He repeated the action, thoughts of his past on his mind.
“You finally going to tell me what happened between you guys?” Perry asked from the other end of the line. Duke’s phone lay beside him on the chaise lounge. “I mean, we’re halfway through a six-hour flight and you’re hiding out like a nervous school boy talking to me instead of her.”
Duke caught and tossed the ball again. “I’ve always been the popular one, right? I was the most liked, man’s man, party guy, whatever you want to call it. Zander got better grades, earned a bunch of awards, and was just…taken more seriously all the way around.”
“Okay,” Perry said.
“So losing theonething that I’ve always had, it just...” He tossed and caught the ball again. “And Zander’s not even smarter than me. Everybody just thinks he is because I goofed off more.”
“So what does this have to do with Veritå?”
An ache sank deep into his chest as he recalled exactly what it had to do with her. “There was this secret fraternity within my frat house at Stanford, right? There was one on the girls’ side too.” He shook his head. “Was supposed to be the elite. Only big names and big money need apply.”
“You and Zander were part of it?”
“Yep.”
“And Veritå wasn’t.”
Duke nodded. “Bingo. Anyway, a few key members in the frat had deep ties to the group that hosted the Stanger Awards.”
“Stanger?” Perry said. “Never heard of them.”
“They’re fairly prestigious. They’re recognized nationwide, in fact. My dad got one once. My grandpa too. So imagine my surprise whenIget nominated for one and Zander doesn’t.”
He caught the ball once more, then sat up and grabbed the phone where it lay on the chaise lounge. Sparks of adrenaline rushed through him at the memory alone.
“You’ve got to understand. This was a huge deal. I’d never had that type of recognition in my life. Everyone was too busy giving Zander all the awards and praise. Photo ops with Grandpa Benton and Dad.”
“Okay,” Perry replied. “Youaregoing to bring Ms. Tripoli into the picture at some point, aren’t you?”
Duke sank back onto the chase lounge. “It’s a long story. We were dating at the time, and there was a dance coming up. I thought I could take whomever I wanted, but this secret organization had a few rules. One of them said I had to take a girl from the private sorority lined up with ours. I had no intention to honor that one.
“I figured it couldn’t affect my status at the frat house. I was the most popular guy there.” He chuckled wryly. “That probably sounds conceited, but I knew my place. Making friends had always been easy for me.”
“Okay,” Perry said. “There’s a dumb rule about who you can and can’t take to the dance but you didn’t really care. So what went wrong?”
Pricks of guilt settled over him as he looked for the words. “I wasn’t worried about losing my image on campus, but Ididworry about losing the award.
“I’d just been notified that my status had shifted from finalist to winner. The committee sent a rep onto the campus to take my picture and everything. And that’s where I found out that there were strings attached.”
“What kind of strings?” Perry said through a cough. He coughed again. “Sorry,” he rasped. “Wrong pipe. I’m drinking this horrible cleansing drink. Continue…”
“Not only did they know about the secret fraternity, the committee insisted that I honor it. It wasn’t enough to simply not go, which is what I figured I’d do if worst came to worst, but they had a specific girl they wanted me to take. One who’d be awarded the same honor in the woman’s category.”
“That’s shady,” Perry said.
“Yeah, it was. Her name’s Sylvia Sampson.” Duke shook off the chill that came over him. “I wish I’d have just told them to screw off, but I didn’t. I cowered. I told myself that Vivi didn’t want to go anyway. Heck, she’d barely budged the night I’d tried to talk her into it.”
“You tried to talk her into it?” The incredulous tone of Perry’s voice made him cringe.
“Before I knew I couldn’t take her.”
“Well,wouldn’ttake her. You chose an award over—”
“I know what I did, Perry, sheesh.” Duke squeezed his hand around the ball, harnessing enough frustration to hurl the thing at the nearest window. He imagined enjoying the satisfying crack as it hit the glass. It wasn’t like it could break clear through an aircraft window.
“I just…really wanted that moment at the ceremony—standing before my family, receiving an honor like that.” Duke’s stomach twisted as he considered how much the moment had cost him.
