The Hazards of a One Night Stand (4 page)

“Tanner.” She started down the hallway.

“Okay, cool. You’ll have to introduce us.” Tanner was exactly what I needed, a distraction from the idiotic thing I’d done the night before.

“Welcome home.” Juliet stood back so I could step through our doorway first.

“Ahh!” I ran into the room unable to contain my excitement. Living in a triple with my two best friends was pretty much a dream come true. Juliet’s bed was already made up on one side. She’d left the bed by the window open, and I happily tossed my stuff down. “I have to get more bags, but this is going to be awesome.”

“I know! I’m going to call Cara and see if she can come back early too!”

“Is anyone else here? Where’s the rest of the rush committee?”

“They get here tomorrow.”

“Haven’t you been here a week already?”

She smiled. “I may have told my parents I needed to be back here earlier than absolutely necessary.”

I laughed. “I’m sure Reed was happy about that.”

“Thrilled. The summer apart was really hard. I spent so much time on the phone with him, I’m lucky the thing didn’t fuse with my face. He came up to visit a couple of times, but it wasn’t enough.”

“What did he do to celebrate your return?” I sat down on my mattress.

“Took me to dinner at Peninsula Grill, and then we went airplane gazing.”

“Ah, airplane gazing. I really need to try that sometime.”

“You do… maybe with Tanner.” She grinned. Juliet and Cara were desperate to set me up with a Kappa. They spent so much time over at the house that I think they felt bad leaving me out. I’d gone on a date with a Kappa once, and it had ended with him crying about missing his ex-girlfriend. That was the aforementioned failed random hook-up. “Any boys this summer you forgot to tell me about?”

“Nothing worth discussing.”

“But there was something.”

“Maybe.” The last thing I wanted to discuss was Colt. If I mentioned his name, she’d be all over me for details.

She squealed. “Spill!”

“No, thanks.”

“Come on. You can’t hold out on me.”

“All right, so I might have hooked up with someone I knew from high school.”

“Might have?” She wrinkled her nose.

“Okay. I did, but it was just a one night thing. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Where does he go to school?”

“USC.” For most people, that would mean the University of Southern California, but around here, everyone knew that stood for the University of South Carolina, home of the Gamecocks. Colt hadn’t actually started there yet, but that’s where the Gasden paper said he was going.

“What’s his name?”

I figured it couldn’t hurt to share the details. “Colton.”

She laughed. “Seriously? That’s such a country boy name. Does he let you call him Colt when you ride him?”

“So uncalled for. And it was one time, remember?”

“I couldn’t resist.”

I looked out the window. “Whatever. I need to get the rest of my stuff.”

“I’ll help.”

We went back down and outside.

“Where are you parked?” She looked around.

“Over there.” I pointed to my slate gray truck. I might as well get the mortification over with.

“You have a truck?”

“Yeah… it was my stepdad’s.”

“Oh. Cool. I’m sure Reed will appreciate that I don’t bug him to borrow his every time we need to move something.”

“Because we move things all the time?”

She shrugged as she waited for me to open the tail gate. “Sometimes.”

“You brought your car, right?”

“Yeah. It’s my Nissan from high school.” She pointed to a light green Sentra parked in front of the house. At least her car wasn’t new either. But Juliet never pretended to have money. She never pretended about anything. She was so cool and confident about things like that.

We pulled out the last of my bags and dragged them toward the house. “I wish I’d gotten your message. We should be making Reed do this.”

“I’ll make sure to call his phone next time.”

She opened the front door. “Do that.”

We lugged my bags upstairs. I hadn’t realized how heavy they were before. Probably because Rob had been the one doing all the lifting.

“You’ve got missed messages.” Juliet picked up my phone from where I left it on the dresser. She let out a surprised noise and read from the phone.

Ignoring me? Are you really going to be like this? Just call me.

“Are you sure Colt knows it was a one night thing?”

“Colton knows.” I didn’t like her calling him Colt. It was like she knew him, and I didn’t like thinking about my two lives colliding like that.

“You sure?” She looked at me skeptically.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Need some help unpacking?”

“No. Go see your man.” I could tell Juliet wanted to see Reed, and at least there wouldn’t be any more questions about Colt.

“My man?”

