I couldn’t say I was particularly surprised, though, because from what Brody had told me, the Masons were wealthy. Brody was set to take over his dad’s company if he could figure out how to finish his business degree. Hopefully I wouldn’t fuck all this up for him. Or myself. Or for Sophia, for that matter.
“All right, well, it’s been real… I’m sure Sophia wants to finish unpacking.” When no one budged, I added, “And I need to shave my balls.”
Emma started giggling like a second grader, and Gina and Aamee looked disgusted and were already heading toward the door. Since that was the point, I was proud of myself for my quick thinking.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” Aamee said to Sophia. “Though not at the sorority house, obviously.”
“Well, I’m still allowed there. I’m not kicked out of the sorority.”
“Right,” Aamee answered, and it looked like it pained her to do so. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Brody.”
The way she said “pleasure” gave me the chills—and not the good kind.
“Nice to meet you too.”
Once the three of them had left, I closed the door and locked it. Sophia and I didn’t say anything right away. We just looked at each other, both fighting back smiles until we couldn’t any longer.
“I’m not sure whether I should address the ball shaving first or the fact that you basically gave me a nickname that’s associated with one of the most annoying breeds of dog ever.”
I shrugged. “I’ve never been great under pressure.”
“I can see that,” she said, but thankfully she was still smiling. “This is going to be an interesting living situation.”
“You can always go back and live with Aamee.”
“Technically I can’t,” she said.
“Then I guess you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future.”
“Guess you’re stuck with me too.”
Chapter Three
D R E W
I opened the door to Brody’s apartment, only to find every light off and total silence. Sophia was either a hardcore partier or she was already asleep. My bet was on the latter. Not that I could blame her. I’d have loved to have been sleeping at almost three a.m., but I had a job to maintain.
While being Brody had some advantages—namely taking business courses for free and not paying rent—there was also a distinct disadvantage: having to maintain my job as a bartender so I could pay my other bills and feed myself.
Burning the candle at both ends would’ve been harder had Brody not stacked most of his classes in the afternoons. The guy might have been in school longer than some doctors—and didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree to show for it—but he wasn’t a total idiot. Getting up before noon was overrated.
I toed off my shoes and left them next to the door. No way did I want to track the grossness from the bar into Brody’s apartment. As I tried to find a lamp, I banged into an end table, causing the plastic legs to screech across the floor. I reached out to steady it, and my hand connected with the remote.
Figuring the TV could provide some light, I felt around for the large button near the top and pressed it. Music blared from the Bluetooth speaker, and I jumped, causing me to knock into the table again.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” I tried pushing the same button again, but the music didn’t stop. I think it actually got louder.
Panic began to set in. I smacked the remote into my palm repeatedly, as if assaulting the damn thing would get it to do what I needed it to. When that didn’t work, I moved toward the speaker, only to stub my toe on the couch three steps into my journey.
In a move that would’ve impressed a seasoned ballet dancer, I twirled around on my good foot while holding my other and landed on my back on the couch, which made a loud thump when all my weight came down on it.
“Fuck my life. And this couch.”
As I lay there groaning and clutching my injured toe, a light flipped on, and I craned my head around in time to see Sophia turn off the speaker before putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me.
She really had the “if looks could kill” vibe down. I’d bet she could deter a mugger with the force of that look alone.
“Are you auditioning for the circus in here? Seriously, what the hell? It’s the middle of the night.”
I laboriously moved around on the couch until I was sitting up. “Sorry. I just got home, and it was like a comedy of errors on the path to disaster.”
“Comedies are funny. Making so much noise it sounds like the apartment is being ransacked isn’t funny.”
“I said I was sorry.”
She stared at me for a second longer before taking a deep breath. “Listen, I know what you do is none of my business, but I have a GPA to maintain. Also, marketing majors are a dime a dozen, so I have to stand out. And I’m assuming part of the deal with my brother is that you actually pass his classes. So maybe being out till all hours of the night isn’t your best move.”
Despite the fact that I was being lectured at, what she said gave me pause enough that I didn’t immediately defend myself. While it had never occurred to me not to pass Brody’s classes, Brody had never actually requested that I pass them, probably because he wasn’t used to passing any himself. He’d made it clear that I had to go to class, but he never said I had to put any effort into it beyond that. His complete lack of concern for his future was almost enviable.
“Whatever,” Sophia muttered as she spun to go back down the hall toward her room.
I must’ve taken too long to respond, and she’d taken my silence for the “screw you” I kind of wanted to say out loud because what the fuck?
“Wait,” I called.
She stopped short and slowly turned around, as if she was doing me a big favor by listening to me. They must teach rich girls this shit in etiquette school.
“I wasn’t out at a rave. I didn’t stumble in wasted. I had to work tonight, I’m exhausted, and it was pitch-black when I came in. I was trying to be quiet, but I’m not the most graceful guy in the world. It won’t happen again.” After I thought about my last statement for a second, I amended it. “Well, it might, but I’ll try to avoid it.”
