“Yeah, but see. Here, when kids leave their parents’ place, they are so eager to try it all, they go crazy and sometimes abuse it. Since Brazilians are used to being around it at a much younger age, it isn’t a big deal and we don’t rush to try everything and do crazy things, you know. I mean, there are the crazy ones that always abuse everything, but then, there are crazy ones in any corner of the world.”
“True.” He gestured to my glass. “What about drinking? You were fourteen and drinking?”
“Well, I wasn’t supposed to. In Brazil, you can drink when you’re eighteen. When you’re underage in clubs, the bouncer usually puts a plastic bracelet on your wrist, so the bartenders can’t sell you alcohol, but that never stopped older friends from handing you a beer.”
Now he probably thought I was an alcoholic since my early teenage years. It was hard to explain things like this to people from another country, just as it was hard for them to make me understand American customs.
Some girls walked by, glancing at me and whispering.
Not interested in drama, I averted my gaze and gulped my whiskey.
“Easy there. You don’t want to get drunk fast, do you?”
It took a lot more than a shot of whiskey to get me drunk. Shaking my head, I raised my arm and called the bartender. “Can I get another one, please?”
“What is it?” the guy asked.
“Whiskey and Coke.”
He smiled. “Nice.” He turned around to prepare my drink, and I looked at Jonah again.
“I’m really glad you came,” Jonah said, his tone more serious.
I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. He was handsome, in a boyish kind of way. Blonds weren’t my thing, but come on, Chris Hemsworth was blond, and 98 percent of the female population would go for him, given the chance. Why not let this blond try to charm me? Sure, Garrett was more my speed, but Jonah seemed way more interested in me.
Unsure about that yet, I nodded to the space around us. “Is it always this slow?”
“It’s early yet, and Audrey still has all the ATN girls in the living room. Once the lionesses are released, the party picks up.”
I laughed. “Lionesses?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, I tease them about it. They want to be like lions, the kings of everything, or queens in their case. I don’t mind most of the time, but I hate it when they come into my house—” He pointed to the floor. “—and start messing with our rules. Speaking of rules, you probably aren’t aware, but it’s rare for a girl outside the Greek system to hang with a sorority. They must like you a lot.”
I didn’t know that. A warm feeling filled my chest. They liked me. A lot. It was never hard for me to make friends, but things had been different this last year, living in my brothers’ shadows. Besides Hannah, I hadn’t made any friends, and for some reason, I believed I wasn’t good at it anymore. But here I was, making friends.
I smiled. “I’m honored.”
“You should be. Audrey and Sarah are hard to please. If they want you around, it means you’re special.” He fixed those blue eyes on me.
I stared back at him, trying to figure him out, trying to understand why my insides weren’t twisting and curling when he looked at me that way. Hadn’t I just established he was handsome? For flirting, that was enough.
Garrett stepped between us and put my glass on the counter with a loud thump. “There you go.”
Wait. What? Why was Garrett bringing this over? I glanced at the bartender. He was busy concocting other drinks. Facing Garrett again, I opened my mouth to thank him, but he turned and walked away before I could utter a syllable.
“What was that about?”
“That’s just Garrett. He’s moody. Sometimes I think he must have PMS or something.”
I laughed. Again, Jonah stared at me with intent. “You should smile and laugh more. It illuminates your pretty face.”
I brought my glass to my lips and took a big swallow, unsure what to say.
Jonah glanced to the doorway. “Here comes the lionesses,” he whispered as Audrey and Sarah walked into the dining room.
With a plastic smile, Audrey stopped beside us. If it was anyone else, that plastic smile would have thrown me off, but I was starting to believe it was normal for her.
“Bia,” Audrey said. “How are you, dear?”
“Hey, Audrey. Nice mixer.”
“Thanks.” She put a hand on Jonah’s arm. “It’s great that the guys let me do what I want.” She winked, and Jonah raised his eyebrow in a see-what-I-told-you way.
