“The kitchen and chapter room are clear.” Jack smirked, a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in hand.
I tried to grab it from him. He lifted it overhead with a grin.
“We’re not here to get shitfaced,” I snapped.
He took a long pull from the bottleneck and licked his lips.
“It’s called blending in, you fun-sponge,” he scoffed, offering the bottle to Courtney. Surprisingly, she took it, downing a shot with a grimace.
“Gross.” She coughed, passing it to me. I was incapable of turning down good bourbon and accepted it, relishing the smooth burn.
“Where did you even find this?” I asked, handing it back to him.
“The house rat in the kitchen showed me the liquor cabinet. Very generous of him, considering he’s an honorary AEP. Poor guy must be so overworked. I offered him a position at the DIK house if he gets sick of these juice douches.”
Courtney shook her head, smiling.
Fuck, I loved her smile.
It punched through me, silencing the scheming and paranoia of the night. I loved her smile. Her laugh- the one that made her eyes squint and tear up. How she nestled into me like a kitten at night. That little line between her brows when she was really focused- or when she came. The way she reached for my hand pinky first. When she held onto me tighter if either of us had a nightmare. Her voice saying my name.
I loved everything about her.
She caught me staring and blushed.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I opened my mouth-
“What the fuck areyoudoing here?”
The three of us whipped around to find Brandon, arms crossed over his chest to highlight the gold embroidered AEP letters on his polo. Nose stuck in the air, he scanned us top to bottom.
“Drinking, as you can very well see,” Jack said, turning to me. “Who is this dick and how does he know you?”
I shrugged. “An aspiring politician who made my unfortunate acquaintance in Spanish class.”
“I have a name, asshole,” Brandon grumbled at me.
I smirked.
Jack pointed the bottle at the center of Brandon’s chest. “Let me guess, something pretentious like Rutherford? Or maybe Linus, you look like a Linus-”
“It’s Brandon,” he interrupted, spotting the Greek letters printed on Jack’s backwards hat. His upper lip curled into a snarl. “And I’m pretty sure no one invited a member of DIK tonight.”
Jack sighed, wagging his head. “So much hostility from you lot. You know, I had a threesome with one of your brothers once and I had to kick him out of the fun even though he was a fantastic kisser because he kept calling the lady a bunch of names and that’s just not acceptable. It’s a shame, because some of you guys are relatively attractive.”
The unwavering sincerity in his voice made keeping a straight face impossible. Courtney buried her face in my arm, shaking with laughter.
Brandon’s brown eyes were saucers in his head, mouth hanging open.
Then Jack gasped, “Wait a minute, your name is Brandon?”
“I just said that,” he snapped.
Jack let out a full, belly laugh, cutting himself off with a ruthless glower, advancing on the fratstar. Brandon stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden switch. Jack shoved the bottleneck under Brandon’s chin.
“If I were you,Brandon, I’d be a little more accepting of Miranda’s twin brother, seeing as you’ve been trying to get in her pants all fucking semester.”
