The Hazards of Skinny Dipping (15 page)

“Let’s go, girls!” Amanda sprayed us with a
hose. I could have killed her. The icy spray made an uncomfortable
morning so much worse. We all shrieked, and she laughed. I was
really getting tired of her.

“Kill me,” Mallory said through blue lips. A
Southern girl through and through, she didn’t take cold well. I
didn’t enjoy it, but I was pretty sure my lips hadn’t changed color
yet.

“Why don’t we just kill her instead?” Claire
nodded at Amanda. Wow, Little Miss Suck-up actually bad mouthed our
pledge mom.

“How many more hours?” Cara asked. She’d been
surprisingly calm through the whole thing, probably because she
knew she had a date with Aaron lined up. She’d fallen for him hard.
I got it. He doted on her constantly and was always doing really
sweet things like buying her flowers.

“Just two. We’re officially halfway done.” I
didn’t need to look at my watch again. I’d checked every five
minutes all morning.

“Oh, that’s Dylan’s car, right?” Mallory
asked as Dylan pulled into the parking lot.

“Yup, that’s him.” I watched as he parked and
got out. He was dressed in a light pink polo shirt, jeans, and flip
flops. The only thing that could have made him look more college
prep was if he’d popped his collar.

Mallory shivered. “Let’s convince him he
needs the inside of his car cleaned. Then we can warm up.”

“The only one that would fly for would be
Juliet, and he’d ask her to clean him.” Cara moved closer to me,
probably under the shared body heat theory.

“Clean him? Is there a sexual reference there
I’m not getting?” I wrapped my arms around my chest.

“Yes…well, I don’t know. It just sounded
funny.” Cara crouched down, trying to warm up.

“Hey, baby.” Dylan walked over, kissing me
carefully on the cheek so he wouldn’t get wet.

“Hi, Dylan.” Amanda strolled over. She was
completely dry and dressed in jeans and a Delta Mu t-shirt. Funny,
how only the pledges needed to do the cleaning.

“Hey, how much longer do you need the girls?
I was hoping to take Juliet out for brunch.” He talked to Amanda
like I wasn’t there. I guess I didn’t actually have any say in when
and where I went.

“It’s going to be a few hours, but I could
probably leave Jana in charge.” Was she seriously trying to hit on
my boyfriend in front of me?

“Oh. That’s okay. I’ll catch up with her
later.” He turned back to me. “Call me when you get home.”

“Don’t you want your car washed?” Amanda was
unbelievable.

“Do you feel like washing my car,
Juliet?”

“Oh, sure.” We were wet already. It couldn’t
hurt.

Amanda stepped in front of me. “Sorry,
Juliet’s busy.”

“I am?” What was she up to?

“Uh huh, take care of that car.” She pointed
to an old VW bus that had just pulled in. It looked as though it
hadn’t been cleaned in years. The driver was probably the same age
as the car.

“Come on, Amanda. She’s my girlfriend.”

“Sorry, Dylan. She’s needed.” She looked at
me. “Go take care of that car.”

“Fine.” I shrugged and started over. Cara and
Mallory left with me.

“Cara, Mallory, I think Juliet can handle
that alone.”

Cara spun around. “Not a chance. We all know
you want to wash Dylan’s car anyway.”

We didn’t wait for her answer. Part of me
expected Dylan to do something. He’d managed to get me out of
sorority events on several occasions if he wanted me at something
else, but evidently getting me out of my current situation wasn’t
high enough on his list.

I was wrong about the driver’s age. It was a
couple of guys I vaguely recognized from around campus. We ignored
the guys and got to work. I was scrubbing the hood of the van when
Dylan pulled around next to us and rolled down his window. “Try to
stay warm. See you soon.”

“You’re not getting your car washed?”

“I only came to see you.” Sometimes he
sounded sweet. That thought flew out the window when I realized he
wasn’t saying it for my benefit. He glared at the bus’ owner.

“I’ll call you.”

“Good. I’ll enjoy warming you up.” Ugh, he
needed to stop.

“Bye, Dylan.”

“Bye, baby.” He drove away, cranking up his
stereo before he was even out of the parking lot.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: sigh

Dear Amy,

College sucks.