I bit back a laugh.
A slow song started playing and several couples started dancing.
Jonah offered me his arm. “Would you like to dance with me?”
I gaped. Hmm, I always found it odd when people slow danced anywhere outside the dance floors of clubs or balls.
Audrey lost the smile. “I don’t think it’s her thing.”
Wait. The few times I had been around Audrey and Jonah, she was always tense. Oh, there was something going on between them.
“You don’t know that,” he said, not looking at her. He nudged his arm toward me again. “Let’s dance?” I glanced from him to her and back to him. “I don’t bite. Unless you ask.” He winked.
Droga.
“I’m … I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m a terrible dancer and I would only embarrass you.”
He laughed. “Nonsense. Just hold on to me and I’ll guide you.”
“Sorry,” I whispered.
He leaned closer to me. “You do realize that I’ll ask again when the next slow song starts, right?”
I wasn’t one to back away, but apparently, Jonah and Audrey had unsolved issues, and seeing as I was trying to make friends, I decided not to give her a reason to hate me.
I stood from the stool. “Excuse me.”
Not looking at them both, I walked out of the dining room, but not before hearing the harsh tones being exchanged between them.
Great. I was now a thorn between a couple, or whatever they were. I hoped that Audrey would notice I had done nothing, no more than talk to him, as if he were a friend, and she would be cool with it. I hoped that she wouldn’t be one of those touchy girls who went crazy whenever her guy talked to another woman.
In the foyer, Molly leaned over a guy, speaking slowly and smiling in a let’s-do-it way. Well, at least one of us was in a good mood and might get lucky.
What was I thinking? I wasn’t here to get lucky. I mean, if it happened, good for me, but that wasn’t my focus right now.
Sipping my drink, I walked around the house again. In the kitchen, several guys grabbed beer from the fridge and food from the island, and Garrett prepared another glass of whiskey.
I noticed several of the other guys looked at me as I made my way to Garrett. He saw me too.
I showed him my empty glass. “Would you mind?”
He shook his head once and took the glass from me. He refilled half of it with whiskey, then grabbed a Coke from the fridge and filled the rest of the glass. Still silent, he handed me the glass and I smiled.
“Thanks,” I said. He nodded, placing the cap back on the bottle. “Cat got your tongue?”
One corner of his lips curled up. “Something like that.”
Meu Deus, he was handsome.
Sarah and Jennifer rushed into the kitchen.
“There you are.” Sarah wrapped her fingers around my arm and pulled me with her. “Come. Audrey has something to show you.”
I glanced at Garrett. Jennifer stood right in front of him and batted her lashes at him. It looked like it was working since he had his eyes on her. Something like disappointment made its way into my chest.
“What is it?” I asked, letting Sarah take me back to the foyer.
Audrey stood there. “Bia, I’m glad Sarah found you.”
I frowned. “What is it?”
She laughed. “Relax, dear. I have a surprise for you. A good surprise.” She turned to the off
ice door and pushed me inside.
A guy was seated on of the chairs around the desk. “Hello,” he said, sporting a smile.
Audrey gestured to him. “I’ve found someone for you.”
I gaped at her. “What?”
She continued, “Mike here is handsome and rich, and he showed interest in you the moment I said you were from Brazil.”
“She’s beautiful,” the guy said, devouring me with his eyes.
“See? He’s into you, and you should totally do … your thing with him.”
I placed my hands on my hips and glared at her. “Do my thing? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Oh, dear, you don’t need to feign innocence with me. I know how Brazilian girls are.” She stepped back and turned off the lights, making the room look eerie with only a lamp over the desk shining through. “I’ll let you two be. Have fun.”
She exited the room and closed the door.
The guy stood. “Come here, Brazilian girl. Let’s have some fun.”
What. The. Fuck.
I flipped him off and marched to the door. I threw it open and found Audrey in the hallway, whispering with Sarah.
