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I ground my teeth but tipped my chin in acknowledgement. “I know.”
Sorina
“We have some celebrities here among us. Our very own national champions.” One of the members of the Pike fraternity stood on a stage with a microphone in hand and pointed to a group of athletes who stood out above the crowd. “Give them a shout-out!”
The crowd at this packed frat party erupted in wild cheers. I was standing next to my roomie, Carly, who yelled and clapped as if she were cheering at an actual game. The familiar faces of Dmitri and his roommates were the center of everyone’s attention, and they appeared accustomed to being worshipped and adored by rabid fans.
It was rush week, and Carly had insisted we go to this party. It wasn’t like she had to twist my arm or anything. I was here for the whole college experience. I assumed I would see Dmitri around on campus, and I wasn’t proven wrong. He stood next to his friends with a cup in hand and a bored look on his face.
The guy with the mic started chanting in a low tone, “All hail the mighty falcons,” raising his arm up to encourage the crowd to follow. Over and over it went, as everyone chanted faster and louder until it reached a crescendo, and loud cheers erupted again.
“This is like a cult.”
“Are you serious, Sorina?” Carly raised her brows as if I made an idiotic statement. “I guess you haven’t heard. These guys are rock stars.” She nudged her chin in their direction. “The one on the left is Axel Thomas; the one next to him is Nick Jensen; then there’s Roman Martinez; and the one on the right is Dmitri Popov.” She sighed and ran her finger down her bottom lip. “He’s so hot.”
I inwardly cringed at hearing my roommate call my almost-brother hot. It was weird. I wouldn’t acknowledge the other sentiments flittering through my mind, which could only be blamed on idiocy and alcohol.
She kept gazing at him dreamily, and I fought a wave of jealousy. My reaction was ridiculous. Carly tilted her head at me. “Anyway, you might want to familiarize yourself with who’s on the team, since we’ll see a lot of them on the field this season.”
“Yeah, I know who they are.” I took a sip of my seltzer.
Carly nearly choked on her drink, turning to me. “You do?”
I nodded, cutting to the chase. “I was orphaned, and Dmitri’s father took me in when I was fifteen. He’s practically my brother.”
“Really?” I could see she wanted to know more but was too cautious to pry, and I didn’t want to stand around at a party and dive into my life story. What a buzzkill that would be.
“Really.” I glanced behind me over my shoulder. “Anyway, where’s Julian?” I asked, changing the subject. Julian was my other roommate. He was on the squad as well.
“Who knows? Probably sulking somewhere and cursing my name for dragging him here.” As outgoing as Julian was, he made it very clear earlier how frat parties weren’t his thing. Carly stared down at her seltzer. “So, you and Dmitri are tight?”
“No, not exactly,” I said under my breath.
“I guess that means I can’t get you to put in a good word about me.” She batted her eyelashes with a teasing smile, playing it off as if she were joking, but somehow, I didn’t think she would mind if I really did. She nudged my arm. “I’m kidding, you know.”
“I mean, I could try, if pompous Russian assholes are your type.”
“Whoa. I get the sense you two don’t get along.”
I peered across the crowd and watched as girls sidled up to him, laughing and touching his arm, practically shoving their tits in his face, while he barely spared them a glance. However, he happened to spot me, and his dark brows drew together. “You could say that,” I mumbled into my drink, not breaking eye contact with him. As seconds ticked by, his cold look grew darker and darker. I swear to god, if he came over here and tried to force me to leave, I would knee him in the nuts. Not today, Satan.
I turned my attention to Carly. “Shall we try to find Julian?”
Carly and I walked up the steps of the large wraparound patio and saw Julian leaning against a column with hands in his pocket, peering around in distaste. “I’ll get us two more of these.” Carly shook her empty can and went off in the direction of a ginormous tin basin filled with ice and an assortment of cans and bottles.
I stepped up to Julian and slipped my arm around him. “Hey, roomie.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you tipsy or something?”
“No. Why?”
“I don’t know. You’re sort of being affectionate, and that doesn’t seem like you. Although, if you were coming on to me, I’d have to shut that shit down, no matter how hot you are, because your charms don’t work on me.” He had a bored look, but I caught his lips twitching.
I gave him a sad face and pulled up my finger and thumb, squeezing them together. “Not even a little bit?” Julian was gay and proceeded to let me know the first day we met how I needed to keep my lust for him in check if we were going to room together. We hit it off immediately.
He rolled his eyes, keeping a teasing smile. “If I liked girls, I might consider you.”
“I guess I can live with that.” I couldn’t help but look back over at the spot where Dmitri had been standing, but he wasn’t there. I didn’t see any of his entourage either. Music was blaring as the DJ resumed the center stage.
