Tempting Sydney Read Online Free

cheap beer perfumed the air. “True. But now I’m focused. I really want to get some data on this.”
    “I’m sure you do.” I took another sip of my drink—Coke. “Have you found anyone here worth studying?”
    “No,” she scanned the room, “I already have info on most of these guys.”
    My mouth fell open. We were at a party with a bunch of current and former frat guys. There were at least fifty of them here. “I didn’t realize you had that much time.”
    She looked at me like I was nuts. “I haven’t slept with all of them. Just some. And the others, well, you hear things.”
    My eyes got even wider. “I guess I’m not hanging out with the same people you are. Because you’re the only person I know who openly discusses the size of their partners.”
    “That’s because you hang out with books instead of girls.”
    I shrugged. I was fine with that.
    “I know some guys who’d like to be studied,” a voice behind me said.
    I shifted and turned to see Collin. He used one hand to brace himself on the back of the couch, then jumped between me and Brynn. There wasn’t a lot of room between us to begin with, but that didn’t deter him. “Hey!” I yelled, trying to steady my Coke. “You almost spilled my drink all over my shirt.” I glared at him. He was wearing dark wash jeans with a black tee that had a deep green dragon design on it. It looked like something that would be sold at a sci-fi / fantasy convention.
    “I would have helped you clean it up,” he said, brows waggling.
    I rolled my eyes. Collin was a massive flirt, often annoying, and occasionally, a nice guy. He and Brynn had hooked up before, and were still friends. I put up with him—and all of her dates and booty calls—because she was my bestie. “I would have taken my chances with the stain.”
    He shrugged and moved on. “Can I get you ladies anything? Food, drinks, condoms?”
    I gave Brynn a look that said, this is unbelievable . She grinned, amused. “You could tell me when you’re going to start singing. Because that’s what I really came for.”
    His lips spread revealing a bright smile. “I aim to please,” he said, jumping up and standing on the cheap, fabricated wood coffee table in front of us. He lifted his hand, miming a microphone, and started singing a teen pop song about love gone wrong at the top of his lungs. It was off-key, horrible, and he was making a total spectacle of himself. I was glad I’d stayed for it. Just as he got to the chorus for the second time, I heard a loud crack and the coffee table legs gave out. The table crashed to the ground, taking Collin with it. The room fell silent at the abrupt end to his performance. I stood up to see if he was okay or needed help, but my assistance wasn’t required. Collin popped up off the ground and in the middle of the coffee table wreckage, he picked right back up where he’d left off in the song.
    Everyone clapped and laughed. My initial thought was that I was glad he was okay. My second thought was that if he kept treating his house like this, he wasn’t going to get his rent deposit back. Looking around at everyone else in the room having a great time, I was pretty sure I was the only one who’d had that thought.

 
     
     
     
     

     
     
    After the party, I’d spent some time thinking about my extremely practical reaction to Collin’s coffee table destruction. Instead of laughing and having a good time like everyone else, I’d immediately gone into “adult” mode in my head, ticking off the reasons Collin had been irresponsible, and the issues that would arise from his error in judgment.
    Part of my problem was that unlike most people, I analyzed every action, and its potential consequences, before I made a move. There was a reason for that. For a long time, things in my life had been completely unpredictable—and scary. The uncertainty made me feel like every day I was treading water, unsure whether that would be the day my legs finally gave