Frat House Confessions--Ridge

by Bethany Lopez

  “What, this old thing?” I joked, picking imaginary lint off of my blue Michael Kors shirt.

  I’d noticed Karrie liked me in blue, so I’d dressed with her in mind. Looking down at her killer legs and flat stomach, I hoped she’d done the same. As much as I was enjoying the view, I couldn’t wait to see what was underneath.

  “Want a drink?” I asked, taking her hand and leading her inside.

  It was mostly brothers, pledges, and their makeover guests. The party would go public in another hour, after Crush finished with his self-indulgent speeches and declared the winning pledge and girl.

  “Yes, I’d love one,” she replied, walking so close her arm brushed against mine, causing my libido to wake up and take notice.

  “What’s your poison tonight? Beer, Captain and Coke, jungle juice?”

  Her lip curled up when she said, “I think I’ll skip the jungle juice. Too many germ possibilities. I’ll have a Captain.”

  “Coming right up,” I said, before turning to the nearest pledge and ordering, “Captain and Coke … and don’t make it fifty-fifty, one shot is enough.”

  The pledge nodded and hurried off.

  “Thanks, last time they made it pretty strong.”

  “Yeah, they tend to do that, which works for most of our partygoers. But, I’d like both of us to be fully functional tonight.”

  Karrie turned into me and grabbed my other hand, so we were standing with our chests flush as she looked up at me.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” she replied.

  “Yeah?” I asked with a grin.

  She bit her lower lip and gave a nod of affirmation.

  Oh yeah, we are totally on the same page.

  Twenty-Six

  Karrie

  “Oh my gosh, you all look so great,” I told the group of women who were all standing around for their moment in the spotlight.

  Some looked excited, others nauseous, but they seriously did all look great. The pledges had done a good job with makeover, or, at least the girls were making it look like they did. Who knew what really went on behind closed doors. For all I knew, they could be more like me and Ridge, and have ulterior motives for participating in Crush’s event.

  “Thanks, so do you,” Trixie said. “Not that you didn’t look great before.”

  “Oh, I’ll say this is a quite different look than my sweatpants and messy bun,” I replied with a laugh. “But, thank you. We should really hang out sometime … the four of us.”

  Trixie looked at me funny and shook her head.

  “Actually, Wes and I aren’t a thing, and after tonight I don’t think I’ll be around again.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume, I thought I saw a spark between the two of you,” I said, feeling like an idiot.

  “I’m dating someone … a woman. But, it’s not that. I’m bi, and I think Wes is a great guy, it’s just this whole scene. It’s not for me.”

  “I get that,” I agreed easily. “Delta can be a bit much, especially at things like this, but you and Wes are still friends, right?”

  “Probably not after tonight,” Trixie said, and then turned and walked away.

  I watched after her for a moment, wondering what she meant, and jumped when a pair of strong arms surrounded my waist.

  “They’re about to start,” Ridge said, his breath hot against my ear, causing me to shiver.

  “Okay,” I replied softly, suddenly wishing we could run upstairs and hide for the rest of the night.

  I have a few ideas of how we could stay occupied…

  “God, you smell good,” he said, and I felt his lips skim the base of my neck.

  “I’m glad you like it. After all, you did pick it out,” I said with a light laugh.

  “Delicious,” Ridge growled, and I had to fight the urge to spin around and tackle him to the floor.

  “We’d better go,” I told him as everyone starting filing into the other room.

  He let out a frustrated noise, but took my hand as we followed the group.

  “Welcome, everyone,” Crush was saying as we entered. “Was that a great game today or what? Now, it’s the night you’ve all been waiting for … one pledge, and one hot female, will win our makeover challenge. Are you ready to get started?”

  I don’t know if he was expecting a rousing cheer, but what he received was a reluctant chorus of yeses, with one, I guess.

  Crush didn’t let that get him down, though, he kept right on going like he was the MC at Fashion Week.

