18. Hailey
18
HAILEY
“You’re having another party?” I asked after dinner one night. Bennett had finished his food and left, and now I was sitting with Grant, Ian, and Theo, sipping port from little glasses.
The drink wasn’t my favorite, but it was nice to be included—rather than in the kitchen doing dishes while they talked. That part would come later, but for right now, I felt like one of the gang.
“We are a fraternity, you know,” Grant said with a wink. “That’s kind of our thing.”
“Right.” I took another small sip and looked at him, since he was the second in command. “Am I going to have to work behind the bar again?”
“No,” Theo and Ian said at the same time.
“I’ll talk to him,” Grant said. There was no need to ask who he was referring to.
“It’s not up to him,” Ian said hotly, though it was. “He doesn’t own her time twenty-four seven. She’s allowed to go out with friends.” He turned to me. “Go out with friends on Friday night.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” It was sweet of him to be concerned.
“Hell, if your friends are busy, you can go out with my friends,” Theo said. “Just be anywhere but here.”
Grant listened to them but moved on. “Also, there are going to be more of our brothers around this week. The night before the party, we’re going to have a meeting to discuss the fall pledges, hell week, and our evil plans to take over the world.”
Theo leaned back in his chair and raised his glass. “You’ve got to have a plan, or you only end up ruling half the world.” He wasn’t exactly the same man he’d been when I’d met him my first day here, but he was better than he was before my visit to his room. Just thinking about it made my cheeks flush, and he cocked an eyebrow at me. Was he thinking about that too?
Grant was studying me, as if trying to figure out what had made me blush. “You’ll need to dust and vacuum the room downstairs.”
The room. The ritual room? The one he’d specifically told me to stay away from? But it made sense if he and his frat brothers were going to have a meeting down there.
“Okay.”
“That’s on Thursday night. Before that, we’re having a barbecue out back.”
I winced, leaning forward. “I know nothing about barbecuing.” But I’d also known nothing about bartending, and they’d still made me do that.
“Relax, Hailey,” Theo said, and I had a sudden memory of the way he’d stroked my body after he’d given me such a powerful orgasm. But his mind was on other topics, and he grinned. “We’re guys. We’ll channel our inner cavemen and fire up the grill.”
“All you have to do is serve drinks. Out back, I mean, not at the bar,” Grant added.
That didn’t sound too bad. “It’ll be nice to have someone else cook for a change.”
Ian nodded. “As long as you like your steak so rare that it’s mooing.”
“Again, all guys have a little bit of caveman inside of them,” Theo said. “You’ll see.”
I guess I would, come Thursday.
Grant had been right, various men did stop by, and on Wednesday evening, there were eleven people sleeping in the house. Theo helped me order an extra delivery from the grocery store. Using his laptop to click on the food was sure a lot easier than going to the store in person.
Bennett sprang for pizza for everyone on Wednesday evening, and afterwards, Grant asked me if the ritual room was ready.
Oops. I’d kind of forgotten. I’d had a test this morning in Professor Whitmore’s class, and I’d been studying for it every chance I got—but I couldn’t tell him that. “I’ll do it now.”
He didn’t look pleased, but he also didn’t make an issue of it like he might have before—and he didn’t tell Bennett. It seemed to me that Grant was a little cooler toward his cousin these days.
The huge room downstairs was easy to dust because there wasn’t much furniture, but vacuuming it looked as if it would take all night. The thick red carpet obviously needed it, though. I swept half the room and then had to take a break. It was like trying to vacuum a football field.
I settled down in a chair to rest, and that put the stripper pole in the corner of the room squarely in my sight. Did they really bring strippers down here? I couldn’t imagine any kind of meeting and ceremony that would include that. I got to my feet and went over to take a closer look. Maybe it was just for bachelor parties or something like that.
It was fascinating, in an odd way. It was designed for men to admire women’s bodies, to get a thrill out of seeing them contort this way and that. Yet… in a way, it was a bit like the French maid costume. It, too, was designed for man’s pleasure, but as Theo said, I’d taken it and made it my own.
And had had one hell of an exciting evening in the process.
Idly, I wrapped my hand around the pole. It had to take a lot of skill and strength for the women who knew how to do tricks on it. I’d never been very athletic, but I admired women who were.
I looked around the room. No one else was here, just me and the vacuum cleaner, and who was it going to tell?
