“No.” Kaitlyn pulls her phone out and starts texting.
“Her parents should know. I mean she might want a family member here for when she gets out of surgery, and their insurance—”
“No.”
I let loose a frustrated sigh and tug on my hair. “Can you say something other than no?”
“Yes.”
“So you can, you just won’t to me.”
She gives me a humorless grin. I shake my head and I flick the plastic lid on the coffee as I push to my feet. My phone pings, and I pull it from my pocket. I read a message from Tamara, telling me there’s a fun new band at the pub this weekend. That will get me out of Wolf House for the night, and I always try to be out of the frat house when the monthly ‘ceremony’ takes place. I shake my head. Jesus Christ. It’s fucking crazy. My father is a goddamn Supreme Court judge, and what’s taking place in the basement of Wolf House is fucking corrupt. Sure, it’s a secret society, and we’ve all taken a vow of silence, but I don’t want anything to do with it. Just like I didn’t want anything to do with the hazing when I arrived. I am not going to ‘bag’ any virgins, for Christ’s sake. I’d like to think I’m above that kind of disgusting misogyny. Women are not sex objects, put on this earth for my pleasure.
While I believe that, and respect women, it doesn’t mean I want or am ready for a committed relationship. If my parents’ marriage was anything to go by—she trapped him by getting pregnant with me—I’d steer clear of women altogether. But hey, I’m a red-blooded male. So, while I’m all about the sex, women know I have nothing more to offer.
I stop pacing. Maybe…this weekend, the ‘ceremony’ that takes place in our basement might just be the way to make up for taking Maize to the ground. Then again…I’m not sure it’s something she’d ever do.
I spend the next little bit checking social media, and pacing. I head outside for a breath of fresh air, and the cute nurse eventually follows me out. She puts her hand on me and turns me her way.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
I narrow my eyes. Shit, did I sleep with her at some frat party and forget? “Sorry, no.”
“I’m Fiona Witherspoon.” She gives a little laugh. “I was a senior at Sweetwater when you moved to town.” She nibbles her bottom lip in that flirty way women do. “I was there at Chelsea’s party the night you sort of lost your pants.”
“Yeah, great night.”
She chuckles and nudges me playfully. “It was just a prank, put the new kids in the closet, and have some fun.”
“It really wasn’t fun.” I narrow my eyes and inch back. “Was it fun for you?”
She waves her hand. “Actually yeah, it was a good laugh.” I just stare at her and she shifts a bit uncomfortable under my scrutiny. Bullying is anything but funny. “It was harmless.”
“I’m not sure I would agree with you.”
“Come on. You got over it, big time, and Maize was a big nerd at our school on scholarship.” She blows out a breathy sigh. “Did she really think she could be one of us?” A tsking sound is followed by a hard eye roll, and everything inside me tightens.
“One of us?”
“You know.” She puts her hand on my chest. “One of us.” Her voice is flirty, playful as she touches me. “People like you and me.”
I shake my head as the pieces fall into place. “Oh, one of the popular kids, you mean?”
“Yeah, you know. Cool and popular and not on a sports scholarship. She should have stayed on her side of town.”
“Okay, let me get this straight. You guys were out to prank both of us?”
“Yeah, but then…” Her gaze moves down my body, and her fingers follow, stopping when they reach my pants. “This happened, and then you fit in quite nicely, didn’t you? No hard feelings?”
One of her hands goes to her hair, and in a flirty gesture she curls a strand around her finger. I jerk back, away from her touch. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back inside to check on my friend.”
“But—”
I don’t want to hear what she says. I go through the doors as they open, my stomach tight at what I just heard. I honestly had no idea the prank was on Maize, too. Did they tell her to pull my pants down? Then make fun of her for doing it? She did stop hanging with those girls, because they turned her reputation to shit. She never seemed like she was an easy lay, as the guys used to say. In the hallway one day, I heard someone call out ‘corn on the cob’ when she passed, and I’d have to be an idiot not to get it—although I’m beginning to believe a lot of things went over my head in high school. But her name is Maize, which in French is loosely related to corn, and a guy’s dick obviously represents the cob.
Those rumors must have evolved from that incident. Something the mean girls started to put her in her place, show her she didn’t belong. Did she think I was in on it? Holy fuck, she must have, but had I known what was really going on, that she’d been set up too, I would have beat the crap out of everyone responsible—although most of them were the mean girls.
I drop down into the uncomfortable chair and Kaitlyn stares at me like I might have something on my face. Other than regret and worry, I’m pretty sure I’m clean. I swipe at my nose anyway.
“Christian?”
I stiffen, and brace myself because she looks like she has something very important on her mind. I lower my voice to match hers. “Yeah?”
“What goes on in the basement
