19. Brooke
We’re seconds from being busted, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Miles spins me to face him.
My back hits a rack of coats. He steps between my thighs, his hand skimming up my skin under my dress as his mouth descends to my throat.
His teeth.
Dear God, there’s no better feeling than this man’s teeth on my skin.
Unless it’s his tongue. Or his lips.
I’m unprepared for all of it, and the sensations rip a moan from me.
Everything feels so damn good.
My fingers stretch up his shirt to lace behind his neck.
Voices enter my brain. I start to pull back, but Miles grabs me closer.
He tugs up my dress, hitching my leg around his, squeezing my thigh.
With a swift movement, Miles lifts me and pins me against the wall of the coat closet. My legs wrap around his waist. His hard length pressing against me sends a surge of desire through every nerve ending in my body.
“Brooke,” he groans into my skin.
Conversation is happening outside, urgent voices, but they’re a distant blur.
What he’s doing to me in here is far more important.
He grabs my ass, grinding into me.
My breath catches. My fingers dig into his shoulders, the muscles there.
The scent of him fills my senses, intoxicating and arousing.
The confined space of the coat closet amplifies every moan and whimper that escapes our lips, heightening the intensity.
I bite my lip, fighting back another moan as he nibbles on my earlobe before trailing kisses down the nape of my neck.
His fingers inch toward the apex of my thighs. Desire floods me. Each stroke sends electric shivers down my spine, igniting a fire within me that threatens to consume us both.
The door swings wide. “What the…?”
I force my eyes open.
Caroline’s behind with another couple members of the executive of the sorority.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Thought that was obvious.” Miles’ smile is cocky, his hair deliciously disheveled from my fingers. “This dress has been fucking with my head all night.”
We stay pressed against each other, our ragged breaths mingling in the small space.
Caroline composes herself. “It’s almost time.”
* * *
Most of the weekend is more practical—networking, fundraising, some unstructured social time—but the hour inside the hall at the resort is about remembering our Kappa sisters and the bonds we’ve shared.
Dates aren’t permitted in this part of the agenda. Miles said he was going to explore or possibly hit the gym.
Each of us is given a candle as we filter into the room.
(Flameless, as Caroline lamented a few weeks ago in an email to the organizing committee, but necessary for insurance purposes given the resort is a log structure.)
When I take a seat next to Ruby and a handful of other women from our class, I feel a hit of shame over the way I chased Caroline and Elise out of dinner.
There probably wasn’t any secret plot and it is rejuvenating to see friends I haven’t spent time with in months or years. The summer after junior year, things were tense enough I didn’t enjoy myself.
Maybe I missed out.
Caroline speaks from the front, leading the room in reciting the Kappa pledge.
When we’re finished, she takes a moment to recognize specific sisters for their contributions. It really is impressive.
”As president of our class,” she concludes, “I’m proud to say that each sister from our entire executive is here, and?—”
”Not everyone,” I murmur to Ruby.
“What was that?” Caroline leans over the podium.
A hundred heads swivel to where I’m seated in the third row.
“Hannah isn’t here,” I go on at the questioning looks.
Caroline’s smile tightens. “Well…” She’s clearly annoyed at being interrupted. “That hardly counts.”
“Why not? She’s just as much a Kappa as anyone. Just because she’s taking care of her family instead of being a partner or an entrepreneur or…” I search for the words. “… some hotshot doctor.” I turn to Ruby.
“No offence,” I whisper.
“None taken.”
Caroline grips the podium, resetting her smile. “Kappas are breaking glass ceilings everywhere,” she informs me. “Protecting women’s rights to be high achievers.”
“What about women’s rights to do whatever they want? I thought the point was allowing women to choose and not have to pretend.”
I look around at the wary and startled faces in the crowd before going on.
”Some of the people in this room and generations of women before them say they’re creating opportunities for sisters, but what they mean is a certain kind of opportunity.
”We don”t like to talk about people who don”t fit the mold. We’re all way too obsessed with how things look.”
Scanning the audience again, this time I find a few grudging nods.
It wasn’t my intention to start something, but it seems I’m not the only one who feels this way.
When my gaze returns to the front, Caroline’s stiff and icy. “Perhaps you should have been more concerned with how things looked when you were this close to getting the entire Kappa house shut down over your substance abuse problem, Brooke Ellis.”
A collective gasp goes up.
I feel like I’ve been slapped.
The room isn’t sure what to believe, and Caroline can’t tell who’s on her side.
I wait for a strategy to rush up at me, but I’m blank as a sheet of paper.
My hand tingles. It’s Ruby, clasping my palm in both of hers in support.
I tug my hand away with an apologetic look for my contrite friend and start toward the doors.
On my way, I spot Elise, her face pale and stunned.
There goes my chance to rep her brand.
The realization devastates me, but there’s nothing I can do.
Busting through the doors and stalking down the hall, I’m vaguely aware of nearby laughter. Some guys are drinking and playing cards.
“Brooke.” Miles’s voice comes from somewhere behind me, sounding concerned. “Brooke, wait.”
I don’t turn to look at him.
The only thing that matters is that I get the hell out of here.
* * *
MILES
She”s running down the hall. I can barely keep up even with much longer legs.
I catch up to her at the end, where she”s leaning against the wall with her head bowed. It”s clear that whatever happened in that room hit her hard, and I don”t want to make things worse.
”Brooke,” I say softly, leaning against the wall next to her. ”Tell me what’s wrong.”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide. “Coming here was a mistake.”
I put a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.
I feel her trembling slightly, and I wrap my arms around her tightly, holding her close. It feels as if we”ve been doing this forever, as though we”ve been together for years instead of a few days.
Brooke takes a deep breath, her hand reaching for mine.
”I can’t handle being in that room right now. I’m so angry. But I’m still here because I need to make it work. I can be disgusted with them, but I still need Elise. No matter how hard I try to get away from it, at the end of the day, it feels like all anyone cares about is appearances. They believe whatever they want to believe and tell whatever stories suit them.”
The wavering in her voice and her words breaks my heart.
”We don”t have to go back there,” I say, stroking her palm with my thumb.
Brooke nods, squeezing my hand. I don’t think she realizes she’s doing it.
I lead her back down the hallway until we find an empty room and sit on the floor inside, leaning against the wall. The silence stretches between us.
“What kind of stories?” I can’t help asking.
“Back in junior year before exams, Caroline confronted me saying she found coke in my room. A lot of coke.”
“I’m guessing you don’t mean the drink.”
“I do not.” Her laugh is tired. “She reported it to the administration and aggressively tried to get me kicked out. It almost worked, too.”
The woman in front of me might be impulsive, but something about the story rings false.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” I say slowly. “But what aren’t you telling me?”
Her eyes lift to my face, the guilt and shame pouring out of her.
“It wasn’t mine.”