“Wait.” He struggled into his clothes. “Aren’t you going to give me your number?”
“Why?”
He buttoned his pants. “Because we just had sex. Hot sex might I add.”
“Which is why we’ll leave it that way. I’ll always be your first blonde.” I blew him a kiss before running back toward the party. I checked my phone. No missed call from Gabriella. Maybe she hadn’t even noticed I was missing.
I walked back inside the house, hopping into line for the restroom. I was positive I looked like a complete mess.
“There you are!” Gabriella grabbed my arm and jumped into line next to me. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
I tried to compose myself. “Where’s your friend?”
“Oh. He left. With someone else.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, but it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to ditch you anyway.”
I looked away and smiled.
“What?” She pulled up her long dark hair into a bun.
“Nothing.”
“Well, you seem better. Did the party work the way I thought it would? Did it show you there’s life outside all that Greek crap you’re into at school?”
“It’s not crap. I love my sorority.” Delta Mu and my sisters were the only things I had left at school.
“Fine. At least admit your fixation with frat guys is dumb. Especially that jerk you were with. There are so many better guys out there.”
I tuned her out as we waited and thought about my hook up with Chase. Had I really just had sex on the beach?
Chapter Two
I put off returning to school after winter break for as long as possible. I also put off returning the phone calls from my two best college friends. They also happened to be my roommates, so avoiding them was going to be impossible once I got back to campus. I knew they’d be there for me, but the thought of facing them made my stomach turn. They were both dating my ex’s frat brothers and that meant the next four months were going to be incredibly awkward. Thankfully Aaron, the ex, was graduating that May. Maybe I’d at least be able to enjoy my junior and senior years. I’d had the brief thought of trying to take a semester away and avoid him completely, but I’d missed the deadline to make that possible. Besides, I wasn’t letting him scare me away from my friends and my life.
I waited until the last moment to pack up my stuff. Knowing my bags were still empty made school feel further away. I also quit checking my cell phone. I was done listening to Aaron’s messages. The calls were still coming over two weeks after telling him to hit the road. It had also been two weeks since I’d had my impossible to forget experience with Chase.
“Honey, the reason you join a sorority is to help you through situations like this.” My mother smoothed out my hair. She’d been a member of the same sorority I was in—Delta Mu. One of the reasons I’d gone to Harrison University was because I spent my childhood hearing about how amazing her sorority experience was there.
“I know, but how am I supposed to face him?” A few weeks before when I’d asked the same question, I’d cried. This time, I didn’t. That was progress. Truthfully, I’d been in much better shape since my trip to the beach. The only problem was that I found myself thinking about Chase more than I wanted to.
“You hold your head up. You’re a beautiful, smart, talented girl. You don’t need someone like him. You deserve better, and you’ll find it.” From the expression on her face, she was thinking about herself more than me. She’d suffered a similar breakup in college just to meet my dad months later. She was definitely a firm believer in fate.
“It’s only a few months.” I said the words more for my own benefit than my mom’s.
“Don’t rush the time away. You’re only a college sophomore once. Spend time with your friends, date other guys. Live it up.”
“I know.” I kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll call you when I get in.”
“Drive safe.” She gave me another hug. I held onto her as long as I could.
“I will.” I grabbed the last of my stuff and got in my eight-year-old CRV. It was time to face reality.
***
“Are you okay?” Juliet picked up her phone on the first ring.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m only about twenty minutes from campus.” I turned off at the now familiar exit for Charleston, South Carolina.
“I’ve been calling you for weeks. I’m so sorry. Aaron is such a jerk ass.”
“Jerk ass? That’s a new one.”
“It’s good though, right?” Juliet always knew how to make me laugh. She had this sarcastic side to her personality that with most people I usually couldn’t stand, but it completely worked for her.
“I think it’s the perfect description for what he is.” Or jackass, or biggest idiot in the world. I could go on and on forever.
“I’ve been so worried. When Reed told me…”
“I don’t want to mess up anything with you guys. Please don’t worry about it.” Juliet and Reed were probably the cutest, most balanced couple I knew. She was so happy with him that I refused to get in the way.
“Mess anything up? Reed agrees Aaron screwed up big time, but he also said maybe it was for the best because you deserve better.”
“Reed said that?” Juliet’s boyfriend was a great guy, but he was also Aaron’s best friend.
“Yes. He knows how amazing you are.”
“I left some stuff in Aaron’s room. Could you get it for me? I don’t want to go over there or see his bed ever again.”
“Already done. I wondered where your extra phone charger went.”
I felt a weight lift off me. Getting my stuff was one of the things I was dreading most. “Thanks so much.”
“Not a problem. I did it right after kicking him in the groin. Now that was the more fun part.”
“What?” I nearly swerved into the shoulder of the road, but I corrected at the last second. “You didn’t.”
“Oh yes I did. And when he screamed like a baby, Reed told him to man up because his actions were anything but that of a man.”
“Wow. Crazy.”
“Mallory was mad I got to him first, but she did slap him.”
I smiled picturing my other roommate pouting because Juliet beat her to the punch. “I have the best friends.”
“Because you’re a great one. I can’t wait to see you. I promise it’s all going to be okay.” Juliet’s words hit home even more than my mother’s. Maybe it was because she was going to be there with me. Facing Aaron was going to be hard no matter how I did it, but it would be much easier to do with my friends at my side.