“What are you reading, Karrie?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the screen.
“Romance,” she replied.
“Oh, like, John Hughes type?”
Ridge chuckled. He was always making fun of my love of eighties romantic comedies. What could I say, they were my way of escaping as a kid, when shit at home was too much to bear.
“Nah, she doesn’t like reading about weak-chinned, pussy boy men like you grew up worshiping. She likes the assholes with a heart of gold.”
“Hmmm, sounds about right,” Brody quipped with a grin at our brother.
Ridge turned on him in the game and opened fire.
“Hey,” Brody complained.
“Friendly fire,” Ridge replied with a grin.
“They’re called Alphas, and yeah, totally different than characters like Andrew McCarthy’s in Pretty in Pink. Ugh, I hated that guy,” Karrie stated, then went back to her book.
“His character was the worst,” I agreed. “But, he’s the type that always gets the girl.”
“Not in my world,” was her reply.
A couple hours later, Ridge and Karrie were gone, Brody had escaped to his room, and I was cleaning up.
“She left her book,” I muttered into the empty room, picking up the paperback with a dark-haired, shirtless guy on the front, and big bold font covering the bottom of the page.
I turned it over and read the back, curious to see what the fuss was about.
Looking around to make sure Brody hadn’t come back out for anything, I tucked the book under my arm and turned out the lights.
Maybe it was time for me to forget everything I thought I knew about the type of guys girls wanted. It obviously hadn’t worked out for me so far … There weren’t a bevy of women knocking down my door, and Trixie had never looked at me as anything more than a friend.
A little research might help me take Papi’s suggestion to become the kind of guy Trixie wouldn’t be able to ignore. I’d start with Karrie’s book, and see what college girls were into these days.
Three
Trixie
“Hey, Trix, I want to ask you something, and although your first instinct is going to be to say no, just hear me out.”
I looked over at Jude as I continued shoving my folders into my backpack.
“Shoot, but keep it brief, I have to get to the office.”
I had a class in an hour and wanted to stop by the paper to check on everyone’s progress for the next issue.
“There’s a huge party this weekend on Greek Row. A couple different houses are putting it together. The street will be shut down, they’ve hired some food trucks, and there’s even some talk of a huge slip n slide. It’s going to be the party of the year.”
“Sounds like an emergency room visit waiting to happen,” I said dryly.
A slip n slide, seriously? Was no one concerned about safety anymore?
“You really have become the fun police, haven’t you?” Jude replied, obviously exasperated. “Look, I asked Starla to go … I’ve decided I’m done waiting for her to realize what a catch I am and just go for it. I’m tired of seeing her flirt with other guys when I know how good we’d be together. I have something all planned out for that night, but I need her to be at the party. Of course, she said she’d only go if you did…”
I eased one strap of my bag over my shoulder and asked, “What houses?” Even though I knew what he was going to say. Jude wouldn’t look so worried about my possible refusal if he didn’t have a reason to.
“Tau, Gamma, and … Delta.” The last he practically whispered.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Come on, Trix, you can’t avoid Greek Row for the rest of your time here, we still have a year and a half for crying out loud. Are you telling me you’re never going to a party again?”
“There are other parties,” I shot back, my stomach clenching at the thought of going to a Delta party.
Sure, I’d run into a few of the guys in the last year. In classes and around campus, but I didn’t need them to tell me I wouldn’t be welcome at their house. I already knew. I mean, yeah, technically, as the winner of Crush’s bullshit makeover deal for rush last year, part of my prize was an open invitation to Delta until I graduated, but after I published the article, I’d never gone back.
I wasn’t sure they’d even consider my win valid after everything that happened.
“Right,” Jude agreed, his eyes pleading. “But, not like this one … and none that’ll have the film students there, waiting to record my big idea to get Starla to see me as someone other than one of the best friends she made at orientation.”
“What do you mean? What do you have planned?” I asked, unable to hide my curiosity, despite my initial desire to say no to the party.
“Remember how she was in the production of West Side Story last year, and how she said it was the most romantic thing she’d ever been a part of and wished they made guys like that still?”
I blinked at him.
Damn, he has it sooo bad.
“I do.”
“Well, since the street will be full of people and there’ll be lots going on around us, I’ve got it set up to do the scene where Tony and Maria meet. One of the guys in Starla’s class is in Tau, and he’s going to have the music ready and the video camera rolling. We’ll do the dance, then I’ll tell her how I feel.”
“You’ll do the dance?” I asked, thinking of the last time I saw Jude dance at the bar.
It wasn’t good.
He nodded. “I’ve been practicing.”
I felt my cold, dead heart give a violent lurch in my chest.
“That’s really sweet,” I told him. “She’s gonna love it.”
Jude’s eager expression turned to concern.
“What if she doesn’t?” he asked, looking so forlorn I crossed to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“She will, I know it.”