Even though I shouldn’t give a shit what this girl thought about me, I felt myself waiting for her response like it mattered. I couldn’t figure out why it was important to me that she knew I wasn’t some immature punk. Sure, we’d be living together, but I didn’t have any intention of getting to know her. Not really. But it was important, and I watched her anxiously as I waited for her to reply.
“I didn’t realize you had to work. I’ll try to remember to leave a light on for you so you don’t wake the whole neighborhood next time you come home.”
It wasn’t the most bountiful of olive branches, but I’d grown up with enough crazy sisters to know I’d better accept it for what it was—insulting wrapping paper with a small apology nestled inside.
“I’d appreciate that.”
She nodded once at me before turning and going into the bedroom. I heard the snick of the lock on the door after she closed it. She clearly still hadn’t ruled out the possibility of my being a homicidal lunatic.
That was okay. We’d get there. Or not.
S O P H I A
I’d lain in bed for what felt like hours after I’d given Drew a hard time. The truth was, I’d had a mini heart attack when all his noise had woken me up, and the fear had turned to anger when I’d seen him writhing around on the couch.
I’d immediately assumed he’d come home drunk, which was all I would’ve needed. This situation was messed up enough without having to share a small apartment for the foreseeable future with a reckless partier.
When he’d said that he’d been at work all night, guilt had crept in and diffused my irritation. I really hated when that happened. Being angry was much easier than feeling bad.
I’d finally fallen asleep, but it seemed like my alarm went off minutes later. Of course, Drew’s late-night inte
rpretive dance in the dark had to happen when I had my earliest class of the semester the next morning.
I’d dragged myself through a shower and stopped to grab the biggest coffee I could before hauling ass to class. I hadn’t remembered to reset the alarm with an earlier time that would accommodate my longer walk, but I still managed to make it to class before the professor.
I felt all kinds of discombobulated when I slid into a seat and dug through my bag for my laptop. As I struggled to make room on the small desk for my MacBook, my phone, and the coffee that I wished I could mainline into my body, I registered someone taking the seat next to me. Once I had everything settled, I looked over casually and then did a double take when I saw Emma sitting beside me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have a class down the hall and I saw you walk by, so I thought I’d come say hey.”
“Okay,” I replied, drawing the word out in my confusion. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Emma held eye contact with me but didn’t say anything more.
After a few seconds, I started to get weirded out. “Did you take an entire bottle of NoDoz again?”
“No. I was just trying to figure out who you are. Because you’re not the Sophia I thought I knew.”
I exhaled loudly and slumped in my chair. “I can’t do”—I waved my hands in front of her—“whatever this is today. Just come direct.”
She leaned closer to me like she was about to impart state secrets. “Why would you never tell your best friends how hot your brother is? It’s like…girl code.”
“It’s really not.”
“Well, it’s something, and Gina and I feel some kind of way about it.”
This conversation was a mental minefield I was not caffeinated enough to handle. Lying to my best friends in the sorority wasn’t something I was keen on doing, but I couldn’t trust them either. Emma would never intentionally betray my confidence, but she simply wasn’t built to keep secrets. And I could not risk the truth getting back to Aamee. She’d burn Brody and me like we were Salem witches.
“He’s my brother,” I said, hoping that would explain it.
“Please,” Emma said as she flipped a strand of her auburn hair over her shoulder. “Just because you’re related doesn’t mean you can’t see what’s right in front of you.”
I want to be literally anywhere else right now.
Because, yeah, I could have objectively evaluated my brother’s attractiveness. Was Brody hot? Sure, if you were into underachieving guys with Peter Pan Syndrome. But my sorority sisters were suckers for a boy with a pretty face, even if he didn’t come highly recommended. And the fact that the guy she was really referring to wasn’t even related to me was even worse because it meant I had to tread more carefully.
I’d ordinarily have had no qualms about remarking on the hotness that was Drew Nolan. From his long, lean frame, to his slightly lopsided smile that made him look like he was up to no good, to the way he at least seemed to be a decent person, there was a lot to remark on. But I couldn’t resort to my usual girl talk about him. He wasn’t some stranger I’d stumbled upon—even if they didn’t know that.
So I had to keep my urge to gush about how sexy he was firmly within the confines of my inner monologue. And I couldn’t have them sniffing around trying to hit on him either. So I did what anyone would do in my situation.
I panicked.
“He likes dick!” I blurted out loud enough to cause the entire room to abruptly stop what they were doing. I cleared my throat and whispered to a bug-eyed Emma, “He’s gay.”
Just then, I noticed my professor standing by the doorway, staring at me. My male professor…who had a husband at home. Fuck. My. Life.
Emma slid out of the chair. “I’m just gonna…” She motioned over her shoulder.
I nodded as she practically sprinted from the room. Dr. Cranston regained his composure and walked over to his desk, dropping his bag and some other items onto it.
