The Pledge Read online

  “Fine,” Alexis stated with a look of disapproval. “But just so you know, we won’t be going home without you. I’ll check back in an hour. If you’re not here, we’ll come find you.” She gave me a quick hug while Julie squealed and hurried out onto the dance floor. Without a second thought, she joined the sweating bodies and pulsing rhythms.

  Doug stood up, leaning into me so I could hear him over the music. “Want to go somewhere quiet and talk?”

  In the back of my mind, a small voice told me this wasn’t a smart decision. I chose to ignore that voice and nodded.

  “Come on, Denton.” Doug took my hand and led me around the corner to a closed door covered in graffiti. “This is my room. No one will bother us here.”

  I followed Doug into the dark room, and my knee bumped into something. Dang, that hurt. My eyes took a minute to adjust. Doug had guided me around a pole. The pole was one of several used to hold up a high platform, like the top of a bunk bed. Doug ducked underneath and switched on a desk lamp. Instead of a bottom bunk, a desk, dresser, and a chair were in the space. An identical structure was set up across the room. I was assuming the areas on top were for beds, but they were hidden, covered in draped sheets and blankets to look like tents. What were they hiding in there?

  Doug placed his hand on my back and walked me over to a small sofa. I stopped walking when realization hit me.

  Oh...right.

  Doug sat down, but I stood in front of him, a bit unsure what I should do next. This was so new to me, and I hadn’t the slightest idea how to handle myself. I didn’t want him to know I was inexperienced, but I didn’t want him to think I was easy either.

  Doug took my hands and pulled me down next to him. “Whaddya think of your first college party?”

  My pulse raced, and I wanted to shake my head to clear the fog from my brain. “Um, it’s great. Nice. I...”

  My voice trailed off. I didn’t know how to do this. What should I say? I couldn’t even manage a coherent sentence right now. No, I could do this. Fresh start. New beginning. No one knows me here. “It was really nice of your frat to invite us.” I smiled, proud of myself for not only putting more than two words together, but also speaking them aloud.

  “Fraternity.” Doug’s voice sounded irritated, and my stomach plummeted to the floor.

  “Excuse me?” I stuttered and tucked my hair behind my ear. I knew I would say something wrong.

  “It’s not a frat—it’s a fraternity. You wouldn’t call your country a cunt, now would ya, Denton?” He winked at me, and I relaxed. A little. Whistleblower Doug took this Greek stuff very seriously.

  “No. And I wouldn’t call a cocktail a cock,” I said, eager to play along.

  His head tilted to the side, and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me. “Right.”

  Oh crap. Did I seriously just say cock? How awkward could I possibly be? First night out and I said cock to the only guy interested in talking to me. Abort. Abort.

  “I should probably get back to my friends,” I said nervously, starting to stand. Doug’s hand was quickly on my arm, pulling me back down to the couch and I fell even closer to him.

  “Not yet, Denton. We’re just getting to know each other.” He grinned and brought his face closer to mine. I could smell the beer lingering on his breath. “You’re so damn pretty.” My body tensed as he continued to move in closer. I watched as he closed his eyes, tilted his head, and headed for my face. He was cute. Definitely not a hottie, but he was decent. Decent was good, right?

  His lips were a breath away from mine.

  Ohmygod! He was going to kiss me. I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t prepared for this. I needed to research the best kissing tips. I needed a mint. Hell, he needed a mint. Quick, do something, Denton. I tilted my head in the same direction as his and our foreheads knocked together.

  “Sorry!” I whispered, pulling back quickly.

  He smiled, leaned in again, and brought his lips to mine. His lips felt...nice. Only I wasn’t sure what to do with mine. I kept my lips pressed together until something wet and warm pushed at them.

  Mother Scratcher! His tongue. Retreat! Retreat! Wait. No. Tongue was normal. This was a good thing.

  I opened my mouth, just a smidge, and allowed him access. Doug grunted his approval and moved closer still. He pressed his chest against mine while his hands dug into my hair. The thirty minutes I had spent perfecting my hair were wasted.

  Never mind that, Denton, you’re getting your first kiss.

  Doug’s tongue continued to flop around like a fish. I didn’t have any other tongues to compare his to, but it felt huge in my mouth. Girls liked this sort of thing?

  He pulled back, and his head cocked to the side. “You gonna participate here, Denton?”

  “What do you mean?” Warmth crept up my neck and flushed my face. I was doing something wrong, and I didn’t have a clue what it was.

  He brought his mouth close to my ear and whispered, “You gotta move your tongue around, too. Kiss me back, you know?”

  No, I didn’t know, but I was a quick study. I licked the corner of my lips and took a good look at his. I could do this kissing thing. I would tongue wrestle with that big wet fish and show that whistleblower just how good this good girl could be.

  “Sorry. I’ve been drinking a bit tonight.” I smiled and squared my shoulders. With liquid courage on my side, I was loose enough to let go a little and have some fun.

  Doug leaned in again. This time, I tilted my head correctly, avoiding his nose and opening my lips as soon as we made contact. He shoved his tongue in, ready for round two, and I lifted mine in return. He grunted again, and I gave myself an imaginary fist pump. Apparently, grunts from boys were good.

  I moved my tongue around his in a slippery kind of tango, and my confidence grew. I hadn’t felt any of those tell-tale fireworks yet that everyone was always waxing poetic about, but maybe that was because I was concentrating so hard on not screwing up. Maybe all first kisses were like this.

  “You find some fresh meat, Pickles?” A voice from above called out, and I jumped back.

  “Shut it, Watson.” Doug lifted his middle finger, and I followed the direction of his gesture to see a guy with shaggy brown hair poking his head out from the opening in one of the tent beds.

