Pressing call on Edison’s number, my words caught in my throat when he finally answered.
“Hey, what’s up? I’m in the middle of a meeting right now. Is sitting in the van boring you more than you thought it would?” Edison was in the next city over for a meeting with Shuuhei Saito who’d apparently dug something up—something that had put Edison in a good enough mood to agree to let his wife hang out with her friends for the evening.
“Edison,” I began, my words choked. “I lost her.”
Twenty
“Istill don’t think this was a good idea, Kailey,” I told my friend as she dragged me up the steps of the fraternity house that was currently packed to the brim with people.
“Oh come on, live a little, Perrie! Every young woman needs to experience a college party at least once in her life,” Kailey said as she blew a kiss to the frat pledge dressed in a Magic Mike-esque costume complete with a set of bunny ears. “Besides, we’re just going to go in and spend, like, an hour before sneaking back into my house and your knight-in-shining-armor will never realize we’ve left.”
Guilt at leaving Rhodes and the rest of my security team sitting outside of Kailey’s house filled me as we stepped into what could only be described as pure chaos. Not only that, they’d convinced me to put on one of Kailey’s too-short skirts and a halter top that was showing off far too much of my skin.
I was desperately missing the sweatshirt and jeans that I’d shown up in at Kailey’s house as we stepped inside and eyes turned to stare at us.
The large living room of the house was packed full of people dancing as a DJ, perched precariously on the massive stone hearth of the fireplace bumped music so loud that I swore the window panes were shaking.
The stairs leading up to what was assuredly some of the dirtiest college boy bedrooms were littered with couples making out with the occasional drunk girl trying to crawl her way up to one of the restrooms and needing to basically parkour over the lip locked pairs.
Then there was the scent of the place. Bodies crammed together, each with their own personal scents mixed in with the level of body odor that could only be achieved from so many people being hot and sweaty in one, confined space. The air was also hazy with the smoke of marijuana that was so potent that I was half-afraid I was going to get a contact high just from being inside.
It was so immediately overwhelming that I nearly tucked tail and ran out to try and retrace my steps a couple of streets over back to Kailey’s house.
“Yeah, princess, live a little,” Dahlia, one of Kailey’s friends who I’d met for the first time tonight, said as she gave me a not-so-gentle push into the midst of the crowd.
Out of the three girls that I’d met tonight, Dahlia was my least favorite. At least Jessica and Annie seemed to want to be friends with me, but Dahlia had made it clear that I didn’t fit in with them.
For one, they were all completely gorgeous, looking like they belonged in a sorority rather than the cute little house they shared. Each of them was taller than me by at least a few inches and their bodies were much more rounded than mine, their clothes clinging to them as if they were tailored specifically for them. And for two, they were all betas and my status as not only an omega, but a married one had instantly made me feel like an outsider yet again.
But the other two had tried to make me feel welcome while Dahlia had spent the night making sarcastic comments in response to anything I said.
Back at the house when the other three had been working to convince me to leave through the back door with them, Dahlia had snorted and called me a giant wimp who should run outside back to my security team to protect me.
“Like the princess you are,” she’d sneered and I’d gotten so angry that I’d slammed my cell phone down on the coffee table and stomped out of the backdoor, not thinking about the potential consequences of my actions.
“Don’t push her, Dahlia,” Kailey, who’d been done with her friend’s attitude all night, said as she glared at the other girl before holding a hand out to me. “Give her a second to acclimate.”
I shot Kailey a grateful glance and took her hand.
“Form a chain, ladies, no bitch left behind!” Kailey hollered over the music and I felt Jessica slide her hand into mine before taking Annie’s, leaving Dahlia at the rear as Kailey ducked in between the writhing mass of bodies.
Her hand tightened on mine every time people pushed in on us and I did the same until all five of us made it through to the kitchen which was, thankfully, a bit more empty and calm.
A group of guys was busy playing beer pong at an old cracked dining room table and there was a plethora of drinks on the kitchen island with a guy in a Hawaiian shirt serving them up.
“What can I get you fine ladies this evening?” he asked, his eyes sizing each of us up before landing on me. “Hello and where have you been all my life, gorgeous?”
“Easy there, Meyers,” Kailey chastised, her voice dry. “That’s Romey’s big sister you’re talking to.”
“No shit?” Meyers looked at me again, a slow grin filling his face. “Does big sister want a drink?”
I wondered, if I’d never been diagnosed with leukemia and if I’d have gone to school like a normal girl four years ago, whether I would have found someone like the man in front of me attractive.
At face value he seemed handsome, high cheekbones, sharp jaw, big blue eyes and a smile that said that he knew just how hot he was and he was going to use it to his advantage.
But as I stared at him, I could only think about the gold eyes that seemed to stare straight into my soul… or the dark brown ones that now seemed to be filled with a despondent longing that I knew had something to do with the former.
Ever since our first time together in his study, Edison had been, in a word, boundless in his affection for me.
He slept in my nest every night and it now smelled almost exactly how I thought it should.
And the sex just kept getting better and better. This morning, before he’d left for business in the next city over, I’d awoken to his face in between my legs and…
“Perrie?” Kailey’s voice brought me out of my naughty reverie and I realized they were waiting for me to answer.
“No thank you,” I hurried to say, my cheeks filling with warmth. “I don’t drink.”
“Oh, so you’re no fun then,” Meyers teased.
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Dahlia hurried to cut in, her eyes intent on the frat boy. “We had to practically drag her out of the house kicking and screaming. But if you’re making it, I’ll take a drink.”
Kailey and the other girls frowned at her. I didn’t know much about female friendships, but I did know that putting someone down to make yourself look better was a no-no in most people’s books.
“Come on,” Kailey said with a roll of her eyes. “I want to show you the backyard. Dahlia, are you coming?”
Dahlia, who’d sidled right up next to Meyers, shook her head. “I’ll come find you in a bit.”