Grasping it with both hands, I took a few quick steps, circling it. Then I jumped, hoping my legs would swing around, but they didn’t. I just kind of landed where I’d started. I tried again—same result.
But on the third time, it was different. Instead of landing in the same spot I’d started from, I did spin just a little, but then I stumbled forward, banging my shoulder on the pole before I caught my balance. “Ow.”
“Well, now I know who to hire the next time we put on a show down here.”
I jumped, almost losing my balance again when I heard Grant’s voice. He seemed to have a sixth sense about when I was up to no good in this room. “Um… hi. You scared me.” He was leaning against the wall near the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. How long had he been here? “I was just vacuuming.”
He looked pointedly at the vacuum cleaner that was a good twenty feet away. “Clearly.”
He pushed off the wall and strode me, like a tiger who’d spotted its prey. Upstairs, at the dinner table, he’d been Grant, Theo and Ian’s friend. But down here, in this secret room, he was Grant, vice president and pledge master of the most notorious frat on campus.
And he somehow seemed taller, too.
“I’ll just go finish the carpet,” I said, but his gaze somehow pinned me in place.
“Give me your hand,” he ordered. His voice was soft but deadly.
I gulped. Was this some kind of punishment he inflicted on the pledges? Was he going to smack my knuckles with a ruler? But I somehow found myself obeying. My left hand rose shakily in the air.
He rolled his eyes. “The other one. I’m not placing a ring on your finger.”
Oh. I held my right hand out and he took it, raising it high in the air and then tugging it toward the pole. I grasped the smooth metal, but he shook his head. “Higher. Really stretch that little body of yours.”
Feeling foolish, I slid my hand up as high as I could, which sure didn’t seem all that high compared to a giant like him. He probably could’ve reached up and easily touched the season.
“Okay, face me, with your body perpendicular to the pole.”
Trying to follow along, I took a sidestep away from the pole and turned toward him. He shook his head and put his hands on my shoulders, repositioning me. “You were too far out, you shouldn’t have to lean in.”
I didn’t know why he bothered explaining when he was able to manhandle me into place like that. All the guys in the frat were taller than me, but being next to Grant made me feel especially tiny.
Grant stepped back, surveyed me, and frowned. “Kick off your shoes.”
He could have thought of that before putting me in this pose, but I did as he asked, toeing my sandals off and pushing them out of the way.
“Okay, take three large steps around the pole. Start with your inside leg.”
He micromanaged as I did so, telling me to point my toes as I stepped. To lean my upper body away from the pole. And even to walk with dignity, which seemed like a bit of a contradiction. Wasn’t the purpose of this thing to have women wearing as little as possible while zooming around on it?
At last, he was satisfied by my progress. “All right, this time, after the three steps, grab onto the pole with your left hand, about chest height.” He shook his head as I reached too high. “The height of your chest, not mine.”
Three graceful steps. Toes pointed. Arm taut as I kept my grip on the pole. I brought my left hand in, my body still facing outward.
“Not bad,” he said. “Now swing your left leg out. Keep it straight, toe pointed.”
“Do you give pole dancing lessons or something?”
He grinned. “I’m a fan of the artform. Now do it again. Gracefully this time.”
It took three tries before he deemed I was ready for the next step. “Okay, this time, bring your left leg in, and put it across the pole, with it just touching your ankle.”
“Huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do it from the start.” I complied, but when I got to the step where I pointed my left food out, he said, “Freeze.” He knelt down, and for the first time ever, I could see the top of his head. “Give me your leg.”
I swung it around and he grasped it with both hands. He bent my leg at the knee, folding it in until my heel was touching the pole, just like he’d said. “Good. And that’s it, that’s the position. Now you hold on tight, push off with your right leg, and spin around the pole. You’ll go around a couple of times as you sink down to the ground. You land gracefully, let all the horny men stuff dollar bills in your garter belt, and let the next girl take the stage.”
Great, now I had an alternate career if I flunked out of school. But I had to admit that his words had made my pulse speed up. He stood up and stepped back. He motioned for me to go ahead, and for some reason, I obeyed. When I got to the point where I was basically supposed to fly around the pole, I took a deep breath and pushed off with my back foot. “Keep your knees bent but your legs stiff,” Grant said as I lifted my legs off the ground.
Which caused me to drop like a stone. Grant caught my arm before I crashed all the way onto the carpet. “Let’s try that again.”
