Page 6 of Embrace

“Are you a hockey fan? I can get you rinkside seats. Maybe a little meet and greet with the players?”

She looks at me like I’ve slapped her, and the blush I was hoping for earlier only grazes her face in a deeper color of…embarrassment? I’m blowing this.

“I don’t need bribes. I’m not available.”

Reel it in, asshole.“I wasn’t— Shit, I’m sorry. I just really need to do well.”

She softens. “Do you need me to find you a tutor, Kian? Because I’m not sure if this is the right group for you.”

It’s so polite I barely register the rejection. One day, and I’ve managed to get kicked out of a study group. That’s a new record for me.

“No, no. This is fine. Once a week is perfect.” I don’t mention that I’ve been banned from the student aid center since freshman year.

You streak naked across campusonetime, and people treat you like a criminal. Though it didn’t help that I invited the tutors to our party and they got so hammered that all the tutoring sessions the next day had to be canceled.

Scarlett goes over midterm dates and holidays. “And we have a group chat going, so—”

“I’m not in it.”

Her brows crease at my accusatory tone. “I’ll add you in later.”

“Why not right now?” I point to her phone on the table. I’m not the biggest fan of group chats, namely the ones the guys make without me.

She sighs, handing it to me to put my number in, and my phone pings. My shoulders relax.

“Today we’ll study for a few hours, and if anyone has questions, just ask.”

“How many hours exactly? I promised a friend I’d meet him later…”

She glares at me. Barely. I don’t even think she could muster a glare with those soft brown eyes.

“Kidding! I’m good. This is good.” I turn away, shooting a text to Dylan.

He and I promised each other we were done with parties. But then I got the text from the Beta Phi sorority, and he was upset about the whole captaincy thing, so it was only right that we go.

What harm could one party do?

Three

Kian

I’m on mybest behavior. Kind of.

Should I be at a neon party when I’m officially doomed for stats? Probably not. But it’s been all of four minutes since I walked into Beta Phi, and I’m splattered with glowing paint and soaked in alcohol. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Dylan glares at me under the neon lights, shirtless, like me, and covered in handprints, jeans hanging low.

“Having fun?” I ask.

He gives me the finger and heads down the hall. Usually, he’s not such a downer, but the whole captain thing really upset him. I don’t understand why because he’s fully capable of leading the team. He should be happy.

I don’t get to follow him because Crystal Yang, a sorority girl, pulls me into another room. When the rest of the girls see me, they cheer, sliding friendship bracelets on my wrist. I’ve had a great relationship with the Beta Phi sisters since I helped them at a car wash and raised enough money to fund their fall formal.

“Keg?” Crystal asks me, dragging me to the living room. She tells me we’re going to play Jenga later, pointing to the guys carryingthe giant wooden blocks to the porch. But I’m staring at the girl doing the keg stand. Cassidy Carter. Blond hair, blue eyes, and the twin sister of my teammate, Cole.

A few semesters ago, Cassie and I spent a lot of time together. I would categorize it as dating, but she made it pretty clear that wasn’t the case. Not long into our situationship, we attended a tailgate together, where Julia Romero, an ice-skater, walked into the picture. Cassie excitedly introduced me to her as her friend, then proceeded to kiss Julia right in front of me. It was only then, like a complete idiot, I realized Cassie wasn’t in this as much as I was.

We didn’t have sex, though my friends seemed to think we did because of how down I was about us fizzling. I was mostly upset over the fact that I missed all the signs.