Your Confused Cousin,

Juliet

“You gave me a hickey? You gave me a freaking
hickey?” I slammed the door when I got back from the bathroom.
After a few months of staying over at the Phi Omega house, I was
finally used to it. It didn’t mean I enjoyed staying in a house
full of guys.

Dylan grinned. “I may have gotten a little
bit excited last night.”

“Really, so this wasn’t intentional?” I put a
hand around my neck.

“Maybe a little…”

“Dylan!” I threw a balled up shirt at him.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Were you trying to mark me as
yours like some Neanderthal?” After two months of dating Dylan, I
wasn’t surprised, but I was definitely mad.

“Can you really blame me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Can you blame me for wanting guys to know
you’re unavailable? You’ve got Mr. Muscle hitting on you
constantly, and he isn’t the only one.”

“And that makes it okay to break blood
vessels, or whatever the hell a hickey is?”

“Calm down. It’s just a damn hickey. You can
give me one if you want.” He wriggled an eyebrow.

“This isn’t funny.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it’s not. You purposely left a mark on
my neck. I worried that’s what you were doing.”

“Worried? You didn’t seem worried last
night.”

“Like you’d even notice if I was?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The smug look
finally left his face.

“I can’t do this. I won’t do this. It’s
over.”

He sat up. “What? Are you kidding?”

“You purposely left this disgusting mark on
my neck because you’re jealous that other guys look at me. How is
that even remotely healthy?”

“Come back to bed, baby. You have time before
class.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes. Are you PMSing or something?”

“Go to hell.” I grabbed my purse and water
bottle, giving him the finger as I left. I wasn’t satisfied that my
first door slam was loud enough, so I did it again.

“Trouble in paradise?” Ryan asked as I passed
him on the way down the stairs.

“Dylan’s a prick.” I took one more step. “And
so are you.” I emptied my water bottle over his head.

“What the fuck was that for?”

“The handcuffs and everything else.” Pissed
as I was, there was something so satisfying about watching him
sopping wet. I wished for something stronger than water though.

I crashed into a guy in a gorilla mask as I
walked to the front door. “Halloween isn’t until tomorrow!” I
yelled at him. Even soaking Ryan couldn’t save my mood.

I stormed back to campus, covering my neck
with my hand the whole time.

I didn’t go to my room right away. I went to
Cara’s. Thankfully, her roommate was out.

She opened the door, still in her pajamas.
“Hey, what’s up?”

I moved my hand.

“A hickey? You have a hickey? No one gets
hickeys anymore.”

“I know. I want to kill Dylan. Bad sex was
one thing, but now he has to mark me? I hate him.”

“Hate’s a strong word.” She put an arm around
my shoulder.

“I broke up with him.”

“I’d say I’m sorry, but it’s probably for the
best.”

I sat down on the edge of her bed. “You think
so?”

“I know so. The guy’s a possessive,
controlling jerk. That might be tolerable if he was a god in bed,
but he’s not. You’ll find someone better.”

I collapsed back on her bed. “What am I going
to do about this?” I touched my neck.

“I don’t know…we could try makeup.” She
looked deep in thought. “And it’s kind of cold out. I have some fun
scarves.”

“Do you have any that will go with my
Halloween costume for tomorrow night?”

“Oh yeah…we’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so.”

“Here, try this one.” She tossed a black and
red striped scarf at me.

“Won’t I look funny wearing it inside?” I
tied the scarf around my neck.

“It’s better than looking like a girl with a
hickey, right?”

“You have a point.”

I dragged myself to class, hoping no one
would ask about the scarf. No one did. At least I didn’t have
history with Reed. I wasn’t ready to talk to him about it yet. I
came back at lunchtime and got into bed. I’d already texted Reed
telling him I wasn’t feeling well enough to work. It wasn’t a lie—I
felt awful. Tally was sitting at her desk and turned to me. “What’s
going on with you?”

“Nothing.” I didn’t feel like discussing it
with Tally. She was still dating Ryan, and I’m pretty sure she
thought both Ryan and Dylan walked on water.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to the house tonight? They’re
getting a keg.”

I pulled my blanket up to my chin. “No. I
broke up with Dylan.”

