He accepts my hand with a grin and then signals to Hoyt, who leaves the room to return a moment later carrying a wooden case.
“Let’s celebrate my victory with some shots of Don Julio 1942, only the best stuff for the Gamma house!”
3.
Sisters
Kaya
I CHECK MY REFLECTION in the mirror and my upper lip twitches in displeasure.
I feel like a fucked up version of ‘sorority girl Barbie’ or something. I don’t mind the pale pink summer dress that Mom bought me. That’s actually something I would wear but the matching headband? The soft cashmere cardigan that rests on my shoulders? The pearl jewelry? Shit, if Nic saw me right now, she’d laugh until she cried. Especially when she realized that I’m not about to splatter blood all over my outfit and go to a Halloween party and that I’m seriously going out dressed this way.
Mom insisted that this is the right look to impress the Zetas and secure my place as a pledge.
“But why do I need to impress them, Mom? If I’m a legacy, shouldn’t that grant me a spot?”
Mom had shaken her head and explained that my legacy status would probably force them to allow me to pledge but that I didn’t have a guaranteed spot, that would have to be earned.
I sigh at my reflection, the girl in the mirror looks like she has all her shit together, so in a way, I don’t blame the Zetas for expecting a certain standard.
I know Mom would be delighted if I were a Zeta and followed in her footsteps. Normally this wouldn’t be my type of thing but in a way, I actually really want to give this sorority thing a try.
Growing up as a navy brat, meant moving so often that I never made any lasting friendships until I met Nic. And while no one can take the place of my ‘sister from another mister’, like she jokingly calls herself, I wouldn’t mind experiencing that kind of friendship, the sisterhood Mom fondly remembers when she talks about the Zetas.
I know she’s stayed in touch with a few of her sisters over the years and a couple of them were her rock when things went south with Dad and their marriage collapsed.
So I surprised myself when I decided that I want to be a Zeta.
That’ll also help in getting Mom off my case that dating Bryce would somehow ruin my college experience. If I were a Zeta, she’d be satisfied that I’m making the most of my college years.
So I smooth my hands over my dress and swipe my straightened dark brown hair over one of my shoulders and decide to give it my all. It would be awesome to be able to tell Mom that I’m officially a Zeta pledge when I see her at the weekend for my birthday party.
But, I decide at the last minute unfastening the clasp of the pearl necklace, that’s a little much. I can be a Zeta but I still want to be Kaya.
I ACCEPT THE HAND BRYCE offers me to get out of his Jeep: these wedge sandals Mom made me buy to match the sundress are a lot higher than I normally wear and I feel a little unsteady on my feet, so I welcome my boy’s help and lean happily into him when he wraps a strong arm around my waist.
He smiles as I look up at him and places a soft kiss on one of my temples.
Parker is walking on the other side of me, drop dead gorgeous in a grey button down shirt that fits his muscled, tall form like a second skin.
He isn’t touching me as such, but his arm is so close to mine that I can feel his body heat and the things that the not quite there contact is doing to my body are fucking ridiculous.
Classes have started immediately and apparently there’s been some major drama at the frat house, so I haven’t seen Parker and Bryce for a couple of days.
They’ve been texting and calling me every night but I have to admit that I really miss them.
I obviously invited them to my birthday weekend celebrations and I decided that there’s only one present I want from them: I want to renegotiate our friends with benefits deal. I want them to be my boyfriends, officially.
Well fuck, ok. Bryce officially but I want to get out of the gray area we’ve been stuck in since this whole thing between us started at the beginning of the summer. And I don’t care if I’m going to be the one to ask. It’s the twenty first century after all and girls can ask boys out and so on.
Greek Row is crowded this evening, every fraternity and sorority has a stand in front of their house, hoping to attract the best pledges and I’m stopped by a group of girls in cutoff jeans, bikini tops and fake bunny ears. The banner above their stand says ΙΑΚ (Upsilon Alpha Kappa) and aside from the less than classy look the girls are sporting, I have to work hard to keep a straight face, because ... Come on, I can’t believe that when their sorority was founded no one noticed that their name sounds and looks like ‘yack’.
However I don’t want to embarrass them, despite the way their president and master of ceremonies are eye-fucking Parker and Bryce. So when they offer me a leaflet and ask me if I want to pledge I decline as politely as I can. “Sorry, I’m pledging ΖΘΒ, I’m a legacy there and you know how parents are. My mom would be heartbroken if I pledged another sorority.”
We walk away and Parker compliments me on how I handled myself there.
“Thanks babe, aside from the fact that Mom would never forgive me if I didn’t pledge the Zetas, I didn’t think that I’d be a good fit with those girls. And I’m not trying to be a snooty bitch here, but I mean seriously, Yack?”
Bryce chuckles and agrees with my evaluation. “Yeah, look I know I have no right to tell you what to do and you know I’d never try anyway but had you been interested, I’d have warned you that the ΙΑΚs have a certain ... reputation on campus.”
By the way he says it, it sounds like he has first hand experience about it and when I look at Parker, he blushes and looks away.
I instinctively stop in the middle of the street, looking at both guys through narrowed eyes. “Guys! Did you really sleep with some of those girls?”
Parker sounds embarrassed. “Sorry, K. We did tell you how we rebounded last spring break and everyone knows that the ΙΑΚs are a sure thing.”
Bryce nods. “What he just said. I swear they didn’t mean anything.”
I smile at both men, softened by the guilty expressions on their handsome faces. I can’t be that big a hypocrite when I slept with Chase. And I have to remember that last spring break the guys and I hadn’t even met. So regardless of the fact that whatever we have between the three of us isn’t official yet or that we haven’t talked about being exclusive, I know that what I did is way worse.
That’s the moment in which I make up my mind that I need to talk to Chase and he’ll have to accept that I am going to tell his best friends about what he and I did.
I trust Parker and Bryce not to tell a soul about it and I owe the truth to my boys.
They’ve been sweet, loving and patient with me and there’s no way I can keep this secret without it coming to destroy us in the future.
Especially because I’m not willing to lie and make one of them believe that he was my first.
Am I scared that what I did will make them walk away from me? Fuck, yeah. But I love them too much not to tell them the truth and if I already have to live without two pieces of my heart because of our parents’ marriage, I can’t risk what I could have with Parker and Bryce.