But obviously, I couldn’t tell Lori all this because I had only known her since move-in day. I didn’t want to freak her out with my boyfriend drama. As far as she knew, we had a little falling out and I still had feelings for him.
“If you don’t want to come to socialize,” Lori continued, “at least come for the free food. We’re ordering a bunch of pizza, and there’s going to be a sushi bar. I have to go a little early to set up, but then I promise I won’t leave you stranded once it starts.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go for a little bit. But you have to promise to hang out with me and not let me stand alone.”
She beamed. “I promise. And you never know. Maybe you’ll find someone to help you take your mind off Chris.”
“Doubt it,” I said under my breath.
As a member of the dorm’s event planning committee, Lori had to show up early to set up the party. She left me alone in our dorm room for virtually the first time all week. Since move-in, we did everything together. We ate all of our meals together, did homework together, and even had some classes together. Finally alone, I felt like I could survey my wild mix of feelings.
I didn’t want to go through college without knowing people, but being on campus brought back bad memories for me. Every party I had ever gone to, Chris was by my side, proud to be dating me. I never really needed to introduce myself because he just did all the talking.
I decided that if I had to go out and meet new guys, I’d better look good. I picked a cute floral dress and a pair of wedges to give my short legs a little extra length. After applying a little lip gloss, I smoothed some vanilla-scented lotion on my legs until I was glowing. Once the fuchsia polish on my nails was dry, I left the dorms and headed toward the student union.
I followed behind groups of girls with long blonde hair and guys with way too much cologne. Meeting new people made me nervous, but I was also a little excited. Maybe I would get my mind off Chris after all.
Luckily, Lori was standing toward the front of the ballroom.
“Hey, girl!” She waved me over. “I’m so glad you came!”
I gave her a nervous chuckle. “You got me here. What do we do now?”
“Can we eat? I’m starving.”
That’s something I could get behind. While the other girls picked at pretzels, Lori and I filled our plates high with free sushi rolls.
“Do you mind if we sit with you?” one of the girls with long, blonde hair asked.
“Sure,” Lori said, making room at the table.
The three girls sat down. They each had four rolls on their plates and diet sodas.
“This is a nice dinner,” the girl with the designer purse said. “I’m glad I’ve got a big meal to eat before the party.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Her friend giggled. “You’re still going to black out.”
“Are you two going?” the ringleader asked us.
“Where?” Lori asked.
“The freshman mixer.”
We looked at each other. As far as I knew, we were at the freshman mixer, and there certainly wasn’t alcohol here.
“Sorry, we should clarify,” the girl said, brushing her hair off her shoulder. “There’s a party on the edge of town. They have one every year, and it’s one of the biggest parties that this town has. They call it the freshman mixer because a lot of freshmen go, but in reality, the whole school goes.”
“Sounds fun,” Lori said. “I’m in.”
She looked over to me and raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go.”
“From what I’ve heard, girls drink for free and there’s just a ridiculous amount of drinks. Watch out for the football players and the frat guys, though. My sister told me that they’re looking for fresh meat tonight. Just a heads up.”
“Yeah, we’ll totally be there,” Lori said.
“Cool,” the rich girl said flatly. “Should we get going?” she asked her friends. “There are a few parties I want to hit up beforehand.”
They got up and strutted away, leaving the scent of perfume behind them.
“This is awesome,” Lori said. “Our first big college party.”
“I’m not so sure if I’m going to go,” I said.
“No, no, no,” she said. “You’re going with me. If you don’t want to talk to guys, you don’t have to. You can be my wing-woman.”
“Okay, fine. I probably won’t drink that much either.”
“I’m going to ask those guys if they’re going,” she said, running off before I could even answer.
I wasn’t so sure about this. It sounded like it was going to be a huge party, and I certainly didn’t want to be treated like fresh meat. I only wanted to be with one guy, and that was Chris. As much as I hated to admit it, even to myself, in the right circumstances, I could see myself getting back together with him.
A part of me was a little afraid and hopeful that he’d be at the party. I wanted him to see what he was missing. I just didn’t want to see him with another girl if I was going with just my roommate.
Lori came back to the table with a goofy grin on her face.
“I just talked to the guys on the event planning committee. They’re riding to the party together, and they said we can catch a ride with them.”
“Okay. When are they leaving?”
“Thirty minutes. Grab a few more snacks, chug some water, and then we’re going to rage.”
I tried to match her enthusiasm, but it was hard. Parties just weren’t the same without Chris. I grabbed a few more salmon rolls before they were gone and pretended to listen to Lori’s friends talk about the football team. I nodded along like I knew what they were talking about. Even though I had student tickets, I still didn’t know much about the sport.
Once again, I was doing whatever I could to fit into a place I didn’t particularly want to be.
