“Sorority girl,” I add as if that gave Ava some sort of credence. The truth is, I’m still stuck on the fact I just referred to her as my girlfriend. Technically, she’s a girl and she is my friend, but the way our mouths have been getting right to business whenever we’re together defies both of those aforementioned titles. My body buzzes with a slight high. Hell, I’ve got a girlfriend. A goofy grin takes over as I continue to stalk the premises for her. “She’s great. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”
“Sounds good. Have fun with her. Don’t get too serious just yet. You just got out of a fire, right? Ride this one easy.”
I nod in agreement. Everything in me knows what he’s saying is true. “I hear you, but what I feel for her surpasses anything I’ve ever felt before. She’s different. I can’t really explain it.”
“You don’t have to. My girlfriend is my life.” He winces. “And believe me, I know how that sounds, but it’s true. For so long I slept with anything that moved because I didn’t want to dethrone my sister as the one I venerated. Our parents are gone, and I really wanted to focus on taking care of her. I thought having someone serious in my life would change that, but it didn’t. It only made it better.”
His beer arrives, and he tips it to me before taking a sip. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.” He nods to the back. “Bring your girlfriend around. Can’t wait to meet her.”
“Thanks, man.” I slap him five again before he ducks into the crowd.
A trio of dancing girls up near the stage catch my eye, three brunettes with their mouths open with laughter, and the one in the middle makes my heart detonate on impact.
Ava glances my way before doing a double take and waving wildly. Before I can stop her, she’s lost in the crowd trying to make her way over.
I shouldn’t have come. She was having a good time, and here I’m practically stalking her.
“Grant,” a deep voice thunders from behind, and I turn to find Lawson and Rush, each with a bottle in hand.
“Didn’t think you’d show up.” Rush butts his shoulder into mine, sending me staggering on one foot. I made it a point to clear the air right after I almost beat the shit out of him that night. Rush and I can’t afford to let anyone or anything get between us. Sometimes, it feels as if we’re all we have.
“The girls are insane tonight.” Lawson says it like it’s a good thing.
“Not bad for a mandatory event.” I crane my neck into the crowd. I can feel Ava coming—feel her presence as she hacks through bodies to make her way over. No matter where Ava is on campus, my body seems to recalibrate its compass toward her. I’ve traded north for Ava. My compass is always set in her direction.
Lawson leans in. “More like mandatory to get laid. That’s about the sum total of tonight’s event. See the blonde wearing nothing but a T-shirt?” He tips his bottle toward a crowd of girls, the blonde in question is laughing so hard she’s wiping tears from her eyes. Her skin is dyed orange. Her hair is bleached so white it glows like a flame. Ordinarily I’d correct Lawson and fill him in on the fact she’s wearing a dress, but in this case I think he hit the nail on the head.
Rush howls at the group. “Dude, she is fucking hot.”
“She’s coming home with me.” Lawson lays it out like a fact. “You can have her buddy to the left, the redhead. They’re inseparable. A threesome was discussed, but I haven’t quite hit your league.” He knocks his elbow into me. “Which one do you want? I’ll make it happen.”
The thought makes me laugh. “I don’t need you to make it happen.”
Rush glances over, his eyes slightly stoned from who knows what. “So, are you with that chick or what? You and Ava the real deal?”
“Yup.” I didn’t even hesitate. There. I’ve made us official twice in one evening. It must be true. Something in me warms at the idea of making it official with Ava. We’re together. I want us to be. I hate to sound like a textbook sap, but I want to be with her, be around her every hour of every day. It feels like a limb is missing when she’s not with me—like a vital organ has just been ripped out of my body, and I’m slowly bleeding out without her.
“Real deal?” Lawson looks affronted. “She’s got you by the balls so hard you don’t even know it. There’s no way I’m getting pussy-whipped this soon in the game. Too many girls to plow through before that ever happens.”
By the game, I’m assuming he means college and not the night.
“Spoken like a true gentleman.”
