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A business arrangement. I still couldn’t believe it. A damned business arrangement. Creed actuallypaidHailee to come have sex with him. Like, for one, ew? And, secondly, he was an attractive man. I was sure he could get any woman he wanted. Why did he need to resort to hiring someone for that?
After classes were done, I met Beth on the edge of campus. She lived in one of the dormers, a high building that had at least twenty floors. She took me inside, and we went up to her room. She had a roommate, but her roommate was hardly ever there, I guess. She had a boyfriend or something that she spent all her time with, always over his place instead of the shared room. Couldn’t blame the roommate for that, because once I saw how small the room was, I knew I’d want to be out of there any time I could be, too.
I set my bag down on the floor near Beth’s bed. There was hardly enough space to stand with your arms outstretched between the two beds. Each side had a desk with some drawers, along with a closet. Beth had put a small TV on her desk and turned it towards her bed so she could watch while in bed.
As Beth chatted away about what she wanted to wear tonight, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. This seemed like a terrible place to live, and yet how many students lived here? I’d hate it. I’d hate being so cramped all the time. And then if your roommate was around constantly? The tiny room would feel even smaller; Beth was lucky hers was gone most of the time.
“You’re about my size,” Beth said. “Anything I have should fit you okay.” She was a few inches taller than me, but our body shapes were pretty much the same. My chest might’ve been a little bigger.
“Isn’t it a little early to get dressed for the party?” I asked. Although, really, I had no idea what the typical routine was like. It was still early afternoon; I assumed the party didn’t really start until nightfall, in which case we had a few hours to kill.
“Oh, you’re right,” Beth said, moving to sit on her bed. “There’s an eatery on the first floor. We can go down and grab some food?”
I wasn’t hungry, but I should eat, if only due to the fact that tonight would be a long night. So, I nodded and said, “Okay.”
We went down to the ground floor, where the eatery was. It wasn’t big or fancy, but they had all the staples: chicken, fries, pizza, salad. It wasn’t a buffet; you had to stand in line at whichever food item you wanted and order it. I got chicken and fries, while Beth got two helpings of fries.
We wandered over to a seat by the window and started eating. Her blue eyes were on me, a smile on her face as she stuffed a fry into her mouth. “Are you excited?”
“About tonight? I don’t know. I think I’m nervous.”
That got her to laugh. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Places with a lot of people just aren’t my scene. And I don’t really know what to expect.” I’d grabbed a plastic fork and knife for the chicken, but it ended up being easier to just tear it apart with my hands, so that’s what I did. I dipped both my fries and my chicken into ketchup. Ketchup was the best condiment. Fight me.
“Well, since it’s a frat party, I can pretty much guarantee there will be lots of alcohol.” At that, Beth giggled. “It’s up to you whether you try anything or not. Beer is okay, but it’s not a favorite of mine. I’m more of a wine cooler gal.”
I didn’t even know what a wine cooler was, but I kept that particular truth to myself. Tonight, I didn’t plan on drinking anything. I… I didn’t know what I wanted to do tonight.
“Whatever you do, never leave your drink unattended,” Beth warned. “That should go without saying. You can’t trust anyone. There will also be music, and probably a lot of hooking up.” She leaned forward on the table, staring at me with a low smile on her face. “What kind of guys are you into? You never really talk about boys that much. Unless… are you into girls? Because that’s totally fine—”
“I’m into guys,” I told her. In all the time I’d known Beth, she’d never had a boyfriend, but she’d gone on dates and hooked up a few times. I’d pretty much kept to myself. With everything I had to juggle at home, it seemed like more of a hassle than anything else.
But now I didn’t have to worry about Dad and making sure the house was clean, chores were done, and bills were paid. Now I could do whatever the hell I wanted, and no one could stop me. Not even Creed.
“What kind? Nerds, jocks…” Beth trailed off, waiting to hear, a look of eagerness on her face. She stuffed another fry into her mouth, patient.
“I don’t know.” I stared at my food. “I guess I never really thought about it. I’ve always been so busy with everything, I never had time to sit down and think about what my type is.” I grabbed another piece of chicken, dipping it in ketchup. “I’m not picky.”
Jocks, nerds… did it really matter how they dressed or what interests they had? What really mattered was personality—although a base attraction had to be there, at least a little.
I didn’t know why, but as I thought, an image of Creed popped up in my head. I guess, objectively, Creed was probably one the most attractive guys I’d seen, if notthemost. The dark hair, the equally dark eyes, the thick stubble that gave him a gruff appearance, even when he wore a suit… combined with a deep, low voice that smoothed over you like honey.
Shit. I needed to stop daydreaming about my stepbrother. Just because it’d been ten years and we were both different didn’t mean anything. I’d still grown up with him, still idolized him in the way children often did.
“I admit, I’m surprised you wanted to go out tonight,” Beth said. “You’re always so against it, the whole time I’ve known you. What made you want to come?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I want to do something I’m not used to. Push my boundaries a little.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “Maybe find a guy… I don’t know. It’s been a long time. Since prom, actually.”
Beth’s black eyebrows lifted. “Prom? Dear God, girl, we need to get you a dick, ASAP. I bet what you had at prom wasn’t even good dick—trust me, there’s a difference. Some guys just fumble around, two pumps and done, but others… others know how to work it.” She said all that so matter-of-factly, not blushing at all.
Meanwhile, I blushed simply by listening to her talk. I’d never heard her say anything remotely close to that before, but then again, this was a new situation.
“High school boys are still finding their rhythm, but college boys… oh, they fuck like they’ve got something to prove. Well, most of them—”
“Beth,” I hissed out her name, reaching up to hide my red cheeks. I glanced around us to make sure no one else was listening to this conversation. The tables around us were empty, but it wasn’t like Beth was being too quiet about it, either.
She blinked. “What? It’s true. I’m just stating facts, Taylor.” She ate a handful of fries.
