Crushed (Rushed #2) (19 page)

She rested her hand on my arm. "You and Dakota have a special chemistry that's very rare. He can't stop looking at you. He can't keep his hands off you. He's trying to impress your family for your sake."

I wanted to strangle Dakota for playing games with me, and leading my Grandma and her weak heart on, too.

Grandma held my gaze. "He could be the one."

I looked at her like she was really crazy now, and made a scoffing noise. "I don't think so." I couldn't tell her all the reasons why. "We've been out of sync since we met. He had a thing for me our freshman year. But that moment passed. Now we're just friends." But as much as I tried to deny it, deep in my heart I wanted more.

It must have shown on my face, because she nodded. "You can lie to yourself if you want. But it won't change things. Take it from me. I knew the minute your dad brought your mom home that she was the one. And your uncle and Millie—"

I scoffed again. "And look how well Mom and Dad turned out. They hate each other now."

"They made mistakes." Her voice was gentle. "I'm standing by my advice—if you want this boy, go after him. Better to have loved and lost."

I shook my head, vehemently. "You know I chased Dakota's best friend from high school for two years?" Grandma knew about my crush on Zach. "Look how that turned out." I almost blew things, forgetting for the moment that Grandma didn't know about Dakota running over Zach. "He's in love with my little."

"He wasn't the one."

"You never saw us together."

"That was my first clue." Her eyes sparkled. "Maybe he's right for your little. Lucky escape for you."

"I don't want to do the chasing. I want the guy to pursue me."

"Fair enough." Grandma squeezed my arm. "Isn't that what Dakota's been doing all night?"
 

Another wave of nausea washed over me.
 

"Are you feeling all right?" Her look was penetrating as well as kindly. "You haven't eaten much today. Been picking at your food and looked peaked from time to time."

I nodded too quickly.

Her eyes narrowed. "Is there something you should tell me? A reason you aren't going after Dakota? Another young man?"

I shook my head.

She still looked suspicious. "If you were in trouble, you could come to me." She glanced at my abdomen.

I resisted the urge to cover my stomach with my hands. "I would. I definitely would." I forced a smile. "Just having my period. You know how that goes." I wish I knew about the immediate discomfort of periods right now.

She kept studying me. "It's been a long time. But yes, I do." She didn't look like she believed me.

I took her arm. "The boys are waiting."

Through dessert, Dad cast worried looks Grandma's way. He spoke almost as soon as she took her last bite of flan. "It's a two-hour drive home, Mom. We should be going." He signaled the waiter for the check.

Al waved the waiter away. "Forget the check, Rob. This one's on me."

Crap, now even Al was trying to impress my dad and grandma.

Dakota covered my hand with his. "Stay. Dad and I will take you home later." Damn, he practically cooed the words.

My pulse raced. I felt tingles in all the right places. I was weak, but not that weak. And so tired, I was practically dead on my feet. I pulled my hand free and stood. I had my pride. "Thanks, but Dad can drop me off."
 

I turned to Al. "It was great meeting you. Thanks for dinner." I reached behind me, grabbed my coat and purse from the back of my chair, and slid the chair back to stand.

Dakota stood with me. "I'll call you later."

I wanted to tell him not to bother. But Grandma was watching us with so damned much hope sparkling in her eyes.
Let her live vicariously a little longer
, I told myself.
If she wants to believe in true love and the one, who am I to stop her?
I nodded and let him help me with my coat and gave him a hug.

As I walked away, I turned to look back at him. He was watching me with hunger in his eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? What was he up to?

Chapter Thirteen

Dakota

I watched Morgan walk away. There's nothing as emasculating as not having a car. Not being able to drive. Being stuck in a restaurant with your dad while the girl you want, and shouldn't, leaves you standing alone like a sucker. I clenched my fist as I watched Morgan disappear.

"I like her." Dad was still sitting, watching her walk away, too. He downed the last of his beer as the waiter delivered the check.

I turned to stare at my father. "Morgan? You like
her
?" I was irrationally angry. I shook my head as I took my seat. "She has a rep as the bitch of the Delta Delta Psi house." What was I saying? I was mad as hell at Morgan for toying with me. For embarrassing me in front of my old man.
 

Dad shrugged and laughed. "Maybe I like bitches. She's funny. She's hot—"

"Dad, please—"

"What?" He shot me a teasing look. "I'm not dead yet. And I have eyes." He grinned at me. "She has you wrapped around her little finger." He pulled his credit card out and slid it into the bill folder. "Hot girl like that, what's not to love?"
 

Plenty.

The waiter swooped in and picked up the bill.

The booze had loosened Dad's tongue. "Zach comes back tomorrow, doesn't he?"

Shit. Now Dad wants to talk?
"Yeah."

"Huh."

"What does that mean?" I said.

"Nothing." He nodded toward the door. "I'd keep her away from him. You don't want to be second to Zach ever again."

I stared at him. Yeah, the old man had too much faith in me. I took a deep breath. "Too late. He's the one who pulled her out from behind my car." He had no idea how too late I was.

"And you're the guy who's helping her through the aftermath." He looked at me like he had total faith his son was a stud who could win the girl in the end. "You're a
Bradley
. We never give up. Kill her with friendship and understanding. Listen to her and sympathize. Girls love that sensitive shit."

