Page 47 of The Tip-Off
“No, beautiful girl, it’s not the Funyuns. I want to take you somewhere.”
22
Zeke
Fraternity parties are notmy scene, but the look on Gabby’s face when I pull up to frat row is worth it. The front lawn of Sig Nu is filled with people holding cups and I can hear the bass of the music inside as we walk up.
“Attend a frat party is on my list,” she says excitedly, her eyes taking it all in.
“Is it?” I ask like I don’t have the damn list memorized.
She hangs tight as we enter through the ornate wooden doors, columns on either side, and the Greek letters displayed proudly. From the outside, it’s all old money and prestige, but inside it’s just like any other college party. The music is loud, and people are everywhere.
“Z? What are you doing here, man?” Malone catches us just inside. He’s a member of this fraternity so on the rare occasions I have stumbled into a party on frat row, it’s been this one.
“Heard there was a party.”
“You heard right. Maxwell got a job on Wall Street.” He leans toward Gabby. “Daddy pulled some strings, but you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Nathan around?” I ask.
“Haven’t seen or heard from him today, but I’m sure he’ll show up. I gotta make a liquor run. Keg’s in the kitchen.”
“Shall we?” I ask when he’s gone.
Gabby nods, wearing her excitement all over her pretty face. She pulls me to the kitchen, so much pep in her step she’s practically floating.
“Do you want a beer?” I pull a cup from the counter and hold it up. When she signals yes, I fill it and place it in her eager hand.
“You’re not drinking?”
“Nope. I’m flying out tomorrow morning to interview with Orlando, so tonight I’m on list duty.” I hold out my arm and she loops hers through it. “We’ve crossed off frat party, I’m positive someone has a beer bong around here, and if there are no fights by midnight, I’ll push Malone into the drunkest group of guys I can find.”
She drinks the first beer like it’s her job to get drunk as fast as possible. When Nathan finally shows up, it becomes Mission Sober Impossible. I hang back and let them have their fun, holding the beer bong when appropriate, and doing my best to make sure Gabby doesn’t drink so much that I’m going to have to hold her hair back.
As it is, I’m not sure I feel comfortable taking her back to her place alone, which is a real problem for me since I can’t seem to stop imagining her body underneath mine, fisting my hands in all that blonde hair, and devouring that sweet mouth. But it’s not just about the physical. If it were, I wouldn’t be so conflicted.
I’ve given up trying to deny there is something between us. Despite my trepidations, I want to spend time with her. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m leaving in a few weeks. And Gabby is, for all her attempts to convince the world otherwise, naïve and inexperienced. She’s not the kind of girl you sleep with one week and then run off and forget the next.
“We should go skinny dipping again,” Gabby says too loudly. The guys around us snicker and one pipes up, “Hell yeah!”
Nathan looks uncomfortable for the first time and I feel for the guy. Drunk Gabby has no filter and he’s probably imagining her naked. Shit, now I’m uncomfortable because I don’t like the idea of him picturing her that way, and also nowI’mthinking about her naked again.
“Maybe we should get you home.”
“No way. It’s an unspoken rule of the list that you can’t leave a frat party before it’s over.”
“I’m not sure these things ever really end. Eventually, people just pass out on the lawn.”
Her eyes go wide. “See, we don’t want to miss that!”
Nathan comes to the rescue. He drapes an arm around her shoulder and says, “He’s right. It’s all downhill from here. Let’s go back to the house and chill.”
When she finally agrees, my shoulders sag with relief that I’m not gonna have to pull an all-nighter. Showing up tired to meet the coach of the Magic wouldn’t look great. When she passes out as soon as we get her into my car, though, it’s obvious she wasn’t going to make it much longer. I drive us back to the house and get Gabby tucked into my bed. I head downstairs wondering in what universe I’m sleeping on the couch the night before the biggest interview of my life.
I’m tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable when the creak of the floor catches my attention. It could be any number of people, three roommates, two with girlfriends, but the way my body reacts – hyperaware - and this tight feeling in my chest, I know it’s Gabby even before she whispers my name.
“I’m right here.” I sit up. “Are you okay?”
