4. Brooke
From: [email protected]
Subject: Reunion updates!
Dear Kappa Sister,
The big reunion is two weeks away! I hope you’re as excited as we are to see so many familiar faces.
If you’re receiving this email, it means we have incomplete fields in your registration.
Please review your submission to ensure a smooth weekend for all.
Your committee chair and past president,
Caroline
”Damn, you look good.” Rookie gives me a once-over at the door.
The sky blue fabric of my dress scoops at the front, flares from my waist and ends midway down my thighs.
I twist a strand of my hair, tied in two pig tails, around a finger. “You know who I am?”
“French maid.”
“Nice try.”
There are at least fifty people here, mostly Kodiaks players and staff and plus-ones. I checked in with the guy Jay hired to run the gate.
Normally, I’d get ready with Nova, but since she and Clay are doing a couple’s costume, she said she was needed at home. So, I put mine together myself, right down to the sparkly red Louboutins.
Tonight, my goal is to win the costume contest so I can buy a new phone. Jay didn’t tell me who’s judging, so I need to make sure I’m seen everywhere.
“Sexy nurse?” Rookie tries again.
”I”m Dorothy. From The Wizard of Oz.”
“Is that like Real Housewives?”
”Back off my sister.” Jay appears from nowhere. ”You hit on her, you’ll be riding the bench for the rest of the year.”
Rookie grins. “Might be worth it.”
“Keep dreaming,” I counter sweetly.
The front of Jay’s place is decorated like a haunted house. Music pulses from inside, the party beckoning.
”You boys enjoy your pissing contest. I”m going in,” I say.
I start in through the haunted house, but Jay follows.
My brother’s house is a historic property. When I saw it from a realtor I follow online over the summer, I knew someone had to buy it and put their love—and money—into it.
Jay’s been watching home renovation shows in his downtime and decided he’s going to do an overhaul this season.
“You shouldn’t worry about me,” I remind him as I walk beneath fake cobwebs.
He”s six inches taller and has to duck to avoid getting them across the face.“Can’t help it. You’re my little sis.”
Spooky laughter streams from the corner, and Jay jumps.
“You’re scared of your own party?” I tease him. “Save that worry for your season.”
“Thought you wanted us to stop worrying.”
“Atlas is still out, right?” I ask.
“He’s day to day. He’ll be back in no time.”
We make our way through a hall of mirrors. A plastic bat swings from the ceiling, and my brother hollers, jumping onto my foot.
”Hey! These shoes are expensive,” I protest.
We trip out of the hallway and into the great room where the music is pounding.
Lights swirl from a corner, casting the room in blue.
There’s a solid crowd and everyone is in costume. Attractive people grace the couches, stand in the kitchen, and laugh in groups in the corners.
My gaze lands on Nova standing next to the massive marble island. She waves, and Istart for her, but my ankle rolls.I bend to check my shoes. Dammit. The heel on my Louboutins cracked when Jay tripped over me.It’s still attached but barely, and I can’t put all my weight on it.
I shuffle over to my friend.
”Hey, beautiful!” Nova beams. She’s wearing a long blond wig that cascades down her back with a crown on her head.
“Princess Peach,” I decide, and she claps. “Oh my God, tell me Clay is Mario and has a little moustache.”
My friend winks. ”Come on, let”s get drinks.”
Chloe”s in the kitchen, plus Sierra, the bartender from Mile High, who’s a friend of the team. Music is pumping, and I survey the room with a smile. It”s a great vibe.
”I need you to sample these new drinks,” Sierra calls over the music. “You want a slam dunk or a rim runner?”
I arch a brow as I take one from her at random and toss it back. “It’s good.”
Sierra’s long dark hair sways as she moves. Her burgundy lips that match her leather pants.
“This look is fierce,” I say, waving a finger at her outfit.
“Better be. I need to get laid tonight because I can’t get these pants off myself.”
I set the glass on the counter and scan the room. The costumes are strong, and I want to win.
Our bartender friend pours another round of shots for a pair of guys who’ve come up.
“Looking good, Sierra,” one of them comments.
She gives them a once-over. “Come find me at two.”
“Which one of us?” They exchange a surprised look.
“Didn’t hear me specify.”
They walk away giggling like middle school girls, high-fiving as they disappear into the crowd.
