Best Served Cold (8 page)

Jesse’s eyes widened a bit, and his mouth dropped open. I burst into laughter.

“Kidding. I’m just kidding. I know what you mean. I’m not a hooking-up-drunk girl. I like to hang out with my friends, but this is a little too much, you know?” I circled my hand to encompass the house.

“So why are you here?” He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans.

“I told you. My roommate made me come with her. I’m a good friend.”

“Yeah.” He made an elaborate show of looking all around us. “But where is this alleged roommate? And why did she drag you along and then ditch you?”

“Inside, like I said. Ava didn’t ditch me, she just didn’t want to come outside in the cold.”

“Hmm.” Jesse nodded. “Does she date an Alpha Delt? Or does she want to?”

I shook my head. “No. She doesn’t date. She’s very focused on academics.”

He frowned. “So she decided to make you come with her to a fraternity party? Sorry, I don’t mean to sound stupid, but I’m confused.”

I shifted my weight. I didn’t do deception well, and trying to come up with a cover story made me uncomfortable. Jesse was a virtual stranger, but still.

“I don’t know. I guess...a friend of ours, well, someone we both know—he invited us. Ava’s an RA, and so is he. Anyway, here we are. It’s just good to get out sometimes.”

“That I get.” He grinned, and dimples popped out on both sides of his mouth. My lips may have sagged open. I think I stared. There might even have been drool.

“Hey, Jules?” Ava stood just beyond the door, her arms wrapped around her middle. The guy who stood next to her looked vaguely familiar. He was just a little taller than me, with short hair, muscular arms and wide shoulders.

Yeah, that was Jack Duncan.

Ava looked from Jesse to me, a perplexed frown on her face. And Jack just looked downright confused.

“Ava, this is Jesse. His dad is Dr. Fleming, remember I told you? Jesse, this is Ava, my roommate. And uh, Jack Duncan.”

Jesse glanced at me with one eyebrow raised, and I knew he was wondering about Jack. Well, he could keep wondering, because there was no way I was going down that road.

Ava smiled at Jesse and looked back at me, staring hard. “Jack was just looking for you, Jules.” She shivered and backed away toward the door. “I’m going back inside...for a little bit. Okay?”

“Sure.” I nodded so she’d know I got her meaning. Music spilled out onto the deck as Ava opened the door and disappeared back into the dimness.

And then I was alone with two guys who were both looking at me, wondering what to do or say next.

Jesse moved first. He reached over and offered a hand. “Jesse Fleming. Good to meet you. Are you a Delt?”

Jack’s face relaxed. This was familiar territory. “Jack Duncan, yeah. You just visiting or...” He shot me a quick look.

“Grad school. Just started. I was a Delt at SUNY, though. Kyle Martin’s brother was my roommate.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack nodded. “Kyle’s cool.”

There wasn’t anything else to say, and we all stood there for an awkward moment.

“Jesse’s dad is a biology professor, Jack.” I had to speak up, finally. “I work for Dr. Fleming and his wife. As a nanny.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. “Sorry, just checking the...a message.” He tucked it into his back pocket and turned toward me. “Want to go back inside? I’ll get you a drink.” His eyes dropped to the cup still in my hand. “A refill?”

I wanted to stand out here and keep talking to Jesse. I wanted to see those dimples again, listen to him talk while his eyes fastened on me. For a split second, I wanted to forget Liam Bailey and the idiotic plan for revenge.

But Jack was staring at me, and I knew he’d agreed to do this as a favor to Giff. Trying to get out of it now wouldn’t work. And the truth was, I was chilly, even with the heater.

So I smiled up at Jesse and hoped to hell I’d get another chance with him.

“I guess I’ll see you later.”

Jack put his hand on my back and steered me inside. I winced at the noise. It must have gone up a few decibels since I’d gone outside earlier.

“What are you drinking?” Jack snagged a beer from the cooler for himself and glanced up at me.

“Um. Rum and cola.” I held out my cup. “No ice, please.”

