“So you finally admit you’re into him?” Cara asked.
“Yeah.” I did find him attractive, and a date with him was appealing. “Do you think he’s going to cancel?”
“No, but I can find out for you tonight…” Cara smiled.
“Without making a big deal out of it?”
“We’ll be very discreet.”
I sat up, the dark cloud partially fading. “Maybe Colt got it out of his system and he won’t bother me again.”
“He’s going to be so busy with pledging, Mal. I wouldn’t worry.” Juliet’s words rang true. And if all else failed, I could have Aaron tell him to lay off. He was the pledge master, after all.
I let out a sigh of relief. “You guys can go back.”
Juliet clasped her hands together. “No, we’ll stay.”
“I’d rather be alone.”
Cara shook her head. “No you don’t.”
“I do. I’m going to take a shower.”
“You should come back.” Juliet had to be kidding.
“Not a chance.”
“Yes. Staying away says you have something to be embarrassed of. You don’t. We go back and act like we needed to change out of our heels.” She got up and walked over to her closet, pulling out a pair of red flip flops.
“Everyone saw me run out.”
“No they didn’t. And even if they did, they’d be too drunk to remember.” Cara tried too hard.
“All right.” They were right, and I knew it. I had to show Colt I wasn’t going to let him mess with me and show Tanner I was interested.
I unstrapped my heels and put on some black flip flops. I could do it.
With a friend on both arms, I walked back into the Kappa house. My stomach churned as I caught sight of Tanner and Colt talking. I really hoped the conversation wasn’t about me, but I knew it was. The trick was acting like I didn’t care.
I let go of my friends’ arms and headed straight for the bar. I smiled at the active standing behind it. “Fuzz, please.”
“Sure thing, Mallory.” He ladled some of the vat into a plastic cup.
I took the cup and walked straight over to a crowd. No one seemed to think anything weird of me being back, so I decided to let it go.
A hand slid around my waist, and I knew whose it was. “Hey, Tanner.”
“Hey. I’m glad you came back.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Can’t keep me away.”
He leaned in. “He’s not going to bother you.”
“Oh, good.”
“You think I’m going to let a pledge stop me from getting what I’ve wanted from the moment I laid eyes on you?”
A shiver ran through me. “And what was it that you wanted?”
“You.”
“You’re not getting anything from me tonight.” I’d made the mistake of having a random hook-up once already.
He settled his hand on my hip. “I get that, but we’re still on for dinner, right?”
“Yeah. We’re still on.”
“Great.” His lips brushed against my ear. “I’m getting another drink. Be right back.”
My phone signaled a text, so I pulled it out. Sorry. Colt only wrote one word, but it made me feel guilty. I searched the room for him and found him quickly. He was watching me with sad eyes.
He pointed to his phone, and I glanced down to see another text. Forgive me?
I nodded, and he smiled.
See you soon, pumpkin.
I gulped down the rest of my drink. It was going to be okay. I glanced up once again, just in time to watch Colt blow me a kiss before turning around to talk to some of the other pledges.
“You doing okay?” Juliet asked, saving me from standing around alone.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
She leaned in. “I told you it would be better if you came back.”
“You’re always right.”
She laughed. “Unless it’s about my own life. I was pretty dumb about that last year.”
“Yeah, you were.” I smiled.
“I’m going to sleep at the house tonight.”
“You sure?” I tried to keep the excitement out of my voice when I asked. I was definitely looking forward to some company.
“Yeah. I want to.”
“That would be nice.”
“Want to head back now and put on Keeping the Faith?”
“Yes!” Juliet and I had a shared love for chick flicks from the 90s. Cara didn’t mind watching, but it wasn’t her thing.
“Okay. l already said good night to Reed, but do you need to find anyone?” She raised her eyebrow, and I definitely noticed that she didn’t use a name.
“Tanner was supposed to come right back, but he disappeared. Let’s go.” Sometimes you had to leave a guy hanging. It kept him coming back for more.
“Sounds good.” Juliet linked her arm with mine, and we left. I didn’t look back.
Chapter Seven
All thoughts of Colton and the disaster of my social life were pushed aside as I got ready for bid day the next morning. Thankfully, Jana, the new pledge mom, had decided to have bid day at the house, a much better idea than the joint laser tag event with the Kappas the year before. The day was supposed to be about welcoming the new girls into the house, not about flirting with boys. Of course, I had a very biased opinion on the subject. Spending time around Kappas would be a surefire way to ruin a good day.
“Thank goodness Jana isn’t dragging all of us to laser tag again.” Cara said exactly what was on my mind.
“I don’t know why you guys hated the laser tag thing so much.” Juliet brushed out her hair.
“I didn’t hate it. I just like that we’re having it at the house.” I put on some lip gloss, satisfied that I didn’t look like a girl who’d been up half the night. Despite a few much needed hours of movie time with Juliet, I was restless all night and sleep evaded me. I still couldn’t quite believe Colt was at Harrison or that he was pledging Kappa.
She cocked her head to the side. “You hated it, but that’s okay.”
“Not all of us met the love of our life there.” Cara laughed. She looked down at her blue Timeless Collection t-shirt. This year’s bid day theme was Tiffany’s (as in the jewelry store). The pledges were getting t-shirts with the year printed on them. It was a cute idea.
Juliet held up her palms. “Yeah, well, I’m also the only one of us who knows how to handle a gun.”