Ava pops up right on cue. Her hair is blown out from dancing. Her little black dress is tight and short in all the right places. That huge grin of hers sets my heart thumping like I just ran a marathon, and here I haven’t moved an inch.
“And you are quite the gentlemen.” She grins openly at the two of us.
I take a step toward her, and she holds up her hands, glancing around as if expecting the Gestapo.
She glances past my shoulder and frowns. “My brother and his friends are crawling all over this place tonight.”
“Great.” I glance over in the event he’s headed this way. “I want to meet him.”
“Ha! You wish. I like your face just the way it is.” She pulls me in for a brief embrace before pushing me right back toward Lawson and Rush. “So, is it true? You chose a Beta event over shark-infested waters?”
I hitch my thumbs at Lawson and Rush. “Don’t fool yourself. These are shark-infested waters. And I’m pretty sure if I meet your brother, it wouldn’t equal my face getting pounded in. He cares about you, that’s all. He just wants to make sure you’re not with some punk.” That’s all I would want—for Steph to be safe. Ironic since it was her girlfriends I should have looked out for.
“Punk?” Rush gives my head a shove with his oversized mitt. “I guess that disqualifies you.”
“Get out of here.” I knock my knee into his, and he takes an inadvertent bow. “Come on.” I try to pull Ava deep into the crowd, but she makes an abrupt U-turn and leads us toward the exit.
“You’re insane, you know that?” Her laughter rises above the music, and I lose myself in the sound of her voice, those watery eyes, and that bionic smile. Ava has got me by the balls all right. I’ll be the first to admit I’m pussy-whipped. Everything in me wants to follow her out that door, but I pull her in close, and she ducks us into the hall that leads to the restroom. “He’s right there!” she whispers and points to the other side.
I glance over quickly and don’t see anyone in particular heading this way—for sure not a brother lost in a rage. I spot Jet with his arm around a blonde near the bar, his girlfriend I’m assuming. I spot Owen chatting it up with a brunette. Asshole. Not sure why I can’t stand the guy, other than the fact he’s blood-related to the witch who killed my sister. His sister is in a cell, and my sister is in the ground. I can’t even find it in me to feel sorry for him about that. If she wasn’t a homicidal maniac, Owen and I might have even been friends.
Ava pulls me back and locks her piercing eyes with mine. My heart, my adrenaline both kick in double time, and I let out a heavy sigh because I know I’m in trouble around this girl. I want her. I want to taste more than her lips. I want to devour every last part of her, and every aching part of me demands we do this tonight. What can I say? I’m an animal in the same category as Rush or Lawson. But they’ll be the only two primates getting lucky tonight. As much as my balls are crying out, I don’t think I should move that fast with Ava.
“You want to get out of here?” My head screams no. Stay. If we leave, if we’re alone— “I see a few people out there, and I don’t care for either.”
Ava gives a careful nod. That devilish glint in her eye sparkles under the dim light as her glowing teeth graze her bottom lip. “But first—” She pulls me close by the back of the neck, her honey sweet perfume loosening my senses. “There’s something a little naughty about having you here, so dangerously close while my boogeyman of a brother prowls the bar. He’s onto us.” Her eyes enlarge with glee
as if this were a good thing. “He wanted names, and I wouldn’t budge.”
“Great. He probably has a bounty on my head.” I’m only half-teasing. I’m pretty sure I would have done the same if Steph were still here. Hell, I still don’t care for Bryson.
“Oh, believe me, my brother prefers to tear you limb from limb on his own.” Ava lands her lips over mine, that open-mouth smile swallowing me whole. Ava pours out all of her affection, her wet kisses on me as that sugar sweet tongue laps me up from the inside. Nope. I’m not hanging around this bar with her homicidal brother roaming the place, salivating over the idea of kneeing my balls in, plucking off my limbs. Instead, I’m going to haul his little sister out of here, haul my little sister out of here and run her all the way back to the frat house. My brain can decry what’s about to happen all it wants, but all I want is to make her mine—or in the least round out a few bases. It’s not like this is a one-night stand. I’m in it. I want this. I want this with Ava for as long as she’s willing to give it to me. It feels like home whenever she’s around, whenever she’s in my mouth.
