by Sherry Soule
“Be careful if you decide to take them on.” Cole grew serious. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. And I hope I didn’t screw things up for you today.”
“I’m more worried about you. It hurts to see you so upset. It shouldn’t matter—”
“It does because it concerns you, Serena. You’re worth being upset over. I wish you’d see yourself the way I do and realize that you don’t need to join a sorority to feel like you belong.” The intensity in his stare dimmed, and he slowly blinked as he took a deep breath. The tension drained from him. “I think it’s become my mission in life to make sure you do see yourself for the gorgeous, intelligent, and talented woman that you are without going Greek.”
I leaned back, putting a safe distance between us. “I can’t de-pledge, Cole. I’ve been through too much to quit now.”
His lip quirked in a half-smile. “I know, but I wish you’d change your mind.” He moved closer as if to kiss me on the lips, but I scooted away.
“Cole, not here,” I said. “Zeta Beta spies could be anywhere.”
His expression hardened. “You’re putting the ZB before us?”
All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him, and of course, kiss him. A lot. I wanted the physical connection, but that wasn’t possible as long as the ZBs were scrutinizing my every move.
“There’s no us, Cole,” I said softly. “There never was. We kissed a few times—that’s all. Don’t make a big thing out of it.”
Cole placed his hands theatrically over his heart. “You cut me deep. Real deep.”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Neither do I. Guess I should go get this cleaned up.” Cole gestured with his uninjured hand. “You can go back inside to your friends. Tell them that you dumped me if it helps.”
A bundle of nerves formed in my stomach. Could I date Cole when the Zeta Betas clearly disapproved of his frat? Could I hang with the ZBs when Cole clearly thought they were stuck up bitches?
“We just can’t publicly be together while I’m pledging Zeta Beta,” I said. “But I believe that if two people are meant to be, than eventually they’ll find a way to be together.”
“You honestly believe that?” he asked.
“Absolutely. I’ll see you later?”
“You can bet on it.” He leaned down, kissed my forehead, and was gone.
FALLING HARD
The next week went by in an amazing blur. Other than going to class, resuming my sorority recruitment duties, and studying at the library, I spent every free moment with Cole. Mistakenly believing that our coupledom would undermine Cole’s womanizing mystique and my bid for Zeta Beta, we decided to keep our relationship a secret. He surreptitiously took me to dinner, out for coffee, and we spent a lot of time hanging out in his room at the frat house. And although, I didn’t spend the night and have to endure the walk-of-shame in the morning, I did stay late into the evening. When Cole and I weren’t laughing or talking, we were walking the dogs in a nearby park, or snuggling on his bed with Maximus, watching movies.
For some reason, our romance felt even more exciting because of the element of risk involved. It wasn’t like me to play with matches, but damn if I was going to burn, then let me go down in flames.
After enduring a night of hazing where the PNMs had to participate in a fun scavenger hunt that sent the five of us rushing to the other Greek houses to persuade members into giving us the required objects we needed, we stuck around and partied with the Zeta Betas. Jenny overdid it on the cosmos and had to be rushed to the hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning. Thankfully, she was okay and returned to school two days later.
On my way to cafeteria for dinner one night, some frat guys from ATO stepped out from a building doorway and hurried through the quad.
“Hey, you.” Cole leaned back against the brick wall with one knee crooked, his foot pressed into the stone behind him. He held out his hand to me. “C’mere, blondie.”
I moved closer and took his hand. A rush of warmth overcame my body. Cole pulled me around the corner before anyone saw us. He slipped his hand under my hair and pulled me into him, smothering my eager lips with his kiss. My fingers touched his face, his neck, and then slid lower to grasp his shoulders. My pulse was racing just thinking about us making love for the first time. It wasn’t something I wanted to do yet, but the thought of Cole’s hard, naked body pressing against mine made my senses jolt.
His mouth teased at my earlobe. “Damn, you’re sexy,” he whispered.
