ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13)

by Jane Keeler

  Eve looked around the room hesitantly. Everyone was holding cups, and not all of them could have been 21 or over. Maybe it was alright to just give it a try? She took a little sip, with Jena cheering her on in one ear and Alison tutting haughtily in the other.

  Just as the cup started to obscure her view of the room, she quickly jerked it away from her face, staring off into the corridor. It couldn’t be, could it? But there, smirking across at her, still wearing that same old leather jacket, was Ethan.

  “Oh my god, is that the guy from…?” Jena began, and then he started to walk over. “I swear, if he says anything to you, I’m going to take this drink and pour it in his eye.”

  “Seconded,” Alison muttered.

  Eve barely heard them, watching open-mouthed as he made his way across the crowded room. She managed to close her mouth in time to avoid looking too much like a complete idiot, and hastily took another swig of her drink for a little Dutch courage. Why on earth would he be coming over to talk to them?

  “So, first lady, decided to join a sorority, have you?” he asked, paying no attention whatsoever to the bristling Alison and Jena on either side of her.

  “No, actually, Jena’s pledging. I’m just here to help her out. What are you doing here?” Eve blurted out. She felt a little bit like he might be following her. The coffee shop, out near her lecture hall, and now here…?

  “Why wouldn’t I be here?” he asked, flipping the left side of his leather jacket closed to show her the Greek letters embellished on the front. “Sigma Chi is my frat.”

  “Oh,” she said, feeling utterly foolish and, once more, at a complete loss for words.

  “Nice dress,” he offered, looking her up and down in a way that was altogether too suggestive. “It’s a shame you aren’t pledging.”

  “And why is that?” Alison butted in, obviously still angry about the coffee incident. “She doesn’t have to join a sorority if she doesn’t want to.”

  “Because we have these mixers all year round,” he said, without looking at Alison. He leaned forward as if he was going to put his arm around Eve, grabbing a cup from behind her. “And Sigma brothers get together with Kappa sisters whenever they want to.”

  Eve could hardly think of anything to say to that. She was not used to being flirted with. That’s if he even was flirting, and she wasn’t just reading too much into it. Or if he was actually flirting and not just trying to get her into bed. This was way too complicated already.

  “Cat got your tongue?” he asked, smirking and lifting one eyebrow. “Well, I’ll be around. I’m sure the brothers will show your friends some hospitality too.” He turned and sauntered away, sparking up a conversation with another frat member across the other side of the room as he walked.

  “Well that was annoying,” Alison said, turning back to find Jena and Eve both staring speechlessly after him. Eve cleared her throat, took another swig from the cup, and nodded.

  “Yep,” she said, and the three of them unanimously decided to head across the corridor and find another room.

  The party wasn’t so bad after that. Alison mostly skulked around behind them looking out of place and nervous, despite their attempts to drag her into conversation, but Jena quickly found a pair of non-threatening fraternity boys to talk to. They were cute enough, and after a while they convinced her to go over and join a few other brothers to introduce her to them all. Alison and Eve found a quiet enough corner where they could sit and talk about poetry for a while; Eve was feeling light-headed enough after a couple of drinks to not want any more, and Alison seemed relieved to get a chance to talk about class.

  After another hour, Eve felt like perhaps it was getting on for time to go home. It was a Tuesday, after all, and Jena probably did have class in the morning. They headed over to her just as the group of men drifted away, and found her sitting by herself with another red cup in her hand.

  “Ready to go back to the dorm?” Eve asked, but Jena barely even acknowledged her question.

  “Is she okay?” Alison asked, exchanging a worried glance with Eve.

  Jena murmured something under her breath and then sank her head down onto her arms, as if she was ready to go to sleep.

  “Is she drunk?” Alison asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Eve said doubtfully. “I was keeping an eye on her, I’m sure she’s only had three drinks all night. I’ve had two, I’ve never drunk before, and I’m just a little light-headed. She can’t be drunk.”

