Undeniable (Lakemont University #2)

Chapter 1 Mazzie

Mazzie

“To surviving a freaking hard week,” I muttered, tipping back my second cup of whatever tropical magic they were serving. The sweet mango masked everything except the warmth spreading through my chest and the loosening of the knot that had been living between my shoulders for days.

My fingertips tingled. My worries blurred.

God, I needed this. If my best friend, Bailey—or Bails, as I called her—hadn’t practically dragged me to this pool party, I would be home right now hosting a grand pity festival for one, complete with boxed mac and cheese and dealing with my mother.

Music spilled from the speakers nestled in the pergola’s wooden beams. Tyler Braden’s song “God & Guns N’ Roses” practically drowned out the chatter, the squeals of flirtation, and the laughter.

I closed my eyes for the moment, letting the melody wash over me. Tyler’s crooning voice had a way of making me feel free. But this song was one that I sang at the top of my lungs driving down the open highway.

Sighing, I opened my eyes as another of his songs started.

The pool deck, patio, and pool were packed with partygoers laughing and talking.

A few girls swayed to the music where they stood.

The chlorine-scented air mixed with sunscreen drifted on the light breeze.

One thing was certain—I wouldn’t be dipping my body into the pool.

I had a sensitivity to chlorine, manifested by hives and shortness of breath, and if I got the chemical in my eyes, it burned like a mother.

I was content to sit, drink, and enjoy the music, and the weather couldn’t be more perfect for late September in Texas—warm, sticky, but not too overwhelming.

As the fairy lights hanging from the pergola twinkled to life in the deepening dusk, the atmosphere was surely masking my sour mood over losing my second job at a coffee shop due to its closing.

I wasn’t blowing into a paper bag yet. For one, I made decent money as a cocktail server at a casino just over the Texas border in Louisiana, which was about a forty-five minute drive from Lakemont, that supplemented the money my mom received from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

On top of that, I’d been saving as much as I could in case of an emergency or if my thirteen-year-old sister, Kaylee, needed money for a field trip or any school function.

Counting on my mother to work a steady job was like counting on winning the lottery, and I knew that wasn’t freaking happening.

My mom’s idea of employment was hunting down rich men to support her habit for high-end designer clothes and jewelry only a queen could afford.

Don’t go down that road. You’re here to have a good time.

I’d never been one to drown my sorrows in liquor, but the way I was feeling, I might start. Regardless, I had promised Bails I wouldn’t brood tonight.

Speaking of my bestie, she swung her curvy hips as she came toward me with a smile that would make any guy drop to his knees.

“Spill it, Bails.” I eyed her flushed cheeks and her telltale swollen lips. “What hurricane of bad decisions did you create?”

She flipped her strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder, the picture of innocence ruined by the smudge of lipstick. “Can’t a girl use the bathroom without an interrogation?”

“Not with your lipstick out of whack or with that ‘I just devoured someone’ look on your face. You’re practically glowing.”

She collapsed onto the lounge chair, plucked her red cup from the table, and took a victory sip. “Fine. I might have cornered Erik in the pool house.”

My eyebrows twisted as I straightened. “Hussy. You were gone for like seven minutes!”

Her laugh bubbled up like champagne. “Seven minutes in heaven is all you need. When an itch needs scratching…” She winked with an unapologetic shrug.

I couldn’t deny that Erik, the tight end for the Lakemont University football team, was a hottie with those impossibly long lashes framing seductive brown eyes. But unlike Bails, I didn’t have the luxury to flirt or have sex with men.

My life plan was simple: ace my premed classes, get through my junior year, keep my sister safe and fed, and avoid distractions at all costs. And men like Erik were distractions gift-wrapped in trouble.

As if Erik knew we were talking about him, he glanced in our direction.

Bails waved then blew him a kiss, and Erik, in turn, caught it.

The eye roll I did hurt. “I feel like I’m intruding on an intimate moment. But that was cheesy.”

“Oh, chill, chica. Let your hair down.”

I gave her a sidelong glance like she’d lost her mind. “I am.” I raised my cup. “See. I’m drinking, and I’m here.”

She kicked her legs up on the lounge chair. “I’m glad the casino didn’t put you on the schedule this weekend. Otherwise, I would’ve had to tie you up and drag you to the bash of the year.”

No shift meant no paycheck.

“While it pains me to lose money, I’m happy I’m here with you. But isn’t there a party every weekend?”