Why, I wanted to ask. What did this matter? I had carpets to clean, and later, papers to write. But I said none of that. I just got my feet under me and stepped back into the starting position. My arm tingles where his large hand had gripped me tightly.
Three steps. Point toe. Swing leg around. Hook the pole with my ankle. Glide round and round like a graceful swan until I landed gently on the floor. Yeah—that last step was the hard part.
But Grant was patient—a word I never thought I’d use to describe him. Once I was back in the starting position, he said, “Close your eyes.” That order made my eyes widen, but then after careful consideration, I closed them.
It felt different with my eyes closed. The cavernous room faded away. The vacuum, a sign of my ever-growing to-do list, also disappeared. But I could sense the man next to me. He circled me and then I felt him directly behind me, causing me to almost let go of the pole. Somehow, I held my pose—even when he leaned in close, and his warm breath inches from my ear.
“They’re watching you, Hailey.” His voice was low and intimate, and I shivered in spite of myself. “All of them. All those men. They’re all watching you, and every single one of them wants you.” His hands descended on my shoulders, adjusting my position slightly. Then he whispered in my ear again. “You are the sexiest woman they’ve ever seen. They want to fuck you. They wished their girlfriends looked like you. They’re all leaning forward, desperate to see your hot little body spin around that pole. These men would do anything for you. They’d die for the chance to fall down at your feet and worship you. To them, you are a goddess, and you’re going to spin for them. Show them your grace. Your sexuality. Your power. Do it now.”
I felt a small push on my back, but it didn’t break the power of his spell. With my eyes still closed, I started. Three graceful steps. Toes pointed. I could feel their eyes on me—the men who thought I was gorgeous.
My left hand crossed in front of me, grasping the pole and I swung my leg around, my toe pointed. They were all staring at me. Their eyes glued to my leg as I bent it and hooked my foot around the pole. And then I pushed off, gliding around the pole, my legs bent, my hands gripping tightly.
One time. Two times—I was losing altitude, sliding toward the floor. And then three times. My knee touched the thick carpet, and I slid to a stop.
There was complete silence, but in my mind, I was imagining what Grant said. Men staring at me, mesmerized. Cheering for me. Wanting me. It wasn’t a very feminist fantasy, but it was a pretty intriguing one.
I opened my eyes and blinked at the bright light. Then Grant stepped in front of me, blocking everything else with his huge body. “Good job.”
He offered a hand and I took it, letting him pull me effortlessly to my feet. He held on until he was sure I was steady and then stepped back. “A very good job.” Almost reluctantly, he reached out and stroked my hair once. Then he stepped back. “Now finish sweeping the floor.” With a wink, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving me to wonder what the hell had just happened. How had I started out cleaning and ended up doing that ?
But somehow, I wasn’t disappointed that I had.
The barbecue was fun. Somehow, since I knew that there was that secret meeting later that night, I’d expected the men to be all mysterious and somber, maybe trading secret handshakes or wearing dark cloaks. But no, they looked like normal college guys hanging out on a patio and manning the grill.
I wasn’t the only woman there, either, even though the numbers were skewed. Matt’s girlfriend came, and one of the other officers had a woman with him. I enjoyed chatting briefly with Matt’s girl, but after that, they sat down at one of the patio tables, laughing, drinking, and talking, while I was put in charge of drinks.
And as I well knew, these guys could really drink.
They kept me busy, fetching beers from the fridge, popping the caps off, delivering them to guests and then whisking the empty bottles away.
When Grant, Bennett and a blond guy I hadn’t met deemed the grill hot enough to put the meat on, Ian joined me in the kitchen. It was time to make the signature drinks. “Do you remember how?” he asked.
“Yep.”
I had all the ingredients ready on the counter, but I’d forgotten the secret ingredient that was out by the bar. He went to get that while I laid out red plastic cups on the counter. “That’s too many,” he said, counting quickly.
“No, I think it’s right?—”
“Only members get this drink, remember?”
“Oh yeah.”
He grinned at the expression on my face. “You might think it’s silly, but traditions are important in Greek life. And this is one of the tamer ones, so I’m happy to follow it.”
“All right.”
He poured the vodka in each cup, and I followed with the white grape juice. Then a splash of the secret ingredient—which could’ve been battery acid for all I knew. Then the tonic water. Then I loaded up a tray and took the first batch out.
I was worried that things might get a little awkward, but the other woman had evidently been told not to expect a cup. Once all the members had one, I backed away as Bennett got up to speak. I’d heard enough of his speeches.
