Grayson
All eyes turn as soon as I step into the frat house.
Fuck, if I know why they’re staring or what the new rumor is this week, and I don’t give a shit. All I need right now is a drink to take my mind off it all.
I pick up a cup and fill it with whatever the fuck is in the bowl, downing it. I don’t know why Aiden made me come to this dumbass party. Every week it’s the same old shit. It’s getting boring. The same music, the same drinks, the same girls. Nothing ever changes.
“Stop scowling.” Aiden nudges my side, and I turn my head to look up at him. The dude is tall. He’s a basketball player scouted right from high school. He stands out. I mean, he’s 6’5, his head inevitably sticks out in the middle of the crowd.
“I’m not scowling,” I tell him.
“You look like you’re going to kill someone. Everyone’s staring.”
I glare at him. “You sure it’s me they’re staring at? You’re not exactly hard to miss with your head almost touching the ceiling.” It’s an exaggeration, one that gets me a laugh from my best friend since freshman year.
“Dude, don’t be jealous. It’s beneath you.”
I scoff. “Fuck you. I’m not jealous.”
His head shakes, laughing. Some of his teammates come to greet him as he walks deeper into the house.
I lean back on the wall, looking around the place. A group of guys play strip beer pong, and some poor girl is down to her skivvies while the guy is gloating in her misery of being almost naked at a party full of drunk, horny frat guys.
Guess that’s college for you. She takes another shot and misses. The guys around the table all cheer, and she looks terrified like she finally realizes she’s going to have to get naked in front of a bunch of strangers. She slowly reaches behind her back to unclasp her bra, but she stops and runs out.
Fucking Ben Reed. It’s the same thing every week. I swear he has a fetish for humiliating girls. He boos and his dogs follow suit, cursing at her as she races out of there, and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“Grayson,” Aiden calls from the kitchen. “We’re gonna play some games. Wanna join?”
“Nah, I’m good,” I yell back, and he nods, but before he can escape, a swarm of girls surrounds us as they swoon over Aiden Pierce, the captain of Redfield’s basketball team.
Aiden’s whole life is basketball. He lives and breathes it, and even though he came out tonight to party, he’s going to be spending the whole night playing video games. I don’t want to play. In fact, I don’t even want to be here right now.
I need a smoke.
I lift off the wall, heading toward the back of the room, and pull out a cigarette. Lighting it up, I bring it to my lips and inhale. Shit, the only good thing I’ve got going at the moment is this smoke right here.
School’s a dud. I want to kick myself for putting up with this. If I had another way of getting the fuck out of here, I would have done it by now. But this is the only way for now. Once I’ve got what I need, I’m leaving. Leaving these people, leaving my parents, leaving everything behind, and getting as far away from here as possible.
Redfield University is my ticket to freedom, my get-out-of-jail-free card, and once I graduate, or get enough money, I’m free to leave and do whatever I want.
I refill my cup and take a swig of my drink as I look around the room, the music blaring throughout the house.
I see so many faces I’ve seen before, all the same, every week.
Aiden’s in a swarm of girls that are falling at his feet. I would hate to be in his position, but he has a huge smile on his face, so I guess he’s not hating life right now. Even though he’d prefer to be down in the basement with his boys.
I couldn’t deal with the attention he gets. I mean, I get my fair share of girls wanting a quick fuck, but nothing like Aiden. He can’t go anywhere without being raided by a mass of groupies. I guess it comes with the territory of being on the run-up to becoming a pro basketball player.
I could see him being in the NBA. Aiden is good, like pro-level good, and he knows it. He takes advantage of his perks, I’m sure.
“Grayson.” I cock my head to the side, seeing the douchebag I knew I’d run into if I came tonight. I knew I shouldn’t have come. Parties like these are good for business but dealing with pricks like Brent isn’t good for my temper. I bring the cigarette to my lips and blow out a cloud of smoke.
“Grayson,” he says when I don’t answer. “Hey, bro, I need another one.”
I scoff. He’s got to be kidding me. “After you duped me? The answer’s no.” I say, blowing out smoke to my side.
“I didn’t have all of it last time, but I do now.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I say, not bothering to look at him. I don’t want to deal with another asshole who thinks the world owes him, and Brent is no different.
“I couldn’t afford it,” he tells me. Fuck, my stomach twists. I’m taking money from him, and he needs it. You need it too. Not as much as he probably does. But it was his choice; he chose to buy from me. I didn’t force him, and I did my part, but he underdelivered on his.
“That’s not my problem,” I say, putting out the butt end of the cigarette on the table behind me. I start to walk away from him, but he grabs my arm. I look down at his hand wrapped around my arm and glare at him before he takes it off.
“Sorry, dude. I just… I need it. I can’t get kicked off the team.”
Brent is on Aiden’s team. He’s not as good as Aiden, but he’s decent. I can smell the desperation coming from him right now. He needs it. Badly. I could take advantage of this, raise the price, knowing how much he needs it, but I don’t. I can’t.
I sigh. “Fine. But I want all of it, not one cent less.” I tell him.
He nods and backs up. “You got it. Thanks, bro.”
I leave the room, heading towards the living room, where it’s quieter. A bunch of people huddle up, some sitting on the floor, some sprawled on the couch. I lift my brow at them. How much do I want to bet they’re playing Never Have I Ever?
“Never have I ever. This is how you play.”
I scoff; of course, they are. Fuck it, why not. I lean against the wall, waiting for the game to start. I might as well drink now, these people are pretty tame, and I’ve almost certainly done everything they’re about to say.
“Excuse me, can we come through?” A light voice comes from my side. My head turns, and I see an angel.
I blink twice. I need to make sure I’m seeing right. I see a vision of blue as her eyes look up at me, and then she smiles. A smile so beautiful that I become hypnotized, apparently because I do nothing but stare back at her.
She shifts uncomfortably and tries to squeeze past. My brain miraculously starts to work, and I move out of the way so that she and her friend can go past. She’s so close I can feel her body heat as she shifts past me and walks into the room. They walk toward the couch and sit on the edge of it.
I can’t take my eyes off her. She fans her long blonde hair behind her shoulders as she leans back onto the couch and adjusts her dress. A dress I’ve never felt luckier to be able to see. I always thought clothes were made to be ripped off. A dress is a dress, it’s going to end on the floor at the end of the night. Hell, most girls here are wearing dresses, but none like hers.
The dress hits mid-thigh, showing off long legs that end in white heels. The white silk fabric flows off her body, making me wonder what she looks like underneath. Some girls here are barely dressed, I almost know what they look like naked—of course, some of those are from experience—but hers… leaves everything to the imagination, and my imagination is currently running wild.
Who is this girl? I’ve never seen her here before, and I come to these parties a lot, mostly because Aiden makes me come with him. He says it’s to be his wingman, but I highly doubt that. He didn’t need my help back there, and he rarely ever does. They fall at his feet at the mere sight of him.
But I’ve never been more grateful to come tonight. I don’t know who this girl is, but I need to find out. I can’t look away. The way she sits, her back straight as she crosses her ankles. So poised, so… elegant. Who the hell is she?
She turns her head to speak to her friend and laughs. I’m socked in the stomach at the sight.
Her smile. Christ.
Her friend whispers in her ear, and I wonder what she’s telling her. Has she heard about me? Or does the angel already know who I am? She didn’t seem to when our eyes met, but I wouldn’t know for certain.
“Let’s play,” I hear someone say.
Well, shit. If she didn’t know me before, she’s about to.
