Two

“So, how did your Mom take the move this morning?” Aiden asked into the silence of his truck.

“Just like Avery, she couldn’t wait to get me out the door,” I chuckled, but it came out a lot more forced than I wanted it to.

“She’s just excited that you’re following in her footsteps. My Mom used to always say that you were the daughter she always wanted.”

Just another reminder that I was nothing more than a little sister in his eyes.

I forced another smile. “What time is the party tonight?”

“Just text me whenever you guys are ready, and I’ll come and get you. Avery is going to be busy setting up for the party.”

“Okay, thanks for the ride back, Aiden. I’ll see you tonight,” I said and hurried to get out of the truck.

My heart pounded the entire way to my dorm room. This was how it always was when I was around Aiden. I can never control my feelings and my emotions are all over the place.

This was supposed to be my year to start anew, but I wildly underestimated how much I thought I had grown this last year being away from Aiden. My feelings for him were just as strong as always.

Isabelle walked through the door with boxes in her hands.

“Hey roomie,” she said and set the boxes down. “Are you okay? Your face is really red.”

“Oh, yeah, just a little warm in here.”

She cocked a brow. “Is it a little hot in here, or was it a little hot in that two-seater truck?”

I felt my face deepen several shades.

“I saw you run out of there like the thing was on fire. It’s understandable when you’re sitting next to a guy that gorgeous. You never mentioned you had a boyfriend,” she said.

“He is the furthest thing from a boyfriend, he is my brother’s best friend. We all grew up together.”

She shrugged. “That doesn’t explain why you’re blushing so hard.”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” I muttered. “Moving on, please. My brother’s frat house is throwing a party tonight, do you want to come?”

“I’m not sure those parties are really my scene,” she frowned. “Isn’t there a lot of hazing and weird frat ritual stuff?”

“I think that’s only if you’re joining as a member, this is just one of the many parties they are going to throw, it’s what my brother does best.”

“I can go for a couple of hours, but I need to be up early tomorrow so I can snag the first spot at the rental office tomorrow. I want to be the first to get the picking of musical instruments from what they have available.”

Isabelle jumped in the shower while I used the only vanity mirror we had to throw my blonde hair into a tight, high ponytail and do up my makeup with my usual natural look. I picked a pair of comfy skinny jeans and a pullover-cropped sweater.

“Wow, I envy the body of a cheerleader.”

I chuckled. “I bet you wouldn’t envy the workout routine of a cheerleader.”

“Right, you are. Is our ride almost here?”

I checked my phone and saw the message from Aiden that said he was waiting in the parking lot. “Yeah, let’s get going.”

It wasn’t until we got there that I remembered the awkward seating situation that Aiden had with his truck, which forced me to sit smack dab in the middle of Isabelle and him with my shoulder pressed up against his.

“Hopefully this place isn’t far,” Isabelle muttered.

“Don’t worry, it’s close enough. Did you guys want to stop and get any drinks?” he paused and looked at me. “I already got a case of twisted tea in the back for you.”

I had to keep my facial muscles from breaking out into a ridiculous grin and felt Isabelle nudge me. “I have an early day tomorrow, I won’t be drinking too much,” she said.

“Suit yourself.”

By the time we got to the Alpha Sigma Phi house, the entire place was lit up and we were met with heavy bass the minute we stepped out of the truck. Aiden had to lead us toward the front door because even the lawn was covered with people.

“I think I saw your brother in the kitchen before I left.” Aiden tried to yell over the music, but I only managed to hear a few words. He carried the case of my twisted tea into the kitchen and a few of the guys started to holler in excitement.

“Hey, hands off, that belongs to my baby sister!” Avery yelled across the room and rushed toward me with a beer bottle in one hand and a Wii remote in the other.

“Did you really have to yell that across the entire house?” I scolded him.

“Aw, don’t worry about it, little Ryles. Everyone here already knows not to mess with my little sister, or they’ll be castrated in their sleep.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him off to grab a twisted tea from Aiden.

“Thanks for getting the drinks for me, real soon it’s going to be me. I can’t wait for that day.”

He chuckled lightly. “There’s no need to grow up so quickly. This is your first year with a different taste of freedom, you should enjoy it while you can.”

“This coming from the guy who had girls crawling in his bed at the age of 15?” I teased.

He downed the rest of his beer and tossed the bottle. “I’m a dude, Ry. We aren’t built the same.”

Yet, he has never looked at me like he has any of the girls he has chased before.

I forced a smile and banished the depressing thoughts from my head. I wasn’t here to wallow in what couldn’t be, I was here to explore what could be. Aiden was soon called away by one of the guys to join their Wii competition and I took the opportunity to wander the house, but soon realized that would be a lot easier said than done.

The room was packed from wall to wall with people jumping around or stumbling in every direction. I quickly became claustrophobic and felt I couldn’t breathe, and I squeezed my way to the back door. Once I was on the deck, I sucked in a deep breath and welcomed the slightly cool air but could still feel the pounding of the bass in my chest.

I looked back to the house to see if I could spot Isabelle and quickly saw her behind the music station. It looked like she was going through the playlist with Noah to see what he had lined up for the night and was engrossed in whatever they were discussing.

As long as she didn’t feel out of place I didn’t feel guilty about leaving her alone and enjoyed the peaceful night air. I sat outside for a few more minutes before I decided to go back inside. I barely turned around when I heard the sliding glass door open, and a bunch of voices break out into the silence.

“Check this place out. These San Marco guys really go all out for these frat parties,” I heard one guy say. I stood up from the chair at the bottom of the deck stairs and tried to peek at who had come out, but didn’t recognize any of them, and one of them had a shirt on that said Jacksonville State. Clearly not students from San Marco.

“Hey, who’s over there?” One of them called out to me.

‘Oh, shit. I don’t feel like confronting these guys.’

I tried to sneak around the side of the deck and out the side gate, but I was spotted through the wood banister.

“Wait, is that…Rylee Parks?” I heard my name called and stopped in my tracks. I looked behind me to see a

I turned to see a familiar bright blue-eyed guy, but no name came to mind.

“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” I asked.

“We met at Emma Perry’s afterparty for prom, do you remember? I was wearing a Miami Dolphins sweater, and you ripped me a new one, then taught me why the Patriots are ten times better. I’m still not convinced, though.” He winked. “My name is Jake Porter, does that ring any bells?”

The name didn’t, but that heated and drunk conversation sure did. I remembered running into this gorgeous guy and wanted to work up the courage to hit on him until my drunk ass saw his sweater and went off on him instead. I was both hoping I would never see him again, and that I would, but he wouldn’t remember that fine detail.

“You have better luck with me remembering that conversation. What are you doing here? Do you go to San Marco?”

He shook his head with a nervous smile. “Not really, we go to Jacksonville State.”

‘Aw shit, why is fate never on my side?’