Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
BAILEY
It’s only when Chad’s friends start hooting and cheering that I remember myself and pull back. Chad’s eyes are bright, and he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. We share a small smile before I’m yanked away from him.
“What the hell was that?” Lucas asks.
“Item number fifty-four.” Chad holds up the list and points to a random spot. Then he winks at me. “Thanks for the easy points, Princess.”
I force myself not to react.
“What happened to a little thing called consent?” Lucas pushes.
“Funny,” I say. “I seem to remember you thinking it was hilarious when Jordan hooked up with that sorority sister an hour ago.”
“That’s … this is …”
“It’s fine,” I cut him off. “It’s just a game, right?”
Lucas angles his body toward me. “You sure you’re okay?”
I’d almost laugh at his concern, because I can tell he’s being genuine, but I also suspect it comes from jealousy more than anything else. “Yeah, all good.”
Lucas nods, then gives my arm a squeeze.
I notice Chad tracks the movement out of the corner of my eye, and I decide that I really need to have a chat with Lucas.
Since the whole coming out to each other thing, he’s been getting more handsy than usual.
He’s a nice guy, and maybe if Chad wasn’t around, I might be interested, but I’m not.
And I owe it to him to be clear about that.
Chad grabs Lucas’s shoulder and pulls him back. “It almost sounds like you want to pucker up instead, sweetheart.”
“You wish, Doomsen.” Lucas shoves Chad off him.
Chad and his friends start to back up. “See you guys back on the row. We really appreciate you helping us win.”
They jog off, and I watch them for a second when Jordan says, “Was that a blow-up doll?”
“Gross.” Lucas sneers.
I cover my laugh and fall behind the others to pull out my phone as we head to the next task.
Me:
What was that?
Chad:
A kiss. Was it okay? You’re not mad?
Me:
Definitely not. I think Lucas wants to hit you though
Chad:
The feeling is mutual
Me:
There’s no need for it to be. I’m going to talk to him later and tell him I’m not interested
Chad:
A sneaky kiss AND you putting that douche in his place? Is it Christmas?
Me:
He’s not a douche. He’s actually nice, you just don’t like him because he wants in my pants
Chad:
Sure, remind me of that fact when I’m already tempted to come back there and kiss you again
Me:
Once wasn’t enough?
Chad:
It never is
I chuckle as I tuck my phone back away. There’re still a few hours left of the scavenger hunt, and we tick off as many items as we can. Lucas is in touch with some of the other teams, and while I’m having fun and enjoying myself, these guys take it more seriously than I was prepared for.
“So, what exactly do we win with this thing?” I ask as Jordan takes a selfie with the fountain on campus and tucks a coin into his backpack.
“Bragging rights,” he says.
“That’s it?”
“And the Heroes Hunt trophy.”
“Heroes hunt?”
Lucas nods. “Yeah, it’s what the scavenger hunt is officially called, but no one uses that name anymore.”
“Right. So, you guys get super intense about winning bragging rights and a trophy.”
“Correct.”
I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Only, it’s not exactly a trophy anymore,” Jordan adds.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the Sigmas won it like two years ago, and they broke the trophy while they were celebrating, so they glued the remaining pieces to a dildo.”
“A dildo?”
“Yep. Haven’t you noticed it hanging next to their front door?”
I can safely say I’ve never noticed a dildo hanging by the entrance to Sigma House, not that I ever have a reason to go there.
If we win this illustrious totem, will we also have to hang it over the front porch?
I’m not sure I want to be walking past that every day.
But hey, frat honor is a big thing to play for … I guess.
Time is moving slower since that kiss though, and there are no more messages from Chad, which isn’t a surprise when he’s basically a man-child for events like these.
A few weeks ago, that would have been a massive turnoff, since I’ve never understood people who take the fraternity thing too seriously, but …
well, first, there’s nothing serious about Chad.
And second, seeing his uncontrolled excitement for everything?
It’s … nice. Different. And when that excitement is focused on me, it’s hot as hell.
He lives in the moment.
I’m always five plans ahead.
I’ve always been comforted by forward planning, but that kiss spiked my adrenaline in a way that nothing other than being with him has done in a long time.
Instead of worrying about people seeing us together and mitigating the risk, I’d relaxed into what was happening and forgot to stress about the implications.
Chad is supposed to be all about scratching an itch.
I’m not supposed to have fun with him.
I’m not supposed to crave him when he’s not around.
I’m not supposed to fall asleep with a smile on my face from messaging him all night.
This isn’t going exactly to plan.
The frustrating thing, though, is I don’t actually know how it’s going.
We don’t talk about it, and while some of that is my fault because I have no clue what I want, it’s also stressing me out not to have direction.
I’m not a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, so trying to match Chad’s level is a challenge.
“Still can’t believe Doomsen did that,” Lucas says, falling back to walk with me while the others go on ahead.
“Yeah, random.”
He frowns. “I suppose. It sort of seemed like he targeted you though.”
Yikes. This isn’t a conversation I’m interested in having. “Maybe because he doesn’t know me, so that made it easier? I don’t know.”
“Could be it.” Lucas flashes me his crooked smile. “I, umm, felt weird watching you with him.”
Discomfort slivers down my spine as I realize we’re about to have that conversation. Well, at least that will make it easier for me to turn him down without having to bring it up myself.
“Because it was Ch—Doomsen?”
“Nah,” he says quickly before changing his mind. “Well, yes, but not only because of him.”