“Cole, stop. Someone might see us.”
“Let’s go back to my place,” he said hoarsely
We rushed back to the frat house, and Cole led me upstairs to his bedroom, and kicked the door shut behind him. His room had a variety of electronics—laptop, eBook reader, and flat screen—glowing in the dimness. His room was neat and his desk organized, though the queen-sized bed had rumpled sheets, and jeans and shirts hung out of unclosed dresser drawers. He flipped on the desk lamp and a greenish illumination softly lit the space.
“I hate all this sneaking around sometimes,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I thought you enjoyed our secret late-night hook ups.”
“I do, but it would be nice to tell the world that you’re my girl. Make it official.”
“We can’t. Not yet,” I said. “Not until I get a bid and find a way around that asinine rule.”
“Any idea why it’s a rule to begin with? I dated a few Zeta Betas last year without having to endure this much drama.”
I frowned. “No, and they seem very tight-lipped about it.”
“Just like you.” Cole leaned back and stared into my eyes. “Are you ever going to tell me the real reason you left Empire Beach University?”
Every molecule in my body turned icy. Somehow, he knew I was a compulsive liar and full of crap.
Breathe in, breathe out.
“What suddenly brought that up?” I asked.
“You don’t think people are actually buying into your ludicrous reasons for switching schools, do you? I’ve heard at least three different versions of why you left your last college.”
The people at Beaumont obviously sucked at keeping secrets.
I shrugged. “It’s not really that big of a deal.”
“Then why lie about it?”
I blew out a breath. Cole was the only one who saw through my bullshit and had called me on it. But I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. Squeezing my eyebrows together and rubbing my temple, I sighed. Maybe a half-truth would satisfy his curiosity.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “I caught my boyfriend, Seth—who turned out to be even less interesting than the lint catcher in my dryer—half-naked with my roommate and best friend Alyssa my freshmen year. I was so humiliated that I decided not to come back in the fall.” It was the partial truth. The least humiliating part of my past, even though having your high school sweetheart cheat on you with your BFF was mortifying enough. My stomach was roiling, but I continued, “When I researched colleges, I came across UC Beaumont, and the artistic courses sounded fantastic. There’s also an amazing fine arts scholarship for juniors that I plan to snag next year.”
“Man, that blows. I get why you won’t be too eager to tell people about it.” Cole gazed down at me. “Thank you for finally being honest with me.”
I averted my gaze and bit my lip. Honesty was not a virtue that I possessed. More like a major personality flaw that I wasn’t sure I was capable of admitting out loud or overcoming on my own.
Cole cleared his throat, and snapped me out of my daze. “You’re the best thing to happen to me in a long time, Serena, and I will never hurt you like that. And I miss you when were not together.” His voice was rough with emotion, and his breath tickled my ear.
“The kissing or me?”
“Always you,” he whispered before kissing me softly on the mouth.
Instantly, we were tangled in each other’s arms. Cole gripped my hips, lifted me up, and b
acked up to the bed, sitting on the edge. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and my lips covered his mouth hungrily in a deep kiss. Our tongues gently caressed, and his hands were roaming everywhere, my back, hips, breasts, hair as if Cole couldn’t get enough of me. A sense of rightness bloomed inside my heart. His mouth left mine to leave soft kisses down my throat and across my collarbone, then lingered on the exposed skin of my shoulder.
When I squirmed on his lap, he caught my hips and firmly pressed his mouth to mine again and I kissed him back passionately. Grabbing his broad shoulders, I melted against his body, his strong arms holding me tighter. Cole blazed a trail of kisses across my jaw and down my neck. My senses filled with heat and longing. His hands ran down my back, over my stomach, grazed my breasts, and then returned to my face.
“This is all I think about,” Cole said quietly, breaking away for the slightest second.
I struggled to catch my breath. “Me too.”
“You’re so beautiful, Serena.”
“So are you.”
