Not that I was against parties. I enjoyed parties, but drama came with parties. So. Yeah. There you go.
Me: Sure. What time?
Miles: I’ll swing by at eleven? Walk together?
Which was code that he was going to try and hook up with someone, so I needed to plan on walking back by myself or getting an Uber. I was cool with either. Grant West was a small city, with a larger suburb around its perimeter. They fit the requirements, so it was a D1 school, but Grant West itself still felt small. The plus side was that there were so many students who walked to frat row for their parties, there were always students walking.
Me: Cool. See you then.
* * *
He buzzed when he was in the lobby, and I hurried down.
I was in tight jeans, the back was shredded, so it gave a glimpse of my black thong, but nothing actually showed. Maybe a bit of my cheek, and I had on a tight black tank that was shredded on the ends and in the back. It was made like that, and since my hair was shoulder-length, I didn’t feel a need to put it up. I was blessed with good hair. Never needed much styling at all, and the make-up was also at a minimum. Tonight was about winding down.
I wanted to drink, laugh, and relax. If I hooked up with someone, then I hooked up with someone. Crap… I almost forgot. I went back and grabbed a couple condoms, sliding them into my back pocket.
Keys went into my bra (there was a little pocket on the inside…seriously, best invention ever) and I had enough cleavage to keep them there, and the phone went into my front pocket that had a hidden zipper. This wasn’t my first rodeo at a party.
When I hit the lounge, Miles was leaning against the front desk, his arm slung over it. He had that flirty, lazy grin on his face, one that I’d started to recognize as him trying to get a hookup. I glanced at the girl behind the desk. She was pretty. I could see why he was trying to get into her pants.
His eyebrows shot up, and his mouth dropped when he saw me. “Holy fuck, Daniels.” He skimmed me up and down. “I knew you were hot, but you’re sizzling tonight. Day-um.”
The girl behind the desk gave me a grin, but there was a whole cautious vibe to her.
Damn. She was nice.
I was more comfortable around bitchy girls, knew the rules and how to operate around them. Nice girls like this one and Taz, I had no clue how to be around them. I’d been friends with the bitchy, popular girls where I came from, all of whom had been calling, emailing, texting, and DMing me, and I’d been a bad friend since I got here. I’d been avoiding everyone from back home. I figured they’d move on and forget me sooner or later.
But this girl seemed nice.
I went over and gave her a little nod. “I’m Daniels.” And I hit Miles with my shoulder to his chest. “We’re party buds. You single?”
Miles choked behind me. I was doing him a favor, and he knew it.
Her eyes got big, and wide. “I—yes.” She skirted a look to Miles behind me. “I’m Solana. And,” she looked between Miles and me before coming to a decision. She pulled out a piece of paper, wrote her digits on it, and gave it to me. “For…” Her gaze went to Miles, but she was handing it to me.
She was shy.
I took the paper and smiled. “Got it.”
I could feel Miles’s body vibrating behind me. He so knew what was going on, but he was keeping quiet.
He was being smart.
I tucked the paper into my pocket and elbowed him in the chest because he had moved behind me at this point, trying to see the paper. “We’re going to the Alpha Mu party. Not sure on your hours here, but if you want to come over when you’re done, give me a call. I’ll text you in a bit.”
Her smile brightened, and she sat up even straighter. “That sounds awesome. It is Friday night.”
“Touché.”
I elbowed Miles again, and almost had to push him out the door.
“Dude!” That was from him once we got outside. He turned, walking backwards, and held his hands toward me. “Dude!”
I laughed. “It should be ‘dudette.’” But I knew what he was going on about.
“Did you get me a number?”
We kept walking, him backwards and me facing him. I looked to make sure we were past the windows where Solana wouldn’t see us, and once we were, I pulled the paper out. “We have to go over rules because even though she gave it to me, she knew I’d give it to you, and I agreed on some conditions.”
“When did that conversation happen?”
“It’s a girl thing.” I handed him the paper. He started to take it, but I held it up. “I just met her and I gotta tell you a few things. That girl is nice. N-I-C-E. That means she’s not a booty call, you got me?”
“How do you know that?”
I shrugged and let him take the number. “I just do. Text her, let her know it’s you and give her my number too. She’s going to text to come out tonight, and you better not be macking on another girl when she does.”
“Can I mack on you?” He wiggled his eyebrows with a grin.
I ignored that. He knew my deal. We were friends, so that meant he and I couldn’t do anything else. I gave him a full explanation at the first party. It was a drunken explanation, but he got my drift. His flirting was just an automatic thing for him, like breathing.
“That’s another thing.”
He froze, hearing my stern tone. “What is?”
“Flirting with me. You can’t do that in front of her. Some girls know the deal. I do. She doesn’t. Don’t flirt in front of her.”
He frowned. “Wait. What’s the deal?”
I kept going, moving around him. I shrugged, putting my hands in my pockets. “That you’re not serious, but a good girl who’s genuinely interested might not read that right. They’ll get confused.”
He continued to frown but caught up to walk next to me. “I don’t know how I feel about that. You don’t think I’m serious?”
I shot him a look. “You’re being weird. Just don’t flirt with me in front of her, or flirt with anyone in front of her. Not unless you don’t want to date her. Got it?”
“You have a lot of rules for someone you just met.”
I gave another shrug. “She’s a nice girl. I’m just trying to look out for her, keep her a nice girl. I’m not a mean girl.”
At least, I wasn’t anymore.
A sour taste filled my mouth at the reminder, but that was another past that I was trying to leave behind.
Once we hit the main street that led to frat row, we weren’t the only ones heading there. A whole crowd of students had filled up the street. Miles was distracted the second we merged with everyone else—running into friends—and some of the tension left me because I knew he was about to start asking me questions.
I didn’t do drama and I didn’t do questions.
The questions part was harder to enforce, because fuck, a good friend would ask questions.
I glanced at Miles, hoping he’d read between the lines and not push anything personal anymore. Guys were easier to follow those rules. It’s what they expected growing up with other guys. I was hoping, despite my vagina status, that he’d start just thinking of me as another guy.