On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss

Chapter 51

Seth

The annual party at the Rose family beach house. Not to be confused with every other time we all party there, of course, but this party is special to us and has been for ages. And by that, I mean ever since our freshman year when Drew and I started rooming together.

Since then, every year when the wind chills and the leggings with Uggs come out, we pack up my truck with more drinks and food than necessary and we drive an hour outside of Chicago to Drew’s family beach house to have one last party before mid-terms happen and classes really start kicking our asses. Realistically, it’s never been the last party of the year. There was always another Delta Xi banger just around the corner, but we always treated this annual party with the same hype as that first year.

The first year, it was just me, him, and a few guys from our dorm. No girls allowed, we said. It’s guy’s night, we proclaimed.

Dumbasses.

After an hour of sitting around on the beach with a bunch of drunk dudes in shorts, we realized our mistake and expanded the invite list the next year. By then, we’d pledged Delta Xi. We’d met Corey King and Devin Boone and Harvey Moon. They’d introduced us to Ellie Burke. To Wilder Beckinheim. To Bethany Beihn and Tammy Appleby. To Samantha Jaxx, though we don’t really talk about her anymore...

Beautiful people from beautiful places that we still consider family to this day, mostly. The party that second year was one for the ages, something we never thought we’d ever top again in our young lives.

Idiots.

We didn’t realize it, but there was still something missing from our annual party. Hell, I would have flat out denied it if a time traveler walked out of Lake Michigan and told it to my face, but I wasn’t the same person I am now as I was back then.

My sister, Heidi.

At first, I thought she didn’t belong there. She was too young. Or too dorky. Or, you know, my baby sister and I didn’t want her to ruin my good fun. It took me a while, but eventually I saw her differently. She wasn’t a little kid anymore. She was an adult, going to school and paying rent and holding down jobs, and there I was complaining that she wasn’t cool enough to hang out with us.

Moron.

The third year, she was there. Drew insisted, of course. He knew how important it was for us to have a healthy relationship, though I know now that he had a thing for her, which was more than a little obvious in hindsight, but whatever.

That party was a bit more low key than in previous years, but when I look back at that night, I have nothing but good memories. I didn’t realize how much my life was about to change, how that one night was the catalyst for everything that’s come after.

It brought me and my baby sister back together.

It cemented her place in our friend group, so I knew she’d always have the same family of beautiful people to lean on as I did.

But where Heidi goes, someone else follows. Someone else crawled her way back into my life that night. But it didn’t exactly have the same happy reunion vibes as estranged siblings coming back together.

Jenna Abrams.

I hated her. I always thought she was nothing more than one of those pretty girls who hung around with someone lesser to feel better about themselves. Not that Heidi can’t be a knockout if she wanted to be, but Jenna was a different type. She didn’t have the inner beauty my sister had. She was vapid and stuck-up and selfish and… everything about myself that I was too scared to admit I was.

I know that now. I know so much more of her now. And myself.

“You ready to go, Seth?”

I look up from my chair at my desk as Drew knocks on my bedroom door. “Yeah,” I answer. “Just about.”

He steps inside, curious at the object in my hand. “Whatcha looking at?” he asks.

“Oh.” I hold up the framed drawing of me passed out on the beach, courtesy of my talented sister on her first night at the Rose family beach house. “Just memories.”

Drew takes it from me and grins. “Man, that was a good night.”

I nod. “Yeah, it was.”

“Changed my life.”

“You know, I was just thinking the same thing.”

Drew looks at me. “Hey, you okay?” he asks.

I stand up from the chair. “Yeah. Why?”

“You just...” he shakes his head once, “seem pensive lately.”

“Nah, you know me, man,” I say, deflecting. “One track mind.”

He sets the frame down on the desk. “Right.”

“Coolers packed?”

“Yup,” he says. “Just need to be carried downstairs.”

I clap my hands together. “Let’s get going, then.”

“We’ve got help coming soon,” he says. “Might as well wait.”

“Help?” I ask. “What help?”

There’s a knock at the front door and Drew smiles.

“I invited a friend from work,” he says. “Brad. Great guy. You’ll like him.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He starts toward the hall, then pauses. “Is that cool?” he asks. “Sorry, I didn’t ask first, but I figured it’d be all right.”

“Yeah, man,” I say with a shrug. “The more the merrier. If you like him, I probably will, too.”

“That’s what I thought. Delta Xi!”

“Delta Xi,”I repeat.

Drew taps the doorframe as he passes through it. I check myself in the mirror, patting my cargo pockets for my wallet, keys, and phone before following him out into the living room.

“Seth, this is Brad.”

I glance up and... continue looking higher until I reach the top of his head. There’s a man standing next to Drew, though I suppose tree wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. He’s large and muscled, his Hawaiian shirt pushed to the limit by his pecs and biceps. He sports a head full of shiny, blond hair with a thick beard that’s not even patchy at all.

“Damn!” I say as I approach. “You, sir, are massive.”

Brad laughs, his voice deep. “I get that a lot.”

“I’m Seth.” I extend my hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He takes it with a firm, knuckle-popping squeeze. “You, too.”

Drew nudges my arm. “He look familiar?” he asks me.

I study Brad for a moment, then squint. “Actually, yeah. A little.”

“You probably know my cousin, Walter,” Brad says.

“Walter?” I muse aloud as I glance at Drew, who’s already grinning.

“His friends called him Brick,” Brad adds.

“Oh! Brick!” I point upward in recognition. “Brick, yeah... I see it now. He was our house alpha for a few years at Delta Xi. I did not know his name was Walter.”

“I didn’t, either.” Drew snorts. “Walter.”

“Walter,”I repeat, snickering. “Yeah, no. Sounds weird. What’s he up to nowadays?”

“Jail,” Brad says.

“Oh,” we say, going quiet.

I nod. “That tracks, actually.”

“Yeah, not... all that surprising,” Drew says.

Brad chuckles. “Great guy, otherwise.”

“Oh, yeah! We had good times. Anyway, welcome aboard,” I say. “Should be a pretty good night.”

“Hey, I’m just happy to be invited,” Brad says. “I’m new in town, don’t know very many people, so thank you for including me.”

“It’s our pleasure,” Drew says. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Brad gestures to the coolers stacked by the table. “You guys need some help with that?”

“Yeah! Please, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Brad steps forward and grabs the largest box and raises it over his head, easily perching it on his shoulder. “Where to?”

“Orange truck out front,” I answer. “On the curb. Can’t miss it.”

“All right.”

He marches to the door, his thick footsteps echoing down the hall as he heads toward the elevators.

Drew spins to me with hands raised. “Yeah?” he asks.

“He seems cool,” I say with a nod. “Nice catch.”

“Perfect for Jenna, right?”

I pause. “Jenna?”

“Yeah. Heidi said that she wasn’t really having much luck in the dating pool lately, so I figured I’d set something up. Put these newfound Little Black Book matchmaking skills to good use.”

“Oh...” My stomach clenches. “Right. Yeah.”

“Heidi already told her about it,” he says. “Apparently, she’s stoked to meet him. Good vibes all around.”

Another clench. “She is, huh?”

“Heidi’s already planning for a double date, but I told her to chill. These things don’t always work out the way you picture it. But you know Heidi. She sets her mind on something, it’s hard to shake her off.”

I nod. “Oh, I know.”

Drew releases a happy sigh as he bends over and grabs a cooler. “Man, it feels good doing good, you know?”

“Yeah,” I answer, forcing a smile. “Feels real good.”

He carries the cooler out into the hall, grinning the whole time.

Once he’s gone, I deflate.

Yeah.

Feels real fucking good.