by Amy Daws
As we tore through town, I couldn’t exactly whisper sweet nothings in his ear. The engine was far too loud. I certainly wasn’t going to be screaming them. So I had to wait for the red lights to make my confessions.
At the first stop, he lowered his feet to the ground for stability. I slipped my leg over his, dragging my heel up his leg.
I whispered, “…It was an invitation…”
I lowered my grip and slipped my hands down to his waist only to dig my nails into his jeans. That he wanted me as badly as I wanted him was all consuming. I rolled my thumb over his waist, loving that even when he was hunched over, I could still feel the ripples of his stomach.
“…I wanted you to know just how far you should stretch me…” Looping my fingers through his belt, I jerked my hips closer, like that was even possible.
On the next red, I dropped my hands, rubbing my thumbs down the inside of his legs. “…I wanted you to fantasize about bending me to the point where I’d break… Oh, I want you to find my breaking point…”
I pushed up further. His body was hard under my touch. It was when I slipped my hand over his chest that I realized he was holding his breath. His heart was pounding under my fingertips. With my tongue, I flicked the bottom of his ear.
“…When I was sprawled out on the floor, I wanted you to come up on stage and fuck me while everyone watched… I want you to take me on stage… I want to feel the hardwood under me as you rip screams from my lips…”
He ran a red light.
“…I want the feel of your dick in my mouth… I want you to keep your heart-stopping eyes on mine as I wrap my lips around you…” I dropped my hands lower and slipped them over his jeans. Tracing his groin, I moaned in his ear.
“…I want the only thought you had to be an image of me straddling you…the sight of me on top of you…the feel of you inside me…” When he hit the gas, I dug my nails in deep.
He stopped the bike outside an immaculate white house with a contemporary style. Gamma Phi and its Greek sign was painted on top in gold lettering, but that’s all I cared to take in because Leo twisted around and had me pinned against his chest as soon as the engine cut.
I didn’t care how he got me off of the bike without it falling. I didn’t care who saw me tear his jacket and cast it somewhere in the front yard. I didn’t care who heard the whimpers that tore at my throat when he slammed me up against the front door. I pressed my hands up this chiseled body as he found that sensitive place under my knee that made me come-fucking-unglued! I didn’t care about another person when he covered me with his body.
I grabbed his hair, knocking the product out of it. I let out one last confession that I needed, wanted him to know…even if I couldn’t tell him just yet. “…What I want more than anything is still a secret.”
He broke our kiss, gasping for air, reeling himself together. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
I couldn’t believe I was falling for him so fast! What had he done to me? Taking an uneven breath, he fought to control himself and lowered me to the ground. After a few deep breaths, he tweaked his eyebrows playfully and opened the door to the inside of the house.
The party was already well underway. The dining room was bursting at the seams. There had to be two dozen people in the living room alone—and it wasn’t close to capacity. The place was huge! The living room had a television the size of my futon bed mounted onto the wall. Next to a mounted Codex, a row of past fraternity presidents hung on the wall in gold frames dating back to 1960’s crew cut; Blake’s photo in one of the frames.
“Dude! You missed Chase’s epic jump!” a guy holding a pikestaff exclaimed. “One foot shorter, and he’d have third degree burns.”
Leo asked, “What type of flaming car…”
I didn’t understand a lick of what they were saying, and I was sort of taken back by the overwhelming party. The dining room was filled with people wearing the school’s colors. I felt out of place in this Ivy League college scene. Columbia blue and white colors were a fashion staple. My pink flowy dress was not the norm amongst the white and blue attire for the homecoming party. Why had I listened to Ivan? My insecurities got the better of me, but luckily no one noticed because they were all chanting keg stand while a girl was being held upside-down by two fellas. The girls skirt fell over her head, exposing her racy blue panties with a glittery lion on the crotch. The bedazzled mascot had to have been a twisted Pinning project.
