Chapter Three

The frat house was easy to spot. We had to take the bus toward the end of campus, where all the Greek life was, and it was impossible to miss. After all, there were people littered on the lawn outside among the countless beer cans and red cups, not to mention the music blaring from inside the large building.

I hesitated outside, glancing at the stumbling party goers, the Greek letters on top of the house, the bright multicolored lights flashing inside, and took a deep breath. Then, Jane put her hand in mine and tugged me forward, giving me an encouraging smile before we walked through the front door.

It was chaotic. People were dancing everywhere, grinding on each other in the middle of the room, pressed against each other groping one another shamelessly, and I think I even saw a group of guys screaming "fight!" to my right. Jane pulled me along, weaving in and out of people as if she's been here hundreds of times.

When we reached the semi-safety of the kitchen, she dropped my hand and went over to the keg. "Do you want a drink?"

I nodded, sure that a drink or two would calm my nerves. "Yes, please."

Jane poured me a cup of beer and then herself before walking over to me with a stern expression. "Okay Lily, there are some rules tonight. Are you listening?"

I reached for my drink, but she pulled it away from my reach and gave me another look. I frowned and nodded, mumbling, "Yes mom."

She ignored my comment and nodded. "One: don't take a drink from anyone or leave your own drink unattended. Hold onto your drink at all times, and if you leave it somewhere, just get yourself a new one. Two: keep your phone on vibrate at all times so if we get separated, we can find each other easily. And three: don't drink too much, okay? This is your first frat party. Guys here will take advantage if they see a drunk girl, so be careful."

"Okay, that sounds easy enough," I tell her, amused at the mom role she was suddenly taking on. That was usually my job.

"Good," She nods. "Now, let's review the rules."

"Don't take drinks from strangers or leave mine unattended, keep my phone on vibrate, and don't be a drunk mess," I recite easily.

Jane grinned at me and finally handed over my cup. "I think you're ready."

I flash her a smile as I eagerly take the drink from her hands, and then put it to my lips to let the cool liquid slide down my throat. Jane tipped hers back as well, finishing her drink, and then refilled her cup.

I watched with raised eyebrows and pointed out, "Rule three, remember?"

She rolls her eyes. "The rules don't apply to me. I've got partying down to a science." And then, she drinks half of her drink before her eyes land on the doorway and she grins widely at me. "Let's go dance!"

Before I can tell her that I definitely do not dance, Jane is bounding towards the other room, following the bass of the music. I sigh and follow after her, trying to focus on her jet black hair in the crowd of people. She slips into the crowd while some guy steps in front of me, stumbling past with an equally as intoxicated girl on his

arm. When they move, Jane is nowhere in sight.

I sigh again and take another sip of my drink, my eyes surveying the room. There was a DJ in the corner of the room surrounded by tall speakers, people dancing on tables that were pushed against the walls of the frat house, and- is that Trevor? I spot his recognizable grin and can practically hear his booming laughter from across the room and make my way toward him.

As I'm pushing through throngs of people, I see that Trevor is surrounded by some of the other football players. I can see Max, Andrew, Jake, and Wallace laughing heartily at something that Trevor said while I step into the circle. Andrew sees me first and grins widely, pushing past the guys to pick me up in a bone crushing hug.

"Lil! You came!" Andrew exclaims happily, his words slurring a tiny bit.

I just muttered, "Andrew... Can't... Breathe..."

He drops me immediately, setting me on the ground carefully, and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, Lil, sometimes I forget how small you are."

I shoot him a grin and then get engulfed in someone else's arms. The smell of booze heavily fills my nostrils as

I hug him back, and when he pulls away, I see Trevor is the culprit, giving me a lopsided grin.

"I'm happy you came, Lily," Trevor tells me, and then slugs his arm around my shoulders and looks at the guys.

"Everyone, Lily is here!"

Max rolls his eyes. "We can see that, Trev." Then he turns to me and grins. "Hey Lily."

"Hey Max," I greet happily, finally at ease after finding people I actually know.

"What are you doing here?" Wallace asks, and when Andrew hits his shoulder and glares at him, he widens his eyes as he realizes his mistake. "Not in a bad way, I just don't usually see you out."

I open my mouth to say I just wanted to come with my friend Jane, fully planning on not telling them that it was a petty war waged between Vincent and I, but Trevor beats me to it. "She's trying to prove to Bradshaw that she can have fun."

The guys laugh heartily and, instead of getting embarrassed, I just grin at them. I suddenly feel a rough push in my back, and feel myself stumbling forward as a result of the shove. Luckily, Jake grabs my arms and balances me before I can fall to the ground, and I shoot him a thankful smile as I regain my composure. Andrew steps forward with his face twisted in a scowl, and grabs the guy who pushed me by the collar.

