After Adrian drove off in an oddly weird manner, Scarlett turned around and started going into the venue with Nelly. The house was a large-story building with a fountain in the middle of the compound. It had small flower gardens near the windows, and it looked exquisite from the outside. Scarlett admired it, but it was nothing compared to the beauty of her penthouse.
The house was exclusively for the football team. They all lived there, including Ethan and Mike. They all had their own rooms and living rooms, kitchen included.
As soon as Scarlett entered the house, she was greeted by the gruesome and strong stench of cigarettes and alcohol, followed by cum. Her eyes wandered all over the place, and she saw several people making out at different corners of the room. This was expected; after all, they were college students.
Ethan was standing by the bar with Mike and Marcus, along with some other members of the team, and they were discussing Scarlett. She seemed to be the topic of almost every gathering ever since she came to the school. Her courage and confidence made a lot of people interested in her, both in good and bad ways.
“I think she's just full of herself; she thinks she's much more important than everyone else and that none of us belong to her class.” Ethan scoffed.
“I mean, what do you expect? She's the freaking heiress to the Davenport Group, the biggest group in the country and beyond.” Mike shook his head, taking a sip of his wine.
“Why would she mingle with people like us?” He added. Ethan scrunched his nose at this statement.
“What do you mean by that? Have you forgotten that once we get drafted, we will automatically become stars, and people like her will be easy to access?” He corrected her with a scoff.
Mike was about to say something when he noticed people staring in a particular direction. He turned to see who was drawing such attention and found Scarlett and her friend, Nelly, standing near the entrance.
“Look, she's here! Fuck!” he bit his lip. Everyone else turned to take a look.
“She's so freaking hot in that dress.” Marcus sighed dreamily.
“She will be the death of me,” Mike added.
“You guys are really making a mountain out of a molehill. There's absolutely nothing special about this girl, and I will prove it. I bet you, I can get her on my bed within three months.” Ethan smirked, having so much confidence in himself. His friends sneered at him.
“I don't think you can pull that off; she's a tough nut to crack.” Mike shook his head with his eyes fixed on Scarleer's body.
“Have you forgotten that no girl can resist my charms? I'll prove to you all that she is just as easy to get as the other girls by fucking her within three months.” Ethan bragged.
“Nah, dude.” Marcus scoffed.
“I really don't like her, but I'll do this to prove to you all that you can achieve whatever you want as long as you are determined.” He smirked.
“Alright then, put your money where your mouth is.” Mike grinned, sipping his wine again and watching Ethan keenly.
“Two thousand dollars.”
“Woah...” Mike and Marcus exclaimed at the same time.
“It's a bet then!” They agreed.
Ethan smirked devilishly and put down his glass of wine. He was about to go and put his plan into action when Mabel came to stand in his way. She smiled broadly and embraced him unexpectedly.
“Happy birthday, baby!” She screamed, holding him tightly.
Mabel was the epitome of beauty, class, and discipline. She was also obsessed with perfection, which most people around her could not put up with.
“Thanks.” Ethan disengaged from the hug; his eyes were on his target—Scarlett.
“Let's go have a drink,” Mabel suggested, but Ethan gently pushed her aside.
“I have something important to attend to; I'll be with you in a minute.” He said this before walking away. He approached Nelly and Scarlett. Nelly gave him a hug and wished him a happy birthday, her excitement written all over her.
“Thank you.” He said to her and stared at Scarlett, waiting for her to wish her well too. Scarlett noticed what he was doing and rolled her eyes. She honestly didn't want to have any sort of encounter or conversation with him. She wanted him to leave her alone, so she decided to just wish him well.
“Happy birthday.” She said it forcefully, turning her face away. Ethan chuckled.
“Why are you at my party if you're not going to wish me a happy birthday? Why is it so difficult for you to do?” He questioned her, and she turned to him with a glare.
“Last time I checked, you invited me to this party; I didn't want to come.” She snapped at him.
“Um, I'm going to go get us some drinks.” Nelly excused herself, seeing how tense the atmosphere had become. She left Ethan and Scarlett standing together, with each of them not saying anything.
“Why are you still standing beside me? You're going to give people the wrong idea. Look, everyone's staring, and I don't like it one bit.” Scarlett flipped back her hair, turning her face away from him.
Instead of going away as she had requested, Ethan leaned in to whisper into her ear, “What if I want them to believe what they see? Is that a crime?”
Scarlett let out a sarcastic laugh and then demanded to know what he meant by what he had just said.
“I want us to be friends.” Ethan replied, masking the deceit in his voice.
“Sorry, I don't do young guys.” Scarlett snapped, folding her arms over her chest.
“I'm not asking to fuck you, Scarlett. I just want us to be friends, since we started off on the wrong foot. I'm really a nice person, and I'm sure there's a sweet girl in there pretending to be mean.” Ethan tried to be charming. Scarlett did think he was adorable for a split second.
“I don't need a friend like you; you're just proud and full of yourself.” She waved him off, but he was relentless.
Ethan snorted and shook his head. “You do know that you've just described yourself.”
“That's not true; I'm nothing like that.” She defended.
“Then prove it by accepting to be my friend.” He smirked, but she scoffed.
“Why are you trying so hard to be my friend? I still believe that you're just getting into my pants.” She speculated.
“Absolutely not, but if that comes as a bonus, who am I to say no?” He raised a brow at her, and they both had a good laugh.
“I knew it.” Scarlett said, still chuckling.
“Whatever, we can be friends if you badly want to be.” She added, and they exchanged contacts on the spot. Ethan looked over at where his friends were and noticed that all their attention was on him and Scarlett.
“Excuse me, I'll be right back.” Ethan excused himself.
Just then, Nelly walked back with the drinks. But before she could get to Scarlett, she tripped on something and fell forward, the drinks falling out of her hands and almost landing on Scarlett, but a random guy jumped in front of her, and the drinks fell on his shirt instead.
“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” Scarlett asked the guy, feeling bad for what happened to him.
“I'm fine.” He answered, looking at his drenched shirt.
“Let me follow you to the bathroom and help you clean it.” She offered, genuinely worried, and helped him clean his shirt with her towel.
“Don't worry, I can take care of it myself.” He insisted, and he left for the bathroom.
“I'm so sorry, Scarlett; I stumbled on Mabel's foot. I think she did it on purpose.” Nelly felt bad for causing a scene.
“You don't have to explain anything; I saw it with my own eyes.” Scarlett seethed, looking over to where Mabel was chatting with a few girls. She immediately felt resentment toward her.
“Who is she?” She questioned.
“Oh, that's Mabel, the perfectionist. She's a second-year student of business management and our senior.” Nelly paused and looked at Scarlett.
“And she's Ethan's girlfriend.”