  “First to the stage, we have … Curtis and Shay!”

  As Crush called out their names, the pledges and their “dates” walked on stage and posed briefly before walking back down again. Crush had a slideshow playing that showed the before picture of each girl, which helped the judges see what a transformation had been made over the last few weeks.

  I was leaned back against Ridge, with his arms around me and my head tucked under his chin.

  It was my new favorite place to be.

  “And, the winners of this year’s makeover challenge are…” Crush did an air drumroll. “Wes and Trixie!”

  I clapped and yelled out, “Whoop!” while Ridge called out his brother’s name.

  Wes looked embarrassed, but pleased, and I remembered how Ridge had said getting points and time with the board would look good for him once they were making decisions on who could join, although, I’d think that being Ridge’s brother would help him out as well.

  Trixie, on the other hand, looked kinda pissed.

  The picture behind her showed a pretty girl with long raven hair, wearing jeans and a sweater that was about three sizes too big. Now, her hair was cut into a cute-as-hell pixie, which really showed off her pretty face and long neck. She was wearing a black and red skater dress with combat boots.

  Trixie was totally punk rock, which may be why she scowled at Crush when he said, “Trixie, you went from forgettable to fuckable in only a few weeks, which means, you’re welcome at Delta any time you want between now and your graduation.”

  “Crush,” Antoine said, holding his hand out for the mic as he walked on the stage.

  I guess Crush had taken it too far with the fuckable comment.

  I saw Antoine say something to Trixie that the rest of us couldn’t hear, but she simply gave Crush the bird and stormed off stage.

  “Sorry about that, ladies, Crush apologizes for his sexist and rude comments. He was not speaking on behalf of Delta. Now, it’s time to open the doors and celebrate our Homecoming win. Have a good night and be safe,” Antoine said, before gesturing to someone off stage to turn off the mic and get rid of the screen.

  “What a dick,” I said, turning in Ridge’s arms. “I hope Trixie’s okay; do you think I should check on her?”

  Ridge’s arms tightened around me and my body brushed against his. I felt his hardened cock and my body tingled in response.

  “Wes went after her,” he said, dipping his face close to mine and speaking low, so only I could hear him. “What do you say we skip the rest of the party and go upstairs?”

  I lifted up so I could whisper in his ear, “I’d say you must be slippin’ cause I’ve been wanting to go upstairs since I walked in the door.”

  Ridge moved his mouth to my throat, his teeth scraping the skin and causing me to hold on tight as he replied, “Is that right?”

  I made a sound somewhere between yes and a desperate gurgle.

  “Baby, all you gotta do is ask, and I’ll do whatever you want … always.”

  Wow, that was a blanket statement I could really get behind.

  I pulled back to look up into his eyes, which looked electric thanks to his blue shirt.

  “I’m asking,” I told him, and his pupils dilated in response.

  He took my hand and started to practically drag me to the stairs. I laughed and jogged to keep up, happy, eager, and completely ready to finally get him naked.

  We’d just reached the base of the stairs when Wes came running over
and blocked our path.

  “Wes,” Ridge said hurriedly, when he got a good look of his brother’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Ridge, I need your help … I think I fucked up.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Ridge

  Wes, Karrie, and I scrambled up the stairs and down the hall to my room.

  Once I’d unlocked the door and we’d all rushed inside, I locked it behind us and looked to my brother.

  “Talk,” I ordered, wondering what in the hell could have him so spooked when minutes ago he was fine.

  “Okay … I followed Trixie out of the house and caught up to her on the street. She’s been acting so weird lately, different. When she ran off, I figured she was pissed about Crush, even though he says dumb shit like that all the time. But, when I stopped her, she told me why she’d really agreed to the makeover.”

  “And,” I prodded when he stopped talking. “Why’d she do it?”

