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The auction is going according to plan, with all of the guys on the ice hockey team settling in with the girls who paid for a date with them. Trent is the last one up for bid. After his name and a few details about him are announced to the room of eager women, he strolls onto the stage, his head held high and confident.
It kills me to think he will be walking out of here with another girl on his arm. A girl who could replace me. It’s become abundantly clear to me that I like Trent more than Tucker, and that he’s the one who has captured my heart.
The auction starts at a measly twenty-five dollars, and yet not a single hand rises. What the hell is going on right now? No one is bidding on Trent, of all people. I expected hands to fly in the air, as they did for Tucker and the rest of his teammates.
This is bizarre.
Trent stands on stage next to the podium, a confused expression crossing his face as he stares out into the crowd. From a distance, I can see him clear his throat, straighten his jacket, and suck in a deep breath. He holds the same smile he’s donned since he stepped onto the stage, pretending as though he’s not bothered.
Though, it’s not hard to see the confusion written all over his face. I don’t blame him. I’m just as confused as to why no one has bid on him yet. I was so sure paddles would be flying in the air, girls fighting over who will win a date with him. And yet, not a single paddle has lifted. None of the girls in the crowd seem the least bit interested.
I look over at Jordan, who has her hand covering her mouth, leaning against the wall next to Abby. She whispers something into Abby’s ear, the two of them now chuckling.
Did they have a hand in this?
Was this part of some evil plan they concocted to get back at him?
Payment for what he did to me.
Anger seethes through me at the thought of my sister sabotaging this event on purpose. She wouldn’t, would she? This day means too much to our sorority, too important to place a stupid vendetta ahead of our core mission. My sister and Abby are pissed about what happened between the twins and me, but they don’t deserve this. They had no idea I’d met each of them on different occasions. It wasn’t done with ill intent.
“We’ll start the bid at twenty-five dollars,” Bella, a senior in my sorority, repeats the same words she had muttered several times before with no reaction. “Do I have twenty-five dollars?”
Again, girls turned their heads away, uninterested. Their paddles are on their laps, their backs arched against the chairs. Of all the women in this room, not a single person wants a date with Trent? I find that hard to believe. Because I still want the date he owes me. I still want another chance with him.
So, I do something I hadn’t planned, hoping I don’t regret my decision to save him. A brunette in the chair closest to me has her paddle rested on her knee, so I swipe it in one fell swoop and raise my hand high enough for Bella to acknowledge me.
Her face brightens, and she points out into the crowd at me. “We have twenty-five. Do I have thirty?”
Trent’s gaze meets mine. A smile reaches up to his beautiful blue eyes. There’s so much heat and intensity behind his irises. I can’t stop looking at him, too entranced to realize Bella has just declared me the winner of the auction.
I snap out of it and give the girl her paddle back, but I’m greeted with an angry scowl from the brunette. She can be mad all she wants. I had to do it. Trent needed me to save him from complete humiliation.
I still can’t believe what I just did. But I don’t regret it. Trent disappears behind the curtains draped across the stage, and I set off in his direction, unsure of what to say.
Once I’m backstage, I push past the men waiting to be called on stage and move toward the green room, where I assume I’ll find Trent. He’s perched against a couch on one side of the room, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. I’ve never seen him look so worried before. He’s always sure of himself, never a doubt in his mind.
Trent mutters something to his friends on the couch below him, who are chatting with two pretty blondes. Drake Donovan and Preston Parker sit between the girls, Preston with his arm around one girl and Drake sitting awkwardly next to the other. The girls are tall with athletic builds, and by the looks of it, they are friends, or at least know each other.
