Chapter 5
Chapter Five
CHAD
The light of day doesn’t clear my head any better than a full night of tossing and turning. After Bailey left, I sat there, trying to convince myself to go after him and get my damn lamp back, but instead … I let him take it. I don’t know how to feel about that.
It’s possibly the dumbest move I’ve made—and I do a lot of dumb shit.
I’m awake earlier than most of the house since I stopped drinking before my failed hookup and didn’t go back out to the party. After I passed out around four, I got a couple of hours’ sleep in, but then the sun came up, and here I am overthinking everything again.
I finish making my protein shake, then take a seat at the small table. I should be more annoyed about the lamp than I am. All Zeke and I talked about yesterday was the competition and being on the lookout, and then I let some random hottie walk out the door with a big-ticket item.
Instead of regretting that though, all my regret lies solely on the fact I didn’t get him naked.
I groan as my dick twitches over the thought of him spread out across my bed.
Those curls messy against my pillow, his long thin fingers clutching my sheets for dear life.
I’d still be in bed right now, that’s for sure.
Maybe he would have been in there with me too.
Maybe we’d be having a third round … or a fourth.
All-weekend sexcapades aren’t out of the question for me.
But he had to go and be a goddamn Kappa.
I pound my fist against the top of the table, hoping to relieve the nugget of frustration building in my gut.
If that idiot hadn’t come looking for me last night, I could have had my fun with Bailey before finding all this shit out, and then we would have parted ways, fully relaxed after a night of hot sex.
I definitely wouldn’t have let him walk out my door with that stupid, goddamn lamp, if my blood flow hadn’t been directed south.
“Who pissed in your Pop-Tarts?” Carter asks as he walks into the kitchen. His brown hair is rumpled from bed, but otherwise he looks like he always does.
“You’re up early,” I say, hoping to redirect his attention away from my pouting.
“I’m on cleaning crew before I meet my girl for lunch. Then work later.”
“Yeah, me too. I swear the cafe schedules me into any spare time that isn’t taken up by training. No clue when I’m supposed to get coursework in.”
He pulls a face. “Fuck, senior year. That sounds like hell.”
“Yep. Turns out business degrees aren’t so easy.
” Not that I ever thought it would be, but no one needs to know that.
Growing up with parents who moved constantly to chase a paycheck has made me crave stability in the future.
College is all fun and games, but the minute I walk away from here, I plan to start building a real life.
If that means off-the-rack suits and a nine-to-five, I’ll do it.
Carter’s mouth stretches in a wide yawn. “Oh, and can you tell Zeke we only caught one dude trying to get out of here with a cushion? A cushion! Like we wouldn’t notice that stuffed up his shirt. I thought people said Kappas were smart?”
I force a laugh, gut sinking. I’d sort of hoped that they would have caught Bailey and fixed my fuckup. “You only caught one guy?”
“Either they’re good at hiding things, took small shit, or maybe they were on their best behavior.”
“It’s definitely not that last one.”
Carter shrugs and goes to the cutlery drawer. He pauses, then moves to the dishwasher. “Ah …”
“Yeah?”
“I’m beginning to suspect you might be right.”
Oh no. I cross the kitchen and pull open the cutlery drawer. All of the slots are empty.
“Well, shit,” I say.
“What’s shit?”
I look up at Zeke’s voice, and unlike Carter, he looks messy as shit. He’s wearing his shirt from last night and his boxer briefs, and the lines under his eyes are as dark as his stubble.
“Kappas got all our cutlery.”
“Fuck.” Zeke checks the drawer and the dishwasher too. “How much were they worth?”
“One point apiece.”
He hums. “Annoying, but could be worse, I guess.”
Yeah, like a hundred points worse.
“Why are you both up?” Zeke asks, turning on the coffee maker.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Need to get my allocated rooms clean before hitting the gym,” Carter says. “Laters.”
Zeke watches him leave the room. “I think he’ll do good here.”
“Hmm … maybe. He was giving me a bit of lip yesterday.”
“What about?”
“Just why we were pulling such a basic prank on the Kappas. I’m sure it was nothing.”
Zeke’s eyebrows pinch in the middle as he pours himself a coffee. “Keep your eye on it.”
“Planning to.” We both sit at the table, and I tap my finger on the side of the shake, wondering whether to fess up to Zeke.
He’ll be pissed and want to know what the hell happened, but getting it out now is a better option than having it come out down the line.
It’s not like Bailey and I actually hooked up—and not by lack of trying on my part; I all but begged him.
And if Zeke knows they’ve got one hundred points on us, plus the cutlery, we can work to catch up now.
Instead of letting it all out though, I say, “Did you hear Kappas had a new guy transfer in?”
“Bailey Prince? Yeah, it happened last year. From what I can tell, his dad got him voted in by paying for that kitchen upgrade they had done over the summer.”
Bailey Prince. “Must be nice to have all that money.”
“Pity they’ve had to sacrifice their personalities to get it.”
Any other time, I would have readily agreed with him. But the memory of Bailey moving my hand to rest over his cock, then him straddling me, teasing me, not taking me at my word. I got that hint of someone quiet but fun.
Him walking out was the best outcome, but I have to keep reminding my dick of that. And the worst part is I’ll probably end up running into him all year. Seeing him at parties, maybe hooking up with other dudes, knowing that I was so close but never got to cross the finishing line with him.
I scrub at my face in frustration. Am I seriously obsessing over this guy? Fuck, I need to get laid worse than I thought.
“You okay?” Zeke asks.
“Yeah, tired, you know. I’ve gotta work later. Is it possible to be a senior and be too old for the party scene?”
“No.” He smirks. “Next you’ll tell me you’re giving up drinking.”
“Let’s not get crazy.” I’m just trying to distract him anyway. No way am I giving up on partying. “Last night looked good though. Any word from Rick on how much we made?”
“Nah, he’s still sleeping. He hooked up with the cutie he’s been talking about all week, so we probably won’t see him for a while.”
“Good for him.”
Zeke laughs. “And good for you, I hear. Miles says you were already holed up in your room at eleven. Who was she?”
“Nah, nothing like that.”
“Yeah, right, man. The only time you ditch a party early is because you’re getting your dick wet. Is that why you didn’t get much sleep? Walk her out early like a gentleman, did you?”
“You’re an idiot.” I finish my shake and head to the sink to rinse the cup. “I’m going to get ready for work. Got plans today?”
“The parents are coming up for a visit. Might bring them by the cafe.”
“Please don’t.” First, I hate people seeing me work there. Second, I swear everyone on campus chooses the cafe to meet up with their parents over the weekend, which means we’re always run off our feet.
“Fine. I’ll take them to that restaurant with the cheese things I like.”
“Excellent, good talk.” I slap him on the shoulder on the way past and head back to my room.
The guys might give me shit about working in a cafe and making mothers’ groups their Iced Lattes, but I actually like it there.
My boss and coworkers are pretty chill, everyone works hard, and those mothers’ groups are usually the ones who leave me the best tips. They can’t resist my big brown eyes.
Maybe if Bailey was a thirty-five-year-old woman, I’d have had a better chance with him.
And shit.
There I go again.
I know it’s been a while since I hooked up with a guy, but that doesn’t mean the first one I get close to should tie me up in knots like this.
He was gorgeous, and I saw hints of a guy I would have liked to see again, but that’s it.
I don’t know him.
I can’t see him again.
So the best thing I can do is let it go and forget about him. And when I leave for work later, I definitely shouldn’t glance at the Kappa House hoping for a glimpse of him.
But I do anyway.
Fuck.