  “She’s really sleepy,” Alison said, trying to get Jena to hold her head up. “You don’t think…?”

  “Let’s get her out of here,” Eve said quickly, hooking one arm under Jena’s to support her weight.

  She started to lift her out of her seat, but Jena was barely conscious. She began to drop to the floor out of Eve’s arms, until suddenly another pair of hands came out of nowhere to catch her.

  “Need some help?” Ethan asked, barely pausing as he pulled Jena’s arm around his shoulders and lifted her to her feet in a smooth motion. Just at that moment, Eve inexplicably noticed that he probably worked out a lot. His arm muscles may have been hidden by that stupid leather jacket, but there was no denying the ease with which he hefted Jena’s full weight.

  “We need to get her home,” she admitted quietly.

  Ethan nodded. “Lead the way. I’m done here anyway,” he said, tossing his own empty red cup over onto a nearby table.

  Eve took a deep breath, and looked at Alison. The other girl was already halfway out the door, waving goodbye and calling back over her shoulder that she would see her in class. Eve could sense that the troubles of this night were far from over.

  “Thanks,” she said to Ethan, and led him out of the party.

  Chapter Three

  Ethan helped her carry Jena all the way back to their dorm, talking quietly on the way. Ethan asked how much Jena had had to drink, and whether she went out often. He also asked Eve about her major, and they made small talk, finally laying Jena in her bed without so much as another word from her. She seemed to be in a deep sleep now, peaceful at least, but Eve was still worried.

  “If I were you, I’d tell her to go get a blood test in the morning,” he said. “I don’t think she’s just drunk. I’ll leave you my number if you need any help, like if she’s still groggy in the morning.”

  “I don’t think it’s just alcohol either,” Eve said, frowning. “She was with some guys from your frat for most of the night.”

  Ethan shrugged, evasively. “I can’t comment on that,” he said. “Just get her tested.”

  “Alright,” Eve said, drawing away from Jena’s side and standing up to face him. “Thank you for helping her.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t helping her,” he said, wearing what she recognised by now as his trademark smirk. “I was helping you.”

  That was a weird thing to say. Eve tried to shrug it off. She was tired now, and it was late. “Well, thanks either way. I’d better get to bed too.”

  Ethan gave her a dark smile, and stepped a little closer to her, reaching out a hand to lightly touch her on the waist. “I was counting on it.”

  “What? No,” she said, pushing his hand off quickly and nervously. “I meant I’m going to sleep, and- and you should go.”

  Ethan scowled, his mood turning quickly. “There’s no need to act like I’m diseased,” he snapped, lifting his hand in the air as if to demonstrate that there was nothing wrong with it. “I just thought you might be a little grateful.”

  “I am. I told you I am. But that’s it,” Eve said, taking a couple of steps away from him and out of his easy reach. “I thought you were helping because it’s the decent thing to do.”

  “I was,” Ethan replied, anger and confusion taking over his face. “I mean, it was decent, but you – you’ve been giving me signals -”

  “No I haven’t!” Eve burst out, shaking her head quickly. “I don’t give signals, I don’t even know what you mean. We were just talking!”

  �
��Fine,” Ethan spat out, pausing for a moment, before turning on his heel and striding to the door. He paused in the doorway and looked as though he might turn back and say something, but then shook his head with a frustrated growl and disappeared into the corridor.

  After a few seconds had passed, Eve realised she had been holding her breath, and let it out. In a sudden fit of guilt she ran to the door, but he had already vanished from view in one direction or the other. She hadn’t meant to reject him quite so strongly. In truth, he had startled her. She was nervous to be alone with a man, especially in her room, and even more so after it seemed like Jena had been drugged. Her knee-jerk reaction had not been thought out. She had been too worried about Jena to even think about something happening between them.

