Crushed (Rushed #2) (10 page)

She could pull away any time she wanted. I released her hand until our fingertips were barely touching.

She grabbed my fingers and pulled close to me. "Bastard!" But she was laughing as we reached the edge of the park between downtown and the big apartment complex up the hill.

I stopped abruptly. She slid into me. I caught her, holding her by both arms. There was a second when our eyes met and we had a real connection.

As I lowered my head to kiss her, she looked away. "It's a maze up there."

"One of my frat brothers lives in the apartments. I know my way through." My heart was pounding. Disaster averted.

I led the way as we cut up the hill, through the apartment breezeway, and came out behind the engineering labs. I held my hand out to her. "We're back on asphalt. It's slick."

She took my hand without hesitation. I walked to the back door, with Morgan clinging to me. "They never lock this door." I pulled it open for her.

A blast of hot air blew out.

"Toasty," Morgan said. The clang of the ancient heaters made her jump. "And scary."

I laughed. "Perfect pre-Halloweekend atmosphere."

"Don't remind me! The only Saturday Halloween of my college career and I'm on social probation." Morgan frowned and made a face. "This place should be condemned."

"Yeah, but it's warm."

"It's a maze," she said.

"Good thing I left breadcrumbs last time I was here." I didn't drop her hand. And she didn't pull it free.

"Lead on, Hansel."
 

"Whatever you say." I took off running, pulling her with me. We ran hand in hand, laughing as we ran around corners and past bare pipes. Past things that went bump in the night. Past the inner workings of the heat plant that generated the steam for the heated sidewalks around campus. By the time we reached the far side of the building, I was sweating.

I paused at the door, reluctant to let go of the mood. "Fifty feet and the heated sidewalks start. Think they've turned them on?"

"In our dreams." She looked at me with sparkling eyes. "What are you waiting for? You've taken me this far."

I wanted to take her, period.

"Do I detect a note of trust in your voice?"

She smiled. "No, that's hero worship." She linked her arm through mine and clutched my bicep.
 

Outside, the coating of ice was growing thicker and the heated sidewalks were off, as predicted. But we were up the hill and beneath tree cover as we hit the edge of Greek Row. It was just after eight, on the early side, but parties were gearing up, despite the bad weather. Guys were out, sliding down the roads and showing off.

"The frat's just ahead." I hesitated. "Why don't you come in for a while? Warm up. Wait for the storm to pass."

"This ice isn't going to melt until morning." She paused. "Are you inviting me to spend the night?" Her voice was soft, almost sorry, but it was hard to read her expression in the dark.

I swallowed hard against my desire for her. "We have beer, obviously. And I have an excellent selection of T-shirts at your disposal for a shacker shirt."

"Dak." She bit her lip. "As your sobriety buddy it's my duty to tell you that beer is off limits. Didn't you learn anything from class?"
 

She looked so damn hot with her pink cheeks and nose.
 

I leaned in close to her. "So come in and save me from myself."

"Dak." Her cold breath curled skyward on a sigh.

I knew from her tone what she was going to say before she said it. I waited for it anyway, feeling like a fool in the freezing rain.

"I'm your sobriety buddy, not your fuck buddy." She looked away. "I'm not that kind of girl." She laughed softly.

This was news to me. "Since when?"

She bit her lip and gave me a pointed look. "Since you almost ran me over."

"That's cruel."

"That's true," she said. "Take heart—you were my last hookup." She smiled again. "It's time to stop screwing around and find a real relationship. Obviously, as my dad says, I need someone steady." She waited a beat. "You can run for the hills now."

I stood my ground. "Why would I run?"

"'Cause that's what hookup partners do." Maybe she was just being coy. If she was, it was working. "Anyway, I don't mean
with you
."

"Thanks for that," I said. "I appreciate the concern."

She laughed again. "You're welcome. FYI, it's never wise to hookup with old hookups."

I sighed and shook my head. "You've been reading that fucking sorority advice website again. What's it called?" I tried to think of the name. "The one with great articles like 'Fifty reasons guys don't need blowjobs' and 'Ten ways girls with flat butts rule.'" I stared at her and tried to cover. "By the way, they're wrong."

"Girls with flat butts don't rule?" She grinned.

"Guys definitely need blowjobs."

"Why Dak, you actually read." The flirt was back in her voice, like she was trying to defuse, too. "Your choice of reading material, though. Are you trying to get in touch with your feminine side?"

"Just a confused guy trying to figure out the opposite sex."

"And?"

"Confused as ever."

She studied me. "The day we figure each other out is the day the mystery of love dies." She shook her head. "If you really have read that article, then you know it's true. Guys don't need a blowjob to get them excited." She held my gaze, but her lips twitched like she was trying not to laugh. "I've never seen a limp dick."

"That's purely anecdotal evidence. I've seen plenty of limp dicks."

She held my gaze. "Prove it. Show me yours right now." She reached for my crotch.

I arched away and grabbed her hand. "Come inside and I'd be happy to. Not out here. It's too cold. I don't want to risk shrinkage and have you get the wrong idea."

"I've seen it all before. I know the size of your package."