“But, Trix, this is the whole reason I’ve kept my feelings to myself all this time. What if she shoots me down and says she only wants to be friends? I don’t know if I’ll still be able to live here, to be around her knowing she doesn’t feel the same.”
“Hey, I know it’s a risk, and I understand why you’ve held back all this time. But, Jude, your idea is perfect. She will love it. And, if for some reason it doesn’t go the way you hope, well, at least you’ll know. You’ll be able to stop wondering and torturing yourself, and you can figure out what to do next. But, if you never put yourself out there, there’s no way you’ll get what you want.”
“I know,” he said, closing his eyes and dropping his chin. “I’ve gone over every possible scenario in my head a million times, and you’re right … I can’t keep going on like this … pretending I only want to be her friend when I want so much more. I’m going to do this, but I need your help getting her there.”
“Jude…”
He interlocked his fingers and held his hands out to me pleadingly.
“Please, Trix. I know you hate the Deltas, but this plan is perfect.”
“I don’t hate them,” I countered with a sigh. “Most of them were actually pretty cool, it was just the one guy, and he’s not there anymore.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s not that I hate them, but they hate me,” I clarified. “And, I don’t blame them, Jude. I lied. Not about the makeover bit, Wes and I were totally out in the open about what that was, but I lied to Wes about why I was doing it and then wrote that article. Wes felt betrayed, and I can’t blame him ... I’d feel the same if it was the other way around.”
“It’s been a long time, almost a year. You don’t think he’s over it?”
“We saw him at the bar the other night, and he wouldn’t even look at me. I don’t think he is.”
“Well, maybe it’s time you apologize.” I shot him a look and he held up his hands in surrender. “Not about the article, because you did what you had to do and everything you said
was the truth. But, you can be sorry about lying to the guy you became friends with. You should tell him.”
I gnawed on my lower lip and asked, “What if he doesn’t want to hear it?”
“What did you just say to me? It’s a risk, but…”
I let out a sharp laugh and smacked him on the arm.
“Fine,” I said, reluctantly, nerves already ravaging my insides. “I’ll go. But, I’m only doing it because I love you and Starla, and I want you guys to be together so badly that I’m willing to eat humble pie to make it happen.”
Jude threw his arms around me and said, “Thanks, Beatrice, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
I pulled back and glared up at him.
“Call me that again and you won’t be able to dance this weekend … you’ll still be walking funny from the impact of my knee to your balls.”
Four
Wes
“What are you watching? Have you been up all night?”
I glanced over at Brody, eyes blurry from too much late-night binging, and blinked rapidly to bring him into focus.
He stood at the entrance to the living room, hair sticking up all over, scratching his butt absently as he yawned. Shifting my eyes to the clock on the microwave, I squinted to try and read the blue lights, but it was no use … I couldn’t see shit.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Seven. Don’t you have to be at the pool in like thirty minutes?” Brody asked.
“Shit!” I yelled, jumping up off the couch before turning and fumbling through the blanket in search of the remote.
I had swim practice every weekday morning, and some weekends, and our coach did not like it if we missed without prior permission. It made sense, he didn’t want his team missing practice due to hangovers and such.
I pressed pause on the TV and told Brody, “Don’t mess with that.”
“What? Are you saying I can’t watch TV?”
“No, you can, just don’t lose my place on this show.”
“What the hell even is it?”
“Lucifer,” I told him.
“And why in the hell would I want to watch that?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “Actually … why are you watching it?”
“I heard some girls in class talking about it. Apparently they all find him sexy, in a dangerous devilish kind of way, so I thought I’d check it out and see if it was on the level with Karrie’s book I read.”
Brody blinked at me as if I’d suddenly sprouted another head.
“I was only going to watch one, but next thing you know, I’m finishing the second season and now I’m gonna be late.”
“Who even are you right now?” Brody asked with a shake of his head.
“I’m the guy who’s gonna swim for shit because he hasn’t gotten a second of sleep,” I replied dryly, then hurried out of the room.
A few minutes later I was rushing back through with my gym bag, hopping on one foot as I struggled to put my shoes on. Brody was standing at the counter, coffee cup in hand, watching me with a smirk.
“Have a good swim.”
“Fuck off,” I shouted back as I opened the door.
Fifteen minutes later I was in the locker room, putting on my suit and shoving my stuff into my locker when Whit, our captain, came around the corner.
“Hey, man, Coach told me to come back and see if you were here.”
Whit was short for Whitmore, his last name. I wasn’t even sure what his first name was.
“Yeah, sorry, Whit, I’m heading out now.”
Whit nodded before turning and heading back out to the pool.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I followed behind.
As predicted, I sucked in the water. My times were slow and I felt sluggish. What I really needed was to go home and get a good six hours of sleep before the Frat Row party tonight, but I wasn’t that lucky.
“Temple!” Coach yelled out as I started to lift myself out of the pool.
“Yes, sir?” I asked, pausing with my hands flat on the edge.
“Get back in the water. You owe me an extra hour for being late.”
