16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Come on, Mal. Let’s go dance,” Lauren said, grabbing my hand. “You too, Megan.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Meg said, trying to pull her hand away without any success, but Lauren was relentless.
“Am I going to have to feed you another shot?”
“No! I’ll go,” the other woman said, rising from her seat. “No more shots.”
Laughing, I couldn’t have agreed more. Lauren was a bona fide party machine, a tall woman with café au lait skin and stick-straight ebony hair that fell halfway down her back. With stunning bottle-green eyes, she rivaled Bristol in terms of beauty.
I’d always heard blondes have more fun, but I couldn’t imagine anyone having more fun than my new raven-haired friend.
Megan, on the other hand, was quiet and more reserved. She constantly fiddled with her wavy, shoulder-length, dirty-blonde hair and hid her brown eyes behind thick-rimmed black glasses. I had her pegged as a serious student who would probably make a good study partner .
When we’d first gotten here, the deejay had been playing more current dance music, but about thirty minutes ago, he’d shifted to some older stuff. As soon as we hit the dance floor, “Back to Life” by Soul II Soul came on, and I squealed. I loved that song.
Lauren swayed, her hips moving in sultry circles. Almost immediately, a guy came up behind her and put his hands on her waist. After a quick, assessing look back at him, she wiggled her eyebrows at us and turned in his arms. He was super tall and really good looking.
Megan was starting to loosen up a bit, and I leaned forward, yelling over the thumping beat of the music. “You have good rhythm.”
“Really? I always feel so awkward when I’m dancing.”
“Not at all. Just loosen your shoulders up a bit.”
She did, looking more natural as she moved in time with the music. “I think Scott likes you,” she said loudly.
I glanced back at our table where the blond sat with one of our other classmates, Connor.
“He’s cute, but I’m not sure he’s really my type. He’s called me bruh at least four times so far.”
She laughed, and then her eyes lit up when Madonna’s “Vogue” came on. “Voooooogue!”
It was probably the silliest dance ever, except for maybe the Macarena, but we had fun framing our faces and singing at the tops of our lungs.
“Let’s go sit down,” she hollered when the song ended. “My feet hurt.”
“Wassup,” Scott said as we approached, scooting over to make room for me on the bench seat beside him. “You ladies can really move. I mean, like, damn, bruhhh! ”
Good grief. That’s five . Megan met my gaze across the table, covering her smile with her hand as she obviously had the same thought.
“So, Mal. You want to go out next weekend?” Scott asked, not-so-casually draping his arm around the back of my seat.
“Oh, I can’t,” I said with fake apology in my voice. “My cousin is having a party Saturday night, and I have to go.”
“What about Friday?”
Ugh, take a hint, bruh.
“You’re really nice, Scott, but I’m not wanting to date anyone in our class. It could make things complicated.”
“What if I drop out?” he asked, winking and flashing me what I assumed he thought was a cute smile.
“No, I’m sorry,” I said simply. Is he sitting closer to me than he was a few minutes ago?
“Hey, bruh. I understand. We could go out as friends though, right? Like with a group. Have you met Ana, Travis, and Mackenzie from our class?”
“Um, no. I haven’t met them yet.”
“They’re pretty cool. They said something about a few of us grabbing a bite to eat soon. You down for Friday night?”
“As friends?” I clarified, and he nodded.
“Of course.”
“Yeah, okay. I guess it will be nice to meet some more people.” I leaned across the table toward Megan and Connor, who seemed to be getting along pretty well. “Hey, you guys want to go out to eat with us next weekend? ”
“Sorry, I can’t,” Connor said. He was a ginger with a sweet face and a smattering of freckles across his nose. “I’m going to Houston to see my brother.”
“I can’t either,” Meg said, tilting her head apologetically. “My parents will be in town.”
“No biggie,” Scott said. “Y’all can meet the others soon. They all live in my apartment complex. We met at the pool this week.”
“Where are you living, Scott?” Connor asked.