"Don't tell me you're not tempted."

She just smiled. "Relationships only work when both parties know and respect the boundaries. We're sobriety buddies, Dak. I'm here for you, in a sobriety sort of way. I gotta go."
 

"Damn. I was going to show you my new video game." I leered at her for effect.

"I'm sure you were." She turned.

I caught her arm. "I'll walk you home."

Morgan

At the sorority house, Seth and Dillon were spreading sand and de-icer on the front walkway.
 

Dakota paused where the walkway to the sorority house met the sidewalk that ran along the street.
 

"I think I can make it by myself from here." I shook my hand free from his as I caught a glimpse of Alexis in the front window. What was she—the house police?

Dakota waved enthusiastically to her. I didn't know why I should have been jealous, but I was. Their relationship was off kilter and odd. After he'd caught her in bed with his best friend, how could they still be friends?

He turned back to me. "Sure? It's slick. I don't mind."

I nodded, suddenly possessive and reluctant to let him go. "Seth and Dillon will rush to my aid if I need them." Well, Seth might. Dillon would love to see me land on my butt. "Thanks."

Before Dakota turned to leave, I kissed him. Lightly. A bare brush of my lips on his that rocked me all the way to my toes with the innocent pleasure of it. I didn't know why I did it. Sudden impulse, I guessed. To protect Dakota and show Alexis that he was over her.
 

I turned before he could react, or I could see it. I was weak and liable to tumble into his bed again too easily. But I was through with my lusty-hookup phase and my-longing-for-a-guy-I-couldn't-have phase, and on a quest for true love. Yeah, that sounded sappy. But whatever. I slid up the walkway to the house, trying to mask my expression.
 

Seth looked up from his work, catching me by the elbow as I wobbled near him. His eyes narrowed as he studied me. "A little early to be coming home, isn't it?"

He was teasing, yet he sounded relieved. There was no love lost between him and Dakota. Seth was firmly in Zach's camp and not fond of frat boys in general.

"On the contrary, it's a little slippery to be out." I winked at him, giving him the impression it was dicey being with Dakota. "And getting worse by the minute."
 

I had to force myself not to turn and watch as Dakota walked away. I stretched out my hand for Seth to help me up the steps. "Have you de-iced these?"

"First thing." He took my hand. "But it's a losing battle. At the risk of sounding like our dads, we've been warning the girls to stay in tonight."

"That's a fool's errand."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Seth held the door open for me.
 

Inside, the house was warm and toasty and filled with two kinds of girls—those who weren't going to let a little freezing rain ruin their Saturday night, and those who valued their lives. The latter group being the smaller of the two.

Alexis was sitting on the sofa in the living room with her arms crossed, glaring at me like I was public enemy number one. In her mind, I was. Never one to cower, and remembering the admonition to get along with her, I walked over and plunked myself next to her.
 

"Lovely weather we're having." I made a point of evaluating her outfit. "Yogas and a sweatshirt. You'd better get dressed and join the partying marauding hordes before they've all departed. You don't want to miss all the best parties."

Since Zach had gone home to recover, Alexis had been a regular bore. She never went out. I was poking at a raw wound and I knew it. But sometimes you had to do what you had to do. As her big, it was my duty to make sure she behaved like a proper Double Deltsie. She was only a few months into her freshman year. She needed to get out and live a little while she could. Before she became an upperclassman and the pressures of studies wore her down and took the sheen off her party edge.
 

She gave me a pointed look. "Look who's talking."

I flashed her the evil smile I was famous for, the one that put fear in the heart of every pledge. Sometimes being the wicked witch of the house was a power trip. "I've been out."
 

If you're an upperclassman you really should master that stare for your own good. It's never wise to let freshman have the upper hand.

"I noticed," she said. "Stay away from Dakota."

"Are you offering me unfriendly advice?" I laughed. "Take it from me, I won't heed it. It's not in my nature. Not even if it was friendly advice. I'm odd like that. And as for Dakota, you forfeited any claim on him when you slept with Zach behind his back. You can't have them both. I should know." I laughed, unable to hold back my bitterness.

Alexis' eyes snapped. She was supremely peeved. I recognized myself in them. I didn't like what I saw.

"Dakota doesn't forgive girls who use him to get to Zach." I had firsthand experience there, too. I was curious about how he and Alexis could still pal around together. And suspicious. Something wasn't right about it.

"I wasn't using him—" She stopped short. "Dakota and I are still friends."

"Then that's something we have in common," I said. "He and I are friends, too."

She shot me a look oozing with skepticism.

Victoria and Kelly bounded down the focal staircase, laughing and joking. They were dressed in tight jeans and full makeup, obviously on their way somewhere. Vicki spotted us sitting on the sofa. Her face lit up.

"Look at you two—big and little hanging out together. It warms my twin heart!" Vicki clutched her hands in front of her heart for emphasis in a corny gesture designed to make me gag, and flashed us a big smile.

I knew that smile. She was warning me not to botch things. The standards board wasn't going to be appeased until I ate crow and made up with Alexis. If you can make up with someone you've never been close to in the first place.