“So, how did your Mom take the move this morning?” Aiden asked into the silence of his truck.
“Just like Avery, she couldn’t wait to get me out the door,” I chuckled, but it came out a lot more forced than I wanted it to.
“She’s just excited that you’re following in her footsteps. My Mom used to always say that you were the daughter she always wanted.”
Just another reminder that I was nothing more than a little sister in his eyes.
I forced another smile. “What time is the party tonight?”
“Just text me whenever you guys are ready, and I’ll come and get you. Avery is going to be busy setting up for the party.”
“Okay, thanks for the ride back, Aiden. I’ll see you tonight,” I said and hurried to get out of the truck.
My heart pounded the entire way to my dorm room. This was how it always was when I was around Aiden. I can never control my feelings and my emotions are all over the place.
This was supposed to be my year to start anew, but I wildly underestimated how much I thought I had grown this last year being away from Aiden. My feelings for him were just as strong as always.
Isabelle walked through the door with boxes in her hands.
“Hey roomie,” she said and set the boxes down. “Are you okay? Your face is really red.”
“Oh, yeah, just a little warm in here.”
She cocked a brow. “Is it a little hot in here, or was it a little hot in that two-seater truck?”
I felt my face deepen several shades.
“I saw you run out of there like the thing was on fire. It’s understandable when you’re sitting next to a guy that gorgeous. You never mentioned you had a boyfriend,” she said.
“He is the furthest thing from a boyfriend, he is my brother’s best friend. We all grew up together.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t explain why you’re blushing so hard.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?” I muttered. “Moving on, please. My brother’s frat house is throwing a party tonight, do you want to come?”
“I’m not sure those parties are really my scene,” she frowned. “Isn’t there a lot of hazing and weird frat ritual stuff?”
“I think that’s only if you’re joining as a member, this is just one of the many parties they are going to throw, it’s what my brother does best.”
“I can go for a couple of hours, but I need to be up early tomorrow so I can snag the first spot at the rental office tomorrow. I want to be the first to get the picking of musical instruments from what they have available.”
Isabelle jumped in the shower while I used the only vanity mirror we had to throw my blonde hair into a tight, high ponytail and do up my makeup with my usual natural look. I picked a pair of comfy skinny jeans and a pullover-cropped sweater.
“Wow, I envy the body of a cheerleader.”
I chuckled. “I bet you wouldn’t envy the workout routine of a cheerleader.”
“Right, you are. Is our ride almost here?”
I checked my phone and saw the message from Aiden that said he was waiting in the parking lot. “Yeah, let’s get going.”
It wasn’t until we got there that I remembered the awkward seating situation that Aiden had with his truck, which forced me to sit smack dab in the middle of Isabelle and him with my shoulder pressed up against his.
“Hopefully this place isn’t far,” Isabelle muttered.
“Don’t worry, it’s close enough. Did you guys want to stop and get any drinks?” he paused and looked at me. “I already got a case of twisted tea in the back for you.”
I had to keep my facial muscles from breaking out into a ridiculous grin and felt Isabelle nudge me. “I have an early day tomorrow, I won’t be drinking too much,” she said.
“Suit yourself.”
By the time we got to the Alpha Sigma Phi house, the entire place was lit up and we were met with heavy bass the minute we stepped out of the truck. Aiden had to lead us toward the front door because even the lawn was covered with people.
“I think I saw your brother in the kitchen before I left.” Aiden tried to yell over the music, but I only managed to hear a few words. He carried the case of my twisted tea into the kitchen and a few of the guys started to holler in excitement.
“Hey, hands off, that belongs to my baby sister!” Avery yelled across the room and rushed toward me with a beer bottle in one hand and a Wii remote in the other.
“Did you really have to yell that across the entire house?” I scolded him.
“Aw, don’t worry about it, little Ryles. Everyone here already knows not to mess with my little sister, or they’ll be castrated in their sleep.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him off to grab a twisted tea from Aiden.
“Thanks for getting the drinks for me, real soon it’s going to be me. I can’t wait for that day.”
He chuckled lightly. “There’s no need to grow up so quickly. This is your first year with a different taste of freedom, you should enjoy it while you can.”
“This coming from the guy who had girls crawling in his bed at the age of 15?” I teased.
He downed the rest of his beer and tossed the bottle. “I’m a dude, Ry. We aren’t built the same.”
Yet, he has never looked at me like he has any of the girls he has chased before.