“What’s your problem?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
“What?” Audrey narrowed her eyes at me. “Didn’t like your gift? Considering where you’re from, I thought it was a nice gift.”
Ignoring the attention we were starting to gather, I asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Audrey lowered her voice. “Come on, Bia. Girls in Brazil walk around wearing bikinis all day, or those barely there carnival clothes. Oh, and topless at beaches.”
“It’s Carnaval, not carnival, and that damn party is five days long, not the entire year, and those clothes are called costumes. Nobody wears those things on regular days. And there’s no such thing as topless beaches. That’s illegal.”
Audrey looked at me as if I had dumped my glass of whiskey over her head. “Right about now, I’m glad you didn’t rush, otherwise I would be expelling you from the sorority.”
“What? For not being a whore?”
“Dear, this is why we wanted you in our sorority. That’s why every sorority wanted you. So we would have our own bimbo to offer to the guys at The Bat. Or any other guy we wanted to impress.”
Ice ran through my veins. They wanted what? “You’re crazy.” I walked around them, toward the door. If they were those kinds of “friends,” I didn’t want to spend one more second with them.
“Beatriz Fernandes,” Audrey called. “Don’t be a fool. You walk out that door and we won’t be your friends anymore.”
I glanced over my shoulder. They had never been my friends. “This is me not being a fool.”
I flipped my hair and stepped into the foyer. I paused outside the door, taken aback from the number of students watching the hallway with wide eyes. I had no idea if they had heard everything Audrey and I had discussed, and I didn’t care.
I spotted Molly with Evelyn in a corner. My roommate looked at me as if I had stabbed her in the back, and Evelyn had taken her pain. Jonah, Jeff, Garrett, and Jennifer, who still was all over Garrett, were also there, looking more curious than anything else.
Whatever. The show was over.
I inhaled a sharp breath, raised my chin, and walked out of that house.
Chapter Six
“That’s it? You’re not talking to me?”
Molly came back to our room well past midnight, tripping on her own feet, and didn’t even acknowledge me. On Sunday, she slept in, but once she was up, she left the room and didn’t come back until late. Monday morning, it wasn’t any different. She didn’t even look my way as we got ready for class.
I sighed. Whatever. I wasn’t going to beg her—like she had done to me so I would join and put up with her sorority.
Having the first Monday morning class with her didn’t help. Actually, we walked together but not together from our building to the class, which seemed downright ridiculous. However, once we got to class, I took my usual back seat and she went to the front. Far away from me.
Things got more complicated when I noticed several girls, and a few guys, peeking at me and whispering. Merda. By now, the entire campus knew about what happened Saturday night.
I met Phoebe for lunch at a sandwich place inside the student center. She was already seated at a table close to the window, looking at the menu when I got there.
“Maybe you don’t want to be seen with me,” I said, sitting across the table from her.
She set the menu down. “Well …?”
“Meu Deus, what?”
“I heard a few things, but I would rather hear it from you.”
“What did you hear?”
“That during the mixer two nights ago, you made a move on Jonah, and when he refused, you threw yourself at another guy. Then Audrey tried stopping you from making a mistake, and you exploded on her. You insulted her, advanced on her, almost hitting her.”
I stared at her, my jaw hanging open.
“From your expression I take it wasn’t exactly like that?”
“I— It was nothing like that.”
She sighed in relief. “Oh good. I mean, when I first heard it this morning, I thought it couldn’t be true, but then nobody shut up about it. I had to know.”
“Meu Deus.” I buried my head in my hands.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” I lifted my head and looked at her. “But I want you to know the truth.” So, I told her. About everything. The bidding, the insistence on joining, the way they treated me from the beginning, Saturday night’s events, and how I walked out of there before I punched Audrey.
“I knew there was more to it than the lies they are spreading.” She reached over the table and squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You believe me?”