“What?” Tally came to sit on the edge of my
bed. “Why?”

I took off my scarf and threw it on the bed,
lowering the blanket to show her my neck. I might as well get the
confrontation over with.

“A hickey? You dumped him for a hickey?”

“It was just the icing on the cake.” It was.
A physical and gross kind of icing.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting? You and
Dylan are perfect together.”

I laughed dryly. “Perfect? Hardly.”

“You’ll realize you made a mistake.
Hopefully, you’ll come to your senses before he moves on.”

“Is there a reason you’re being a bitch?”

“A bitch? I’m only being realistic.” She
grabbed her keys and phone as she stormed out of the room. She was
probably going to vent to Ryan about me.

“Whatever,” I said even though she was
already gone.

***

My phone rang around eleven-thirty. I
groaned, rolling over to glance at the screen. I didn’t pick up—it
was Dylan.

He called again, and I decided to just do it.
“Hello.”

“Baby, I did something stupid. Really
stupid.”

“And that’s my problem because…?”

“You don’t get it. I was pissed that you
never came back. I got trashed. I slept with someone.”

“We broke up. I don’t care.” Of course, it
stung to know he’d moved on so fast.

“I’m so stupid. It meant nothing.”

“I have to go.”

“Babe, I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “You’ve said it.” Then my curiosity
got the better of me. I had to know. “Who was it?”

“Amanda.”

My chest clenched. “Go to hell, and never
speak to me again.” I knew I was the one who’d dumped him, but to
sleep with my brat of a pledge mom was low. I knew Amanda was a
bitch, but this went beyond anything I’d have thought her capable
of. They didn’t even wait twenty-four hours.

He called back, but I didn’t pick up.
Instead, I threw my phone across the room, and it hit the wall.
Thankfully, it didn’t break.

“What the hell is going on?” Tally finally
woke up. I swore that girl could sleep through almost anything.

“Nothing.”

I couldn’t sleep. I thought about going to
wake up Cara, but that wasn’t going to help. There was only one
person I wanted to talk to. I threw on jeans, my worn out hoodie
sweatshirt, and the scarf just in case. I needed fresh air.

I knew walking across campus at night alone
was dumb, but I couldn’t stay in my room any longer. With Tally
there, I didn’t even have the privacy to mope alone.

The stragglers were just leaving Al’s when I
got there. I slipped inside, knowing Reed would be in the back. He
turned when he heard me enter. “Juliet? What are you doing
here?”

“I dumped Dylan.”

“It’s about time, but what made you finally
do it?” He put down his clipboard.

Something about telling Reed made me finally
break down. And I mean break down. The tears I must have been
holding back the whole time fell down my face.

His arms came around me. “It’s okay. Take
your time.” He held me tighter. “I’ll kill him for you.”

I picked my head up from his chest and
noticed Reed’s wry smile. “You don’t have to kill him. I just never
want to see him again.”

“Are you ready to tell me why? What suddenly
changed your mind?”

I glanced around. While I was crying,
everyone else had left. I untied my scarf.

“Is that a hickey?”

“Yes.”

“And that has to do with why you dumped
him?”

“He did it on purpose, to leave a mark so
people knew I wasn’t single. It was the last straw.”

“Oh.” He tensed. Reed always had such
physical reactions to things. Either that, or I was getting really
good at reading him. Maybe both.

“It made me so mad. With everything else he
already does, I can’t take him anymore.”

“I know it sucks now, but it was the right
decision. The guy’s a controlling jackass.”

“For once, I’ll agree.”

He laughed. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I hope so.”

He took my face in his hands. “I know so.” He
stared into my eyes with such intensity that I couldn’t help
believing him.

“You know what sucks?”

“What?”

“I have to walk around with this dumb hickey
on my neck for the next few days. I’m going to have to alter my
Halloween costume to include a scarf.”

“Aren’t you going as a 1940s night club
singer?”

“Yes.”

“Then do something with the mark to make it
look like a vampire bite. You’ll be all dressed up, so say you’re
going as a vampire’s victim.”

“Oh my god. That’s actually a good idea. Cara
could help me with it. She’s all about stage makeup.”