I forced a smile and banished the depressing thoughts from my head. I wasn’t here to wallow in what couldn’t be, I was here to explore what could be. Aiden was soon called away by one of the guys to join their Wii competition and I took the opportunity to wander the house, but soon realized that would be a lot easier said than done.
The room was packed from wall to wall with people jumping around or stumbling in every direction. I quickly became claustrophobic and felt I couldn’t breathe, and I squeezed my way to the back door. Once I was on the deck, I sucked in a deep breath and welcomed the slightly cool air but could still feel the pounding of the bass in my chest.
I looked back to the house to see if I could spot Isabelle and quickly saw her behind the music station. It looked like she was going through the playlist with Noah to see what he had lined up for the night and was engrossed in whatever they were discussing.
As long as she didn’t feel out of place I didn’t feel guilty about leaving her alone and enjoyed the peaceful night air. I sat outside for a few more minutes before I decided to go back inside. I barely turned around when I heard the sliding glass door open, and a bunch of voices break out into the silence.
“Check this place out. These San Marco guys really go all out for these frat parties,” I heard one guy say. I stood up from the chair at the bottom of the deck stairs and tried to peek at who had come out, but didn’t recognize any of them, and one of them had a shirt on that said Jacksonville State. Clearly not students from San Marco.
“Hey, who’s over there?” One of them called out to me.
‘Oh, shit. I don’t feel like confronting these guys.’
I tried to sneak around the side of the deck and out the side gate, but I was spotted through the wood banister.
“Wait, is that…Rylee Parks?” I heard my name called and stopped in my tracks. I looked behind me to see a
I turned to see a familiar bright blue-eyed guy, but no name came to mind.
“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” I asked.
“We met at Emma Perry’s afterparty for prom, do you remember? I was wearing a Miami Dolphins sweater, and you ripped me a new one, then taught me why the Patriots are ten times better. I’m still not convinced, though.” He winked. “My name is Jake Porter, does that ring any bells?”
The name didn’t, but that heated and drunk conversation sure did. I remembered running into this gorgeous guy and wanted to work up the courage to hit on him until my drunk ass saw his sweater and went off on him instead. I was both hoping I would never see him again, and that I would, but he wouldn’t remember that fine detail.
“You have better luck with me remembering that conversation. What are you doing here? Do you go to San Marco?”
He shook his head with a nervous smile. “Not really, we go to Jacksonville State.”
‘Aw shit, why is fate never on my side?’
Jake and I moved back onto the deck and sat down. “You have a lot of guts showing up to a San Marco frat party. I guess I can assume you and your friends are also on the Jacksonville State football team, right?” He slapped a hand to his chest in fake surprise. “How did you guess?” I chuckled. “Well, I should warn you now, my brother is captain of the San Marco Tigers, and I start my first year as a JV cheerleader this year for that exact team.” “Then this must be my lucky day.” “Oh, how so?” I was barely in my drinks, but I already felt the liquid courage coursing through my veins as the flirtatious conversation flowed between us. “I was hoping I’d get more excuses to see you, and it turns out I’ll get to see you at every game with San Marco. I used to dread those, now I’ll have something to look forward to.” He flashed me a cocky grin but for some reason it made me laugh rather than gag. “Wow, you really are the sweet talker.” He leaned a little closer. “It’s pretty easy when
When I woke up the next morning I was so disoriented I nearly forgot where I was. A look at the familiar décor reminded me that I crashed in Aiden’s room last night and looked down to confirm with the shirt I was wearing. I looked around the room and didn’t spot him anywhere, my guess was he successfully crashed in Avery’s room, and he was somewhere asleep downstairs or in the yard. I let out a loud yawn and trudged out of bed to grab my clothes from the bathroom and get changed, but I decided to keep Aiden’s shirt on and tucked it into my jeans. The smell of eggs and bacon greeted me as I walked down the stairs and I found Aiden in the kitchen cooking up a storm. “You’re up early. Where is everyone else?” I asked and took a seat at the island counter. Aiden just pointed over his shoulder with the spatula toward the living room. Sprawled out on both couches and the ground were Avery, Carter, and Noah. None of them made it to their rooms it seemed. “Sucks to be them, they’re going
“What do you think that was about?” Isabelle asked. “Guess it looks like I was right, he was watching you guys.” “Would you stop? He’s probably thinking of ways to tell my brother that I’m hanging out with the enemy. I’ll never be able to live this down,” I groaned. “So, who cares? Jake is a hottie and he seems really into you. Just go for it, don’t care what your brother thinks. He can’t keep you from dating everyone just because he doesn’t like them.” It wasn’t so much my brother that I cared about, it was more Aiden. What would he think of me if I started dating Jake? Would he start to hate me too and think I was a traitor for fraternizing with the enemy? That sounded ridiculous. “Let’s forget about that and just watch the game, I have enough drama to deal with,” I said and thought to when I’ll be on that field myself soon with Leah and her demanding tone. The first game of the year was as intense as I expected, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off two particular numbers the entire