I lowered myself back into the pool and kissed sleep goodbye. I’ll be lucky to get four hours at this rate.
An hour later, I eased myself all the way out of the pool and trudged into the dressing room to shower and get dressed.
I was completely exhausted, and as I made my way home I wished we didn’t have the biggest party of the season going on that night. Yeah, shutting down the street and combining our houses for a giant street party had sounded great when I’d first learned of it, but after my night with Lucifer and the gang, I was less than thrilled at the thought of all of those drunk people crowding me and making a mess that I’d inevitably have to help clean up tomorrow.
No, I was no longer a pledge, but I was the low man on the totem pole, and with a party as big as this one was expected to be, it would be all hands on deck in the morning, or the dean of the school would have our asses.
“You look like ass,” Brody said when I walked into our place and shut the door behind me.
“Thanks, bro,” I said sarcastically.
Brody just grinned at me from his perch on the couch. He had books spread out all around him and his laptop on his lap.
“I’m going to grab some sleep. If I’m not up by four, will you wake me? I’m supposed to go to Delta and help set up.”
“I have to go in early anyway, I can cover for you if you want,” Brody offered.
“I don’t know, they’ll probably have lists of stuff for you guys to do already,” I said, thinking of how much grunt work I’d had to do when I was a pledge.
“I’ll check with Ridge and if they still need you early, I’ll call you at four. If not, I’ll call around seven, does that work?”
“Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, bro.”
I went into my room and fell face first onto the bed. Within seconds, I was out.
The sound of my ringtone woke me from a deep sleep, and when I accepted the call and held it to my ear, Brody called out, “It’s seven, man, time to get up and come out to Delta. There’s still some stuff to do before the main event starts.”
“Okay, thanks,” I managed, sitting up so that I wouldn’t fall right back to sleep.
With a groan I got up and crossed to my closet. Once I pulled out a Delta T-shirt and some jeans, I went into the bathroom and started the shower.
After I showered and felt partially human again, I made myself a sandwich and grabbed a water bottle, before heading out to party central. By the time I got to the orange cones that were blocking off the street, I was feeling satisfied, refreshed, and ready to brave the night.
As I was on my way to the gaggle of Delta guys I saw crowding around the beer tent, I happened to glance to the right and noticed Crush over by the dunk tank. It looked like he was pissed. His face was scrunched up and his hands were flailing around as he yelled at whoever was in front of him.
I was about to ignore the jackass, but when I took a couple more steps, I realized he was screaming at Trixie.
Without thinking, I broke into a sprint and barreled into him, pushing him back a few feet before stepping in between him and Trixie and glaring.
“What the fuck are you doing, Crush?” I yelled.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, Wes, this is between me and your little girlfriend,” Crush seethed.
“The fuck it is … Walk away,” I ordered, standing my ground.
“Yeah? Who’s gonna make me?” Crush asked, stepping closer so he could take advantage of the inch he had over me.
“We don’t want any trouble here tonight, Crush. Listen to Wes and walk away. Leave Trixie alone.”
I knew it was Ridge speaking from just behind me, but my eyes didn’t leave Crush’s face.
“Need your brother to fight your battles for you, little Ridge?” Crush sneered. “I don’t know why you care anyway, she fucked you over just like she did me, unless … you w
ere in on it. Were you in on it the whole time, Wes? Did you all team up to get me out of Delta?”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Ridge argued. “Now, walk away, before you get blacklisted from the party.”
“It’s open to the public,” Crush countered.
“You think I give a fuck?” Ridge asked, and whatever expression he had on his face must have been good enough for Crush, because after giving us one last scowl, he turned on his heel and stormed away.
Once he was gone, I turned around slowly.
“You good?” Ridge asked.
At my nod, he glanced briefly at Trixie, before heading back to the guys by the beer tent.
Once we were alone, I turned my attention to Trixie and asked, “Are you okay?”
She blinked, then dipped her head in a nod.
When she didn’t say anything, I turned and started walking toward my brothers. I was trying to focus on the fact that Trixie couldn’t thaw enough to say a word to me, and not on how hot she looked, when her voice behind me stopped me in my tracks.
“Wes, wait.”
Five
Trixie
My heart was pounding and I felt a little shaky. But, I wasn’t sure if it was because of Crush coming out of nowhere, or Wes showing up like a badass and getting in his face.
I’d never seen Wes stand up to anyone before, certainly not a known asshat like Crush, and I have to admit, I got a little thrill from having him stand up for me. To have my back like that even after what I did proved he was the kind of guy I’d always thought.
With a little Alpha added in, which was something I hadn’t known.
Seeing him like that had thrown me off, so it took a moment for me to realize he was walking away … again.
“Wes, wait,” I called out, my eyes resting a second too long on his ass in those jeans.
He stopped and turned slowly. But, rather than saying something first, like he usually did, he watched me and waited for me to speak.
Frat House Confessions--Wes--Frat House Confessions, Book 2 Page 2
