“Um…” Rachel looked at the alcohol. “I’ll take the blackberry vodka.”
“Coming right up…” Mallory grabbed the bottle and started pouring.
“If you can’t finish all six, the rest will come from me.” Kira narrowed her eyes and tapped the paddle on her palm. “Of course, if you throw up—you’re getting all six from me.”
“I won’t throw up.” Rachel took a deep breath and picked up the first shot.
Chrissy and I exchanged another set of nervous glances at Rachel tossed the first shot back. I knew Rachel liked blackberry vodka since that was what she offered me at the party, but I had no idea if she could do six shots in a row.
Chrissy moved closer to me and put her hand up to cover her mouth. “This is crazy…”
“Yeah,” I mumbled under my breath. “So much for the no hazing policy.”
“What are you going to do?” Chrissy raised her eyebrows inquisitively.
“I’m not sure yet,” I sighed. “You?”
“I could do a few, but six is a lot…” She looked down at the floor. “Do you think Kira is really going to paddle us?”
“I don’t think she’s joking.” I shook my head.
Rachel did the first three shots without showing any signs of distress but wrinkled her nose at the fourth. I felt guilty because I knew we were in the situation because I didn’t really drink and left the party with Chrissy. I thought we were safe after it wasn’t mentioned when we got back, but apparently someone noticed. Everyone was having to suffer for something we did, and that didn’t sit well with me. That bothered me more than the six shots of liquor or six swats from Kira’s paddle.
“Come on, Rachel.” Kira walked closer. “You’re halfway there.”
“I got this.” Rachel slammed the fourth shot and reached for the fifth. “Two more…”
Rachel’s face turned pale after the fifth shot, but she managed to get the sixth one down as well. The room got so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop after she was done—everyone was waiting to see if they stayed down or if it was all going to be for nothing. It really did look like she was going to hurl, but after a couple of seconds, the color returned to her face, and she smiled.
“Easy!” Rachel tried to focus her attention as she walked back to the group.
“Good job, sis.” Kira smiled. “Wendy, you’re next.”
“Okay.” Wendy grinned and walked to the cart. “I’ll take regular vodka.”
Wendy was so drunk after the last party that she barely helped us clean up, so I was pretty sure she could handle her liquor. She slammed all six like she had been drinking since birth and walked back to the crowd with the same grin on her face. Britt was next, and she looked positively terrified when she walked to the cart. I didn’t remember her being around much at the party, but she seemed fine after it was over, so I didn’t think she was going to handle it as well as the previous two pledges.
“I…” Britt shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
“It’s your choice.” Lindsey nodded. “Assume the position.”
“No!” Britt took a couple of steps back. “I’m not doing that either. I quit!”
There was a slight uproar from the sisters, but Britt seemed to have made up her mind. She grabbed her purse, walked to the door, and slammed it on her way out. I wasn’t sure how far she would get before she remembered that she had to come back for her stuff, but I doubted that had registered quite yet. Since Kira didn’t go after Britt or show any sign of it being a prank, it appeared that shots or the paddle was a choice all of us would have to make before it was over—unless we quit.
“Weakness will not be tolerated in Pi Beta Phi. A sister is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain.” Kira looked around the room. “If anyone else would like to leave, you’re welcome to do so.”
I could see a few people considering Kira’s ultimatum, but nobody else left. Vicky’s name was called next, and she asked for rum. She seemed to have a lot of confidence, but after downing three shots, she looked like she was about to hurl. She reached for the fourth and quickly decided it was not going to happen.
“That’s all I can do.” Vicky swallowed hard and turned towards Kira.
“Assume the position.” Lindsey motioned to her. “Face your sisters and accept the consequences of your actions.”
“But… I didn’t leave the party.” Vicky shook her head. “I was there all night—I drank!”
“The actions of one are the actions of all.” Kira motioned to the group. “The guilty ones know who they are.”
