“You, too, Lucky!” Daisy calls after us. “Jet and I will be there. The grilled cheese is on me!”
“All-you-can-eat!” Piper shouts as we head out the door.
“All-you-can-eat!” I mimic as soon as we get outside, and Lucky and I bust a gut on the way to our dorm.
Lucky calls the elevator with a sock to the wall. “All-you-can-eat grilled cheese, but it’s the company that has me constipated already.”
Saturday night showsup like a slap in the face, the slap itself coming from our own sisters at Kappa G.
“What the hell do you mean there’s a mandatory mixer at the Black Bear?” I realize this is a very real thing as per the sorority directives outlined in the newsletter we received day one. The Black Bear is sort of neutral ground among the Greeks, and thus fair game for hosting alcohol-fueled get-togethers.
Harper dusts her face with that sparkling powder Lucky loves to layer over her foundation. The two of them glow with an otherworldly incandescence, and I snatch the brush from her.
“Would you stop with the glitter? You want an earthling to notice you, not an alien.”
Harper snatches the brush right back. “With the way Justin is acting, maybe aliens aren’t so bad.”
“Come to think of it, I’d rather meet up with an entire fleet of aliens tonight than sit through a dairy-filled dinner with Piper and Owen.” I shudder at the thought of meeting up with the two of them.
I glance to Lucky. “You realize your brother will be there. Do we fess up now or later?” Neither Owen nor Jet knows about the sorority. Honestly, I don’t know that Jet would really mind, but Owen will unhinge himself on my behalf. He’s sort of destined to do it anyway. Maybe it’s best he loses his shit over a sorority. That way when he finds out about Grant—never mind. Owen is destined to have two very real heart attacks sponsored by yours truly, and there’s not a thing I can do about it other than delay the obvious.
“We don’t fess up now. That’s for sure.” Lucky hoses herself down with that honeysuckle perfume she loves to wear and sends the three of us out the door gasping for air. “We fess up later,muchlater.” She fluffs her hair out. “Because tonight, I’m finding a boy toy of my own.”
“Boys of WB, look out!” I shout over the balcony. “Lucky is loose and ready to ride!”
Harper leans over the railing. “She wants to be ridden hard and put away wet!”
“Would you two shut up?” Lucky laughs as she yanks us into the stairwell. “We need a system.” She shouts as we take the stairs two by two, “You know, for those times Grant wants to spend the night.”
“Wouldyoushut up?” I pull both her and Harper in close as we hit the ground running toward the Black Bear. “Say his name again, and we won’t need a system. I’ll have traded you in.”
“Trade her in for me,” Harper teases as the wind tousles our hair wild and free. “I’m much better at taming my tongue. Plus, we have the same shoe size.”
“I think Ava prefersGrant’stongue”—Lucky gives my hair a quick tug—“and judging by what I think they’ll be doing later, neither one of them will be needing shoes.”
“That was subtle.” Harper pulls me in close. “Have him wear a little rubber hat. As adorable as your babies would be, I’d hate to see one for at least ten years.”
Babies? A flash of a tiny dark-haired boy, the exact replica of Grant whistles through my mind, and I melt at the thought of such a perfect tiny being born of our love. And just as quickly, I snap out of it. Harper is right. Adorable babies can wait. What can’t wait is for me to be near him again. I’ve never felt like this before. There’s something ultra-addicting about this feeling, about Grant in general, and I soak in the high he gives me long before I ever set eyes on him.
“He asked me to have Thanksgiving with his family,” I volunteer the fact without prompting. Both Lucky and Harper stop short, pulling me back abruptly with their arms still hooked though mine. “Relax, it’s not a big deal. He felt sorry for me. I’m a stray he picked up. He’s not bringing me home to meet his mother.”
Lucky looks sternly at me. “You do realize you’re going to meet his mother.”
“And his father.” Harper gives a tug as she leads us across the street. “It doesn’t surprise me, though. You’ve been inseparable since the day you met. That’s the way Justin and I were. We started off the same way, totally in love, totally together twenty-four seven. We’re lucky. It doesn’t happen every day. For some people, it doesn’t happen in a lifetime. Don’t worry about what your brother might say. What Grant and you have is special.”
Harper’s words swim through my mind as we make our way into the bar.
What Grant and I have is special.
The Black Bear is loud and obnoxious tonight, just like the girl who’s waving at me right this minute, Piper. My stomach churns. I actually liked Piper way back when, and it’s true I’ve never really gotten to know her like I should. I’m just positive she wouldn’t be nearly as good at keeping my secrets as Daisy is. I can’t really blame her, though. She’s in love with my brother. Anyone who has ever met Owen understands the fact he’s easy to fall in love with.
Harper detangles her limb from mine. “I’ll catch you losers later. I’ve got a dance floor to cut with my heels.” She whoops it up as she trots off toward a cluster of our sisters already shaking their hips.
“Too bad we can’t bust a move—right the hell out of here.” Lucky navigates us to the table with our brothers and their questionable better halves.
Lucky and I exchange the necessary civilities before taking our seats. Owen has his head pitched down, eyes set on me, and in an instant, I know Piper has told him something—and, considering she knows close to nothing, I’m afraid to ask.
We make small talk and put in our orders, and just as I’m about to tell Owen for the thousandth time what classes I’m taking, my phone vibrates in my hand.