However, few men cared about the peep-show. Hell, some of the girls seemed turned-on but most, like Felicia—who was glaring at me from behind a few bystanders—looked pissed. Felicia was standing next to another girl with brown hair, both decked out in blue and white attire: short white miniskirts that barely covered their butts and blue halter tops. Greek symbols of a sorority were embroidered on the fabric around their necks. She had a lion paw on her cheek, which I had to admit was cute. I could see how Blake was attracted to her. She was beautiful.
My stomach twisted into knots. She deserved to know the truth about Blake. I wanted to tell her—well, that would be an awful conversation, and so I didn’t actually want to. Even so, she should know. Or did she already? Her lip curled and she shook her head when I took one step to her. She then brought a phone up to her ear and started talking on it whilst staring at me. She rolled her eyes after looking me up and down and then disappeared into the crowd.
Leo didn’t seem upset so I figured that he hadn’t seen them in the mass of the crowd since his brother had come up to him to tell him about “Chase’s epic jump,” whatever that meant.
However, I couldn’t help but to notice that his demeanor became more agitated the closer we got to the kitchen. He clenched and opened his hands like he was fighting the urge to sucker-punch a wall.
“Let me show you the back yard. There’s a decent pool and fireplace,” he said a little too desperately to be casual.
Leo blocked my view of the kitchen—a kitchen that at a quick glance belonged in a Better Home and Garden magazine. He reached for my hand, leading me right through the dining room and onto the back porch. As much as I wanted to see what or who he was barricading me from, I let him.
Once I finished gawking at a gas fireplace that looked like it had been chipped from a fire-cast boulder, I saw the oversized pool. It was then that I knew just how out of my league I was. A gigantic swimming pool took up a good portion of the yard. For New York City, this kind of real estate was a rarity.
In the pool, a group of girls were on one end, tossing beach balls into round floaties. Several guys had taken to the water and were attempting to block the ball from getting into the flotation devices. Obviously, it was some game I didn’t know the rules for and wasn’t going to make a fool of myself by asking.
Instead I muttered, “Too bad I didn’t bring my swimming suit.”
Leo gave me the once-over. “I like the pink.”
I bit my lip and savored Leo’s expression my bite instigated. He stared at my lips like they were candy to be sucked on. Nevertheless, he didn’t kiss me then. He casually rolled his thumb over my hand, like touching me would be enough…for now. He pointed across the yard.
My mouth damn near hit the ground. A fire pit as big as a garage—wait. Had it been a garage? “Is that a Volkswagen burning in the flames?”
“It’s Chase’s actually. His dad is a salesman down south and gives Chase his junkers on trade,” Leo explained.
“On trade?”
“For every A, Chase’s old man gives him a beat-up car to destroy. His dad previously gave him a wagon at the beginning of last semester, hoping it would entice him to make his final year a productive one.”
“And he lights them on fire?” I couldn’t believe it.
“He likes to jump over them with his skateboard.” Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “He says it gets him laid.”
“That’s because it does get me laid!” a voice called from behind us. A blond, sha
ggy haired guy straight out of Surfer magazine jogged up to us. He carried a skate board under his arm.
I laughed. “So, if you’re still carrying around your board, is it safe to assume you haven’t swept some girl off her feet with your fiery moves?”
“The night is young. I haven’t gotten burned yet,” Chase sung.
“I heard you had a close one,” Leo said.
“From who? That blabber-mouth Tommy? That pledge doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Chase said to Leo and then stuck his hand out to me like he was going to shake it. Instead, he brought my hand to his lips and planted a swift kiss. “Having a good time with this dope, Adeline?”
He knew my name. Of course he did. It was plastered in the papers. “How could I not?”
Get. A. Hold. Of. Yourself! I couldn’t believe I’d just said that out loud! What did Leo have over me? Luckily a guy running across the yard wearing only a gold thong with glued on feathers saved me from further conversation about my night’s enjoyment.