Shawn
I was hardly a step away from the car when I heard the booming bass of the party’s music. It was on the outskirts of town in an abandoned building, but damn, no one was trying very hard to be quiet about it. It was amazing how these parties rarely got busted.
Not like it mattered to me, anyway. When police bust college parties, it’s only because the party hosts are too stupid to control their friends. Everyone knows that you have to keep things somewhat quiet and under control. When you can hear the music a block away and there are people roaming around the street, you know you’re in trouble.
I’d only been to a couple of busted parties in my college career. The first one, the grumpy old neighbors didn’t like that people were parked in front of their house and called the cops. They let us go with a warning and we continued to party.
The second time, it was a massive house party, and things were getting out of control. Belligerent students were throwing beer cans and the odd piece of furniture out of the third-story windows. When the cops showed up, they came in the house with breathalyzers blazing. Minors were given tickets and had to appear in court.
I, of course, had been pounding beers since the early evening and was sweating bullets. When it was my turn to blow, the cop asked me if we were going to make it to the conference championship game. I gave a feeble nod, and he let me pass. From then on, I’ve partied with reckless abandon.
At the door of the building, I handed a freshman a five-dollar bill in exchange for a plastic cup. It takes a little simple math to tell you what quality of alcohol is being served at these parties. Girls always drink for free, so imagine a bunch of college kids drinking until the kegs and bottles run dry for $2.50. Drinking disgustingly cheap alcohol is a collegiate rite of passage.
Cup in hand, I made a beeline toward the keg. There would only be a few hours left until it was completely tapped out. I didn’t dare touch the jungle juice. Made in a trashcan and loaded with boozy sugar, it was all kinds of dangerous.
Like clockwork, the girls started to cling onto me as I passed through the dance floor. They glistened with sweat as they mov
ed their bodies to the beat. It was like watching a mating ritual.
In this situation, the girls were in full control. They showed their skin and their fluid motions to attract a man. Guys would find one and dance on them, grinding together. If the girl was pleased with the guy she attracted, they’d go home together, or at the very least, exchange digits. If she wasn’t into him, she’d give him the boot and start the ritual all over again.
To say that humans were a higher evolved species than any other animal would be absurd. These types of events were all about one thing—single people looking to get down and dirty with an attractive mate. Fueled by alcohol, there was little thought involved—just pure primal instinct.
“Let the games begin,” Jack said, raising his full cup to mine. We drank it down in one go, foam pouring from the empty cups. We refilled and split up. I worked alone.
I surveyed the scene, looking for my prey. I couldn’t pick anyone already dancing with a guy, and I certainly couldn’t choose any girl who was giving me the eye. I found a group of girls standing in a circle, trying to talk over the loud music.
“Hey, ladies,” I called out. “Who wants to dance?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up with recognition except for one tall brunette standing with her arms crossed. I reached out and grabbed her hand.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” she yelled over the music. “My friends are, though. Why don’t you dance with one of them?”
This girl would certainly do. She was already completely uninterested in me.
I put my hands on her hips and swayed to the music. She followed, still rather stiff and uncomfortable.
“What’s your name?” I asked into her ear.
“Megan,” she said. “What’s yours?”
“I’m Shawn. Shawn Rider.”
She seemed unimpressed. Perfect.
“You’re a good dancer,” I lied. “Are you a freshman?”
“Yep.”
“What’s your major?” I cringed as the lame question came out of my mouth.
“Biology. I’m pre-med.”
“Wow, maybe you can practice anatomy on me sometime.”
She turned to face me. “I’m sorry. I’m not interested,” she said apologetically.
“You have a boyfriend?”
“Girlfriend, actually.”
“Where is she? She can join us.”
The girl rolled her eyes and walked back to her group. I ducked out before she told her friends what had transpired.
While running through the crowd, I bumped into Jack. A girl was shoving him away.
“I hope you’re having better luck than me,” he said. “I think I just insulted a foreign exchange student.”
“Not really,” I said. “I found a girl, but she’s definitely not interested in me.”
“That’s what we’re looking for,” he said, shaking me by the shoulders.
“She’s not interested in any guys, if you know what I mean.”
He got a wicked smile on his face. “Too bad.”
We stood in the middle of the floor. I felt the eyes of a hundred girls on me, pretending not to notice that I was in their vicinity.
“Yo, girl standing alone at four o’clock,” Jack said. “She looks pissed.”
“Dibs,” I called, shoving Jack behind me. I power walked toward her.
She was a tiny thing, with long hair and skin like milk chocolate. She was wearing tall shoes, which did little to make her any taller. She looked incredibly bored.
“Having fun?” I asked.
She turned up one corner of her mouth like she didn’t have the energy to smile.
“Do you want to dance?”
“Honestly, not really. I kinda want to go back to the dorms, but my friend is somewhere dancing with a guy. She’s pretty wasted, and I know it’s going to be a nightmare to get her back.”