“Okay, let’s get started,” he said. “Take out your copies of Crime and Punishment, which you should have completed by today. I want to review an important section on page two seventeen. Sophia, you seem to have a lot to say this morning. Would you read the first paragraph on that page that highlights the main character’s abnormal behavior for us?”
I’d honestly thought the day couldn’t have gotten any worse. Until I realized I’d forgotten my book.
Chapter Four
S O P H I A
I barely processed anything during class. I was too busy obsessing over whether I should address the gay elephant in the room. While my instinct was to run away, drop the class, and never return to the liberal arts building for the rest of my academic career, I couldn’t leave with one of my favorite professors thinking I’d been gossiping about him. So I hung back while everyone filtered out at the end of class.
Dr. Cranston was classically handsome, with his styled dark hair and chiseled jaw. His intelligence and wit only enhanced his appeal, and I really hoped I hadn’t decimated his opinion of me.
“Excuse me, Dr. Cranston? Could I speak to you for a second?”
He glanced up at me briefly before checking his watch. “I have another class, but I can spare a couple of minutes. What can I do for you?”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unsure of where to begin. Finally, I just let words fly out of my mouth and hoped they made sense.
“I’m sorry about what happened at the beginning of class. I wasn’t talking about you.”
He lifted one brow slightly.
“I know what I said was insensitive either way. Vulgar, really. But I promise it wasn’t about you. My friend was… God, this is an awkward conversation.” I muttered the last words as I wiped my hand down my face.
Somehow my honesty pulled a laugh from him, and the sound broke the tension.
“It’s really okay, Sophia. I was just a little…thrown by your outburst. But it’s reassuring to know that you at least weren’t talking about me.”
“No, I know. I just didn’t want you to think I was gossiping about you behind your back. I’m a much more up-front gossiper.” I smiled.
“Good to know. Though I have to say, it did sound like you were gossiping about someone. And depending on his circumstances, they may not want that information shared with a room full of undergrads.”
“It’s not a secret.” It’s not even true. “My friend was interested in my brother, and I had to make it clear why she didn’t have a shot with him.”
“Ah,” he said, his smile wide. “Well, I think his sexual orientation is abundantly clear to everyone now. I’m glad he has you to fight off the female populace for him.”
“I don’t think he’s nearly as glad as he should be, but I’ll let him know you said he should be more grateful.”
He gathered up his things. “Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll see you next week.”
“You too, and I’ll be here.”
I watched Dr. Cranston walk out the door, and as soon as he was out of sight, I dropped my hands onto the desk and bent over, taking deep breaths through my nose and releasing them through my mouth, as if I was staving off an anxiety attack.
Where’s a paper bag when I need one?
When I’d finally collected myself, I made my way out of the building and into the sunshine, thankful for its warmth. I didn’t have a class for another hour and a half, so my plan was to grab a snack and hang out in the quad to enjoy the weather.
There was nothing I loved more than being outside on beautiful days, and Lazarus University was the perfect place to enjoy the sunshine that made the well-manicured lawns gleam and the flowers bloom even wider. As I walked down the maze of walkways that joined the Gothic-style buildings, I dodged clusters of students talking about who knew what, but their voices provided a steady soundtrack to my journey across campus.
I hiked my bag up higher on my shoulder before heading in the direction of the on-campus coffee shop called Rise and Grind. I d
on’t think I made it twenty feet before I heard my name being called.
By the time I located the direction the voice was coming from, Carter had already jogged up beside me.
“Hey,” he said. “I meant to text you, but football’s been crazy. How’d everything go with Aamee?”
He fell into step beside me as I spoke. “Oh, it went awesome. Up until she held some kind of pagan ritual and kicked me out of the sorority house.”
That caused him to stop suddenly. “Wait, are you fucking serious? She kicked you out because I fell asleep? She can’t really do that, can she?”
“Apparently her Royal Highness can do whatever she damn well pleases. But don’t worry. I plan to scour the sorority’s code of conduct and find a way back in.” I hadn’t really thought of doing that up until the words had left my mouth, but as I processed them, I felt the conviction in them. There had to be a loophole or a rule somewhere that would get me back into the house.
“Man, she’s a savage. I didn’t think she’d be that extreme.”
“Eh, I kinda did. She’s been shaking her milkshake in your direction for four years in an attempt to bring you to her yard. I knew she’d be pissed.”
Carter looked thoughtful for a moment. “That’s probably the least sexy reference to that song I’ve ever heard.”
“Being the least sexy is kind of a hobby of mine.”
He laughed and bumped his shoulder against mine. “Yeah right, princess.”
My face scrunched up. “Don’t call me that. I hate nicknames.”
I heard a throat clear behind us. “Is that so, Fifi?”
Carter and I whirled around to see Aamee standing behind us. I had no idea how long she’d been standing there, but judging from the smug smile on her face, I doubted she’d heard much. She’d have been plotting how to make my death look like an accident if she’d heard me tell Carter about her milkshake.
“Fifi?” Carter asked.
Never Have You Ever (The Love Game Book 1) Page 3