“You ever had a threesome?” Sierra asks.
“I don’t think I could fit another guy in my bed besides Clay,” Nova admits.
Sierra fixes another round for someone who flagged her down, her hands flying from one bottle to another. “It’s like Tetris. You’d be surprised how much room there is when you’re not sleeping.”
I snort. “Logistics is the least of your concerns. The fact that Clay would rip the head off any guy who looks at you too long is a bigger problem.”
The song changes, and the music seems to get louder.
My phone buzzes.
It’s Ruby messaging me a photo from the sorority’s account.
Without looking at it, I type back, trying my best to ignore the crack in the screen.
Brooke: Can’t believe you have time to scroll social, Mrs. Doctor.
Ruby: I’ll always be your Big Sis. Did you see who Caroline’s bringing as her date next weekend?
I start to type that I don’t give a damn who the sorority sister who always rubbed me the wrong way is going with, even if she’s decided to be Elise’s new BFF.
Just for the hell of it, I click on the picture.
Half a dozen smiling faces greet me, including Caroline’s and those of a couple sisters I recognize.
The other three are guys, presumably their significant others.
Two are strangers, but the third is instantly familiar.
My happy buzz disintegrates.
Blond hair. Perfect smile. Tom Ford polo.
An unpleasant tsunami of emotions crashes into me.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter.
“What’s wrong?” Nova asks.
“One of my sorority sisters is bringing my ex to this reunion.”
Sierra asks, “How big an ex are we talking?”
The floor spins and I’m not drunk enough to blame the alcohol.
Not yet, anyway.
“We grew up together. He was my first everything, and his family was a big donor to my mom’s campaign.”
“So, things ended on good terms?” Sierra guesses.
I reach across the island for a liquor bottle, pour some into a shot glass, and toss it back.
“I’ll take that as a no.” Sierra holds the bottle away before I can pour another. “Who are you taking to the event?”
“I was planning to go solo.”
“You still can,” Nova insists.
The idea of showing up and staying confident and resolute and convincing my sorority sis I can rep her brand better than Caroline while she has Kevin at her side, making her look good and making me insecure in front of Elise…
No, thank you.
I mentally run through the guys on my phone I could rope into a semi-romantic weekend in Vail. Plenty of successful, attractive men.
They all have baggage.
If I bring someone random, it will seem opportunistic, like I”m motivated by jealousy or competitiveness.
I take another shot.
I’ve had enough rim runners when Clay comes up behind Nova, snuggling her.“Hey, Pink.”
”Tonight, it”s Peach,” she reminds him.
“Where’s your moustache?” I call.
He reaches a tattooed hand into a pocket and produces a dark, curled chunk of hair. “Kept getting stuck up my nose.”
Seeing them together, how Clay’s grumpy expression brightens when he sees Nova and the way she comes alive around him, is really sweet.
With the alcohol buzzing through my system, I can admit my pride isn’t the only reason I’m in a mood over my ex attending this Kappa reunion.
“You seen my dog?” I ask, irritated.
Nova points, and mygaze lands on Miles.
He”s so hot it’s like a gut punch.
His dark hair curls around his ears. He stands out even in a room full of athletes, his relaxed grace beyond sexy because it’s entirely natural.
”Who”s the Kodashian?” Nova asks. Now that I look, he’s talking to a familiar woman in a black catsuit that probably takes longer to get off than it did to get on.
“Aliya. She was at the shoot the other day.”
“She’s come to the bar before,” Sierra weighs in. “She’s a snob and a terrible tipper.”
I’m surprised he’d bring her here… and a little disappointed, especially when he said they were only hooking up.
Not that I spend time thinking about the kind of woman Miles should be with. But obviously, if she’s more than some Kodashian, she should be smart, and fun, and enough of a ball-buster to challenge him.
I put my fingers to my lips and whistle. Heads swivel to face me, a few people covering their ears.
Moments later, Waffles races through the crowd, jumping excitedly to plant his sturdy paws on my legs.
“Hey, handsome!” I say, bending to scratch his cute little ears.
He’s nothing like Toto, but he’s perfect. We never had a dog growing up, but I wish we had.
Waffles and I are still having our lovefest when a set of feet—human and enormous—stop in front of me. I do my best to straighten, which is hard while being half drunk with a broken heel.