A body bumps me from behind, and I look back to see a group of girls leading a staggering blonde to the bathroom to hurl—Lawson’s prospect for the night. I’m not too sorry for him. I’m sure he already has a backup lined up. If Lawson is anything, he’s prepared. Speaking of prepared, I’ve got an unused box of condoms sitting in my nightstand.
Ava winks up at me, still grazing her lip with her teeth as if she can’t wait to take a juicy bite out of what she sees.
I know I shouldn’t take her back to the house. I know I should opt for a movie. Hell, we should opt to freeze our asses off on the trails—anything but being alone with this girl.
“Let’s get out of here.” I tuck a quick kiss to the back of her neck as we stagger past the bodies congesting the vicinity. I glance over to the bar and spot Jet. He lifts a hand as if waving goodnight, and I point over to Ava with a shit-eating grin spreading over my face. Can’t help it. There’s a juvenile pride of ownership, if I can be so barbaric to reference it that way, when you have a beautiful girl by your side. Not that I own Ava or will ever come close. More like pride in the fact a beautiful work of art like Ava would ever chose a brooding oaf like me.
Jet nods over and hikes up a notch to get a better look at the girl at my side, and that grin he was shooting my way melts right off his face. Figures. He can’t believe it either. But then again, Ava is too good to be true.
“Where are we headed?” she shouts over the music as I lead her to the exit and straight into the frozen November air.
“Beta Kappa Phi.”
Her brows rise, amused. “For a rousing game of pool?”
“You got the rousing part right.”
Ava and I bolt for The Row, laughing our asses off, stopping to make out by the gnarled oak that stands proud on the corner. Life is so much better, so much lighter and freeing with Ava by my side.
I would have done anything for Steph to have met her.
Beta Kappa Phi is void of any human life, just what I was hoping for as we head in through the commons area.
“Wow, this place is a real haunted house with no one in it.” Ava gently kicks a soda can and sends it rolling across the hardwood floor. “You guys should probably pool your money and look into getting a housekeeper.”
“A housekeeper? Now how would that foster our need to cultivate good hygienic practices all on our own?” I tease as we head for the stairs.
“Believe me, nobody here is fostering anything hygienic.”
We hit the base of the stairs, and I pause, pulling her in by the waist. “At the risk of sounding egotistical, I happen to be the most hygienic of them all.”
Her lips twitch with a smile she’s struggling to hold back. “At the risk of sounding too eager to believe what my egotistical boyfriend has to say—I’d better inspect your headquarters to affirm this.” She sucks in a quick breath as she catches herself. Ava’s cheeks redden with color, a deep blushing shade of pomegranate as her gaze falls to the floor. “I d-d-don’t know why I said that. I—”
“It’s okay.” I gently lift her chin with my finger until her beautiful eyes bless me with their light. “I like the sound of it.” I pull her up to the step above me until we’re almost face-to-face. “My girlfriend.” My chest rumbles with approval. “I love the sound of it.” My gaze hooks onto hers, and something deep inside me begs to tack on one more thing to the list of things I love. It’s true. I’ve fallen fast and hard for Ava. “The minute you sat down in front of me that afternoon I knew my life had changed for the better.”
Her entire affect widens with wonder at my words before she shakes the thought away. “I bet that’s a required line for Beta boys before they haul a girl to their bedroom.”
A frown comes and goes. “Only this bedroom.” I take her by the hand and lead her up the stairs. “Come on. I promise to behave.”
Ava belts out a laugh. “I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t.”
My gut cinches at the thought. If Ava is up for anything, then it’s up to me to hold back—and no thanks to that porn reel that runs through my mind at all hours of the night I’ve programmed myself to do anything but hold back when it comes to this girl.
We end up in the last room on the right as I close and lock my bedroom door. I keep the light off since the steely moonlight is flooding the room.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t—”
Ava lands her finger over my mouth. Her eyes are trained over mine, and I can’t fight the smile trying to break free from me.
