Chapter 7
Ryan
I’m sure Mr. Rule Follower is happy I can’t bug him over spring break, when I head to Orlando with Ty and Lance.
We have a good time, enjoy the rides at Universal Studios and Disney, hit the bars.
It goes by too fast, and in no time we’re back to class, and I’m making life annoying as hell for Marty McGovern.
Anything I can think of to make his life more unpleasant.
Even with him riding my ass, I’ve managed to keep in line with the rules.
Although, the animosity I’ve built up has led to me finding other ways to bug Marty.
And I must admit, probably also has something to do with my frustrations about football and Dad.
On Wednesday, after I’m finished with classes, I meet the guys at the rec center for pickleball. It’s a mix of frats and sororities at the indoor courts, and we play a few rounds before Ty and I swap out with Marty and our Sigma Alpha buddy Jaxon, taking seats on a nearby bench with Keegan.
“Look at the guy,” I tell Ty as Marty gawks at Angie, who’s playing on the court beside ours. Angie gives him a friendly wave, which Marty returns before the ball hits him in the leg.
“Man, where are you?” Lance calls out from the opposite side.
“So pathetic,” I grumble.
Ty takes a sip of water from his thermos before saying, “Will you leave him the hell alone, for your own sake?”
“Not my fault he’s got no moves.”
Ty and Keegan eye me, but I pretend not to notice as I holler out, “Nice serve, Ang!”
“Thank you, boo,” she calls back, and I’ve rightfully earned a glare from Marty.
She’s started calling me boo since we’ve been back from the break, which is cute, but probably not helping with Marty thinking I’m making moves on her.
“Ry…” Ty says with a severe tone, the way Mom or Dad might’ve when I was a kid and did something wrong.
“What?”
“It’s not nice what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“Angie…?”
I’m as thrown as when Marty got up in arms about it before the break.
“You aren’t trying to get with her?” Ty asks.
“No.”
His skeptical expression doesn’t change.
“I know it’s coming from that day before break when we went to Junkie’s,” I say.
“I was being friendly with her like I normally am, but Marty started giving me hell like I was making moves on her, and I maybe did make sure to talk to her more than I normally would to piss him off. But not like flirting. Whatever story Marty’s making up in his head is on him and not my problem. ”
“You really don’t like that guy, do you?” Ty asks.
“Don’t like doesn’t really cover the hate I feel for that prick.”
We’ve never gotten along, but it’s been worse since probation, for sure, and as soon as we got back from break, we were right back to our usual routine. Even though I’m being a dick, he’s earned it.
“Damn, Ry,” Keegan says. “Give him a break. He’s helped us a lot with the insurance and navigating the fire stuff.”
That’s the truth. After the fire, he’s really stepped up, and I can’t shit all over his perfectionism and obsession with rules.
“Yeah, yeah. I know he’s made things easier for Sigma Alpha as a whole, but guy’s gone out of his way to make my life hell since we got here.”
“I imagine he’d say the same about you,” Ty presses.
“Whose side are you on again?”
“My best friend’s, always, man.”
Another ball passes by Marty while he’s exchanging a look with Angie.
“That guy has zero game, seriously,” Keegan notes.
“Okay,” Ty says, “I’m not gonna let you guys gang up on my boyfriend’s buddy like that.”
I groan. “I miss when we hated on Alpha Theta Mus.”
“Yeah, can we get back to that?” Keegan teases.
“Be nice,” Ty warns.
“All I have to do is be on my best behavior for the next month,” I say. “Then everything will be fine.”
“Really?” Keegan asks.
“Yeah…”
I look between Ty and Keegan, noting their suspicious expressions. “Why are you making those faces?”
“I just don’t know you to be the kind of guy who can follow the rules,” Keegan adds.
“It’s been three and a half weeks, and I’ve been good.”
“Two and a half,” Ty corrects. “Spring break doesn’t count. And you’ve been tolerable. Mart’s already talking about how you’re walking around naked in your room, listening to loud videos on your phone, hogging the bathroom so that he has to use the communal one down the hall.”
“And every time he’s said anything, I’ve put on pants and turned off the sound. And the bathroom thing…not my fault he doesn’t claim it first.”
“No one thing in that is against the rules, but he’s documenting it because he’s Marty, so all he has to do is get enough to bring to the guys and say you’ve become a nuisance, and then you’re out.”
The hell? “Nuisance? Is that a thing?”
Ty angles his head, giving me a look that tells me it definitely is.
“And you’re only telling me this now? Seriously, I went on a whole trip with my president friend only for him not to warn me when I’m close to getting kicked out?”
“You didn’t mention to me you were doing any of these things, and Lance just mentioned these things to me yesterday.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter as tension tightens in my chest.
“Don’t freak out,” Ty says. “It’s not enough yet, but you’re really testing the waters, and it’s a dangerous thing to do right now, especially if he thinks you’re trying to get with the girl he’s hung up on.”
“That really doesn’t seem like a big deal,” Keegan chimes in. “Angie would never fuck around with Marty anyway.”
Ty turns a stern glare on him.
“Okay, just saying. Now I’ll shut up.”
