Chapter 8

ETHAN

This party blows. I’m in even less of a good mood than I was in before I went down to the basement and I know why. It’s her. My secret kisser. The sexy girl with the hot body. The one with the good sense of humor whose bold enough to make the first move, but somehow timid enough that I can tell she’s not easy. I don’t know who she is. And it’s killing me. She’s still in my head, making me want her again. Needing to be around her—at least so I can figure out her identity. It’s driving me crazy.

I scan the room, looking for Jordan, but I’m not sure that’s all I’m looking for. It feels like I’m looking for her too, even if I have no fucking clue what to search for. Then my eyes land on a familiar face in the crowd of people. Piper. A name I only learned tonight, but a face I know well. And my legs just begin to move.

It’s annoying. Both my intrigue in an unknown woman, and the way Piper can show up and draw my attention to her. Somehow better than any other girl on campus. It’s strange. She doesn’t seem like most girls around here. And she’s always in baggy clothes and a long braided ponytail. Except for tonight. Tonight she’s dressed a lot like everyone else would dress on a normal day, showing a little skin, and letting her hair down. She looks like she belongs, attracting attention from guys standing nearby. She doesn’t realize that of course, which only pisses me off further. And I’m determined to say or do something that’ll put her back in her place. Something to relieve this feeling that’s moving through me. Because I hate the fact that I don’t know what it is.

Only she’s looking at me with those big blue eyes again. Mouth agape, with lush lips, while she stares. It’s the second time—ever—that she’s actually looked at me like this. And I swallow hard, pushing back inside anything that might’ve come out of my mouth. Instead, I decide to just walk past her. Leave her alone.

Problem is: my body doesn’t go with the program. I place my hand on her waist in an effort to get her out of the way, and it feels… Shit! What’s wrong with me tonight? I don’t know what this is. The sick buzzing that spreads from within all the way out to where my hand is on her bared skin. I stare at her, while she stares at me. Stuck in place. Then Paisley says my name, making me look away and breaking whatever just came over me. I want to roll my eyes at her eagerness, the way she smiles, hoping for just a second of my attention. Instead, I allow my eyes to linger on her so I don’t have to look at Piper again. I’m kind of grateful to Paisley in this moment and I smirk.

“Paisley,” I reply, continuing to move away from Piper. Away from the basement, until I reach the other side of the room where Jordan is. It’s obvious now that I just need to get both girls out of my head who are simultaneously ruining my night.

“E,” he gives me dap, then leans back in his seat, where a girl I’ve seen around is already sitting on his lap. She gives me eyes like she’s down to fuck the both of us if we ask. And even though I’ve had more than one threesome with a friend, I’m not in the mood for that tonight.

“Where’ve you been,” Jordan asks me, his hand going to the girl’s thigh.

I shrug. “Basement.”

He just laughs, either because he’s so focused on the girl that he didn’t hear me, or he knows me well enough not to ask. Sometimes I get in these moods. Usually it’s got more to do with Kegan McKay than it does some unnamed girl or anything else for that matter but he doesn’t need to know the cause. He’s my friend. He knows my boundaries.When to push. And when to leave shit alone. Right now, it’s the ladder because I don’t know what to say. Shit. There’s nothing to say. I need action. I need this feeling gone, and this girl out of my head. So, when Paisley comes over and practically throws herself into my arms, I accept her, even though she’s never tried anything like this before.

Does she flirt with me? All the time, and it’s been that way for a while. Her smiling, waving, casting looks my way, as she tries to draw my attention. But she’s never outright thrown herself at me. If she had, I can’t say for certain I would be receptive. That’s not because she isn’t hot. Paisley is easily one of the hottest girls on campus. She’d have to be in order to be a Sigma. There’s just something about her that usually has me keeping my distance. Maybe it’s the way that she squeals when she’s excited. Or her eagerness to belong. Whatever the case, she’s never exactly interested me enough to even want to learn her name. But tonight I need the distraction. I need the girl in the basement out of my head. I need Piper out of my thoughts. Maybe indulging won’t be so bad.

Paisley smiles. And for once I’m not thrilled by the promise of a sure thing. But I can’t back out now.

“Hey, party peeps, what’s going on,” Adam comes walking in with one of the twins. I actually remember her and her sister from watching the two of them bounce on my dick for one long night. She smiles at me, and so does her twin, tucked under Antonio’s arm.

“We’re going back to the Sigma house,” Paisley announces, holding onto me. “You want to come?”

