The freshman assigned to watch over the booze seemed nervous. “Not a lot,” he said. “The kegs are out, and there are a few more scoops of jungle juice left.” He pointed to the plastic bin.
Before he could offer me some, I crinkled my nose. I had tried some of Lori’s before she ditched me, and I swear that stuff could take paint off the walls.
“Come on,” he said conspiratorially. “I know that someone’s got the good stuff around here somewhere. Which fraternity is putting this on? Kappa?”
“Delta Tau.”
“Great. I know the president, Eric. We’re good pals. I’m in Theta.”
I was wondering where he was going with this. I didn’t quite understand the secret language going on between them.
“I could find Eric and ask him for some booze myself, or you could spare us all the trouble and make a drink for my friend and me. What do you say?”
He nodded nervously. I could already tell that Shawn got everything he wanted around here.
The pledge pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose and poured a shot into his cup.
“Just a little more,” he requested.
The kid obeyed and poured an equal measure in mine.
“Thanks, man. I owe ya one.”
The freshman looked starstruck. “It’s no problem. Let me know if you need more.”
“Will do.”
Shawn grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me away from the table before anyone started asking questions.
“Am I supposed to just drink this straight?” I asked. I was no stranger to alcohol, but I was more used to fruity wine coolers and sugary mixed drinks. This stuff made my nose burn when I smelled it.
“Just chug it down in one gulp. This is the good stuff. It’ll go down smooth,” he promised.
I touched my cup to his. Time to start acting like a college student, I suppose.
Taking a deep breath, I did as he instructed. It was way more than a shot. It may have been even more than two shots, for all I knew. When I finished, I clamped my mouth shut just in case it didn’t settle.
I looked over at Shawn and he was grinning like an idiot.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“This is the first time I’ve ever tainted an innocent girl.”
“I’m hardly innocent.”
“You drank that vodka like a first-timer. It was pretty cute.”
My face felt warm. I didn’t want to seem inexperienced, especially around a guy who was so eager to impress me.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said plainly. “I don’t feel anything at all.”
“You’re a tough girl. Wait here. I’ll get us another.”
The second he left, it hit me. I felt lighter, like everything was great and nothing could get me down.
He returned quickly with another shot. Thankfully, this time, it was just a single.
“This is all I could get, which means the party is over. Let’s have our last shot and get out of here.”
We drank together, and he took our cups and lobbed them at the empty jungle juice bin. Then, he grabbed my hand and led me to the exit.
“What about my roommate?”
“She’ll be fine. I want to make sure you get back to campus all right.”
In the back of my head, I felt like I should find Lori, if for nothing else than to tell her that I was leaving. Between Shawn and the vodka, I felt convinced that everything would be just fine.
“How do we get back? I don’t have a car.”
“Me neither. It’s fine. Everyone’s going back to campus anyway. We just have to find a car with a little extra room and hop in.”
To prove his point, he went up to a group of guys and asked for a ride. They seemed more than happy to transport us back.
There were already way too many people in the car, so I had to sit on Shawn’s lap. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. The last time I was that close to a guy, I was with Chris.
As we drove, I was feeling progressively drunker, even though I hadn’t had a drink in at least ten minutes. I was starting to feel dizzy, so luckily, the car dropped us off near the student union.
“I live on the other side of campus,” I slurred. “Why did they drop us off here?”
“I didn’t know where you lived. Anyway, it’s a nice night and I figured we could just walk together.”
“Nice? I’m sweating like crazy,” I said. “I was ready to go to my room and blast the air conditioner. I’m tempted to jump in that fountain right now.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Do what?” I was still feeling rather giddy.
“Take a dip in the fountain.”
“What? No. We can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Won’t we get in trouble?”
He laughed. “Only one way to find out.”
Shawn pulled off his shoes and rolled his shorts up a few inches.
“I don’t know about this.”
“You’re the one who needs to cool down. Let’s go.”
I reluctantly followed him to the fountain outside the student union and unbuckled my wedges. I sat down on the edge with him, dipping our legs into the cool water.
“This feels nice,” I said, gently pushing the water around with my feet.
“Did you enjoy the party?” he asked.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” I answered.
“I had a great time,” he said.
“Are you sure that Chris was looking at me? I didn’t see him look over once.”
“I’m positive. I think he was trying to ignore you. I don’t blame him. I bet he felt like a huge idiot for giving you up.”
I smiled. For a jock, he was being rather sweet to me. He probably thought I’d sleep with him if he played his cards right, but it was still nice to be complimented.
“How do you like it here so far?” he asked.
“It’s okay. I got accepted when Chris and I were still together and I’d already accepted scholarships from the psych department. When we broke up, I realized that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study psychology anymore or even attend this school, but it was too late. I don’t know anyone here but Chris.”
