He leers at the girls in the vicinity. “So this is Kappa Gamma.” A group of sorority sisters struts by, and Henry gets a rather filthy smile onhisface.
“Down, boy. You can look at the menu, but you can’t take a single bite. Those happen to be my sisters—thus yours byproxy.”
Our small circle breaks out intolaughter.
Lucky bumps her shoulder to his. “You just pick one out. I’ll make sure she heads your way. I totally understand the fact that big brothers are entitled to a snack now andagaintoo.”
Harley nudges me. “So, where is he? The captain of your universe that you talknonstopof?”
“That’s not true.” I bite down on a smile while looking at Ava and Lucky. “I don’t talk.Itext.”
The girls break out into a wild cackle. I may be slightly obsessed with my new and improved boy toy, but only because there’s so much toobsessover.
Ava taps my sister. “Believe me, we’ve been apprised of her lunacy. They’re practically joined at the hip. It’s really kind of a good thing, though, considering what a rough start she had to thesummer.”
Lucky nods. “And he’s very sweet to her. If he wasn’t, he’d have the two of us tocontendwith.”
“Three.” Henry doesn’t hesitate putting himself in thatnumber.
“All right, everyone, calm down.” I make a face toward the entrance, and just as I’m about to pull my phone out and text him, Gwen pops up with dark circles under her eyes, her hair in a rat’s nest in what amounts to a messy bun on top of her head. She had mentioned a few weeks back that she doesn’t believe in wearing anything on her face in the summer and, apparently, that includes concealer, or brushing her hair. For me to eschew my general beauty routine for an entire summer, there would have to be a serious Birkin bag incentive dangled in front of me—and they’d probably have to toss in a Range Rover too. Because, hey, British engineering never lookedsogood.
“We need to talk,” Gwen grunts it out as if she’s in the middle of aworkout.
“Sure thing!” I turn to my siblings. “This is my house mother. She’s fantastic.” And sort of a granola cruncher, but I leave that out for now. Henry and Harley are smart. They can figure it out. I spin back into the tie-dye princess. “What’sup?”
“You’re up.” Her face screws up into a bright red knot. “Or more to the point, you’reout. Garfield filed a claim stating you accosted her, and she has two eyewitnesses to theevent.”
I suck in a quick breath and shoot a look to poor Harley and Henry. God, that lazy orange feline couldn’t have chosen a worse time to ratmeout.
“Actually”—I lift a finger in the air as if I have something solid that might save my ass from these allegations—“I, uh…” I glance to Harley’s and Henry’s matching horrified expressions, and suddenly I want to drop in a hole and takeGarfieldand maybe even Gwen alongwithme.
Gwen chokes as if I’ve just slapped her. “You’ll have to get your stuff out tonight. The last thing I want is Kappa Gamma Gamma restricted because we’ve let a perpetrator remain in thehouse.”
“Perpetrator?” My hand clasps overmyneck.
Gwen squints out her hatred for me right in front of my siblings. “That’s legalese for the dumbass who started thefight!”
“I so did not start the fight!” I bellow, and Gwen steps into me with the anger exuding off herlikelava.
“So, you admit there was a brawl? Hash it out with Greek legal, but I’m afraid until this is all straightened out, you’ve lostyourbed.”
“You meanskyscraper,” I say under my breath. “Great. Now what am I supposed to do?” Gwen stalks off without bothering to assist me. “Thanks for the help!Witch.”
“Oh my God!” Ava shoves all her fingernails into her mouth at once. “I’m sosorry!”
Lucky shakes her head frantically as if she’s in denial. “I’ll help you get checked back into Cutler Tower. I swear it’ll be fine. Maybe Trixie can room with you? Isn’t she inCutler?”
“God.” The thought of Trixie and me rooming together sends visions of waking to a hatchet planted in my forehead. “I’m sure it’ll allworkout.”
Poor Henry looks pale and depleted as if the entire episode just wore him out. I know he’s pretty weak in general, and having him here with that oxygen tank strapped to his back like a bomb makes me feel twice as bad. He has a dolly for the thing, but he hates that it draws attention to him—not to mention the fact a dozen people would have tripped over itbynow.
“You’ll come home with us,” he offers. “I can beat you at board games, and you and Harley can see who can stay up the latest like theolddays.”
A wry smile comes and goes on my lips. I haven’t exactly fessed up to anyone in my family that I’m shacking up with my newboyfriend.
“I’ll probably just sleep on a friend’s couch, but thanks for theoffer.”
A familiar, drop-dead gorgeous face shows up at the door, and my entire being explodes into a thousand heart-shaped pieces. He scans the vicinity, and as soon as he spots me, his entire face lights up with asmile.