The soda was flat, but I didn’t say anything. Jack added the rum and passed me the cup. He lifted his beer in a half-hearted sort of toast.

“Here’s to...shit, I don’t know. New friends?”

I couldn’t help smiling. Jack Duncan wasn’t my type, not even a little, but so far he seemed to be a pretty good sport.

“Sure. New friends. And favors.”

He touched the bottle to my cup and took a long swig. “We’ve got about twenty minutes.” He leaned toward me and kept his voice low, though how anyone could hear us over the thump of the music was beyond me. “I figured we should hang together, look, um, close, in case someone asks questions.”

Jack’s warm brown eyes were serious, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing. He was taking this whole situation very seriously. I wondered what Giff had told him.

We ended up sitting at the table, sipping our drinks and talking as well as we could over the bass. The few times that people passed through the kitchen or came in to refill their drinks, Jack touched my hand, leaned closer to me or draped one arm behind my chair.

Ava appeared in the doorway just as Jack and I were laughing at a football story he was telling me. She caught my eye and tapped her wrist.

“I think that’s our cue.” I stood, pushing the chair back. I wasn’t sure if the dizziness I felt was the rum or the idea that if all went as planned, Liam would see me in a few moments.

I followed Jack into the living room and dug through a pile of coats until I found mine. He pulled on a worn letterman’s jacket. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he moved toward the door.

Jack’s eyes scanned the yard as we stepped outside into the still and frigid air. I saw him focus on two figures moving across the grass. He grasped my upper arms and backed me against the wall of the porch.

“This is improv,” he whispered into my ear. “Just go with it. Be a vixen.”

“A
vixen?
What is--”

Before I could say any more, Jack was kissing my neck, and his hands were under my coat, on my ribs. I heard footfalls on the porch just as Jack spoke again, this time loud enough to be heard.

“Julia, c’mon. Let’s go back to my room.” He trailed his fingers down my arm and tugged on my hand. I had no choice but to stumble forward into him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Giff’s blond head. I knew Liam was standing next to him, but I didn’t let myself look. My heart was pounding, and meeting those familiar eyes just might break me.

Jack had his arm twined around me as we moved to the steps. He raised one hand in Giff’s direction.

“Hey, dude. Where you been? Missing an awesome party.” There was a slur in his voice that I was pretty sure was more acting, since I’d only seen him nurse one beer over the last hour.

“Yeah, looks like it.” Giff’s voice was arch with meaning. If I hadn’t known he was in on this plan, his tone would have hurt.

“You okay to drive, Jack?” My breath caught. That was Liam speaking, the first time I’d heard his voice in nearly two months. He didn’t sound jealous or angry, but possibly just a tad...concerned. About me? Maybe.

“Not driving, we’ll walk.” Jack pulled me down another step. “Later, man.”

I didn’t want to leave. Liam was on that porch, and even though I knew I didn’t love him, even though he’d humiliated me, bruised my heart, I still wanted to be near him. I wanted to slap him, but at the same time, I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and feel him lay his cheek on the top of my head, as he always did. I craved that feeling of security like a drug, even if the security Liam had offered me had been a total illusion.

But I couldn’t go back. Jack was much stronger than me, and he was dragging me along. He didn’t stop until we hit the sidewalk.

“You okay?” His voice was gruff, and I sensed I was making him very uncomfortable. I didn’t know why. And then I felt the trickle of tears down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” I tried to say it, but instead, I was sobbing. Jack pulled me to him, and I wept against his solid chest.

“Hey, c’mon. Don’t do that. Crying freaks guys out.”

I half-laughed through my tears. “I know. I didn’t mean to, I’m really sorry. It just—I hadn’t seen him since—and I guess it was harder than I thought.”

“Yeah, guys are assholes.” Jack said it with such cheery assurance that I laughed again, wiping at my face as I pulled away from him.

“Jules, what’s wrong?” Ava was at my side.

“Where’d you come from?” I glanced around, but no one else stood near us.

“I went out the back and circled around after I saw Giff and Liam come in. Did he say something to you?” I heard the anger in her usually calm voice.