“I’m obviously not one to know a lot about the academics here, but I think it’s a pretty good school. There’s a good vibe on campus and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
“Yeah, but your situation is a little different from mine.”
“Do you like your roommate?”
“Yeah, she’s cool.”
“And you know me. Now you have at least two people you can talk to.”
I laughed. “You don’t have to take pity on me. I know that the second you get home, you’ll forget all about me. We’ll probably never see each other again.”
He looked a little hurt. “Do you really think so?”
“It’s fine. I understand. I wouldn’t expect the star athlete to drop everything for a freshman girl. That would be ridiculous.”
“You’re not like the other girls, you know.”
“That’s what they all say.”
He cupped his hand and splashed cool fountain water on my face. It trickled down my cheeks and chest.
“What was that for?” I asked, sputtering.
He shrugged. “I thought you said you were hot. I was just trying to help cool you down.”
I laughed and flicked water on his chest. The drops spread across his shirt.
“You’d better cut that out,” he teased. “Don’t think I won’t dunk you in this fountain.”
“You’d better not!” I warned. “You get my hair wet and I will end you.”
He chucked heartily. “I’d like to see you try.”
Before we could continue our water fight, a flash of light shone in our direction.
“Hey, get out of the fountain,” a voice boomed.
“Security guard,” Shawn explained. “Run.”
“We grabbed our shoes and bolted, taking of
f down the sidewalk. Once we were out of sight from the guard, we stopped, panting and laughing.
“Are you hungry?” Shawn asked as I slid my shoes back on my dirty feet.
“Starving,” I answered.
“I know a good place to eat. It’s just a few blocks away. Want to go?”
“We’re dripping.” I motioned to my soggy dress.
“It’s fine. It’s this taco truck that looks a little shady, but they’ve got the best tacos in town.”
“Let’s do it.”
We walked to the food stand, giggling about our near-miss on the way there.
When we got there, I sat down at a wooden picnic table while he ordered for the both of us. He returned with a tray full of tacos smothered in hot sauce. My mouth was watering.
“Do you have football tickets?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said between bites. “I don’t know a lot about it, but I heard it was fun, so I got student tickets. I went to the game the other night.”
“What did you think?”
“It was . . . interesting,” I said, searching for the right word to describe it.
He laughed. “It gets pretty intense, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of yelling and screaming, and I don’t know exactly when to cheer.”
“Basically, we’re just trying to get the ball to the other side of the field, and the opposing team is trying to stop us. It’s simple enough.”
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out. It’s kind of hard to see the field from the student seats though.”
“I can get you good tickets,” he offered.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“No, it’s fine. I get free tickets to give out. I can give you two for next weekend. You can bring your roommate.”
“That would be really cool,” I said, finishing up my late night snack.
“It’s getting late,” he said, wiping his hands on a napkin. “Do you want—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” I said. I was sobering up and I could see right through his kind façade. “I’m not staying the night with you.”
He smiled. “I was just going to offer to walk you back to the dorms. Dang, you’re sharp, aren’t you?”
“Gotta stay on my toes, you know?”
We walked back to the dorms, the water in my shoes making a squishing noise with every step. We talked about school and things on campus. I learned that he was an Exercise Science major. He said that if he couldn’t make it to the pros, he wanted to be a personal trainer at a gym.
When we got to the door, I fumbled with my keys to find the door fob.
“I had a good time with you tonight, Alice.”
“Me too.”
“Goodnight.”
Before I could open the door, he leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.
I was stunned. He smiled and turned, disappearing into the night.
I walked the four flights of stairs to my room in a complete daze. I tried not to get caught up in silly thoughts, but a cute guy just walked me home and kissed me goodnight.
Luckily, when I entered my room, Lori was already tucked into bed.
“Alice!” she exclaimed, still clearly drunk. “Did you enjoy the party?”
“Actually, I did. I’m glad you made me go with you.”
“I made out with a guy tonight,” Lori slurred.
“I know you did,” I laughed. “I think everyone does.”
I padded down the quiet hallway to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and washed my face, replaying the kiss in my head. Even if Shawn was just a one-time occurrence, it was nice to be treated well by a guy again.
Shawn
“Dude,” Jack said the next morning. “Did you manage to win the game? I saw you leave with that one girl.”
“Alice,” I said. “Yeah, we left together.”
“Did she already leave? I didn’t see any girls leave your room last night.”
“No, I walked her to her dorm. She wasn’t interested in staying over.”
“Tough break, man. I really thought you had managed to close. It’s a relief for me, though, because I struck out last night, too.”
I nodded sympathetically. “What happened?”
Jack grinned sheepishly. “I was chatting up a cute freshman girl. She was pretty drunk and she agreed to come back here with me. I even warned the other guys in my room that I would need a little privacy. Well, we make it inside, and she’s all over me. She starts taking off her shirt, even though there’s guys around. Mind you, they’re all passed out on the couches, but still.”