  “She works for the paper. The school paper. I guess she’s a journalism major or something. She said she was looking for her big break and when I asked her about doing the makeover for Delta, she decided to do an expose on pledging … but it turned into more than that.”

  “What the fuck did she say, Wes?” I asked when he paused again.

  He was pacing back and forth in my room, wringing his hands, so I knew he was freaking out, but I needed to know everything she said.

  It was my job to protect the frat.

  “She said she’s exposing everything … Crush’s treatment of the pledges and the women who come to Delta, the sexist makeover ritual, and who knows what else.”

  “You had no idea about any of this?” I asked, knowing if it turned out he was part of it, they’d boot him out of the frat, no questions asked.

  “No, Ridge, honestly, I didn’t,” Wes said, his eyes begging me to believe him. “I’d never do that to you, you know that. I told you, when I met Trixie, she agreed to do this if I helped her pick up women. I thought we were friends, and yeah, she started asking lots of questions and stuff, but I assumed it was because she was interested. I asked her about her life, too … That’s what friends do.”

  Wes sat down on my bed so hard he bounced and put his head in his hands.

  “I guess it was all just bullshit. Trixie was using me for her story.”

  Karrie murmured, “Aww, Wes,” and moved to sit on the bed next to him. She placed her arm around his shoulder and assured him, “It’s not your fault. You liked her and had no reason to think she was lying to you. Hell, she fooled all of us.”

  “I need to go down and talk to Antoine, let him know what’s going down. You good?” I asked Karrie, who looked up at me and nodded, before turning back to Wes.

  I exited the room and jogged back down the stairs, muttering expletives under my breath with each step.

  I hadn’t sensed anything off about Trixie either, so I couldn’t really fault Wes for being duped. Still, I tried to think about how what she’d seen and heard could be spun to make us sound like a bunch of misogynistic assholes, and starting swearing louder.

  I moved through the crush of people, wondering where the fuck they’d all come from so fast, and beelined toward our president, who was talking to a few other frat presidents in the corner.

  Great.

  “Ridge, hey, how’s it going, man? Congrats to your brother,” one of the guys said. I was pretty sure he was the Sigma president, Cody or something.

  I nodded and said, “Thanks,” before turning to Antoine and asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute, in private?”

  Antoine told the guys he’d get with them later and started to follow me. I looked around the packed space, wondering where the best place to talk to him alone would be, and decided to head down the hall to where his bedroom was located, in the back of the house.

  “Can we talk in here?” I asked, pointing my thumb toward his door.

  He moved past me to unlock it and walked inside.

  “What’s up?” Antoine asked after I shut us inside.

  I glanced around the room to ensure we were alone and said, “Trixie, the girl who entered the contest with Wes and won, is actually an undercover reporter for the school paper. She’s writing an exposé on Delta.”

  Antoine blinked slowly, and I could hear the wheels spinning in his head.

  “Do we know what she’s writing about, exactly?”

  I shook my head and replied, “No one’s read anything yet, but she told Wes it would be about Crush, the treatment of our pledges, and the contest.”

  “How bad, do you think?”

  “Well, the last thing Crush said was that shit about her going from forgettable to fuckable, so probably pretty fucking bad.”

  “Shit … What about Wes, did he know about it?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “I know he’s your brother, but our priority is to Delta. If he’s in on it…”

  “I know,” I said, holding up my hand. “But he wasn’t in on it. I’d stake my office on it.”

  Antoine nodded.

  He was a good dude and I’d never given him a reason not to trust me. So, he’d believe me when I said Wes didn’t know about Trixie’s motives, and I knew my brother well enough to know when he was lying to me. He was telling the truth.

  “We need to get ahold of her, see if we can find out what she’s written, maybe she can be reasoned with,” he said, and I knew my night was not about to be spent in Karrie’s arms like I’d initially hoped.

  “Got it. I’ll grab Wes and take him with me. He’ll know how to track her better than me.”