“Yeah. That’s how we talk in Gasden.”

“All right then. Are you going to text back your
man
, then?”

“Colt’s not my man. He’s just a boy I used to know.”

“Cold… even for you. Come by the Kappa house when you’re done.”

“I’ll call first to make sure you’ve left Reed’s room.” I nudged her shoulder. I refused to dwell on what she meant by “even for you.” Did she secretly think I was a bitch? It wasn’t worth reading into. Juliet wasn’t passive aggressive like that.

“Do you really think I’m going over there to have sex with him?”

“Yes.” I unzipped the first bag.

“I’m not. I actually have my period.”

“However are you guys going to survive the week?” I asked with exaggerated drama.

“Cuddling. Lots of cuddling.”

“You make me sick.”

“Glad to hear that.” She stopped in the doorway. “You’ll come by later, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll come by.”

“Good.”

I unpacked slowly. I wasn’t in a huge rush to get to the Kappa house. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against frat guys, but talking to Juliet about Colt kind of put me off. Thankfully, he hadn’t texted again. I had no idea what to do. I had no desire to talk to him, but maybe I owed it to him. Maybe Juliet was right, and I was being an ice queen. I was only trying to make things easier for both of us.

After a lot of deliberating I picked up the phone and called. It went to his voicemail. I let out a sigh of relief and pocketed my phone.

I finished hanging up my dresses, feeling grateful we each had a separate closet. Three girls sharing one closet would have been pushing it.

Twenty minutes later, I had my bags all stowed, my bed made, and my determination to have fun back.

I texted Juliet to make sure she was still at the Kappa house before heading over.

I walked to the Kappa house in a good mood. I was back at Harrison, where I belonged. How I managed to live in Gasden for eighteen years was beyond me. I missed my family, but that was the only thing to miss from my small town.

I reached the large brick house in minutes. Although not quite as well up kept as the Delta Mu house, it had a similar look, complete with a front porch. I pushed open the partially ajar door. I took in the spacious open room that looked a lot like every other frat house I’d been in. Littered with a few beer bottles and furnished with an assortment of couches, a beer pong table (I’d never seen anyone use it for anything but that), and a pool table, it looked exactly like it had the year before.

“Took you long enough,” Juliet teased when she saw me. She was sitting right next to Reed on a black leather couch. His hand rested on her leg.

“Hey, Mallory!” Reed got up and came right over to hug me. It says a lot about a guy when he cares about his girlfriend’s friends.

I returned the hug. “Hey. How was your summer?”

“You know. Lonely.”

“She’s back now.”

“Oh, I know. Sorry to say your roommate won’t be around too many nights.”

I patted his arm before stepping away. “You’re not sorry about that.”

He grinned. “No, I’m not.”

I spotted Cara’s boyfriend, Aaron. “I’m guessing Cara won’t be around much either?”

Aaron smiled an almost lopsided grin. “Not if I can help it, but you know she freezes me out sometimes.”

“Only when you deserve it.”

“I’ll tell her you said that.”

“Good. Get me points.” I sat down next to Juliet. “So what have I missed?”

“Absolutely nothing. We’re trying to figure out what to do tonight.”

“Oh yeah? You mean the guys aren’t planning to sit around drinking and playing cards?”

“Hey, I take that personally. We do other things.” Reed sat down on the other side of Juliet.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess you could play beer pong.”

Reed smiled. “We only have a few days of quiet before the rush parties start.”

“I’m looking forward to them. We were so busy with sorority rush last year that we didn’t get to come.”

“It’s a fun time.”

“Hey, no one told me we had company.” A male voice came from the other side of the room.

“Tanner, this is Mallory. Mallory, this is Tanner.” Reed gestured to a tall, athletic looking guy I hadn’t met before. He had dark brown hair that he wore short.

“Hey.” He strode over confidently. When he reached me, he leaned over and took my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

I accepted the handshake. “Same to you.”

“Mallory’s my roommate,” Juliet supplied.

“Is that so?”

“She spends a lot of time here.” Juliet smiled at me.

“Good to know.” He sat on the arm of the couch next to me, forcing me to look up at him.

“She’s also roommates with Cara,” Aaron answered.