Then his hand brushed across my cheek and pushed back my hair. Cole smiled, and I couldn’t resist kissing that cute dimple peeking out in his cheek. His lips found mine possessively while his hands caressed my body. The heat building between us became intense, and I longed to feel his bare skin against mine. He groaned and tipped his head back. I seized the opportunity to place soft kisses down his chin to his neck. His palm cupped my breast, and I inhaled sharply. When his hips shifted beneath me, my flesh burned for his touch.
“You’re driving me absolutely crazy,” Cole murmured.
I wiggled in his lap, eliciting another groan from him. I shifted atop his hardness, feeling it through our two pairs of jeans. He pressed me down against him and I sucked in a startled breath. Cole flipped me over onto my back and straddled me. Lids heavy, he crushed his mouth to mine, and I found myself trying to pull him even closer. He was naturally sensual and every movement, every touch made my hormones rage. Parting my thighs with his legs, heat instantly pooled low in my belly when he pushed himself against me.
“Serena.” He groaned into my hair. “I want you so much, but I don’t want to rush you.”
“You’re not…” I whispered, kissing his pierced eyebrow. “I’m done fighting whatever this is between us.”
Cole’s mouth covered my lips and his tongue sensually stroked mine as warmth flowed into my lady parts. One of his hands slid beneath my shirt and cupped my breast over my black bra. Teasing one fingertip over the swell of my nipple, he lifted my shirt and kissed my skin. I closed my eyes and sighed. My hands pushed under his shirt and over his muscled chest until he sat back, yanked the fabric over his head, and flung it aside.
Leaning down, he started kissing me again. His unique scent—sandalwood mixed with masculine spice—struck my senses like an alluring drug. I sank my fingertips into the muscles of his shoulders. When his hand lowered and popped the button on my jeans, I pulled back.
“Too soon?” His voice sounded gruff.
I shook my head. “No. I want to.”
Cole kissed me, rousing a melting sweetness within me while he undid each button on my blouse until it fell open. He pulled me to a sitting position while he removed my shirt and tossed it across the room. He ran his fingertips along my skin, cupping my breasts over the lacey bra. His lips roamed down my torso, his breath creating ripples of need. Cole reached behind me and unhooked the undergarment, sliding it down my arms and flipping it across the room, then he laid his bare chest against mine. My hands roamed over his back and I kissed him with an urgent fervor as he lowered me to the mattress. Heat rippled below my skin, warming my body and filling it with eager excitement. My thighs were aflame with anticipation. His heat coursed down the entire length of my skin.
Cole hesitated only long enough to look deeply into my eyes. “Serena,” he said in a voice filled with desire. “I want to make love to you.”
“Yes, yes,” I answered breathlessly.
My heart fluttered. He caressed my thighs and belly, slowly pulling off my jeans, then he paused in his slow perusal of my flesh to discard his own pants. He softly touched my naked skin, sending electric tingles throughout my body while whispering his worship for each part of my anatomy. I’d never dreamed his hands would feel so good, so warm, so gentle.
I kissed him, long and hard. My body molded into his and his touch was surprisingly soft and tender on my flesh, as Cole brought my body to a heightened state. Finally, when I thought I could stand it no longer, he gently eased on top of me, and I eagerly welcomed him into my body. A soft moan of ecstasy slipped through his lips. We began to make love then, moving together in a slow, erotic rhythm. The sexual tension that had been building between us for months, like a sweet promise of forever, released in a surge of undeclared love.
Our bodies moved in exquisite harmony with one another until we escalated to a shuddering climax. Afterwards, a sense of peace stole over me while we lay together.
“We have to do this again sometime,” Cole whispered.
I buried my face against his throat. “Yeah,” I replied. “We most definitely do.”
MARTYRDOM
Since that creepy sorority hater had reached a whole new level of crazy with the animal heart, I knew I couldn’t keep ignoring the threats. I needed to finally confront the Zeta Betas and find out if it was hazing pranks gone wild or another PNM trying to get me to de-pledge.