“Ugh, my head,” I groaned. Last night's decisions were a huge mistake, I never should have drunk that much or moved around so much without a drop of water. I blinked my eyes open and was met with the familiar ceiling of Aiden’s room and looked around at the familiar décor.“How did I end up here?” I muttered.I looked around for my phone and spotted the bottle of Advil and a glass of water on the nightstand. A smile spread on my face as I thought of Aiden and how he must have been the one to bring me up here and even made sure I drank something and had painkillers for my hangover.‘Why does he make it so hard to not like him?’ I took this opportunity to steal more of Aiden’s clothes and searched for a pair of jogging pants to change out of my leggings that had been soaked with sweat after sleeping in clothes all night. Once changed I headed downstairs where Aiden was once again cooking breakfast and Avery was passed out on the couch.“I’m starting to enjoy these weekend morning routi
“Is Jake coming to pick you up? What movie are you guys going to see?” Isabelle continued to ask question after question as I prepared for my date with Jake. “Would you like to come with us, Izzy?” I joked. She groaned. “I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve gone out. I have to live it through someone, don’t I?” I just rolled my eyes and laughed. I was just as excited as she was but add on a ton of nerves to that as well. “We’re going to see some horror movie, I can’t remember the name of it, but we learned we’re both huge horror buffs, so this should be interesting.” My phone went off with a text from Jake that said he was out front, and I rushed out the door to see his car parked in the lot. “You look beautiful,” he said and kissed me on the cheek. “This is for you.” He pulled out a single rose. “That is so sweet, and the first flower I’ve received.” He placed a hand over his chest. “It is my honour to give you your first. Is it alright if we go to the movie first and then
I paused and waited as Aiden got out of his truck and stood next to it. I didn’t need to be able to see his face to know he was scowling. I heaved a heavy sigh and dragged my feet over to him. “Why did it take you so long to get back home? It’s almost midnight.” I rolled my eyes and groaned. “And I’m 19 and in University, and it’s a Saturday! I’ll ask again because you still haven’t given me an answer, but what in the fuck is going on with you?” I cried. “You’ve been acting like a super over-protective older brother and it’s really pissing me off.” “I’m just trying to make sure you don’t make some hasty mistake because you feel like you have so much to make up for. You’re the one who has been acting like a completely different person ever since you started here.” I gaped at him. “What are you talking about? I went on one date, Aiden! Just admit that the only problem you have with me dating Jake is because he beats your ass on the field every time!” The silence between us becomes
**WARNING. This chapter includes scenes of attempted sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers. Readers are advised.***The first half of the party was amazing, I almost forgot that I was at a completely different house, and I wasn’t back at my brother’s. Jake was nice enough to ask what I drank and got me a case of twisted tea in advance, which allowed me to quickly let loose and forget all the drama between Aiden and me.We hit the dancefloor, and it was a breeze from there to get caught up in the music and intimate dancing with Jake. He didn’t comment on how awkward my dancing was and went with whatever tempo I went with. We laughed and had a great time, but another hour into the party and things were getting a little intense.Twice I had to politely swat Jake’s hand away as he tried to slip it up my shirt and once more when he grabbed my ass a little too hard. I could feel the shift in his attitude toward me as it had become more rough and demanding.“Are you okay?” he
“Please, don’t tell my brother…” I whispered.I felt him pause, and then he sighed. “I won’t tell him tonight, but I can’t keep this from him. I promise I won’t let him report it, but you should consider saying something to the school.”I nodded. I really just wanted to forget this ever happened, but my silence could end up allowing this to happen again. The best I could do is at least report it to the school and make them aware of the parties that went on right under their noses.Aiden shocked me further when he turned off the truck and carried me inside rather than putting me down once we got out. The front door was already opened as the last few partygoers trickled out and I buried my head in Aiden’s chest again so they wouldn’t recognize me.“Is that Rylee?” I heard Carter shout, but Aiden quickly shushed him, and I pretended to be asleep. “What happened, is she okay?” he asked quietly.“She’s fine, get away from her,” Aiden scolded.I heard Carter scuffle back and Aiden kept movi