“If you can’t leave, why don’t you just try to enjoy yourself for a while?”
“I’m not really in the mood.”
“Come dance with me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
I stuck out my hand. “My name is Shawn.”
She shook it. “Alice.”
“Great! Now that we’re acquainted, let’s have some fun.”
“I can’t.”
I sighed. “You have a boyfriend? No, let me guess—you have a girlfriend?”
“I had a boyfriend,” she said. “It’s kind of complicated.”
“Is he here?”
She nodded.
“So you’re just going to stand in the corner and let him see how miserable you are without him? Sounds like a great plan,” I said sarcastically.
“Okay, what would you do?” She was getting annoyed.
“If I were you, I’d go out and find a good looking guy to rub up on—perhaps the starting running back on the football team.”
She gave a small smile. “Oh, like you?”
I shrugged playfully. “Yeah, if that’s your type.”
“It isn’t.”
“Fine, what makes this guy so special?”
“He’s just a really good guy. I feel like crap when I’m not around him.”
“Why’d you break up?”
She looked down at her shoes. “He cheated on me.”
“Sounds like a fantastic guy.”
“You don’t know him.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Take it from me—guys always want what they can’t have. If it’s too easy, it’s not fun. If I were him, and I saw you here talking and dancing with another guy, I’d want you so bad.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If you want, we can go dance right now. He’d be even more furious if you went home with me.”
Alice gave a forced laugh. “I’d maybe consider it if you weren’t trying so hard.”
I froze. “What do you mean?” I thought that I was being smooth.
“I’m not an idiot. You’re trying to pick me up. I’ve been hit on by other guys tonight, but you’ve got to be the most desperate one so far.”
Any normal guy with a shred of dignity would have left at that point. I continued to try to reel her in.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to get to know you. That’s all. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
She relented. “No harm done. Usually, guys storm away when I turn them down. This is a nice surprise.”
“So you’ll come hang out with me?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I tried. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
She nodded, and I disappeared back into the crowd.
I knew that there were still plenty of girls to chat up at the party, but I hated backing away from a challenge. She was absolutely gorgeous and seemed so much smarter than all the other chicks who got into school through their parents’ connections. I wanted to talk to her. I definitely wanted to do more than just talk to her.
Trying to pick up girls and getting turned down was exhausting work. I got a refill and just stood around, waiting for girls to swarm me. It took less than a minute to be approached by freshman sorority girls out of their minds on jungle juice. I could see the bright red liquid on their bleached teeth when they flashed their smiles at me.
“Great game this week,” a twiggy blonde slurred. I bet it would only take her one cup to get her drunk.
“Thanks. Should we dance? Your friends can come too.”
“Okay! My name’s Caroline,” she yelled to me.
“I don’t care,” I said, but my voice was lost in the noise.
As we danced, more and more girls flocked around me. I decided I could give up on my game for one night. There were just too many beautiful girls around me to go home empty handed.
For the next hour or so, I danced while the desperate girls fought each other to get the closest to me. I was about ready to finally choose the lucky lady to take home with me when I saw Alice push through the crowd.
“Does the offer still stand?�
�� she yelled toward me.
I dropped my hands and made my way toward her. I could hear the girls complaining behind me.
“Of course. Where is he?”
She smiled. I knew exactly what she needed.
“Up by the DJ booth.”
I took her by the hand and left the harem of sorority girls behind, much to their disappointment.
Alice was a surprisingly good dancer. She seemed steely and cold, but once she got moving, she was lost in the music. I loved the way I towered over her. I wasn’t the tallest guy on the team, but I was probably close to a foot taller than Alice.
As we danced, she kept looking over her shoulder.
“You’re being too obvious. Tell me what he looks like, and I’ll stay on the lookout for him too. That way, he won’t assume you’re trying to make him jealous.”
“He’s the one in the red shirt.”
“Dancing with the girl with tree trunks for legs?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Yeah.”
“You’re much hotter.”
“Thanks, but that’s not making me feel any better.”
“He totally saw us.”
“Really?” she asked hopefully.
“He’s looked over a few times. I think we accomplished our goal.”
“I wish I could drag my roommate out of here now.”
“Nonsense,” I said. “No one likes a party pooper. Let’s have a drink.”
“I don’t know. I was told to watch out for the drinks here.”
“I’m drinking, and I’m still alive. It will be fine. I’ll make sure no one spikes your drink.”
She gave me a sly smile. “I think I should watch out for you.”
“Me?” I asked innocently. “I’m harmless.”
Well, harmless if you forget the fact that I was trying to win a bet about being able to pick up the most unwilling chick at the party. But it was all in good fun.
Alice
“Hey, man,” Shawn said to the kid behind the drink table. “What’s left?”
Lethal Seduction: A CIA Romantic Suspense (CIA Agents Book 1) Page 25