It’s news to me but whatever. I just go with it.

Jordan raises an eyebrow, as if he’s asking me if that’s the plan. It’s not the question that bothers me but the look in his eye like he knows something I don’t.

“Yeah, I’m down,” Adam replies, snapping the both of us out of the moment.

Laughing, Antonio hits him. “This is your fucking party.”

“It’s a Gamma party,” Adam corrects. “And I’ve been here long enough. My brothers would get it.”

Jordan and I laugh making moves to leave the party, and Adam leads the way. The girl under my arm is beaming from ear to ear, smiling at me the entire time we make our exit. Then she’s smiling in my car, enjoying her spot in the passenger seat. She’s smiling when we reach the Sigma house and when she fires up the hot tub.

“We going commando or what,” Adam asks.

“Not really in the mood to see your junk,” Jordan says.

“Everyone wants to see my junk,” Adam replies, stripping down so he’s completely naked.

The girls giggle, enjoying the show, as Adam staggers to the tub, all the drinks of the night wrecking his ability to walk in a straight line. Then he’s in the water, beckoning for one of the twins. I’m not even sure it’s the same twin he came with, but he doesn’t seem to mind. And neither does Antonio, who’s already naked with his twin poolside. She’s straddling his lap, while he reclines on a lounge chair, riding him with her tits bouncing in his face.

I shake my head, taking a swig from the bottle of tequila I grabbed on the way out of the Gamma party. Then I take another, before setting the bottle at the edge of the tub, and tugging off my shirt. Adam is laughing, taking the twin’s bra off and throwing it over his shoulder. Jordan is making out with the girl he came with. Neither of them are paying any attention to what’s going on around us. The same shit that always happens around us every weekend. Or close to it. The same shit I don’t think I’m feeling at the moment.

“Aren’t you getting in?” Paisley is still smiling. Still batting her lashes and signaling she wants me in the tub. Honestly, she wants me anywhere she can get me. That’s obvious by the look in her eyes. And I know, this is exactly what I need to clear my head. Block out that kiss. That girl. And all the bullshit I constantly remind myself of.

Shirt on the ground, I grip the neck of the bottle and take another drink. Larger this time. Paisley places a manicured finger at the base of my throat and runs it down my chest, excitement gleaming in her eyes. She’s stripped down to scraps of lingerie, and rises from the steamed water just enough to show me her tits in the black getup. They’re nice. As far as tits go, they’re perfect. A nice size, round, with nipples beading against thin fabric despite the fact that she’s in a hot tub. Her finger drifts lower to the belt by my jeans, stopping at the leather strap, as an enthusiastic squeal bursts from the back of her throat.

I’m right on the outside of the tub when she leans in to kiss me. Gripping her hair and holding tight so she knows I’m in charge, I angle her head to the side. It’s what I need. All of it. All of this is exactly what I need right now. The only problem is the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, as I watch her mouth open, and her eyes close before our lips even touch. My face twists, my mind no longer interested either. And my hand releases her ginger hair from it’s death grip.

“What,” she asks, opening her eyes. She’s leaning on the edge in a way that pushes her tits up higher. “What’s wrong?”

All of this is wrong. In my head, it’s what I need. But being here, now with my hands on her feels like a mistake. A horrible idea that’ll only make me feel worse if I go any further. It’s not the way I want to feel right now. I don’t want to feel anything except the relief that comes from draining my balls, and with it that drowning sinking feeling gone.

One look at Paisley and I know she’s not going to be the one to make that happen. Shaking my head, I set the bottle back at the edge of the tub and back away.

“Where are you going,” she asks.

I snatch my shirt off the ground and turn my back, leaving the scene. Adam makes the twin in the tub cry out, and it mingles with the sound her sister is making on Antonio’s lap. I keep moving. Back in the house, I tug my shirt back on. Gripping my keys from my pocket, before I reach the front door, I throw it open. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can’t I get this one girl out of my head? Why is it fucking me up like this? I mean, shit! I’m Ethan—fucking—McKay. If whoever the chick in the basement was isn’t interested, then I move on. No big deal. There are plenty more like her at this school. And it shouldn’t matter who she is. I don’t chase pussy. So then why does it feel like I’m running to my car? Why when I get in, am I out of breath, going over in my head all the ways I could tell Paisley’s kiss wouldn’t cut it? Hell, why am I not in there fucking right now? Instead I’m sitting in my car wondering if my mystery kisser is going to show up tomorrow night.