A tsunami of relief washed over him. Things were good between them, better than they’d ever been before. As much as Ethan enjoyed having his dirty little secret, honesty felt much more satisfying.
“Maybe I can meet this guy soon,” she said.
Determination gelled within him. “Maybe you will.”
CHAPTER twenty-eight
The frat quad was strangely quiet tonight. No fraternities threw parties on Monday nights. It was the start of the week and, for them, a recovery night from the weekend. A few students ambled along the paths, but it was pretty much tumbleweeds as Ethan walked up to Kappa Kappa Sigma. He still felt nervous entering North Campus. It would forever be forbidden territory to him.
He knocked on the front door.
“Ethan!” Sahil greeted him warmly, but not in his rowdy party voice. He had on reading glasses. Even frat boys needed to study.
“Hey. Is Greg home?”
“Yeah, he’s in his room, I think. What’s up?”
Ethan swallowed a lump in his throat. “I need to ask him a question about our Constitutional Law class.”
Ethan entered his second Greek house of the night. He was becoming a pro. He couldn’t believe that he’d been here not too long ago. The place looked completely different in the light. The living room was full of comfortable couches surrounding a big screen TV where some guys watched football. Two extremely tall brothers played pool. In the dining room, he witnessed a study group in action. A study group!The sordid, private lives of fraternity boys.He chuckled to himself.
“Oh, Lorna left her scarf here during that party. Don’t tell her, but one of my buddies accidentally threw up on it. I got it dry cleaned. Can you bring it back to her?”
“Sure.” Ethan was shocked that Sahil knew about dry cleaning.Geez, they’re in a fraternity, Ethan, not savages.“So what’s the deal with you two?”
“She’s, like, my one female friend. With a little bit of benefits when we’re both drunk.”
Ethan held up his hand. He got it. He didn’t need to hear about Lorna’s sex life secondhand.
They traveled upstairs to the row of bedrooms. Memories flooded Ethan’s mind of his drunken escapades. He really hoped no pictures circulated from his “sexy” photo shoot on Greg’s bed.
“I’ll grab that scarf,” Sahil said, but Ethan wasn’t listening. He was preparing himself for Greg, getting a speech in his head ready.
He knocked softly.
“Folly?” Greg wore ratty mesh shorts and a Browerton T-shirt. Ethan held back a laugh. It was a total peek behind the curtain at the Kappa house tonight.
“Can we talk?”
Ethan stepped inside and closed the door. Greg pulled him in for a kiss, a deep kiss that you needed your whole body to receive. Greg’s lips on his scrambled his circuits momentarily.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” Greg said.
Ethan tried to slip his hands under Greg’s shirt, but Greg rebuffed him. He looked behind him, double-checking that the door was shut.
And Ethan remembered exactly why he’d trudged up to the frat quad on a Monday night. “I can’t do this. I can’t be your permanent secret.”
Tears blurred his vision. He thought he could hold them in longer, but putting this relationship on the line had sent him through the ringer.
“Folly.” Greg wiped a tear off Ethan’s cheek. “What’s going on?”
“I like you, Greg. I want to be with you, but how long will I have to wait?”
“I don’t know.” Greg stumbled backward to his bed. Ethan knew that he wouldn’t be joining him there. “I thought you were okay with this. We’re each other’s dirty little secrets. I thought you were okay with that for now.”
“You’re not my secret anymore.”
“You told your lame friends?”