I swipe my tongue over my lips. “Look, I—”
“Bailey, just … I want to say …” He laughs awkwardly again. “This is hard to get out, but I didn’t like it because I wanted to be the one doing it.”
Oh no. There it is.
Trust me to make friends with the one guy in the house who wants to hit on me. Getting out of this with our friendship still intact is unlikely, but I want to try.
“Huh.”
Yeah, I need to do better than that.
I clear my throat. “That makes sense.” I cringe because that response isn’t any better. Before I can lose my nerve, I spin around and block Lucas’s path. “I’m sorry, like, a lot. But I don’t feel that way.”
His tan cheeks immediately get taken over by a red flush. “Oh. Yeah. Cool. No, totally, that’s totally fine. I get it.”
Lucas looks like he wishes the ground would swallow him up, and honestly, I feel the same. His awkwardness is rubbing off on me to the point where I can’t even pretend to feel normal about this.
We start to walk again, but my mind has gone blank.
“Think we’ll win today?” I ask, trying to steer things back to regular conversation and not images of us sticking our tongues down each other’s throats.
“Ah, probably not.” He manages a light tone, but it’s clear he’s not feeling it. “I can’t remember the last time our house did.”
“That sucks.”
“Yep.”
Goddamn, I’m not cut out for this. The thing is, Lucas is good-looking.
If we weren’t brothers from the same fraternity and he was a random I met out, I probably wouldn’t think twice about hooking up with him.
But he’s the kind of guy I can’t get a read on properly.
Where I can tell without having to ask that Chad doesn’t give a shit who my family are, I don’t get the same vibes from Lucas.
He doesn’t strike me as the type to have ulterior motives, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a subconscious part of him after the status of being friendly with me.
The conversation is done now though. Hopefully it doesn’t ruin our friendship, but if it does, that can’t be helped. I don’t owe him feelings just because he thinks he feels something for me. He barely knows me.
Sigh. I want Chad.
He’d know what to say to boost me up, but there’s every chance he’s busy doing a striptease in the quad or breaking into the dean’s office.
I mean, I didn’t actually look at the list, but those are things I’d assume he’d do for fun.
Half an hour before the cutoff, we start to make our way back to Greek Row.
It’s still early afternoon, and the presidents who stayed behind today have set up on the Beta’s lawn and are manning the grills.
The smell of meat and onions fills the street, and I follow my brothers to grab some food since we’re back well within the time limit.
The only people who aren’t back yet are Chad and the guys he was with, but when it’s five minutes until cutoff, they come tearing down the road, Robbie still wearing that ridiculous blow-up doll on his back.
They pull up close, chests heaving, and Chad catches my eyes and lightly nudges my jaw with his knuckles as he passes where I’m standing. He regroups with the rest of his house.
Lucas scoffs. “He’s playing with you.”
He is, but it’s not like I can point out that I like it, is it?
So instead, I wait until no one is paying me any attention and text that I need to see him.
His reply to meet me out the back of Sigma House comes immediately, and with everyone concentrating on eating and tallying up our points, I’m able to slip away.
I don’t see Chad leave, but he’s disappeared before me, and as soon as I step into their backyard, he stoops down to grab me around the thighs and hoists me into the air.
“Fuck,” I gasp and scramble to grab his shoulders.
“Hey, cutie.”
“Put me down, you idiot.”
His hold loosens so I can slide down his body until I’m level with his smug face. “On a scale of one to ten, how much does Lucas wanna kill me right now?”
“Hard eleven. But I’d say we’re on even footing.”
“Oh yeah?”
I cringe. “I told him I wasn’t interested.”
Chad eyes me for a second. “Would you be if I wasn’t around?”
“That’s a dumb question because you are.”
“I just mean—”
I laugh and brush his lips with mine. “I know what you mean, and the answer is no. I don’t hook up with my brothers. You done talking about Lucas yet? Pretty sure that’s not why we’re here.”
His gaze sharpens. “Why are we here?
“For this.” I shove him against the side of the house and kiss him. It’s everything I wanted from the one earlier and more. His hands cup my face, and I press a thigh between his, coming into contact with his hardening cock. “Damn, you feel good.”
He nips my bottom lip. “I wanna see you tonight.”
“My room?”
“I don’t know, it’s only a matter of time before I’m caught sneaking around there, and then that option will be gone.”
“I could … get a hotel room?”
He pulls back, looking surprised. “Could we? I have sweet fuck all money though, so it’d be on you. Is that against dating code or something? Shouldn’t we both throw in?”
“Nope. You paid for dinner the other night; this can be my turn.”
“You sure?” His warm eyes blink at me sweetly.
Having a guy ask for me to pay should be sending up red signals or feel sleazy, but …
it doesn’t. He’s not apologizing for not having the money, or making excuses, or making me feel used.
Like he said the other night, it’s a fact that he doesn’t have money, and he doesn’t want pity for it.
I made an offer, and Chad is taking me up on it. Simple as that.
“I’m sure. I selfishly want to spend the whole night with you without you having to sneak out the next morning.”
Chad kisses me again. “In that case, I’m sold. Text me where and when and I’ll meet you.”
“What about the party tonight?”
“It’ll be insane. No one will even notice we’re gone.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
He scoops me back up again, running kisses over my neck and making me squirm from how it tickles under his stubble. “Now, let’s go back so I can be crowned winner, and tonight, you can congratulate me.”
“Is that how it’s going to be?”
“We’re basically a sure thing.”
I grin as my feet hit the ground again. “And how do you want to be congratulated?”
Chad squeezes my ass, and his voice drops so it’s deep and rough. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”