Rushed (The Rushed Series) (23 page)

I had always done what they had asked. Carried their dreams forward, even going through recruitment and becoming a Double Deltsie because that's what they wanted. I even tried to be a good Double Deltsie. But more and more my dreams were diverging from theirs. Mostly because of Zach.

Yet I knew if Mom and Dad met him, they would like him. If they could just get past him being a houseboy, they would see he was everything they wanted in a guy for me.

I was nervous on Tuesday as I waited for Mom to arrive at the house. I had put on my makeup and done my hair. Dressed in the right clothes. I looked full-on Double Deltsie. I hoped it was enough.

I was sitting on the sofa in the living room when Mom walked in the door. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her until she called my name and held her arms wide open for a hug.

"Mom!" I ran to her.

She hugged me and then held me at arm's length to look at me. "Gorgeous! Sorority life agrees with you. You are the perfect Double Deltsie."

Only because I was trying to fool her, and everyone else, into thinking it. Only because I was trying to please her. Inside I was miserable and a fake.

She looked around the house, beaming. Glowing with memories. Even though she was nearly sixty and gray-haired and it was almost impossible to picture her as a young, hot Double Deltsie, her rapturous expression gave a hint of it.
 

"The place has changed." She inhaled deeply. "But it still smells the same."

"Smells the same?" I frowned, skeptical. "Like what?"

She laughed. "Like laundry soap, cleaning supplies, youthful perfume, and bodies. Like dust and old house and fresh paint. And salads and sandwiches and soup. Like being young." She shrugged. "It's a scent all its own. Unique and unmistakable."
 

She took my arm. "Show me around! Show me the house! I have to see your room and what you did with it. We'll have to be quick, though. I only have an hour."

I took her to my room and introduced her to Em, who had gradually been highlighting her hair until she was almost blond now. Mom looked around the room like she approved of it and Em.
 

"I almost forgot," Mom said. "I brought you something." She pulled a velvet jewelry box out of her purse and watched me with rapt attention while I took it. "Open it!"

I popped the lid, revealing a Delta Delta Psi necklace with a diamond glittering in the center. And yeah, it was a diamond, not cut glass or a crystal. And the chain was 14K gold. "It's…gorgeous. You shouldn't have." My heart fell at the sight of it. She was way too into this.

"Nonsense! I ordered it the minute you accepted your bid. I was going to save it for Christmas, but I couldn't wait." She took the box from me. "Let me help you put it on."

Em was sitting at her desk. She came over to admire it. "Wow! Awesome."

I wished it were hers, not mine. I would give up it and the house for Zach.

Mom beamed. Em joined us as I showed Mom the rest of the house. Mom told stories about just about every room in the place, sharing secrets I had never known about her. Throughout the tour I gave Mom, the other girls admired my necklace. And Mom beamed with pride.

I ended the tour in the dining room. As we'd planned, Zach was working the lunch shift. Even though he was dressed casually, he was wearing a button-front shirt and had freshly shaved like he had fixed up for the occasion. My pulse raced. He was so smoking hot. And friendly and charming as the girls talked and joked with him.

Mom had to see he was more than an ordinary houseboy.

He was restocking the salad buffet when we came in. I grabbed a plate and led Mom through the buffet to where Zach was putting out a fresh bowl of grated cheese. I don't know how, but Mom seemed oblivious to him. Almost pointedly so. Even after Em started talking with him.

Until I cleared my throat. "Mom, this is Zach. One of our four awesome house guys. No house tour is complete without meeting them. Zach, Mom."

Mom's eyes narrowed, like she was taking stock of Zach. "Do you boys still live in the basement?"

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled at her.

She didn't extend her hand, just nodded curtly. "Another Double Deltsie tradition maintained. Nice to meet you, Zach." And then she moved on, like he was a server at a restaurant buffet and of absolutely no consequence unless she needed another helping of something.

I was stinging at her snobbery. How could she not notice how extraordinary he was? I had to resist shooting Zach a look apologizing for her. It was so odd to be in this position. Mom was usually the queen of social graces, an absolutely smooth and charming hostess or guest. I felt the social slap she'd given Zach as if it had been a physical slap across my face.

I was quiet as we took our salads to one of the tables and Em and I sat on either side of my mom. Mom didn't seem to notice as she ingratiated herself with my sorority sisters. Acting like she was one of them. And at the same time, reveling in her superior alum position. Talking about being on the national board and all the accomplished Double Deltsie alums she knew.

We were going places. We were going to be big somethings. We shouldn't let anything, or anyone, particularly a boy, hold us back. I might have been super sensitive, but I thought she was making a particular point for my benefit.

She held up the success of Amber Ranklin, a young alum, in Mom's opinion, anyway, who was the youngest university regent. Maybe they were just being polite, but Em and the other girls made a point of paying close attention, sucking up to Mom. Impressed by her accomplishments.

And I thought,
Crap, that's why I'm the top pledge. No one wants to tick Mom off.

And so Mom's legacy continued.

Zach walked past the table, carrying a fresh pot of soup to the buffet line. I couldn't help noticing the way his biceps bulged and how he was trying to ignore us. But I knew he had to be curious and wished he could sit and join us so I could really show him off. And Mom could get to know him.