“Yeah, but tonight’s celebration is for Lucas’s birthday.”

It certainly didn’t have anything to do with football. Lakemont had lost against Piney Woods University this afternoon.

“Then where is the birthday boy? The party has been raging for two hours, and I haven’t seen him anywhere.”

Lucas Allen, wide receiver and campus heartthrob, had been known to ruin a lot of women in the last three years.

Rumor had it he didn’t date, and if a woman got too close, he dumped her faster than she could blink.

I’d heard tall tales about him from Ajax, a football player in my biochemistry class.

Nothing scandalous but bragging about how girls lined up to get a piece of Lucas.

My gaze swept the crowd, but I didn’t see Ajax, the running back for Lakemont who on occasion had been my lab partner.

He’d asked me out last year, but after my breakup with a possessive asshole in my freshman year, I had no desire to date.

Besides, Ajax wasn’t my type. He was nice enough, but I preferred men with blond hair, not dark.

“Lucas should be here soon. According to Erik, Lucas is dealing with some family stuff.” Bails lowered her sunglasses.

“Before I forget, the midnight pep rally and the homecoming game are in two weeks. I want you to come. You have plenty of notice to change your shifts around at the casino—that is, if you’re on the schedule.

Maybe we’ll get lucky again. Anyway, it's going to be a fun weekend.”

I wished I had it as easy as her to party and do whatever I wanted. Her very rich parents insisted she concentrate on her four years of college and enjoy the ride because after graduation, it would be all work and no play.

“We had such a great time in our freshman year at the midnight pep rally.” I remembered how exciting it had been to be in the stadium with thousands of students where the atmosphere was electric while yell leaders conducted traditional cheers, building anticipation before the homecoming game the next day.

“But you know I need to work.” I hoped like hell my boss, Greta, gave me the hours I needed.

She sat up, sighing. “I missed you last year at the pep rally. I had to do the Wolf Howl all by myself.”

I fake pouted. “Ah, but you found Erik. Didn’t he kiss you that night?”

“Best night ever. Look, I know you need the money. But think about it. If you do work, you could leave work at eleven p.m. and still make it to the pep rally.”

I really wanted to go with her. I missed doing all the college activities. “I’ll see what my schedule looks like. That’s all I can promise.”

She beamed. “Thank you.”

“It’s my turn to use the bathroom. It’s in the pool house, right?”

Bails gave me a nod. “Feel free to corner a hot guy. Lord knows you could use a night of wild sex.”

Amen to that.

I wove through the crowd, dodging bronze bodies, giddy women, and guys talking about the football game.

Near the entrance to the pool house, goose bumps prickled along my arms despite the warm evening.

An inexplicable sensation of being watched made me glance out and over the waist-high gate that led to the driveway.

I stopped and made eye contact with a broad-chested guy who was leaning against a shiny black truck and wearing a hoodie, phone to his ear, his legs crossed at the ankles. A hoodie in the Texas heat? Either he hated attention or wanted to disappear.

Then he lowered his hood as if to say, “look at me.” And I couldn’t bring myself to move or look away from none other than Lucas Allen. From where I stood, he was certainly handsome. Messy blond locks shorn on the sides. Scruff on his sharp jaw.

Stop staring, and go to the bathroom. For some reason, I couldn’t tear my gaze away until my phone rang.

I fished it out of my back pocket then groaned at seeing my mom’s name.

I debated whether to answer. Kaylee was fine since she was at her friend’s house for the weekend.

But on the off chance that something had happened, I tapped to connect the call.

“This better be good, Mom,” I blurted out harshly.

“Daughter, is that any way to greet the woman who gave birth to you?”

I pressed my fingers to my temple, gripping the cell tightly with my other hand. “What do you want?” I was thankful that Bailey had convinced me to come to this party and not stay home with my head buried in books.

“I need to borrow your car, but I can’t find your keys.”

“What’s wrong with yours?”

“It won’t start. I think it’s the battery.” She clucked her tongue. “I need to buy groceries.”

I snorted. “You mean your box of wine.”

She blew out a frustrated breath, which I knew all too well. “Maserati Meyers, do not start.”

I winced at hearing my first name. She’d come up with Maserati after screwing my dad on the hood of one, and that image was cringeworthy, which was the reason I shortened it to Mazzie.

“Where did you get the money? Because we both know you don’t have a job.”