  “Okay, and, if it looks like her focus is mainly on Crush, see if she’d be willing to keep Delta’s name out of it. I’ve talked to him repeatedly, and let him slide more than I should, and he still doesn’t get it. If he’s going down for being a prick, there’s no reason we need to go down with him. Crush’s views are not Delta’s and we won’t stand by and take the fall for his actions.”

  I felt a momentary pang of sympathy for Crush, who no doubt expected his brothers to have his back, not hang him out to dry. But, dude was a complete ass and always had been, and no matter what we said, showed no signs of changing. So, I squashed it.

  “You got it,” I told my president, then went to grab my brother and head out in search of Trixie.

  Twenty-Eight

  Karrie

  Before they left, Ridge had given me the option to be dropped off at home, or to stay and wait in his room.

  I’d opted to wait.

  It wasn’t just because I’d had my heart set on introducing peen to my vagina, and maybe my mouth, but I was worried about Wes and curious to see what Trixie’s response to Ridge would be if he caught up with her.

  Up until that night, she’d seemed so genuine, it was hard for me to believe it was all a lie.

  After two hours and no updates, I began to get tired. I could still hear the party thumping down below, but I was an expert at blocking noise out and concentrating on one thing, so I’d pulled a well-worn book off of Ridge’s shelf to pass the time.

  Figuring he wouldn’t mind, I borrowed one of his U of M T-shirts so that I could get comfortable.

  Once my face was washed, hair was up in a bun, and my sexy clothes were neatly folded on his dresser, I crawled in bed with a novel by James Patterson. I’d never read him before, and hoped to at least find his words entertaining.

  I didn’t even make it to the second chapter before I dozed off.

  I woke up when the mattress depressed and I felt someone slipping under the covers next to me.

  “Ridge?” I whispered, eyes still closed.

  “Yeah, baby, it’s okay, go back to sleep.”

  “What time is it?” I asked, blinking my eyes open gingerly.

  “Late. Like three in the morning,” he replied.

  I turned on my side so I was facing him and asked, “Did you find her?”

  “Yeah, we did. She agreed to keep Delta’s name out of it, so that’s good. But, the
story will run on Monday.”

  “How’s Wes?”

  “Pretty pissed. He wouldn’t even look at her, at first, but he’s the one who convinced her to keep the focus on Crush, not Delta. He’ll be okay, he’s just feeling like an idiot for getting played.”

  “It’s not his fault.”

  “I know, but he still feels bad. I hope it’s okay, but I told him he could ride back with us for Thanksgiving.”

  “Of course.”

  It was quiet for a few seconds, and I realized I could no longer hear noise coming from below.

  I wondered if Ridge had fallen asleep when he asked, “Are you wearing my shirt?”

  “Mmmhmm, the jean skirt wouldn’t have been fun to sleep in,” I replied.

  My eyes had adjusted to the dark, so I could see Ridge move onto his back, his eyes on the ceiling.

  He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I wondered if he had on shorts, underwear, or nothing at all. I mean, I doubted he’d slip into bed naked with me, but the not knowing was causing my blood to stir, cause it was possible.

  My imagination started working overtime and I visualized myself reaching under the sheets and finding Ridge’s hard length waiting for me. I imagined grasping him in my fist and moving it up and down, holding him tighter as I jacked him off.

  My nipples pebbled and my body grew warm as I heard the sounds he’d make in my mind.

  Maybe he’d beg, which really turned me on, or maybe he’d lose all control and throw me down on the bed so he could fuck me senseless.

  I gasped audibly and Ridge’s head turned my way.

  “You good?” he asked.

  God, I wanted to do it. I wanted to be brave and go after what I wanted, but the fear of rejection made me pause.

  “Yes, I was just thinking…”

  “About what?”

  I bit my lower lip and wondered, if I couldn’t physically show him what I wanted, could I tell him?

  It felt safe in the cloak of dark, so I took a deep breath and answered, “About touching your cock.”