  She moved over to the window in their room and looked out across the manicured pathways. Ethan was already striding along, presumably in the direction of his own dorm, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He walked past a bin and kicked it, sending old food wrappers and plastic bags flying. Eve covered her mouth, feeling guiltier by the minute. She hadn’t meant to insult him.

  ---

  The next week, Poetry 1 was a dream. They looked into poetry throughout history, with a particular focus on female poets and the way they had shared their worldviews through the written word. Christina Rossetti was a Victorian poet that they lingered on, going over the love poems that she wrote and how they expressed her innermost feelings.

  With all of the imagery racing through her mind, Eve felt herself longing for a love like the one Rossetti wrote about. The kind of love that swept every other concern aside. Even the kind of love that left a horrible ache behind when it was gone. Surely it was worth the ache to have first experienced the love?

  She sighed quietly, idly remembering Ethan’s hand on her waist and the hurt look on his face when she pushed him away. It took her a moment, and then with a faint blush she realised she had been fantasising about him. About the idea of his hand staying on her waist after all. Of his arms pulling her close in to his strong, muscular chest…

  She shook her head and mentally tried to dispel the image. It was not as though it would have been appropriate for anything to happen that night, with Jena lying there unconscious. The next morning she had gone for a test like Ethan suggested, and it confirmed that her drink had been spiked. Someone had slipped her something intended to make her fall asleep at the party, and that thought made Eve shudder.

  They still had yet to figure out which of the frat boys it had been, and that was something that made Eve wonder if she should get in contact with Ethan after all. Maybe he could shed some light on what had happened. She knew that investigations were being made already; this was Brown, and the administration were not going to let something like a drugged freshman go without sanctions. There were rumours that Sigma Chi might get banned from holding or attending parties, but at the moment there was no way to be sure that it really had been someone from Sigma Chi.

  Jena herself seemed to have recovered well. A little shaken at first, she was now mostly back to her old self, and had pledged for the sorority after all. Eve felt a little awkward about the whole thing. The next morning she had found Ethan’s number scrawled on a ripped-off corner of paper, dropped onto her bedside table when they moved Jena into the room. She had not sent him a message or called him. She didn’t think he would want to hear anything more about that night.

  It wasn’t until Thursday, after Intro to Fiction, that she managed to meet up with both Jena and Alison again. They were all getting settled into their new schedules, and besides Jena had been called in several times to talk about what had happened to her. They made arrangements to head out to the same coffee shop, however, and Jena was waiting there when Alison and Eve arrived.

  They sat and talked for a while. It was quieter tonight; most students were either back in their dorms, eating dinner, or getting ready for a party. The three of them were not quite ready for another night like last week. They avoided the topic, chatting about how their lectures were going. Jena regaled them with a re-enactment of something funny that had happened with one of her professors, and they were all laughing loudly when the open door of the café caught Eve’s eye.

  “Oh, god,” she muttered quickly, ducking her head and pulling her hair out from behind her ear in an effort to hide.

  “What is it?” Alison asked, looking around quickly.

  “No, don’t stare!” Eve whispered. “It’s Ethan.”

  “Oh,” Alison replied, ignoring the advice and staring at him quite openly. “What happened to his face?”

  Eve looked up again, despite herself. Now that he was facing fully into the room she could see that Alison was right – something had happened. He had a black eye, a swollen bruise half obscuring the right side of his face. It looked like it was a few days old already, the swelling down to just a small bulge in his eyelid. Purple and yellow marks faded where they met his cheek.

  “That looks painful,” Jena said, as all three watched him order a drink at the counter and then stand and wait for it to be ready. He swung his eyes in their direction and Eve ducked again, putting a hand up to the side of her face as if that would hide her from his view. Jena raised her hand and waved at him, smiling. After all, he had carried her home.

  “Is he still there?” Eve asked after a few moments, and Jena nodded.

  “Yes, and he’s still looking at you. What happened with you two?” she asked.