"Do the houseboys still cook Sunday breakfast?" Mom spoke loudly, like she wanted Zach to overhear. Like she was putting him in his place.

Em responded. "Oh, yeah! Zach makes mean scrambled eggs with cheese. I look forward to Sundays just for them."

"How nice," Mom said, still too loudly. "A boy who can cook." She made it sound like it was his only skill.

Laurel and Sarah joined us, saving me from thoughts of telling Mom off. I introduced them to her. She sucked them into her circle, promising to use her connections in HR to help girls get key internships.

I had set my phone on the table. When it buzzed, I glanced at it. A text from Dakota.
Come to the date dash with me tomorrow?

I ignored it.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Mom asked, taking a breath from talking with the other girls nonstop.

"It's just a text." I shrugged like it was no big deal. The phone buzzed again. A second text.
The pres has to set an example. You get a free T-shirt. It glows under black lights. Am I enticing you?

"From whom?" she asked.

Laurel leaned over my shoulder. "Dakota Bradley! President of Tau Psi," she said for Mom's benefit.

I wanted to elbow her.

Mom beamed, like this turn of events just kept making her happier and happier. She gave me a knowing look. "
And?
What does he want?"

"Probably just wants to schedule a practice for our football team," I lied. I hadn't told her much about that, either. She wouldn't approve of me playing tackle football, even if it was for the sorority's charity.

"Liar!" Sarah was sitting on the other side of me. She glanced at my phone. "He's practically begging to take you to the Tau Psi date dash tomorrow night. Hardhearted wench!"

"The Tau Psis are having a date dash tomorrow?" Em perked up, looking excited, hopeful, and despondent at the same time.

I knew that cocktail of emotions, waiting for a guy to call. Hoping he will. I hoped her Tau Psi crush would invite her.

"Don't keep the boy waiting," Mom said. "Tell him you'll go."

I shook my head. "Maybe later."

"Don't be shy! You can text him in front of us. You are so
lucky
!" Laurel explained to Mom about how prestigious the house was and how gorgeous Dakota was. Like Mom didn't already know. "You can't say no."

Kelly walked by just then. "No to who?"

"Dakota asked her to the date dash tomorrow."
 

I glared at Sarah for giving me up.

"She's right. You can't say no," Kelly said. "It's an unwritten rule. Dakota asking one of our pledges is, like, a huge honor. The frat president doesn't usually ask
anyone
to date dashes. Only the pledges are required to attend." She gave me an encouraging smile, beaming like she was incredibly pleased.

I looked at them helplessly. Zach was clearing things behind us. I was sure he'd heard every word.

"There's no good reason for you to refuse him." Kelly paused. "Unless you have a secret boyfriend we don't know about?"

My heart felt like it fell into my stomach and landed with a crash. For a second, I thought Zach and I had already been found out. When I realized I was about to give us away if I didn't act, I smiled, shakily, and typed a response.
A free T-shirt? How can I resist?

Kelly and my mom broke into eerily similar proud smiles.
Crap!

After lunch, I walked Mom out, going all the way to the sidewalk with her. I thanked her for the necklace as I hugged her goodbye. "Hope your afternoon meetings go well. Have a safe trip home and kiss Dad for me."

"Will do." She looked me in the eye. "Stay away from that houseboy. Zach," she said, catching me by surprise.
 

I thought I had been pretty stealthy about my feelings for him.

"I don't know what you mean." I put on the innocent act I had perfected during high school.

"I think you do." She looked me in the eye. "That's why you introduced us." She took a deep breath. "He's a handsome boy, I'll give you that. Charming in his way. I can see how he'd catch your eye." She sighed. "Totally stupid of your house mom to allow such good-looking boys to live in. Trouble."
 

She took me by the arms. "You're destiny lies with the house and a great life after college. Don't let a crush on a
houseboy
your freshman year mess that up. Give that frat president a fair shake, Alexis."

I watched Mom walk off, feeling desperate and hopeless. Then I realized—there was a solution. I just had to be brave enough to grab it.

Chapter Fifteen

Zach

I waited for Alexis in front of the SUB. When she saw me, she flew into my arms and kissed me like she'd missed me as much as I had her.

"Hey, whoa!" I said, pulling away when I finally got the willpower to. "Someone like an avenging Double Deltsie might see us." I tried to sound light and teasing. But I was seething inside, railing at everything.

"I don't care!" Her eyes flashed. "Zach, I am
so
sorry about my mom." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't think she was such a snob. You heard?"

I nodded. Her mom could diss me all she wanted. I'd learned to let crap like that roll off my back.

"Yeah?" She sighed. "Don't tell me you told me so. You were so right. I was just stupid." She paused. "You heard the part about Dakota and the date dash, too?"

"Afraid so." It was hard to sound casual when I was burning with jealousy. I took her backpack from her and flung it over my shoulder as we started walking toward the door.

"I'm not going. I refuse." Her face was set and stubborn. She looked fucking gorgeous to me.

I grinned at her. "That's the spirit. How are you going to get out of it now?"

"Easy."

"Easy?" I repeated, and raised an eyebrow.
 

"Yeah, now that I've made up my mind."

She was damned cute when she was fired up.
 

"I know how to solve our problem." Her tone put me on guard.

"Yeah? How's that?" I held the door for her as we walked into the SUB. We were supposedly "studying" together.