The guy's eyes widened as he stared back at the two hundred-something pound man in front of him. Andrew growled, "You just pushed my friend, you asshole. Do you have something to say?"

The guy, fearing for his poor life in front of the meaty linebacker, looks at me and stutters, "I-I'm sorry, it was an accident."

Andrew looks at me over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows. "Do you forgive him?"

I want to laugh, but instead I just nod feverishly, feeling bad for the poor guy. "Yes, Andrew, thank you."

Andrew drops his collar, consequently making the guy fall to the ground before he scrambles up and takes off in the opposite direction. Andrew and Trevor mutter obscenities about the random guy underneath their breaths, calling him a dumbass and saying they should've beaten him up, but I just roll my eyes.

The guys were always like this. Whenever they saw someone accidentally push me in the halls, or side step me, or block my entrance, or anything remotely rude, they get all "big brother" and demand an apology. It was cute, really, how protective they were of me, but I was sure that if I ever tried to get a boyfriend, they would rip his throat out.

Suddenly, a song comes on that I recognize from the radio, and I feel the strongest urge to dance. Looking around at the guys, I say sweetly, "Someone dance with me!"

Andrew says gruffly, "I don't dance."

I pout at him. "Come on, please?" His expression softens, but doesn't break, so I move onto Trevor and grab his arm. "Pretty please, Trev? I really want to dance."

He looks away and mutters, "Stop giving me the puppy dog eyes."

I look around at the group, and all the guys are avoiding my gaze, because they know that they'll cave like they always do. But because nobody is looking at me, I go with a different approach.

"Fine, I'll go find some strange guy to dance with," I muse. "Maybe he'll be too drunk and try to take me to his room, or-"

"Fine!" Trevor cries, cutting me off.

I can't help but jump up and down giddily, flashing a wide grin at him as I grab his hand and drag him toward the dance floor. When we make our way in the middle of the designated dancing section, I drop his hand and feel my hips already swaying to the beat. I feel a little light headed, and can't tell if it's from the drinks or the fact I'm squeezed in a small area with entirely too many people, but I feel good.

Trevor just grins at me and grabs my hand, then spins me in a circle, somehow managing to pull it off despite the masses of people surrounding us. After a few minutes of dancing, Trevor goes to spin me again, and I can't help but laugh as he does so. But this time he miscalculates and spins me into a person, his hand falling from mine as I fall into someone's chest.

Said person grabs my waist to steady me, and my skin feels on fire where I'm being touched. I look up through my lashes, the smile still on my lips from my laughter, but it falls the second I notice who it is holding me.

Smirking down at me is Vincent Bradshaw, the very idiot I came here to prove wrong.

"If you wanted me so bad, sweetheart, you should've just asked instead of jumping in my arms," Vincent drawls.

I frown at him and take a step back, shooting back, "I would never want you."

He gives me a once over and rolls his eyes. "The feeling is mutual."

I shake my head and turn around to continue dancing with Trevor, but he's nowhere to be found. I frown in the direction he was just standing, my eyes wandering over the crowd, trying to find his mop of brown hair among all the partygoers.

"I can't believe you actually showed," Vincent says from behind me, and when I turn around, he seems genuinely surprised. "Did someone have to kidnap you to bring you here?"

I narrow my eyes at him and snap, "I came on my own, you asshole. I told you, I know how to have fun."

"Sure," He drawls, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Then why aren't you dancing?"

I raise my eyebrows and scoff, "With you? I'd rather jump off a cliff into an ocean full of blood thirsty sharks."

Vincent laughed outright at this. "What an imagination you have there, sweetheart."

"Stop calling me sweetheart," I snap at him, my eyes narrowing.

To my surprise, Vincent takes a step closer, and I can instantly smell his lemon scent from his closeness. He leans forward, his lips brushing my ear, making a shiver roll down my spine as he whispers, "Why, does it make you nervous?"

My heart rate sped up instantly, and my ear where he touched me felt on fire. I struggled to find words for a witty enough comeback, so I stood there dumbly for a second, unsure why my body was reacting this way. Vincent pulled back a fraction, enough to gauge my reaction, and when he saw it, he leaned back further and laughed heartily at my expense. When I regained composure, I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a blush creep up my neck.

"You don't make me nervous," I scoff again. "More like nauseous."

Vincent's eyes train on something behind me before he looks at me again like I was merely an insect on the bottom of his shoe. "Like I said, the feeling's mutual. Now if you would excuse me, I found a leggy blonde making eyes at me, and I'm going to go take her home with me."

He tossed me a wink as he passed, and sure enough, when I turned around I saw him approaching a blonde with entirely too much cleavage showing from her shirt, leaving little to imagination. I glared daggers into his back, hoping that some would actually shoot out of my eye sockets and impale him. Maybe then I would finally get some peace.

In the end, I just felt my blood boil, the way I frequently felt after I had an interaction with Vincent Bradshaw.