“What I’m trying to say,” Ty goes on, “is that there are other options than living at a frat.”
I can’t believe I’m hearing this. “Other options? Dude, I want to be with my friends. I want to be with you two losers.”
Ty smirks, but then it twists into a cringe.
“I was gonna wait and talk to you about this later,” he says, like one of my coaches might after a bad game, which just makes me concerned.
“Keegan and I’ve been talking, and we don’t think it would be terrible if some of you guys pitched in together for a room at an apartment complex.
No one owes the frat money as long as it’s unlivable, and there’s that complex Troy and Atlas were at. And Brenner and Taylor.”
Brenner and Taylor are Peach State alums, graduated last year, but I’m not sure why where they live should have anything to do with me.
“But you’re gonna stay here,” I say, “since you have a boyfriend. And Dax is my buddy too, and he loves the Greek life. Keeg?”
Keegan winces. “I’m enjoying saving up the money while we’re here.”
“But Jaxon might go with you,” Ty says. “And Jonah…maybe Kline. When I talked to Lance about it, he said we might be able to find some others from Alpha Theta Mu.”
I grit my teeth. “I don’t love you having all these secret meetings about me with the enemy.”
Ty sits down beside me, hooking his arm around me. “There’s no enemy here. Just all of us trying to navigate a tough situation. And if that means you need to get a place…”
I do a double take at my best bud, studying his expression.
I was already upset, but now I’m starting to get pissed. “You guys don’t think I can do it?”
“What? No, I didn’t say that.” But I know Ty, and this is the least sincere expression he could make.
“You wouldn’t be bringing up this suggestion if you thought I could behave myself for a few more weeks. You feel that way, Keeg?”
Keegan avoids eye contact. “Honestly…?” he drags out.
“What the fuck else would I want you to be? I can’t believe what I’m hearing right now. Traitors, both of you.”
“Dude…”
“You don’t believe in me.”
I’m fuming. If there was ever a time I needed to know my friends had my back, it’s when I’m considering potentially upending my life, and now there’s even more uncertainty about just being around the people I love.
Although, it’s not like they know. I really haven’t fully accepted it myself yet.
“That’s not what either of us said,” Ty insists.
“It just seems…unlikely that you’ll be able to keep it together,” Keegan pushes.
“You know yourself better than anyone,” Ty follows. “Being a little wild is your thing. And we love you for that.”
“I have some fucking self-restraint. If I need to get it together for a month, I can do that.”
Ty’s lips twist up. “Okay, then. A bet.”
“Huh?”
“We haven’t done one of those in a while, and I know my buddy is competitive as hell, so maybe we bet that you keep it together until the end of your probationary period, and we owe you a hundred dollars. And if you can’t…”
I know Ty well enough to read that clever expression. “I know what you’re doing here,” I say.
“And what is that?” Ty asks, smirking.
“I might be slow sometimes, but you’re trying to take advantage of my competitive side to see if you can inspire me to behave by turning it into a competition.”
“Told you he’d figure it out,” Keeg says.
And it’s clear this has been their setup all along.
I must admit, it means a lot that they care enough to have weaponized this part of my personality to help me out. I can’t fault them for that. Suddenly all the heated anger that built up over what felt like betrayal cools off, quickly replaced with adrenaline.
“Each?” I ask, calling them out on it.
Ty flinches. “What?”
“One hundred each?”
“Shut the fuck up!” Keegan says. “I’m not rich.”
“You said you were saving all this money.”
“Not to give to you. Fifty.”
“Seventy-five. Come on. I’m an amazing friend. You should believe in me enough to put in a hundred.”
Keegan’s expression twists up. “But if I’m putting in an easy hundred, doesn’t that mean I believe you won’t be able to do it?”
“Nah, because you didn’t volunteer it right away, so I know you think I can do it,” I tease. “You’re a good bud. Now give me your damn money. You think we can get Jaxon and Dax into this? I mean, Dax had five hundred for that bachelor auction last semester. I could walk away with a pretty penny.”
Ty laughs. “We’re not letting you rob Sigma Alpha. And you know a bet is definitely against the rules, so why don’t you just settle for trusting your good friends with this?”
“I hate when you make a good point.”
Funny to think I’ve been walking on eggshells, feeling so on edge the past three and a half weeks, and now I feel lighter.
And I know it has nothing to do with the bet, but because Ty and Keegan were clearly scheming to find a way to keep me good through this probation, and it’s not something I’ll take for granted.
I also have no intention of letting my bros down.
“So is it a bet?” Keeg asks.
“At a hundred each?” I confirm.
Keeg rolls his eyes. “Fine. A hundred it is.”
“Damn right it’s a bet.”
We shake on it, and Ty says, “I’m glad you’re in. Because I want to still be hanging with my buddy.”
“We can’t lose one of our own,” Keegan adds. “Just let some of the other guys get into trouble for a minute.”
I know I’ve been an asshole to Marty recently, but he’s about to see a totally different side of Ryan Lorde. He won’t even know who the fucking hell his roommate is.
“I’m gonna be so good, he won’t be able to stand it,” I mutter, glaring at Marty like he’s my archnemesis right before he gets hit in the face with the ball.