Yes, I definitely do…
“Then shouldn’t they be up here!?” Vicky took a step back.
“They’ll have their turn.” Kira nodded. “Bend over, sis.”
“Okay…” Vicky walked to face the pledges and bent over far enough to put her hands on her knees.
“Lower your shorts.” Kira tapped the paddle on Vicky’s ass. “And your panties.”
“What?” Vicky stood straight up and shook her head. “You didn’t say anything about that!”
“You didn’t ask.” Kira shrugged.
Vicky turned back to us, and I saw fear on her face as she pushed her shorts down to her knees. She hesitated after that for a couple of seconds, but then slid her panties down to the same spot. Kira lined up behind her, and I winced when the paddle was pulled back—then swung with enough ferocity to make me jump.
SMACK!
“Ow!” Vicky grabbed both cheeks and squealed. “That really hurts!”
“Would you like to finish your shots?” Mallory motioned to the liquor.
“No…” Vicky shook her head and bent over again.
SMACK!
“One more…” Kira raised the paddle.
SMACK!
“Ah!” Vicky hopped out of position and danced on her toes as the pain registered on her face from the last swing of Kira’s paddle.
“Addison, your next.” Kira motioned to the pledge next to me as Vicky gingerly pulled her panties and shorts up.
Addison was already starting to get the nickname Runt because she was the smallest of the pledges. She would have probably gotten carded if she tried to see a PG-13 movie unless they took a moment to look at her closely enough to tell she wasn’t a kid. Six shots would do a lot more to her than the rest of us, based on size alone. It was no surprise when Addison was only able to down two shots, but more of a surprise that Kira seemed to go light on the smaller pledge when the paddle had to be swung four times.
“Do you think she’ll go easy on us?” Chrissy glanced over at me as Addison rubbed her ass and rejoined the group.
“We’re the reason everyone has to line up for shots.” I exhaled sharply and kept my voice low. “I think we’re screwed if we have to bend over.”
“I can do four…” Chrissy sighed.
I was going to encourage Chrissy to do all six, but her name was called before I had a chance. She chose rum and took four shots without missing a beat before she walked over to Kira. I cringed when the first swing of the paddle landed on Chrissy’s exposed ass. Kira didn’t hold back—it echoed through the whole house. The next one was even harder and brought tears to Chrissy’s eyes. She didn’t rejoin the group when it was over. She pulled her shorts and panties up, then ran towards the stairs, where she took them two at a time.
Kira made sure everyone knew Chrissy was responsible with those two swings—fuck, I’ll get the same thing if I don’t drink all six shots.
“Alright, Ame.” Kira pointed at me. “You’re next.”
I felt my stomach twist into a knot as I walked up to the cart. I could drink beer, wine, and I was no stranger to liquor, but I was scared of throwing up. Nobody had yet, and I didn’t want to be the first one that had to take six shots from Kira’s paddle—especially after what she did to Chrissy. It was going to be all-or-nothing for me, and the alcohol wasn’t going to have time to settle into my system before I got paddled, so I had to put all six shots down lik
e a champion.
“Tequila…” I stared at Kira as I made my choice.
“Tequila?” Mallory’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I nodded in confirmation.
“Okay.” Mallory reached for the bottle of Jose Cuervo.
“No.” I put my hand on the first shot glass. “I said tequila, not that garbage—I believe there’s a bottle of Patron on the top shelf in the kitchen.”
“Well, that’s for special occasions…” Lindsey blinked in surprise.
“No, it’s okay.” Kira grinned. “If she wants Patron, go get it for her.”
I might not have learned everything that I should have from my drunken mistakes in high school, but I did learn that I could stomach good tequila better than the cheap stuff. It seemed to go down, and stay down, a lot easier than anything else. I had never done six shots, but doing them was the only option I had. I managed to survive four years of high school without ever bending over the principal’s desk for a paddling, and I damn sure wasn’t about to let Kira do it.