“No. No, he didn’t say anything.” I took a deep breath to stave off another round of tears. “And Jack was freaking amazing.”

In the dim light coming from a street lamp, Jack grinned. “I was, wasn’t I?” He lowered his voice, though there was no one nearby to hear. “Don’t tell anyone, but I take drama classes. In town. I’m part of a club. That’s where Giff and I got to be friends.”

“Well, color me impressed.” I patted his arm. “You rocked that. You sounded like you were drunk, and I’m sure it looked like we were making out on the porch.”

“Yeah.” He stood back a little and looked me over, up and down. Although I’d felt safe and comfortable with him up to now, I felt a whole different vibe as he checked me out.

“You know, you ever want to get together for real, no audience...” He let his words trail off, but the suggestion was obvious. I moved closer to Ava.

“Thanks, Jack, and I really do appreciate you doing this tonight, but I think we’re probably meant to be friends.” I ventured close enough to just kiss his cheek. “You just might be too much man for me.”

He smirked and nodded. “Yeah, could be. Okay, you girls all right to get back to your room, or you want me to walk you? I’m going to another party in town.”

“We’re good. Thanks, Jack.” Ava answered for us, and Jack sketched a wave as he jogged off in the other direction.

Ava turned to me. “Want to stop at Beans?”

I pulled my coat tighter around me. “Let’s go back to the dorm. I don’t think I can handle anything else tonight. Being a vixen is exhausting.”

I spent most of the weekend catching up on homework and setting up our new blog. Kristen came over to help me, and I was grateful for her expertise.

“I had an idea.” She was sitting on the floor, shoes off and legs tucked beneath her. “What if we made a Facebook page for our blog, and that’s where we put out the word about wanting girls’ stories? Between that and word of mouth, it could give us a decent start.”

“Sounds good. And I talked to Amy. She’ll run an ad for us on-line, saying we’re collecting stories for research purposes. No names, of course—ours or theirs.” Our school newspaper had gone paperless two years before, and Amy, who was now the editor, had been a driving force in that move. I’d worked with her since my freshman year.

“What is your goal with this blog?” Ava turned around from her desk, studying us. “What do you hope to accomplish?”

Kristen and I looked at each other. “I guess...just raising awareness. Giving girls an outlet for telling what happened to them.”

“It made me feel better to know I wasn’t the only one this happened to, when I talked to Kristen. So maybe it can be helpful to others in that way, too.”

Ava nodded. “That makes sense. You might want to think about promoting it to the guys, too. Seeing the fallout wouldn’t hurt them.”

“Good point.” I made a note. “We need to keep it all anonymous. I don’t want anyone sending us hate mail.”

“True.” Kristen stood and stretched. “I’ll work on the blog set up tonight. You’ll write the intro, the first post?”

“Sure.” I walked with her to the door and jumped back as Giff stood there, his hand raised to knock.

“Whoa.” He looked nearly as startled as me. “Didn’t know I was expected.”

“You weren’t.” I pulled him into the room. “Giff, this is my friend Kristen. Kristen, Gifford Mackay.”

Ava stood up. “Did you bring those forms back to me, Giff?”

“Um, yeah.” Giff glanced at Kristen and then at Ava. “But can I talk to you about them first?”

I gave Kristen a bright, on-your-way smile. “Okay, well, see you in class Thursday! Text me if anything comes up with the project.”

She nodded, looking more than a little mystified as she left. I shut the door behind her with a sigh. My life was getting way too complicated. Giff couldn’t know about the blog, and Kristen didn’t have the full story on Giff’s let’s-get-these-crazy-kids-back-together scheme. And neither of them knew about my revenge plans. It was exhausting.

“So.” Ava pushed Giff into her desk chair and sat down on her own bed. “Tell all. Did Liam say anything about Jules and Jack last night?”

Giff grinned, not a little smugly. “He definitely saw them. He wasn’t happy, but he was being cool. He asked me later if I’d heard anything about you and Jack. I played dumb.”