“So how’d she get away? Sounds to me like you had it wrapped up.”
“This is where it gets interesting. About a minute later, her friend comes in here and starts screaming at us. I had no idea what was going on. Apparently, my girl had bought some drugs off this intruder and told her that she had to stop at her house to get money to pay her back. She begged me to loan her some, but of course I had nothing.”
“Seriously? So what did you end up doing?”
“I pushed her out the front door and locked it behind her. Not my problem.”
“That’s incredible. A little disappointing though.”
“I know. She was super-hot. I wasn’t about to spend a hundred to get her out of trouble, though.”
“I’m glad we’re on even ground again. I was going to be really pissed if you managed to pick up a girl.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“By the way, what made her so difficult to get?”
“She was blind. I’m not terribly clever with girls, so I have to use my rugged good looks to pick up chicks. I must have done well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come back with me.”
I laughed. Leave it to Jack to get himself into that kind of predicament.
“I guess we just try again next weekend,” Jack said.
I shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
“Or did you come to realize that getting rejected isn’t as fun as you thought it would be? In that case, I told you so.”
“You’re wrong there. I had more fun hanging out with one girl who didn’t strip down for me at will than I’ve had with the last five girls I’ve slept with.”
“Seriously? Give me details on this mystery woman.”
“I don’t really know anything about her except for the fact that she’s a freshman and she has an asshole ex-boyfriend that she’s still in love with.”
“I’ve seen that before. Either they sleep around with the whole school for revenge or they sulk in their dorm room forever.”
“Funny you should say that—I told her that she should dance with me to make him jealous. It actually worked.”
“She fell for your trick?”
“No. Well, yes, but also, I think it did make him jealous. He was giving me the dirtiest looks as I was pressed up against his girl. It made it all the more fun.”
“So you just danced together and you walked her home? Sounds pretty innocent. Not like you at all.”
“Well, we went for a dip in the fountain, but then we were chased away by the rent-a-cops. Then, we got some food and talked for a bit. After that, I walked her back. That was it.”
“Sounds adorable,” Jack said mockingly.
“That reminds me. I need to put her name on my football tickets for next weekend.”
“Wow,” Jack said. “Don’t tell me that you’re still trying to use her for this bet. She’s a lost cause, man. At best, you have a new little friend to tease you out of your mind. She’s not going to sleep with you.”
“I don’t even care,” I said lazily. “She’s a cool chick.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t like where this is going. Game or not, Shawn Rider is not the guy who settles down with a nice girl.”
“I’m hardly settling down. We hung out one time. I think I want to hang out with her again.”
“Whatever,” Jack said, backing o
ut of my room. “Just don’t let her mess with your mind. You’ve got football to worry about and a reputation to uphold.”
I didn’t like having to defend myself. If I wanted to see a girl again, what was the harm in that? Admittedly, I did feel a little spark between us, but I didn’t know if it was the thrill of the chase or something more. Alice was different from the girls I usually saw. Something about her made me want to get to know her.
Every time I walked through campus that week, I kept an eye out for the tiny girl with long braids. I even went out of my way to walk by the psychology building, but she was nowhere to be found. It was a huge university, and I didn’t even know what her class schedule was like.
I went to the ticket office and had them set aside a pair for Alice and her roommate. I felt like an idiot when the lady asked me for their names. I couldn’t remember if Alice had told me her last name, and I certainly didn’t remember hearing her roommate’s name. I quickly told the lady to write “Alice and guest” and then bolted before she could ask any more questions.
The morning of the game, I woke up with a stomachache. I was nervous about the game. Not only were we playing our first big matchup of the season, but I was worried that Alice would change her mind and not show up. Even worse, what if she got back together with her ex and brought him?
I don’t know what I would do if I found out that she just used me. Sure, I used girls all the time for a night of fun and dumped them pretty rapidly. Girls used me too, for prestige and the occasional article of free team clothing I got on a regular basis. As far as I could see, it was an even trade. However, I felt like I really put myself out there for Alice. I was interested in what she had to say, and I didn’t even try to push my luck with her.
“Are you ready, Rider?” Coach asked me as I was spacing off during his pep talk.
“Yes, Coach,” I responded.
“Good. We need everyone to have their best game today. If we all stay focused, we can take down their offense.”
The guys were getting amped up, and I was trying to get into the mood, too. I would feel better if I knew that Alice was there supporting me.
We took to the field. The band played the school song and the crowd roared. The atmosphere on a game day could not be beat. Nothing felt better than thousands of fans cheering your name.
Lethal Seduction: A CIA Romantic Suspense (CIA Agents Book 1) Page 26
