. “Make her fall in love with you. If anyone can, you can.”
“Dunno.” I lean back and look at the dance floor. She's back – all four of them are.
She's doing that hip thing again, swaying them from side to side. She shakes her hair out and laughs. Lila exaggerates a wink over to Ryan, and he smirks. Lila turns back and says something, making Maddie look over her shoulder. Her green eyes meet mine.I smile slowly, the smile that gets me anything. I wink. One side of her glossy pink mouth curls up, and she looks away again, her hair flicking with the movement of her head.
“Well?” Ryan nudges my head. “You gonna do it?”
“Challenge accepted, boys,” I say, resting my arms behind my head. “One month from now, Maddie Stevens will be in love with me and in my bed. You can count on that shit.”
Chapter Three - Maddie
I roll over, wincing at the light coming in through the curtains. How much did I drink last night? Too much, clearly.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Kay shouts and kicks the dorm room door shut.
“Nope, not over here.” I bury back under my covers.
“I have coffee and muffins!” She pulls the covers down and I groan, opening my eyes.
“Why? Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do I feel like I just got run over by a herd of wildebeest?”
“One, I have no idea what a wilder beast is, and two, it's called a hangover.” Kay holds out a Starbucks take-out cup and my favorite blueberry muffin.
I sit up and take them from her. “Thank you. Why are you not feeling this way?”
“I'm one of the lucky ones.” She snickers and chucks herself on her bed. “I don't get hangovers. You, however, do, it seems. Megs is the same. She'd usually be in bed all day.”
“Sounds good to me.” I take a sip of the coffee.
“But not today,” she sings. “Today we're getting down to business.”
“Down to business?”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Do you remember our deal last night? Your mission, Ms. Bond?”
Ah. Play The Player. “I thought we were joking.”
“When have I ever joked about anything as serious as sex?”
“Fine, fine.” I give in and sigh. “What do you mean, down to business?”
“We need to draw up a plan of attack!” She crosses her legs, Indian-style, and bounces twice on the bed.
“A plan of attack,” I repeat dumbly.
“Uh, duh! You think we can go into this blind? Oh no, honey.” She shakes her head. “Braden Carter has got more charm than the Irish leprechauns-”
“Which don't exist.”
“And that means he's dangerous. You're trying to make him fall in love with you, yet if he lays it on thick you could end up falling in love with him.”
“There would be no hump and dump, which would defeat the object of Play The Player.” I sigh.
“Precisely!” She claps once. “So we need to figure out a fool-proof plan that ensures while he's losing his heart, you aren't losing yours. Because that would just be disastrous.”
“Kay, I don't know.” I sigh again. “Braden Carter doesn't fall in love. If he has a rulebook, that's it, right above the rule that says rules are for losers. I have a month to do this, right? I just don't know how it's possible.”
“Nothing is impossible if you believe in it enough.”
“But I don't know if I believe in it.”
“You will,” she says confidently. “You will.”
“I hope you're right,” I reply. “Because this is looking like a fail before it's even started.”
“Knock knock on your cock,” Lila opens the door and Megan follows her in, a large roll of paper and marker pens tucked under her arm.
“What is that?” I ask, taking it in.
“Operation Play The Player,” Megan answers, sitting on the floor between our beds. She unrolls the paper, uses two books to hold it flat and writes 'OPTP – Operation Play The Player' at the top of the sheet.
I shake my head in disbelief. Am I actually doing this? I was under the impression that college meant growing up, but I was wrong. I feel like I'm thirteen again and trying to trick my lifetime crush into admitting he's crushing on me too.
“Stop shakin' your head.” Lila jumps up on my bed next to me. “It's gonna be okay. You can do this.”
“You guys do realize that in terms of love and relationships, a month is short, right? And in terms of Braden Carter, a month is a lifetime?” I question. “Who says he won't get bored after a week and go and find one of his floozies to warm his bed?”
“You have to stop him from doing that,” Megan says softly. “You have to make him never want to leave your side. I give you a week to reel him in, get him interested, and then this is in the bag.”
“A week?”
“If you can get him to be by your side in a week, he'll fall in love in three,” she clarifies, uncapping a blue pen. “Stage one. Attachment.” She jots it down on the paper, giving me until next Sunday.
“Hold up, this isn't even starting until tomorrow!”
“Wrong.” Kay shakes her head.
Lila nods in agreement with Kay. “The guys are having a football game in the yard of the frat house later. We're all heading down there.”