  Eve sighed. “It was really embarrassing. I… insulted him by accident. But he was being a little bit of a jerk. But it doesn’t matter, anyway, I just don’t want to talk to him.”

  “Well, he’s on his way out now,” Jena said. “Oh, wait, no, he’s talking to someone in the doorway… I think it’s someone asking about his black eye. No, they’re done talking – alright, he’s gone.”

  Eve sighed with relief and sat up straight, finally able to look around the room freely again. “I wonder what happened to his eye,” she said.

  “One way to find out,” Alison said, getting up before either Jena or Eve could interject. They both watched with bated breath as she went over to the counter and the man who had just spoken with Ethan, quickly talking with him.

  “Well,” she said, sitting down at the table again. “Looks like you should be thanking him, Jena.”

  “What? Why’s that?” Jena asked, frowning. “I mean, aside from him saving me at the party.”

  “Apparently,” Alison said, with the dramatic air of someone revealing a very juicy bit of gossip. “He got into a fight with another Sigma Chi member. Someone who, the rumour goes, bought some pills last week and took them to the Kappa party with the intention of spiking someone’s drink.”

  Jena gasped. “He beat up the guy who drugged me?”

  “Sounds that way,” Alison replied. “Except for the fact that he ended up worse off.”

  Eve looked out of the window, regretting now that she had hidden. She could no longer see him – yet again, he had walked away before she realised she wanted to speak to him. She chewed on her lip worriedly, wondering if he was alright.

  Jena was looking at her with a curious expression. “You know, hun,” she said gently, “Someone should probably call him to make sure he’s alright. Since he’s been getting into fights to defend our honour, and all.”

  Eve cleared her throat, trying to fight down a mass of butterflies that were attempting to take flight from her stomach at the thought. “You’re right,” she admitted, looking down at her cell phone on the table. “Someone should.”

  Chapter Five

  Eve took a deep breath, and picked up the phone. She had waited until they split up and went their own ways – Jena was meeting a friend from one of her classes, so she had their room to herself. She had never thought that she could be so nervous about a simple phone call, but she had to really steel herself to press that button. With her heart racing in her chest, she listened to the dial tone ringing.

  And ringin
g.

  And ringing.

  Finally it went to answerphone, and she ended the call. She sighed. Either he wasn’t looking at his phone, or he wasn’t answering an unknown number. And since he didn’t know the number was hers, he wasn’t likely to call back. So what could she do?

  She composed, typed out, and then recomposed a text message, reasoning it was the only way she was going to get through to him. Finally, taking another deep breath, she forced herself to hit send.

  Heard you got into a fight. Hope you’re okay. Eve.

  Then she tried to focus on studying. Reading through a volume of poetry from female writers, she tried to focus on the ideas that had been brought up in the lecture. It was almost impossible. All she could think about was why he wasn’t replying.

  She wondered if she should have included a question in the message, something to make him answer. Or maybe even her last name, so he knew which Eve he was talking to? But then again, did he even know her last name? She chased her own thoughts all night, until Jena came home and she resigned herself to just going to bed.

  ---

  The next day was another day of class, so she headed over to the lecture hall with a heavy mind. Ethan still hadn’t replied, and she had half made up her mind to call him again. She was walking towards Poetry 1 when something made her stop, and quickly pull back behind the wall of a nearby building so that she could watch without being seen.

  Alison and Ethan were there, talking right outside the lecture hall. She didn’t even know they spoke to each other at all! What were they talking about? She leaned round further, curious, with her heart half-caught in her mouth. That’s when it happened.

  Alison leaned up on her tiptoes, and kissed Ethan right on the mouth.

  Eve pulled back around the wall quickly, hiding herself and breathing hard. So all this time he had been flirting with her, he had been going after Alison too? That complete pig! It seemed her instincts had been right about him after all! She was just regaining her breath when he walked past her, hurrying and with his back to her side of the path. He did not turn around, thankfully.