Page 262 of Summer Heat
Aubry had been dying for an excuse to visit Duke University, so of course he’d jump at this opportunity.
I smiled widely. “Alright, let’s go!”
We booked our flight, but I begged Aubry to keep our trip a surprise. He somehow got Cole to tell him what party he’d be at that night, so we were going to go from the airport to the hotel and straight to the party. I was so excited—and ne
rvous at the same time. I kept wringing my hands together and biting my lip as I paced the room while I waited for Aubry to get out of work so we could leave. I took a deep breath when I heard Aubry get home and off we went.
“Calm the fuck down, Cowboy! You’re making me nervous,” Aubry said as he stilled my bouncing leg when our cab was pulling up to the frat house where the party was taking place.
“Oh my God, I think I need a drink...or five,” I said as I clutched my stomach.
“I think if you drink now, you might puke,” he said, looking amused.
“You’re probably right. Let’s just go inside,” I said and plastered on my best smile.
My stomach was flip-flopping and my hands were shaking as we knocked on the door. A short guy with beautiful aqua-blue eyes opened the door for us and gave Aubry a confused look before he checked me out slowly.
“Who are you?” the guy asked Aubry a little rudely.
“I’m a friend of Cole’s...and Warren’s,” Aubry said confidently, and I smiled up at him. I’d heard of Cole’s friend Warren, but I knew for a fact that Aubry didn’t know who the hell he was.
“Oh, cool,” the short guy said as he stepped out of the way. “And what’s your name?” he asked me when I brushed past him.
“Blake,” I said with a smile.
He checked me out again. “Blake...I’m David. If you need anything, I’m your man.”
“Thanks,” I replied while grabbing on to the back of Aubry’s shirt, so I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.
We walked around without spotting Cole, but we did see Sarah, a girl from our high school. She looked more than a little surprised to see us there. She was nervous as she greeted us, and I figured she probably felt bad for ganging up on me with Sasha-the-Slut one time after school. She looked like she wanted to tell me something—probably apologize—from the look in her eyes, but I smiled and waved at her as I walked away with Aubry.
“That was awkward,” Aubry said, leaning down to my ear.
I shrugged. “Whatever. Old news. I’m gonna go use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
He laughed. “First of all, hell no. I’m not letting you run off by yourself at a frat party in a frat house. Second of all, how the fuck do you know where it is?”
I laughed back. “Umm...there’s a huge cardboard sign that reads ‘bathroom’ over there,” I said, pointing. “But yeah, maybe you should stay close to it. Look, there’s a keg right by it. I’ll go to the bathroom, and you get us some beers.”
We walked to the keg, and I left Aubry there to go to the bathroom. I passed two doors before I saw where it was. As I stood behind a ridiculously drunk girl, I heard a guy scream Cole’s name causing my head to snap up, and my insides to warm at the sound. I immediately got out of line and walked in that direction. I rounded the corner and found a group of guys and girls standing around a pool table. Butterflies danced in my stomach when I spotted him. His back was facing me, but I could see he was in the middle of an animated conversation. He was wearing a fitted navy T-shirt, and his brown hair was cut short. I frowned because he never told me he had cut it. My feet started making their way toward him but stopped about three feet away—when I saw female hands with red fingernails stroking his lower back. My heart was pumping so hard I couldn’t even breathe. I wanted to turn away, but my feet were cemented to the floor. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from them and the worst part was that I could hear them from where I was standing.
“Let’s go to the back room,” she said, giggling as she squeezed his ass.
I could recognize that fake voice anywhere. What.The.Fuck?
His head leaned down and kissed her neck, giving me a full view of her face. When she saw me, her eyes widened for a second before they slanted. She narrowed her blue eyes at me as if to tell me “yeah, he’s mine now.” I felt acid kill the butterflies that were in my stomach minutes ago. To drive her point home, Sasha held his body tighter to hers and bit his neck—all while looking right at me. She smirked and told him she was ready to go to the room. I saw him nod right before I turned around and shuffled my feet toward Aubry. When I found him standing by the keg, I grabbed the red cup from his hand and chugged it. The guys around us cheered as he looked at me in astonishment.
“Blake, what the fuck?” he asked.
“Let’s go. NOW.” I snapped.
“What the hell happened? Did you find Cole?”
“Fuck Cole,” I said as I grabbed the other cup from his hand. I turned on my heel and started chugging that one, too.
“Holy shit! This girl is awesome!” one of the guys chanted as three others cheered.
“Cowboy, slow the fuck down,” Aubry growled.