“The Highlands. It’s super expensive. The pool is like something out of a resort, and the floor plans are the best in the DFW area.” His flagrant bragging annoyed me but not as much as his hand, which was now sitting on my right shoulder. “Where do you guys live?”
Megan and Connor mentioned their apartment complexes, but I simply said, “I’m living in a house right now with a friend, but I’ll be moving into the graduate student dorms in August.” Shrugging away from Scott, I stood. “I need to use the restroom.”
“Me too,” Meg said instantly.
Once we were in the relative quiet of the ladies’ room, she giggled and said, “Bruh-Man is totally into you.”
“God help me,” I groaned. “Are you sure your parents don’t want to come another weekend?”
She patted my arm. “I’m sorry, Mallori. It won’t be bad if it’s a group of you going, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. Are you ready to go yet, or do you want to talk to Connor some more?” I asked, giving her a teasing wink.
Megan blushed to the roots of her hair. “I really like him. He’s so nice.”
“Okay, we can stay. I’ll try to find Lauren and see if she wants to dance some more.”
“You rang?”
We turned to find Lauren strolling into the restroom, a smug grin on her face. She tugged down her very tiny skirt, but it didn’t help much. The girl had legs for days.
“You have to come out with us for dinner next Friday. I’ve somehow gotten myself into a group thing with Scott, and I need a buffer.” My voice was damn near begging level.
My heart dropped when her eyebrows furrowed. “Oh shit, Mal. I can’t. That hot guy I was dancing with asked me out that night. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I told her, waving my hand. “There’s a group of us going, so it’s not a big deal. I’ll just do my best to avoid the bruuuuh.”
The girls laughed, and then Megan let out a loud burp, her eyes widening in embarrassment. “Shit, sorry.” She burped again, and her face paled even more than usual. “Maybe we should go.”
No argument from me. I pulled out my phone and ordered an Uber. “Five minutes,” I informed my friends, leading them from the restroom.
“You two go ahead. I’m going to stay a while and talk to Jack. Or was it Jim?” Lauren shook her head, her long hair swaying back and forth. “What-the-fuck-ever that hottie’s name is.”
We exchanged quick hugs. “Okay, be safe,” I told her.
“Always, babes.”
“Oh, and can you tell Scott and Connor that we left so they’re not looking for us?” And so I don’t have to talk to Scott again…
“No problemo. Call me tomorrow. But not early.”
I grinned and assured her I would as I guided a now-swaying Megan through the crowd.
Lord, I hope she doesn’t puke in the Uber.
“Where are you?” my mother demanded, her voice trembling like a tuning fork through the phone.
“I’m, uh…”
“I’ve been calling you for two hours.”
My eyes darted to Megan beside me in the back of the Uber, but she was half-asleep and not paying any attention to my conversation.
My annoyance was overtaken by momentary worry. It was after midnight. “Is something wrong, Mama? Is Daddy okay?”
“He won’t be if I tell him where you were tonight. A bar, Mallori?”
Stunned. That’s the only emotion that filled my brain until realization hit me. Then it was replaced immediately by anger.
“Are you tracking me?” I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at the blue glow like it would give me some answers.
I heard my mother’s answer when I pressed the offending device back to the side of my face. “Of course I am. How else am I going to know what you’re up to? You’ve set all these… boundaries.” She spat that last word like it was a particularly offensive curse word.
“And do you want to know why I need to set boundaries, Mother? Just take a look at Exhibit A—you tracking my phone.” The poor driver looked at me through the rearview mirror, and I made it a point to control the volume of my voice. “I am twenty-four years old. Do you realize how crazy you sound?”
“You can’t talk to me like—”
“I’m throwing my damn phone out the window, Karen.” And I hung up.
Okay, that was a complete lie. I was pissed, not stupid. I didn’t want to have to buy another phone.
My shaking finger scrolled through the screens, looking for the offending app. Everything looked legit, and I realized I had no damn clue what I was searching for.
But I was pretty sure I knew someone who could help.