“What’s so funny?” she whispers as her minty breath tickles my chin.
“I was just thinking of how the darkness has a way of stealing all of the color in the world, and here it has nothing on your beautiful eyes. It’s haunting the way they light up the dark. They’re beautiful—you’re beautiful, Ava.” I land my lips to hers a moment before pulling back and inspecting her one more time. “When my sister died, the darkness stole all of the color out of my world.” My fingers thread through her hair, and my body demands to adhere to her every part. “You put the color back into my world, Ava. You brought the light where there’s only been darkness.” I swallow hard, trying to block the words that demand to come next. “Thank you for that. Thank you for choosing me.” My voice breaks, and I don’t want it to. Tears have been my bread, my water, my mode of survival over the past few years, but these aren’t tears of sorrow. These are tears of joy.
“I choose you, Grant.” She gives a slight nod, her arms crossing over the back of my neck. “I choose you tonight and forever.” Ava’s lips crash to mine with an eager kiss, a ravenous feast that has us backing up to my bed, landing us on the mattress. Her hands dip into my boxers and run the rim of the elastic. My fingers inch their way up her shirt. I hit her lace bra, and a groan travels up my throat as I gently claw at it. Ava evicts her sweater, unbuttons my jeans, and tears off my T-shirt without so much as blinking. Her mouth finds mine once again, and my hands cup over her perfect tits.
Shit. I am too far gone to ever want to stop, to ever hit the brakes.
Ava’s cool hands fall over my back, working in a circular pattern until she makes her way to my chest. Down lower still, she finds a home deep inside my boxers once again. But this time she goes for it. Her hand curls around my dick, and I groan right into her throat. I work her bra off and slide my mouth down her honeyed flesh until I do my best to swallow down the softest part of her.
“Grant,” she whispers, moaning as if I’ve hit the jackpot, and something about hearing that throaty growl, loving the way she’s filling my mouth, I land her on her back and ravage her with my affection. Time dissolves to nothing, the world collapses on itself, and it’s just Ava and I—our mouths, our hot hungry flesh raking over one another on a mouthwatering loop.
I’ve been with girls before, Darcy and a few before that, but I’ve never felt the urgency to plunge deep inside anyone like I do right now.
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Ava frees me from my boxers as if reading my mind. Her dress hikes up on the side, and before I’m cognizant of what’s happening, I feel her wetness, that warm slick just waiting for me to acknowledge it.
“Shit.” I land somewhere between her belly and her thigh and give a few thrusts as I glide my body over hers, and then I lose it. I come in hot jagged bursts and lose myself in a paradise I have never known. “Shit, Ava.” I pump a dry laugh into her ear. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize.” She slips a kiss to my chest before I land beside her and we’re face-to-face. The mess on her stomach is a testament to the fact I can’t control myself around this girl—not now, not ever. “I want that with you. I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to hold back—aim for more traditional pasture next time.” A dull laugh bubbles from her.
“I don’t want your first time to be in some frat house.” The stairwell outside my room fills with the sound of voices, followed by the thunderous hooves of my brothers. “Not like this.” I nod toward the door.
“What? You don’t like an audience?” She wrinkles her nose, and I lean down and kiss the tip.
“You’re the only audience I need.”
“Good.” She reaches over and grabs a tissue off the nightstand before handing it to me, and I quickly clean up the mess I made. “You’ll have another performance next weekend. You know, after Thanksgiving. No point in giving your parents a show.” She grimaces at the thought, and I join her. “But that Friday, that Saturday and Sunday?” Ava pumps her shoulders as if she can’t be blamed for what comes next. “I’m all yours if you’ll have me.”
“Hell yes, I’ll have you.” I bury a kiss in her neck. All mine. I almost can’t catch my breath at the thought.
I give her ribs a slight pinch, and she bucks with laughter. I’d spend the rest of my life doing that just to hear that sweet sound. Ava laughs as if she’s tickled right down to her soul. I’ve never heard anyone bubble with so much joy. That’s part of her great light—part of my addiction to her.
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