“The quiet life of a fraternity,” Leo said as a group of drunken girls in sumo wrestling body suits chased after Mr. Thong.
“Homecoming. Plus, we do some freshman initiations at these,” Chase explained, eyeing the girls in the wrestling outfits. “Whatever girl collects the most feathers wins the contest. The Kappa Delta Sorority sometimes collaborates with us on initiations.”
I recalled the Greek symbols on Felicia’s halter top. That explained why she was here. “So it’s not usually this crazy?” I asked, taking in the collegiate mayhem.
“You’d be surprised,” Chase said and jumped on his skateboard. I didn’t know how he did it, but Chase jumped in the air, bringing the board up with him and hung for a half-a-second while the board twirled beneath his feet.
“Show off,” Leo scoffed but carried it with a grin.
“Leo! So glad you could grace us with your presence,” a stalky, buzzed cut guy called out, walking up to us. He handed a Solo cup to Leo who had blanched. Even Chase, who was as laidback as any typical surfer, groaned.
“Who’s your friend?” Mystery Man asked.
“Adeline, this is Micah, the fraternity prez,” Leo stated.
Micah’s eyes widened. “Adeline? The ballerina?”
I wished Rotten Apples hadn’t wasted so much ink capturing my ass. “Yes, I dance for a living.”
“Maybe you can dance for me sometime,” Micah said.
“Dude, not cool,” Chase said at the same time Leo growled, “Back off!”
I thought Leo was going to knock Micah out for treating me like a prostitute, but his eyes glazed over as he looked passed his frat president and his face turned deadly. I wished it was Micah who had put Leo off, but it had nothing to do with their president and everything to do with another Gamma Phi leader.
Blake.
With her phone still glued to her ear, Felicia pointed at me. She said something to her husband, but he wasn’t listening to her. No one was. His eyes were cold and hungry as he glared down at me. I cringed. I hated that I’d ever been connected to the son-of-a-bitch. Without taking his eyes off of me, he harshly kissed Felicia on the forehead before dismissing her back to the party inside. It was creepy how he kissed her. I hated that I could still feel his angry kiss on my lips. The possessive gaze in his eyes was no better—like I still belonged to him.
CHAPTER 18 ~ Leo
My blood ran cold the minute I saw Blake approaching. I had seen him when we first arrived and about turned Adeline around and ran. But I wasn’t about to be pushed out of my own House because of him. I even had a small hope that Blake might have some decency left in him and leave us the fuck alone.
No such luck.
Blake kissed his wife, and she scampered off in a hurry, probably to find Sasha, no doubt. He strolled up to our group like he was the king of campus. He was flanked by his gomer of a friend, Dominic. Dominic was a big, bruiser of a dude that resembled an NFL Linebacker. He was Blake’s shadow during their reign at Columbia. Now both alumni, they’d stop by our fraternity house occasionally, but neither of them had been to a party in months. The timing tonight was extremely coincidental.
I glanced over to Adeline, and saw that she noticed him too. I ground my teeth as I watched guilt and shame ripple across her face. I hated that he did that to her. I hated that he put her in that position. I hated those two things more than I hated him.
“Fighting already?” Blake asked and then glanced at Adeline like she was a perfect stranger. “I’m Blake Rossi. So nice to meet you…”
He reached his hand out to shake hers, and I swore Adeline was going to faint. What. A. Prick. He knew very well that the majority of the fraternity knew about his relationship with her. Or the secrecy surrounding it all at the very least. To come up to her like he didn’t know her was enough to make my blood boil.
Her balance swayed and she clenched her fists, attempting to get control of herself. She closed her eyes tightly and when they reopened, they were cool and detached. This was her stage face.
“I’m Adeline,” she whispered, her voice betraying her.
I placed a reassuring hand on the small of her back. Her poker face was fading, and I couldn’t handle it anymore. I hoped that my touch was enough to help her get through this moment.
