Blind Ambition | ✓

08 | Guys With Ties

I thumbed through Spotify on my phone as I parked my BMW in Jordyn's driveway. I hovered over that singer Kaia liked before settling on a Drake mix. Rochelle fidgeted in the passenger seat beside me, rifling through her backpack. It was warm enough to have the top down, but a morning breeze ripped through us and sent Rochelle's dark hair whipping in every direction.

"I really don't know how I lost my god damn lip gloss on the first day of school," she grumbled.

"Technically the first day of school hasn't started yet," I jabbed at her. "Besides, didn't Principal Maddox give you shit for all your harlot-looking lipstick last year?"

Rochelle shot me a sly grin. "Oh give me a break. The fact that we're only allowed to wear neutral makeup is a travesty, I don't care how much of a dress code violation it is. Besides, it's lip gloss." Rochelle flicked the word gloss at me like venom off the tongue of a snake.

"I don't know why you expect me to know the difference," I shrugged.

"I'm surprised you don't," Rochelle side-eyed me. "You should know the remnants of what's left on your dick after Jordyn blows you."

I groaned. "Can you not?"

Rochelle pouted at her reflection in the mirror on the sun visor. "This whole situation is a time bomb waiting to blow, and when it does, I'm not salvaging you from the wreckage."

When Jordyn returned from the Hamptons over the weekend, I made an admittedly half-assed attempt at ending our summer fling, but between my lingering hangover from the fair and Jordyn giving me all the intimate attention I could have wanted, it put my whole world off its axis. The idea of being with Jordyn to prevent total obliteration of the status quo (plus the prospect of getting regular blow jobs) severely outweighed the bullshit it required to maintain some type of relationship with an overly high-maintenance girl I wasn't really interested in.

"It's fine," I insisted. "She's not even really my girlfriend. The summer fling has now just extended itself into a...fall fling."

Summer really wasn't over yet, but summer shenanigans were. How I was going to balance football, school, and all the accompanying bullshit was an equation I had yet to solve. Good thing problem solver was a highly touted character trait on my college recommendation letters.

"Right, but does she know that?" Rochelle shook her head. "Because when you inevitably do what it is that you always do, this will end very badly."

"God damn it Rochelle, what the fuck does that even mean?" I rubbed at my tired eyes behind my Ray Bans, making little stars flash in my peripheral. I knew exactly what she meant, but it didn't sting any less.

"You're a flirt," she shrugged. "It's in your nature. So forgive me if I'm slightly concerned that Mr. I Wanna Love On Everyone refuses to unhook his claws from this weird little relationship."

"Because it's not about that," I blurted out, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "And you know that. Besides, I don't wanna love on everyone."

Rochelle sighed, and she gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "I love you Dallas, you know that. You're brilliant in a lot of ways, but you still have a penis, which means for all intents and purposes, you're still an idiot."

"We're done talking about this." I gestured to the Wagner's large oak front door, where Jordyn emerged from their all-brick house, her long blonde hair billowing in the early morning breeze. Jordyn danced on the line of that dress code appropriate, her plaid uniform skirt just a hair too short for her long, tan legs, and her grey sweater draped over her shoulders in a casual elegance only she could master.