Morgan

Sunday morning the dads packed up and left, taking their deep voices, fatherly disapproval, and pride with them. I slept late. When I got up, my stupid period still hadn't started. I'd given it fair warning. It was time to take matters into my own hands and force-start my period. Girls in the house did it all the time. You didn't want the curse to start in the middle of the spring formal. Or finals. Method number one—birth control pills—had already failed me. Number two, large quantities of ginger tea, required a trip to the grocery or health food store. I didn't have the time for that. Number three, high doses of vitamin C, consumed with tons of water.

I kept a bottle of vitamin C for cold and flu season. I filled a water bottle and swallowed several vitamin C tablets, trying not to gag them back up. Only as a last resort would I resort to method number four—sex. That was what had gotten me into this stress mess of possibly being pregnant in the first place.

I showered and dressed with care. Zach was coming back. I wanted to look good, but not so good it looked like I was trying too hard. I wanted to be just the right amount of casual Double Deltsie fineness. I did my hair and applied my makeup.
 

The house was bustling with activity when I finally finished and came downstairs, foraging for something to appease the queasiness upsetting my stomach and my nerves.
 

As I walked past the living room, Kelly was hanging crepe paper streamers. Victoria and Sarah were hanging a Welcome Home banner. A balloon bouquet waved in the entryway.
 

Zach comes back today.
The thought had been assaulting me all morning.

My heart pounded, but not with lust or love. I hadn't seen him since before he'd left. I'd popped by to thank him for saving my life. Everything had been fresh and raw then. He'd looked so battered and broken. Not like Zach. I wondered, just for a second, if I was so superficial that the sight of him not looking robust and handsome had turned me off. Or the thought that he might not really be Zach when he fully recovered. Alexis had never wavered. Was I just a coward?

I'd been so angry with Dakota then. How things had changed.
 

Danielle, a sophomore, one of the girls who'd complained her period was late, sat on a sofa, blowing up balloons. She was laughing and happy, even as she complained about cramps. A complete contrast to how I felt.

The live-in frosh Katie sat next to her, stretching a balloon in preparation to blow it up. I overheard her tell Danielle how perky she looked.
 

"Yeah." Danielle nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "The minute my dad left, the curse started. Like it was just holding out so I didn't have to mess with it while he was here." She laughed. "All weekend I worried for nothing about the worst."

I was still worried. Petrified. Queen of denial. I took a swig of water from the bottle I carried.

Kelly spotted me. "Hey! Look who's up." She thrust a package of streamers and a thing of tape at me. "Get to work. Zach will be here in a couple of hours. We need every hand." She pointed across the room. "Start there. String them so they look pretty. We'll meet in the middle."

I was curling a streamer when Alexis walked in. Her hair and makeup were perfectly done. She wore her diamond Double Deltsie necklace.

Our eyes met. I smiled like we were old pals. Like I was an encouraging big. "You must be so excited!"
 

Distrust shone in her eyes. She looked like she thought I was up to something. Get a rep as a bitch and it follows you forever. And here I thought we'd been making progress.

She still didn't completely trust me. Not with her man on the horizon. I didn't really blame her. With Zach's return imminent, I wasn't sure I trusted myself. There was a part of me that worried I would fall back into my old pattern of wanting what I couldn't have. And part of me that worried I had a new obsession.

Dakota

Dad left just after one. "Don't forget what I said," he said as he tossed his suitcase in the trunk. "Don't lose that girl to Zach. Bradleys aren't number two."

Could have fooled me. I'd been number two to Zach's QB1 for as long as I could remember. Which reminded me—shit, Zach and Alexis were the only two who knew about Jordan. Alexis had already bitched to me about how I was hanging out with Morgan. And what was I thinking? What about Jordan?

Yeah. What about her? She'd been bitching at me lately about how I was ignoring her. How I wasn't as attentive as I used to be. She was getting clingy jealous. A complete turnoff that made me avoid her even more. She was right. I'd been distracted. By Morgan. Jordan and I had been through a lot together. She'd always been faithful to me. She deserved better.

I hadn't told Zach much about me hanging with Morgan. I was sure Alexis had filled him in with what she knew. What the hell had I been thinking when I'd told Morgan I would call? It put me in the douche position of breaking my word and avoiding her rather than calling.

She'd get the wrong idea and think I wasn't interested. That I'd led her on. When the opposite was true. I burned with desire for her. I'd had a wet dream about her last night and woken with a woody that wouldn't die. I didn't trust myself around her.

Zach, Alexis. Me, Jordan, Morgan. The whole thing was a complicated pile of shit.
 

The Double Deltsies had planned a welcome home party for Zach. Kelly, the house president, had texted me specifically to invite me. More like to command my presence. There was no way I could back out. I had to go to the sorority to welcome Zach back. Wouldn't miss it, in fact.
 

I got ready with Dad's warning echoing in my ears. I sure as hell wouldn't relish watching Morgan's eyes light up at the sight of Zach.
 

Who would have thought Morgan could still come between Zach and me? Everyone thought Alexis was the problem.

I grabbed my wallet and keys. I was on my way out as Cody and Brian came into the hall from the dining room, dressed like they were on their way out, too. We'd been in the same pledge class. We were tight.