Lacey and Lovey are in their junior year, both studying public relations. They pledged the sorority and live off campus in a house with six other girls. They’re involved in pretty much every fundraising event there is, and they’re super outgoing. They invited me to pledge, but the idea alone makes my mouth dry, so I declined.
Lovey waits until I’ve made it past BJ before she gets up to hug me. “I love this dress! Do you think I can borrow it?”
Lovey is almost six feet tall, so I’m thinking the skirt would be a micro-mini at best, but if she’s cool with her underwear showing, so am I. “If you want, sure.”
They pull me down, so I’m sitting in the middle of the couch, sandwiched between them while they volley questions at me.
“How are you?”
“What’s your schedule like?”
“Are your brothers driving you nuts yet?”
“Are there any cute guys in your classes?”
“Have you seen Quinn? I heard he got into a fight this morning before the guys even got on the ice,” Lovey says, eyes wide and thumbnail between her teeth.
“Quinn is always getting into fights.” Lacey rolls her eyes. “There’s a party at our house this weekend. You should come and sleep over at our place! It’ll be so fun!”
I make a time-out sign before they can launch any more questions. “Overwhelmed,” I whisper and then realize, with horror, that I’m on the verge of tears and not sure why.
Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Today has been a clusterfuck, and I still have one more class before I can go home and eat all the marshmallows out of a box of Lucky Charms.
“Oh no!” they both whisper back, and suddenly I’m engulfed in a hug from both sides. “We’re so sorry.”
“We know better.”
“Take deep breaths.”
“I’m okay,” I mumble, not wanting to draw more attention to myself.
They release me, but both shift at the same time, pulling one leg up so they can turn toward me, the movement synchronized.
“You don’t seem okay,” Lovey says softly and tucks my hair behind my ear.
“It’s been a long day. And to answer your questions, yes, my brothers are driving me nuts, my schedule isn’t bad, but today is heavy, and I didn’t know about Quinn and the fight. It’s not really a huge surprise, though.” I adore Quinn, but he has a short fuse. “There’s a nice guy in my costume and set design class who might be cute, but I couldn’t see him very well because I didn’t have my glasses, and let me think about the party. A sleepover would be fun, but we’ll see if I can deal with the meeting new people part.”
“The girls in the house are really chill, and the guys who come to our parties don’t hang out with the hockey team, so you won’t have to worry about your brothers showing up, or anyone else.” Lacey chews her bottom lip and glances furtively at BJ, still passed out in the chair. He can literally sleep anywhere.
“Maybe.”
Lovey grins and claps her hands. “Maybe is almost as good as a yes.”
“And there will be tons of cute guys.” Lacey waggles her brows.
I laugh and shake my head. “We’ll see. As much as cute guys sound awesome, I’m not sure my brothers are going to make dating very easy this year.”
“Hopefully they’re too busy with sports and classes to pay attention to what you’re doing.” Lovey twirls the end of her hair around her finger. “Thankfully Liam and Lane live closer to hockey row, so they can’t interfere with our dates.”
Lovey and Lacey are the youngest of six, and they have four older brothers to my three, so they sort of understand where I’m coming from, but not completely.
“They’re also super chill,” I point out.
“This is true.” They nod in tandem.
As much as the idea of a party excites me, the reality isn’t at all the same. I want to be social, to have lots of friends like they do, to join clubs and be part of things, but I get so stressed out when there are too many people around. People think I’m weird.
Which I am, but in those situations, I end up looking weirder than average.
My stomach growls loud enough to startle me. I glance at the line of students. There are at least ten people waiting to order.
“Are you hungry? Do you want me to grab you a coffee? Something to eat?” Lovey offers.
“I can wait.”
“I was about to get a tea. Tell me what you want, and I’ll order it for you.”
Even lines make me anxious. Sometimes people try to talk to me, and then I have to make polite conversation with strangers, and I don’t have the energy left for that today.
I give her a grateful smile. “Okay. I’ll take a decaf, coconut-milk latte and a scone or a muffin.”
“That’s it? They have sandwiches.”
“A muffin is good.”
“Nothing with raisins, though, right?”
“Right.”
As soon as Lovey gets in line, she strikes up a conversation with the guy in front of her. She isn’t even flirting. She’s just nice.
Lacey and I talk about class schedules while we wait. Every few minutes someone stops to say hi. Lots of girls give BJ a sly second glance when they pass him. Like Lacey and Lovey, he’s a junior, but unlike most twenty-one-year-olds, he’s sporting a full, lush beard, better suited for someone at least five years his senior. He’s also sporting a sizeable tattoo that spans from his wrist to his elbow, and he has plans to continue the art until he has a full sleeve, exactly like his dad. In fact, BJ is almost the spitting image of his father, apart from his chocolate-brown eyes, which are very much his mother’s.
The other big difference is that instead of being into hockey like his dad, BJ is a figure skater—a tattooed, bearded figure skater, who hangs out with a bunch of hockey players. He gives off a zero-fucks vibe at all times. Since our mothers are half sisters, we’ve always spent a lot of time together, particularly during holidays.
When Lovey returns with food, BJ’s eyes pop open. He yawns loudly and stretches. “Lavender? When’d you get here? How long have I been out?” His voice is low and raspy with sleep.
“A while ago.” I help Lovey unload the tray of food. She was smart not to let me go up and order myself. There’s no way I could carry the tray without spilling something. I’ll never have a serving job; that’s for sure.
BJ leans forward to scope out the goods. Before he can reach for something, Lovey shifts to block him, her hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m hungry,” he says gruffly.
“And? You think you can pick whatever you want without even asking?” There’s as much amusement in her tone as there is annoyance.
“I was just looking. Besides, the one thing I really want to chow down on is you, but you keep denying me.”
“Oh my God! You’re disgusting!” She shoves his shoulder.
BJ flops back in the chair, his grin full of mirth. Lovey’s face is completely red as she huffs and throws herself back down on the couch, as far away from BJ as possible.
It doesn’t matter that we’ve all grown up with him, or seen him in a full sequin leotard, he still hits on Lovey all the time. BJ isn’t related to the twins, so it’s not quite as squicky as it would be if he flirted with me like that. I can’t decide if he does it because it always gets a reaction or because he’s a compulsive flirt. Then again, he doesn’t do that with Lacey.