“Drink up, sis.” Kira’s grin spread into one that was downright wicked.
Here goes nothing…
The first two went down smoothly. The third was a challenge. I could feel the effects, but they were mild. I knew they would ramp up soon, especially if I downed the last three. I glanced at Kira’s menacing stare, and it gave me enough motivation to toss the fourth one back. The only thing saving me was the smoothness of the Patron. My stomach wasn’t happy, but it was coping.
“Two more…” Kira tilted her head. “Unless you’d like to walk over here.”
“No.” I grabbed the fifth shot and felt my stomach do a somersault.
Fuck! Get it together… Come on!
The fifth went down my throat, but it wasn’t smooth. The tequila got caught in my throat and almost strangled me. My stomach immediately revolted, and I felt the contents trying to come back up. I sucked in air and realized that if I hesitated, the sixth one was going to make me hurl, so I snatched it up. I took a deep breath, threw my head back, and drank it. The room was trying to spin—I just needed it to hold off long enough for my stomach to accept my vicious gift.
“Are you going to keep it down?” Kira walked over to me. “I bet you want to throw up right now, don’t you sis?”
“I’m…” A belch clenched my throat, and I blew it out without making any noise. “I’m okay.”
“Damn.” Mallory blinked in surprise. “Six shots of Patron. I think that broke your record, Kira.”
“I’ve done more than six!” Kira glared at Mallory.
“Yeah.” Lindsey nodded. “She’s done a lot more than that.”
I walked back to the group with my head held high—but it was starting to spin along with the room—and they were going in opposite directions. I needed to get some air in the worst kind of way. Kira seemed to lose interest in me once she realized I wasn’t going to throw up, so when the next pledge was called, I walked towards the patio. My body was revolting against the poison I fed it, but I refused to lose the fight. I stepped out onto the patio, and the breeze hit my face.
“Damn, that feels good…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but the fresh air wasn’t the only thing that I sucked into my lungs—a whiff of second-hand smoke was hanging in the breeze.
“Did you drink all six shots?” Val, one of the sophomore girls, walked up to me with a cigarette in her hand.
“Yeah.” I forced my words out and put a hand on the wall to my balance.
“Wow, I’m impressed.” She smiled. “It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. You should probably go upstairs and lay down.”
“I feel better out here.” I pushed off the wall and sort of collapsed into one of the lawn chairs by the patio. “Hey, can I have one of those?”
“Sure.” Val shrugged and handed me a cigarette.
Now it really is high school all over again—I promised my best friend that I was done with these, but fuck it.
Val lit my cigarette, and I took a drag while I waited for the effects of the alcohol to fully take hold of me—and pass through my system. I chose something a lot stronger than what the other girls had, but I knew I couldn’t keep that stuff down. Patron was a gamble and a demon that was going to make me pay for my choice, but at least I didn’t have to get paddled.
“I’m going back inside.” Val stubbed out her cigarette. “I’ll check on you in a little bit.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a half-smile to go with my slurred response and lifted the cigarette to my lips.
I felt victorious, even though I knew I had a long night ahead of me, especially since we were going to have to clean up the house after the party. Every minute that passed ramped up my intoxication, and I hadn’t even hit the event horizon yet. I just had to ride it out. I had done it before—granted, I usually spaced out my shots, so I was in uncharted territory as far as that was concerned.
I closed my eyes to try and control the spinning. It wasn’t getting any better, and I could feel my inhibitions dropping, along with all of my self-control. As soon as I finished the cigarette in my hand, I wanted another one. After a few more minutes passed, I wanted to get up and walk inside to see if I could get another shot of tequila. The rationale was fading fast. I was definitely in trouble. I was just about to see if I could walk when my phone lit up, and I saw that I had a text from an unknown number.
Text: Hey, it’s Lachlan.
“Of course, he decides to finally text me today…” I stared at my phone, and the words started blurring together—a second later, my fingers were typing a response.
