On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss
Chapter 36
Jenna
“You clit-locked me.”
I blink twice, assaulted by the very sudden presence of Seth in my face on the deck. “Excuse me?” I ask.
“Don’t play dumb,” he says.
“I’m... not?”
Seth squints his golden eyes, but his sinister smirk remains as he holds up one hand. Fingers crossed. “You Beta Kappas think you’re so clever with your wink-wink nudge-nudge legs crossed secret society bullshit. You Beauty-blocked me.”
I snort. So what if I did?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, lips tight.
“No, of course you don’t.”
“What’s wrong, Seth?” I ask with fake sympathy, leaning in closer so he can hear me over the shouting crowd around the pool. “Things not going well for you tonight, or…?”
“For now, but your little mangled game of telephone is about to bite you in the ass,” he says, his voice hard and rough yet... still playful. “I just overheard two girls whispering in the kitchen telling another one not to sleep with a soft blueberry.”
Crap.
“Sounds like pretty solid advice,” I say. “That’d make quite the mess.”
“Not every girl here is beheld to Beta Kappa Law,” he says, his smile returning slowly. “All I have to do is find one.”
I laugh hysterically. But only on the inside. The victory lap can wait.
“Good luck,” I say.
“Unless...” Seth tilts his head, “you don’t want me to find one. It’d certainly support my theory...”
Don’t.
Don’t engage.
He’s baiting you.
Don’t let him bait you.
“What theory?” I ask.
Dammit.
He smiles, inching a little closer. “That you want me all to yourself.”
What?
“What?” I ask.
“It’s okay...” He hovers next to my ear now, his breath warm on my cheekbone. “One little quickie wasn’t enough for me either.”
I recoil. “Wow, you’re drunk.”
He chuckles as he steps back. “Perfectly sober, actually.” He turns his red cup over. Empty and dry. “It’s all right,” he adds. “We’ll play this game for a bit longer. You’ll break eventually.”
I ignore the rush of heat to my face, core, and... Yup. Down there, too.
“Piss off, Seth.”
Seth grins one more time before turning away and disappearing into the crowd. A predator in his hunting grounds. Full of prey.
Pick me. Pick me.
I exhale hard. “Fuck.”
“Hey, Jenna!”
I flinch as yet another Newbury suddenly hops into my eye line. “Hey, Heidi,” I say, embracing the distraction.
“Drew and I are going to head out.”
“Already?” I ask. “It’s only, like... nine-ish. I think.”
Heidi glances around. “Yeah, I think we’ve seen all we need to here. We’re going back to his place for a movie.”
“Okay, but... you’re my ride.”
She laughs with a quick, subtle nod to my outfit. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll be taken care of.”
My gut twists, finding several knots before I take another breath.
“I guess I will be,” I say.
But she’s already a step away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then! Bye-eeee!”
I stand still. “Okay. Bye.”
Heidi meets Drew at the back door of the Delta Xi house. They lock hands, fingers entwined, eyes full of love love love. She never looks back once to see the hurt in my expression. Nope. I’m just Jenna, the party girl. No sense in worrying about where she’ll end up tonight. One or two of these strapping men will take good care of her, right, Heidi?
I turn my back on her, a merely symbolic gesture now that she’s long gone.
The party continues around me, but the thumping bass just isn’t hitting me the same way now.
Screw this.
I turn away from the waving hockey sticks to weave through the large group of nightshirts and silk underwear.
Seth.
I spot him in the grass just at the edge of the deck, his face lightly illuminated by a string of white lights.
He’s not alone.
He’s talking to a girl. Blonde pigtails and pink slippers. She seems very excited to be talking to him, too. I don’t recognize her, so she must be a freshman. She has a skull and crossbone stamp on the back of her hand. No booze allowed.
I guess he found himself a girl not beheld to Beta Kappa Law after all.
Now would be a good time for a distraction, I suppose. I could rush over there and splash him with my drink. You cheating pig! Make a big scene out of it. That’d be fun, I think.
But... I suddenly just don’t care.
Have a good night, Seth.
I push through the party, slowly but surely making it through the house to the front door. I cringe as I reach the porch, realizing that I have to walk all the way across campus and down Shanty Row, half-naked in uncomfortable shoes.
“Fuck,” I whisper again.