I figured it was safe to come out once everyone had said cheers. Over by the grill, Grant caught my eye, and I figured he knew why I’d ducked into the kitchen. He lifted his glass, a little toast just for me, but then he brought it down too quickly, and it splashed on his shirt. “Crap,” he muttered. “Be right back.” Drink in hand, he went back inside.
I was able to relax and enjoy the evening air as people laughed and talked at the tables. Grant had returned, and the barbecue crew did their thing. Soon, the night air smelled amazing. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had steak.
The guys at the grill were in their element, and I remembered Theo’s caveman theory and I grinned. Then Grant waved me over. “Go get some platters for us to put the steaks on. Oh, and a towel, too.”
I complied, returning in a moment holding the three heavy platters with both hands, the towel slung over my arm.
Grant pointed to a rack on the side of the grill, but when I set the heavy platters down, I must’ve leaned too far forward. The top platter slid forward, right toward the grill. Shit. I tried to grab it, inconveniently forgetting that it wasn’t smart to reach into an open flame. As I jerked my hand back, the towel slid down my wrist, falling into the pit of the grill.
There must’ve been some grease on it or something, because it didn’t start smoldering, it burst into flames. I felt like I was watching it in slow motion. The towel turned black as the flames spread. Most of the battered cloth sank down into the depths of the grill, but part separated as the flames overtook it. I watched as it floated through the air like ash, the edge of it still burning. It flew a few feet and then fell gently onto a table, the people sitting there scrambling back.
It landed on a pile of paper napkins, and they went up in flames, too. As people began scrambling away, I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the cup next to Grant, turned, and through the contents on the flame.
“Hailey, no, that’s alcohol!” Theo shouted, and Ian jumped to his feet, dashing over and pushing me out of the way. Shouts filled the air, and I braced for the alcohol to make the fire ten times worse, but nothing happened. The beverage had extinguished the flames leaving just a small stream of smoke rising from the burnt napkins.
Ian let go of me, and I started shaking, thinking about what could have happened. Everyone had grown quiet, and I was afraid to look up and see the accusatory eyes. But then I realized they weren’t looking at me. They were looking at Grant.
Ian took the empty cup from my hand and sniffed it. “It’s water,” he said.
As the silence grew, it suddenly clicked for me. The way Grant only drank from the special bottles he ordered—the ones with labels no one could read. The way he’d gone inside right after I’d handed him a cup of the signature drink. And had I seen him drinking champagne when we toasted Theo’s contest win? He’d held a glass, but I couldn’t remember him taking a sip.
Grant, the loud, obnoxious frat bro who acted sloppy drunk at every single party, didn’t drink.
And now all his brothers were staring at him.
My mind raced. How many times had I felt different from everyone else? From the kids in my high school who didn’t have to take care of an aging grandparent. From my peers here at the university who could focus on their classes without holding down multiple jobs.
I, of all people knew, how hard it was to be different.
And now Grant did, too.
Then I rushed forward, addressing my words to Grant. “I’m so sorry! I knocked your drink over before. But when I went inside to make you another one, I couldn’t remember exactly how to make it, so I filled your cup with water. I was going to get Ian to show me the recipe and replace it before you noticed, but I didn’t have time”
Ian glanced at me side-eyed, knowing full well that I knew how to make the drink, but everyone else’s attention was still on Grant.
“No harm done, Hailey,” he said finally.
Then Bennett spoke up. “Guess it’s too much to expect beauty and brains.”
People laughed, and I flushed, looking down. But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that not everyone had laughed. Three men hadn’t.
“Sorry,” I said again and retreated to the kitchen.
I didn’t come out until the food was ready, because I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss the chance to eat something someone else had prepared. The steaks were amazing, rare and juicy, and they didn’t even taste like burnt towel. I sat with Theo and Ian and had a good time.
But my mind kept returning to what I’d learned about Grant.
Naturally, I was left with a mess in the kitchen, though at least we’d used paper plates for the food. The other women had left, and all the men were downstairs in the ritual room, or so I thought.
I turned away from the sink just in time to see Grant step into the kitchen, pausing just inside the door.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, as if I’d been the one to approach him instead of the other way around.
“All right.”
He didn’t say anything else, just held my gaze for a few more seconds. He turned to go, and I thought that was that. But he paused before leaving, his back to me. “Thank you.”
Then he was gone.