“Blake—” I started but was cut off by a prick that probably used tweezers to hold his dick when he peed.
“Well, Adeline.” Blake offered his arm to her as he shot me a tiny wink. “This is an invite only party, so you’ll understand when we ask you to leave. I’ll escort you out.”
“I’ll see myself out,” she said, her voice shaking.
He reached for her arm and before I had a chance to pummel him, Adeline stepped away from his outstretched arm and tripped on an empty can.
I caught her before she tumbled and her whole body trembled against mine. I looked into her wide blue eyes and a flood of aggression shot through me. Not aggression toward her. Just aggression toward the fact that this douche still had such an effect on her. I righted Adeline back on her feet and tucked her safely behind me before turning to face Blake head on.
“Damn right it’s invite only. And she’s with me, Blake,” I sliced his name out of my mouth like it was poison.
“You know the rules, Leonardo!” Dominic barked from beside Blake. Blake smiled proudly at his loyal dog.
Fuck me, did I ever want to pummel both of their faces right now. “Yeah, and she’s with me! That invite only bullshit applies because I invited her.”
“Bull shit or not, this is tradition, Leo. And you’re a part of that tradition,” Micah scoffed standing next to Blake like he wanted to be in the middle of a Blake/Dominic man sandwich. “I’m getting really tired of your above it all attitude.”
“Oh yes, that’s right, Leonardo. I saw the headlines last week.” Blake’s expression was covered with mirth as he stepped closer to me. We were both eye level and breathing heavily. He disgustingly licked his lips. “You helped this sad little ballerina out didn’t you? So thoughtful. Loved your tights that night…Adeline was it?”
Blood roared in my ears. A choked response came from behind me as Adeline attempted to reply.
“No worries Micah,” Blake smirked and tweaked his eyebrows at me playfully. “Leo’s not above much the way I see it.”
I lunged.
I didn’t think. I just lunged. I grabbed his shirt collar and his cocky smile morphed to shock as he clutched my wrists. I drug him over a few feet, and he scrambled to keep his balance. A satisfying crack echoed as I slammed him back against the side of the house.
“I’m tired of your fucking mouth, Blake!” I roared. No way was I going to continue letting him fuck with people like he had been for so long. Adeline especially. Alumnus or not, this shit was over.
I heard a scuffle happening behind me and glanced over my shoulder just as Chase cranked Dominic’s wrist in a wristlock that dropped him to his knees. “This ain’t your fight. Stay the hell out of it,
and I won’t break your damn wrist,” Chase shouted.
Chase eyed me with an expression that if shit was going to escalate, he had my back. But I knew that he was just trying to minimize casualties at this point.
“Leo, stop. This is Blake! Are you fucking high?” Micah’s voice pierced through the ringing in my ears.
“Yeah, Leo, you better fucking watch your step. You have no idea what I could do to you.” Blake’s timbre was choked as I pressed my fists harshly against his throat to shut him up.
“Do I look scared?” My voice was laced with fury. I pulled him to me and slammed him back against the house again.
His perfect expression flinched with the blow. “You should be,” Blake seethed through clenched teeth.
Suddenly Adeline’s voice broke through my rage. I felt her delicate hands wrap around my clenched bicep, halting me dead in my tracks.
“He’s not worth it, Leo,” Adeline said soothingly in my ear.
Her tone was smooth and controlled, and my rage crackled and relaxed just by the touch of her hand and the sound of her voice. I hated her near me when I was so keyed up. It scared me. I didn’t want her anywhere near this shit right now. I wanted to protect her from all of it.
“Please, just come with me. Please,” she said quietly against my ear.
The tension all over my body eased at her quiet and calm request. The fact that she was speaking to me and only cared about me in this moment resonated strongly. I loosened my grip on Blake. He immediately brushed me off and smoothed down his crumpled Armani button down.
“Go take a fucking walk with your date, Leo,” Micah said stepping between our murderous eye standoff.