Responding to him right now is probably a terrible idea, but I don’t even care…
Chapter Six
Lachlan
After seeing Amelia on the quad, I fought my desires until I couldn’t ignore them anymore. She was in college and obviously going to make some mistakes before she graduated—probably with some frat guy that wouldn’t even remember her name after he popped her cherry. I didn’t have the right to tell her what she could or couldn’t do, but the thought of her with someone else bothered me. It gnawed at me until I couldn’t resist the urge to reach out to her anymore—especially when I knew what kind of trouble a sorority girl could get into on a Friday night.
I was nervous when I started typing the message. I knew what kind of danger I was putting myself in if I got involved with a student where I wanted to teach. My chance of becoming a professor could be ripped away in an instant. I doubted the Dean would be eager to hire me if I was dating one of his students—especially considering our age difference. I just couldn’t get Amelia out of my head; it had been a long damn time since anything had gone my way, or felt so fucking right. I sent the text message and waited—it was a couple of minutes before her response came.
Amelia: Hey!
Lachlan: Staying out of trouble?
Amelia: Nope! I just had to drink six shots of tequila so that I wouldn’t get a spanking!
Lachlan: I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to get the spanking after you drink, not before…
Amelia: It was my punishment for leaving the party last weekend.
Lachlan: Hmm.
Amelia: It was worth it because I got to meet you!
Lachlan: Are you okay?
Amelia: Yes, I can hold my liquor.
I wasn’t a big fan of hazing. I understood it, but there was too much potential for things to go wrong. Most schools had outlawed it, but college kids weren’t the most obedient bunch. It was still going to happen, even if there were repercussions—the problem was that by the time there were repercussions, it was usually too late. Drinking usually led to more drinking, and six shots of tequila were enough to knock most people on their ass. I didn’t know why I felt so protective of Amelia, but I couldn’t shake the feeling, especially if she was already drunk. It was still daylight—the party would probably last until morning.
Lachlan: Are you going to h
ave to drink anything else?
Amelia: I’m trying to figure out how to stand up right now…
Lachlan: Maybe you should just call it an early night.
Amelia: Nah, I’m good.
Lachlan: I seriously doubt that.
Amelia didn’t respond to my last text. I sent a couple more that echoed my concern, but they were also met with silence. Maybe it was foolish of me to worry. She was old enough to make her own bad choices if she wanted to. I had my fair share of drunken nights in college that I couldn’t remember. That was just part of the experience, especially at a school that was known for legendary parties. Amelia wouldn’t have joined a sorority unless she expected to get absorbed into the culture. It looked good on a resume, but there was a cost—if someone wanted to fit in.
I tried to distract myself with television, but that didn’t work. My worry just got worse as the minutes turned into an hour, and there was still no response from Amelia. I couldn’t believe I was going crazy over a girl that I just met—one that I kept telling myself I should stay away from, to begin with.
“What the hell is wrong with ye?” Uncle Douglas must have noticed there was an issue—it was probably the fact I was pacing.
“I’m fine.” I shook my head. “Just something I’m dealing with.”
“Not very well, lad.” He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe ye need a drink.”
“Maybe…” I let out a long sigh, and before I could walk to the kitchen, my phone lit up with a message. “Actually, this is what I was waiting for.”
“A job offer or something?” He watched as I walked towards my bedroom.
“Not exactly.” I closed the door and looked down at my phone.
Amelia: There are a lot of cute guys here. A few of them are trying to talk to me…
Lachlan: Did you drink anything else?
Amelia: A little!
Lachlan: How much?
Amelia: Just a few shots. I’m good!
Lachlan: You’re still typing. I suppose that is a good sign.
Amelia: I have Autocorrect! :)
Lachlan: Hmm.
Amelia: This guy wants to take me back to his place. Think I should go?
Daddy’s Kilted Friend Page 5