My reward is pure male hotness in the form of long legs, a wide torso, and a handsome face.
Miles is wearing camouflage pants and a faux fur vest with nothing beneath it, his hair swept back off his face in a way that makes his nose and jaw even sharper. In the low light, it’s impossible to see the warmth in his blue eyes, but I feel it penetrate my skin.
Miles’s gaze flicks over me, lingering on my legs. “Dorothy with daddy issues?”
“Haha.” I nod to the plastic axe hanging from his belt. “Are you Rambo?”
“Mountain Ken.” He tosses his hair back.
Someone hollers for Clay, and the big, tattooed man looks up.
“I’ll be back.” He brushes his lips over Nova’s. It’s sweet and sexy.
I’m the least romantic woman in the world, but even I have to bite my cheek to keep from sighing.
Someone passes by with Jell-O shots, and I grab two.
“Why thank you.” Miles takes one from me, our skin brushing.
“They were both for me,” I grumble.
We clink glasses and toss back our drinks.
The music changes, and Nova makes a dash for the floor. “I need to dance to this. Catch you guys in a second.”
I watch her weave through the crowd, meeting up with Clay. He drags her against him.
“No one should be that cute,” I say.
“Almost makes you believe in love,” he agrees.
“Do you? Believe in love?”
He turns over my question. “Love is about respect. Friendship is love. Family is love. Mutually beneficial banging, like really good fucking, well, that’s a kind of love too. And maybe there’s something more than all of that.”
I survey him with new appreciation. He’s objectively gorgeous. His blue eyes stare straight into your soul. His big hands make you wonder what they’d feel like on your body. He’s got the kind of confidence that puts other people at ease.
Sure, Miles is always smack in the middle of every joke or prank, but in that way where even if he’s everywhere and loud and laughing, he somehow leaves you wanting more.
He’s the kind of guy any girl would love to have on her arm at a party.
Or a reunion.
I’m remembering how he had my back the other night at Mile High, no questions asked.
“Most people give me shit for not thinking before I act.”
“I like you better when you don’t.”
Alcohol buzzes through my veins, whispering seductive promises to my brain.
“Hey, Miles, if I asked you to do something crazy for me, would you do it?” The voice is far away but sounds like mine.
“Are we talking felony or misdemeanor?” Miles’s brow lifts, and he looks even more charmingly wicked.
There are bad ideas and then there are Bad Ideas. The kind that you regret for years.
If I was sober, I’d recognize which one this was.
As it stands, I blame the booze burning my throat, the ugly surprise over Caroline parading around my ex at the reunion, and the dazzling veneer that is Miles Garrett, shining like a six-pack-boasting mirage I can practically taste.
“Take me to Vail for the weekend,” I call over the music. “Act like you’re obsessed with me.”
His smile freezes.
“There”s a sorority reunion and I need a date,” I add. Probably should have led with that. “Not a real date. Just a fake one.”
Finally, he blinks. “And you”re asking me because…?”
I tap my lip. ”I”m drunk and you’ll go out with anyone.”
“That’s what you think of my standards,” he scoffs.
“That’s what I know of your standards.”
Miles covers his heart with a hand as if my words are a bullet ripping through him. “I’ll have you know I have enjoyed the company of some upstanding women.”
“You’ve ‘enjoyed’ so many that it would be hard not to.”
He grins, a genuine intrigue on his face as he studies me. Like he’s never really seen me before.
“There you are!” Aliya comes up with a smile that’s only for him. “I know you’ve been looking everywhere for me.”
Her catsuit looks painted on, and she beams as her hand finds Miles’s bicep. Her appearance and possessiveness hit me like the icy water from the garden pond.
My eyes roll so hard it’s a wonder they don’t get stuck. “Hi, Aliya.” I waggle my fingers.
“Have we met?”
“Yeah. It’s Brooke.”
“Right. Brock.”
“She said Brooke,” Miles repeats, and Aliya turns her attention to him.
“Oh, okay. And what’s my name?” Her voice is teasing.
“Aliya.”
“Just checking.”
She’s draped over him like a second skin.
“Forget what I asked. I’m drunk.” I glance at the Frenchie sitting obediently at my heels. “Let’s go, Waffles. We need to find the judges and make ourselves known.”
I”m gone before Miles can respond or make me feel like more of an idiot.