My jaw hurt from clenching it. I was obsessing about what I would say or do the next time I saw them, when my phone beeped. I picked the it up and read the text message.
MEET @ ZETA BETA HOUSE.
U HAVE 5 MINS
Were they mind readers?
Sighing, I stared up at the ceiling. I could ignore the summons. Not do whatever crazyass recruitment drill they had planned for me. Except that I wouldn’t. If I ignored the text, my hopes of going to Paris this summer would dissolve. It was time to face down the Zeta Beta trio and discover if they were the ones terrorizing me.
The phone beeped again and I checked the screen.
3 MINS LEFT
I sprinted all the way down the stairs and out the door, then tore across campus to the elusive Zeta Beta house. Jade, Claire, and Brooklyn waited on the porch of the mansion bundled into thick sweaters and jackets. I stopped by the last step, feeling out of breath and clutching my side.
“Are we infringing on your time or something?” Jade asked.
“What do you want?” I said, straightening.
Claire threw me a hard glare. “Are you giving us attitude, PNM?”
“Claire,” Jade said in a warning tone. She stepped closer and gazed down her nose at me. “We have another task for you.”
“First we need to talk,” I said.
Jade frowned, placing both hands on her slim hips. “About what? How you’re blowing off a direct order?”
“I need to know if sending PNMs creepy notes and dead animal hearts is part of your twisted hazing tactics,” I said. “Including nasty threats about dating ATO boys.”
Jade and her minions stared at me in silence for several long seconds.
Then unexpectedly Claire burst out laughing. “What’re you rambling about? That sounds like the stupid clique wars that go on in the dorms.” Her laughter died, and those steely blue eyes bore into mine like a venomous snake with a timid mouse. “If someone left you a warning, you should heed it. And if you’ve actually violated one of our requirements or policies, it might be best to confess now and de-pledge.”
My eyebrows lifted. “I just wondered if you guys knew anything about it.”
Jade audibly exhaled. “So Stalky has a stalker?”
“It’s probably just a stupid dorm prank,” Brooklyn said.
I shook my head. “That’s what I thought at first, too but—”
“Hashtag whatever.” Jade pinned me with her cold stare. “I don’t have time to create theories on Serena’s stalker issues. We have a new assignment for you, PNM.”
“What is it this time?” I asked wearily.
“You know that thermos Professor Grossman is always carrying?” Jade asked.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. What do you want me to do? Steal it?”
“No. Before class tomorrow, we want you to spike it with this,” Jade said.
Claire stepped forward with a bottle of whiskey and held it out.
I went bug-eyed and took a step back. “What? No! Why?”
Claire sighed dramatically. “Someone in class will smell the liquor on his breath and report him to the dean.”
Brooklyn snickered and Claire smirked.
They had to be kidding me.
“He could get fired,” I said.
“Now that would be hashtag scandalous,” Jade said, and they all laughed.
My fingers coiled into fists. I’d put up with all the hazing, getting them food, being their designated driver, breaking up with guys, getting Claire’s purse, keeping Brooklyn’s secrets, and putting up with their shitty attitudes, but this was too much. They couldn’t mess with people’s lives like this. No way was I going to help them get a man fired. No matter how much of an ass he was.
“No thanks,” I said, walking away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Brooklyn snapped.
“I thought you hated that guy,” Jade said.
I paused and faced them. “So what?”
“Then why not get him fired?” Brooklyn asked.
“He deserves it,” Claire said. “After what he supposedly did to you.”
“What are you talking about?” I said.
“Lying about you trading sex for grades,” Brooklyn explained, staring hard at me.
I sucked in a breath. My insides instantly turned to ice-cold granite. Warm light spilled from the windows of the mansion and the Zeta Beta house wavered like an illusion. I swayed and leaned against the porch railing.