She looked at me with an are-you-crazy expression. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I totally understand if you don’t want to be seen with me. At least for a while. I get it.”
She smiled. “Don’t be silly. I don’t care about what others think. I just—” She closed her mouth, her gaze fixed somewhere behind me. “What are they up to?”
I glanced behind me, to a corner table where three guys huddled together, looking at me and scribbling something on a piece of paper.
“Ótimo.”
I turned back to Phoebe. “What the hell do you think they are doing?”
“I have no idea.”
We watched as two more guys arrived, halted in front of the door, looked at me, smiled, then rushed to the other three guys and joined in the talking and scribbling.
“What the hell?” That was when I noticed everyone in the restaurant was looking at me. “Merda,” I muttered, standing. “I better leave.”
“But you haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
I slung my tote over my shoulder and marched out of the place, keeping my head high the entire time.
***
After finding out what Audrey was saying about me, my entire week was a hot mess. As Phoebe told me, the campus wasn’t the largest one out there and Audrey had plenty of influence. Wherever I went, I had to deal with people staring at me, whispering, and the oddest of all? Guys hitting on me right and left. What was that all about?
By Friday afternoon, I was about to explode. Bumping into Audrey on my way to my dorm and hearing her sick laughter didn’t help one bit. I ran to my room and opened my laptop, determined to find the one thing that could calm my nerves before I jumped down someone’s throat and clawed his or her eyes out.
I googled what I was looking for, but there weren’t many options out there.
I had to drive thirty minutes out of town to get to the closest riding ranch, which struck me as odd. I was in Colorado, for Pete’s sake. Shouldn’t there be ranches and farms all over? Maybe not. Seeing as I was pissed
for being labeled something that had nothing to do with me, I wouldn’t assume Colorado was made of only cows and horses. Although, at times, it did seem like it.
The Rocky Hill Ranch was bigger than the one my family owned in California, but not as big as the one we owned in Brazil. A large portico with the name of the ranch adorned the entrance. The fences were too white, as if they had been painted that morning and they had never seen rain or too much sun. The stable was a big green building with white framed windows and doors. While I parked in the parking lot, among other cars, beside the building, I estimated a good two dozen horses fit in the barn, if the stalls were a nice size. More, if they were smallish.
A mile or so in the distance, a white manor dotted a small hill. It looked pretty from here, and too damn big.
I stepped out of my car and inhaled. Ah, fresh air, wet grass, and a hint of manure. Probably not the best mix, but one that I knew well and felt comfortable with.
A man who reminded me too much of Jimmy from Hannah’s ranch walked out of the stables. He introduced himself as Tom, the manager. He told me that Carl, a stable hand, was feeding the horses, and an instructor was out with a riding group. On weekdays, a trainer came to train a promising group for jumping and dressage.
“I don’t need instruction or anything,” I told him as we walked into the stable. “Just show me a trail and I’ll be okay.”
He seemed reluctant as he started guiding me to a horse. “Since I don’t know what kind of rider you are, I’m going to give you a calm horse.”
I followed him past a couple of stalls until a black horse stuck his head over the stall’s door, and I halted. The horse was beautiful.
Noticing I had stopped, Tom turned around. “That’s Midnight Dream, a two-year-and-seven-month-old colt.”
His coat was a perfect, shiny black, his round black eyes curious, and his black mane luscious. He was probably close to seventeen hands tall with strong legs and a long neck.
“A thoroughbred?” I asked, extending my hand toward the horse with my palm turned down.
“Yes,” Tom answered, watching.
The horse sniffed my hand. When he didn’t pull away, I turned my hand around and stroked his chin.
“What a good boy,” I whispered as if speaking to a baby. I kept eye contact with Midnight Dream and stepped closer to him, running my hand up his neck. He snorted and turned his muzzle into my arm. Tom chuckled and I squinted at him. “What?”
Breaking Fences (The Breaking Series) Page 5