Page 15 of In the Danger Zone
I let them argue. When I moved my eyes to the side, I could see Asher still looking right at me. His jaw was tight and his eyes were dark, with one of his fists clenched. He had never been subtle. It was obvious that he wanted me to leave and he was very much used to getting his way. I just watched him suck in a sharp breath from across the room. What was going on in his head? Was he thinking about that day?
I didn’t want to leave just because of him. God, I had been having a good time talking to Leena’s sorority friends until he showed up.
I was about to make a very, very dumb decision. I could sense it. I couldfeelit. The smart thing to do was leave, go back to my dorm, and order that pizza like Leena suggested earlier. That was what most people would have done. But Brie was looking at me like I was literally nothing. Like I didn’t matter. And Asher was looking at me like he wanted me to disappear forever and never make eye contact with him again.
I was so tired of that. I didn’t want to be the loser everyone saw me as in high school. Being popular wasn’t important. I just wanted people to know that I was more than just some girl with a stutter.
“I’m fine,” I told her. “I’m okay.”
“Daisy?” Leena pulled at my hand. “Are you sure? We don’t have to stay. We can leave.”
But I shook my head at her. “N-No. I… I can do this. I can handle this.”
Brie clicked her tongue and marched back up to Asher. They said something to one another, both of their gazes stuck on me. I could only imagine the lovely conversation they were having at my expense.
I felt Leena squeeze at my hand and I squeezed hers right back.
At least I had her.
Chapter 8
EVAN
I had spotted Daisy the second I walked into the Gamma Theta house. It was hard to miss her. She stood out in the crowd the other night, and she had stood out yet again.
But she avoided me. She avoided everyone. Daisy stayed far away, tucked against the corner with her friend – whose name was apparently Leena. Normally I would have just approached a girl that I was interested in. That came naturally to me. But Daisy had been so afraid the other night and I didn’t wanna push her.
I was suddenly okay with Asher dragging me along to the stupid mixer. Me and Asher were the only guys on the team to show up, and I was good friends with almost everyone else in Gamma Alpha Iota, but that didn’t mean I needed to spend any more time with them. There was someone much more interesting in the room.
I stared at Daisy some more, taking in the way her blue dress clung to her curves. My head tilted, taking in every inch of her. At the same time I was still wondering what the hell she had been so freaked out about the other day.
The rest of the night went on slowly. One of Brie’s friends kept trying to talk to me about what kind of girls Tanner liked. Asher was huffing away next to me. It was obvious he was pissed that Daisy had showed up. Jeremy – one of my fellow frat brothers – wouldn’t shut up about the upcoming season. Brie kept trying to feed me chicken wings.
None of them had my focus like Daisy did.
Eventually the food had all been eaten. And just like last year, the alcohol was all that was left. It didn’t take long for everyone to be downing drink after drink. Some of the guys went out into the backyard to down some more beers, but a good chunk of us stayed in the living room. I told myself it was because I couldn’t be bothered going outside, but really, I just wanted to make sure I could keep an eye on Daisy.
“Maybe it’s time for a little game,” Asher announced, his voice still loud despite the blaring music. Someone turned it down slightly a second later.
“Ooh, what are we playing?” Brie asked cheerfully.
“Last year we played spin the bottle, right?” Asher continued. “That got a little wild, didn’t it?”
I sat down on the couch with a huff, beer in hand. The bitter liquid hit my tongue as I remembered last year’s mess. Almost everyone had been drunk. Including me. I personally didn’t get up to anythingtoocrazy, but an innocent game of spin the bottle had turned more than a little rowdy.
“We should play truth or dare,” Brie suggested, taking a seat next to me.Rightnext to me. She didn’t leave me much room to breathe as she rested a hand on my knee.
“Are we twelve?” I mumbled, lifting my leg so I could get her hand off me.
“You don’t wanna play?” Brie pouted. “It’ll be fun. Come on. Asher, come sit down.”
My eyes rolled. Truth or dare was almost always a stupid game. Fun… but stupid. I saw Daisy and Leena at the back of the room, leaning in close, having their own private conversation. Were they gonna leave before the mess started?
“Aw, are you guys going?” Brie piped up. Seemed like she had followed my gaze when she asked Daisy and her friend the question. “You’re not scared of a little game of truth or dare, are you?”
Daisy and Leena looked right at each other. If Daisy did leave, it’d probably be the better option. I had seen the guys get drunk on many occasions. They could get annoying fast.
“I’m n-not scared,” Daisy said. She gave Leena a nod, and the two girls sat down on the other couch, sitting right across from me. It gave me the perfect opportunity to take in her face.
