I knotted my fingers together at the back of my head. Shit. This party was turning out to be a disaster. I didn’t have expendable cash for an Uber, and the idea of walking home wasn’t appealing. I hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place. I snagged a beer and popped the top. I would need a buzz to get through the rest of the afternoon.
A hand landed on my forearm and shifted my focus toward a tiny brunette wearing a red top that barely covered her tits. Further down, her shorts looked like they couldn’t possibly contain her ass.
“Hi there, you’re new?” she slurred and then giggled.
As she laughed at herself, I sought out Finley and found her in the pool splashing douchebag Billy. When he moved closer to her, I couldn’t watch. If she let Billy kiss her, I would lose it. I turned back to the girl.
“I’m new. You aren’t?”
“Sophomore.” She burped and covered her mouth. “Excuse me.” Then she shook her head like a puppy trying to get dry. “I never get this drunk.”
Somehow I seriously doubted that.
“Is that you?” When I turned to the new voice, I lost mine. “Shepard Connelly? What are the odds?”
“Emily,” I said.
She came in for a hug. The brunette left while I stood there trying to decide what to do next.
“It’s so good to see you. Is Finley here? Did you guys ever get together?” Emily asked.
That last part made me nearly spit out a mouthful of beer, and she stepped back as I coughed.
“Why would you say that?” I asked when I recovered.
She froze like she said something she shouldn’t have. “It’s just that . . . well . . . it was obvious you had a thing for her.”
In a panic, I lied. “I didn’t have a thing for her.”
She patted my arm. “It’s fine. I won’t tell. August would shit himself if he knew.”
“No, he wouldn’t because it’s not true.” Liar, liar, liar, chanted in my head. “And yes, Finley’s here, and so is August and Cooper.”
Her delight at my expense died. “Oh.”
But my radar detected something that grabbed my full attention: Finley getting out of the pool, dripping wet. Her blue bra looked almost too sheer from the pool water.
“There she is,” I said, determined to get to her before any other guy did.
I guided Emily in her direction, wanting to intercept Finley from being whisked away by the asshole who, at the moment, was nowhere in sight.
Only the asshat appeared with a towel he handed her just as we approached.
Finley had just wrapped the towel around herself when she noticed us. “Emily.”
The girls hugged, ignoring the fact that she was sopping wet. “I didn’t know you were going to school here,” Finley said.
“Yeah, and I thought I wouldn’t know anyone until I met my roommate.” Emily laughed.
My problem was solved when the two girls walked off. Finley barely gave Billy a backward glance as she and Emily headed for the house.
Unfortunately, Billy didn’t retreat. He sidled up to me.
“Does her brother know how much you want to tap that? Or is he too blind to see?”
I glared at him, wishing looks could kill. “You don’t know dick.”
“I know yours is hard up for her. But don’t worry. I won’t tell your friend because I’ll have her long before you get up the nerve to do something about it.” Then Billy lifted a hand to his mouth and shouted to the crowd, “Time for shots.”
That got everyone’s attention. As if cued up by his command, several girls appeared with trays of Jell-O shots.
Billy clearly wasn’t a nobody. Worse, he seemed determined to have Finley either because he could or he wanted to show me up and get the best of August. I had a bad feeling shit between him and me wasn’t over.
I went in search of August. I had to warn him the girl that had nearly broken him was here.
finley
I changed quickly in the bathroom after drying off as best I could. Emily was here. The girl that had screwed with my brother’s head the summer before our junior year in high school.
When I opened the door, she hadn’t gone anywhere.
“So how have you been?” she asked.
“Good. I’m surprised to see you.”
She shrugged. “It’s a great school, and they have a great program for my major.”
“Hey, Em. You disappeared on me.”
I glanced up and up until a guy who had to have a few inches on my brothers and Shep leaned down to kiss my brother’s ex.
Her cheeks brightened. “Kevin, this is Finley. We went to high school together.”
His eyes barely gave me a glance as if they were all for her. I had to admit, he was easy to look at. He had light brown hair, curled at the edges. His scruff made him look older, a question I would ask her when we were alone.
“In Texas?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
What she didn’t explain was that we hadn’t been friends exactly. She dated my brother, which meant she was around our house a lot. But we hadn’t hung out, not on purpose, anyway.
“I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want one?” he asked her and glanced at me.
He got points for that.
“No, thank you,” I said.
“I’m good for now,” she said with a smile I worried bordered on being saccharine.
He loped off. His long legs quickly created distance between us.
I turned to her. “He’s cute.” She shrugged and looked a little forlorn. “What’s the story?”
“Guy from back home. We started dating this summer. He’s two years ahead of us. I don’t know.” She shook off whatever else she was about to say. “I assumed you and Shepard would have gotten together by now.”
“Shepard,” I said, giving her a