“So, in other words, you guys were busy with the Delta Mu pledges last year.” Tanner smirked.

Reed put an arm around Juliet. “Mallory’s single.”

I glared at him. “Thanks, Reed.”

“Just saying.”

“Also good to know.” Tanner blatantly checked me out, and I tried to ignore it.

The next few hours were kind of a blur. We ordered in pizza and spent a few hours drinking and playing beer pong. It wasn’t great, but it was better than the parties I’d been to over the summer. At least this one didn’t involve a field or hay.

“We need to do something fun.” Max, a sophomore I knew, drank another cup after losing the round of beer pong.

“Do you have any specific ideas of what would be fun?” I didn’t partake in the beer pong, and was sitting comfortably on the couch with a cup full of vodka cranberry. One nice thing about hanging out at a frat house—no worries about being carded.

“Let’s play washers.” He headed toward the back door before anyone even said anything.

“How wasted are you, man?” Reed asked.

“You can’t drink and throw washers?” Max pushed opened the door.

“It’s a dangerous game. They’ve outlawed it in some states.” Aaron laughed before hopping off the couch. I followed him out.

“Are you up for the challenge, Mallory?” Tanner asked, stopping on his way out.

“I don’t know. I might just have to watch.” I suppressed a smile.

I took a seat in a rickety old chair on the lawn. “Is this really what our life has come to?”

Juliet pulled a chair next to mine. “It’s pathetic, huh?” She sipped her drink.

I watched the boys toss washers. They sucked at it. For such athletic guys, it was kind of pathetic. Granted they were drunk, but that still didn’t excuse it.

“Enjoying the show?” Tanner asked, stopping next to my chair.

“Oh yeah.”

“Why don’t you take a turn?”

“No, thanks.”

“Why not? I can teach you how.”

I laughed. “Uh, not necessary.”

“You’ve played before?”

When you grow up in a town the size of Gasden, playing washers is something you learn in preschool. “Yeah, I’ve played before.”

“Come on, let’s play.” Juliet set down her drink. She had that twinkle in her eye that meant she was itching for competition.

“Fine.” Turning down a direct challenge like that wasn’t my thing.

I took the washers and waited for Juliet to toss first. Her washer landed a few feet short of the box.

Max laughed. “Nice one, Juliet. Maybe next time you’ll actually hit the box.”

She put a hand on her hip. “It’s not any worse than how you’re doing.”

I loved how Juliet never took anyone’s BS. She always threw it back.

I reluctantly took my turn. When I tossed the washer, it landed directly in the pipe on the first try.

“Damn, you have played this before.” Tanner put a hand on my shoulder. “Remind me to get you on my team next time.”

I laughed. “Yeah, sure thing.”

“You always act like you have no aim or ability to play sports. Can you throw a ball too? Why didn’t you sign up for the softball game during Greek week?” Juliet asked.

I shrugged. “I didn’t feel like it.”

“Well, you’re doing it this year.”

“Maybe.” I smiled, relieved no one had asked more questions about why I was a champion washers player. I didn’t need to emphasize just how small town I was.

Reed and Juliet walked me home after I assured her a million times I didn’t mind sleeping in the house alone. I knew the place would start filling up the next day, and a night of quiet wasn’t a bad thing.

Juliet hugged me. “I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“Want to do breakfast at Queen Street Grocery?” Juliet suggested a cheap local favorite of ours.

“Sounds great. Call me when you’re up.” I was a morning person. Juliet not so much. I planned to hit up the gym before meeting her.

I walked into the empty house just as my phone rang. I braced myself before answering Colton’s call. He’d called twice while I was at the Kappa house, but each time I’d let it go to voicemail.

“Mallory?” His voice was tentative.

“Hey.” I kept my voice even.

“Hey. I’m sorry for sending you so many texts, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine, Colt. Don’t worry.”

“I’m going to worry. We had sex and now you won’t talk to me?” There was a slight waver in his voice.

“It’s not like we talk a lot.”

“Come on. We’ve been friends forever.”

“We’re not kids anymore.” I wanted to keep as much distance from Gasden as possible. I was going to have to find a summer job in Charleston next year. There was no way I was going back for more than a few weeks ever again. Clearly, I managed to find trouble no matter what I did there.