  Sweet merciful crap. Had he been there the whole time? This was completely mortifying. My flushed face now burned with heat. Had he heard us? I wanted to die.

  “Hiya, Dougy!” A female face appeared next to Watson and I wanted to hide in the other tent bed. This wasn’t really happening, was it?

  “Hi, Katie.” Doug turned to me, apologetically. “I didn’t know my roommate was up there with his girl. Sorry.” He stood up and offered me his hand. “We’ll give you all some privacy.”

  We walked into the hallway and he turned to face me, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest. “You ready to go back to the party or do you want to find someplace else to be alone?”

  “Do you even want to know my name?” I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. I needed to calm the hell down.

  He grinned. “Sure, Denton.”

  “Taren Richards. And you are Doug…” I stretched out his name, hoping he would fill in the blank. I had my first kiss with a guy whose last name I didn’t know and he didn’t seem to even care to know my name at all. Talk about a fresh start.

  “Pickles.” He beamed proudly. “Doug Pickles.”

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing. His last name was Pickles? I had my first kiss with a guy named Pickles?

  “So you want to go talk some more, Denton?” Doug leaned in closer, still smiling, like he was going to kiss me right here in the hallway.

  “I should probably check in with my friends.” I just kissed a guy I barely knew while his roommate was hooking up with another girl not ten feet away in a tent bed. I was feeling a little unnerved.

  “Sure thing, Denton. I need another beer anyway.” Pickles grabbed my hand and led me back down
the hall. His hand was clammy, but he held mine firmly. The possessive way he held on to me gave me a thrill. We entered the now out of control party. He cleared a path while I searched the room for Julie and Alexis. Alexis stood in a corner, tapping away on her iPhone. Julie, on the other hand, danced on a coffee table, sandwiched between two guys. I stood on my toes and waved to each of them. Julie hugged both guys before hopping down from the table. Alexis tucked her phone in her back pocket and made her way over to us, eyeing Doug’s hand in mine.

  She rubbed her temples. “You guys ready to go? I’m exhausted.”

  I nodded. The combination of loud music and alcohol had my head begging for a break. I squeezed Doug’s arm. “Thanks for inviting us. We have to go, but I had a good time.”

  “Need your digits, Denton.” Doug waved his phone at me. I took it and typed in my number under “Denton” because I wasn’t actually sure he remembered my name even though I had told him less than five minutes ago. I handed his phone back, and he tucked it into his pocket.

  “Catch you later!” He winked and headed straight for the trash can of beer.

  “I’m sorry if I’m cutting your night short,” Alexis frowned.

  “I’m ready to go back, too,” I admitted, slipping my hands into my friends’ arms so we wouldn’t get separated as we navigated our way back outside.

  “Me too.” Julie exhaled loudly. “Next time maybe we shouldn’t do so much prep work beforehand. That bottle of rum is cashing in right about now.”

  Once we were out of the stuffy house and enjoying the cool August night, we started the walk to the campus bus stop.

  “What were you up to with Whistler?” Julie bumped my arm with her elbow.

  “Not much. Just a kiss.” I would not, could not, tell them that it was my first kiss. I was already embarrassed to be a college freshman who hadn’t been kissed before. Confessing that I had my first kiss with a guy I had just met could put me in the skank category. I breathed in the warm summer air and walked with a skip in my step. I felt alive. Exhilarated. Being wanted by a guy felt incredible.

  “You kissed him?” Julie squealed, as I nodded.

  “Did you even bother to ask Whistler for his name?” She questioned with narrowed eyes. We sat on the bench to wait for the next bus.

  His name. Oh, hell. I was never going to live this down. I knew it. Might as well own it.

  “Yup. I kissed Mr. Doug Pickles.”

  We all paused before laughing. Of all the guys on campus, I had to hook up with one who was named Pickles.

  Julie finally calmed down long enough to speak. “Please tell me you didn’t tickle that pickle; you hardly know the guy!” Then she laughed so hard she snorted.

  Alexis dissolved in a fit of giggles. She fell off the bench and knocked over a newspaper vending machine. “Oh my god. Stop it. I’m going to pee.”

  Between the uncontrollable laughter and clumsiness, we were creating quite a racket, making it more difficult to be serious. Two campus police officers approached us as Alexis stumbled around, trying to get the machine upright again.

  “We’re going to need you to calm down, ladies.” The shorter officer had his thumbs tucked into his belt loops as he glared at us. Even that wasn’t enough to sober us up. We tried to get the giggling under control, but it was damn near impossible.

  “Destruction of property and underage public intoxication are both very serious offenses,” warned the bigger officer. He didn’t look much older than us, but he was wearing an official looking uniform and an expression that wasn’t quite as severe as his partner’s.

  “Shit,” Julie whispered loudly to us. “He’s gorgeous! I might have to do something indecent just to get arrested. Junior Officer Hotpants can handcuff me any time.”

  “Julie!” Alexis and I blurted out at the same time. God. I hoped Hotpants hadn’t heard her. One look at the smirk on his face was proof that he probably had. Which made the goody-two-shoes in me so nervous that I hiccupped. I did not want to go to jail no matter how hot the arresting officer might be. Could campus police arrest you? I wasn’t willing to risk it.

  “I think you ladies need to get on the next bus, go home, and sleep it off,” Hotpants suggested.

  “Yes, sir.” Alexis politely answered him as she finally got the newspaper stand back to where it should be.

  Luckily, a campus shuttle pulled up. The three of us shuffled onto it before Hotpants could change his mind. We found three empty seats and collapsed into them, trying not to laugh at our idiocy, but failing miserably. Or wonderfully. I couldn’t decide which. I was feeling pretty incredible at the moment.

  I had my fresh start.

  Chapter Four

  ALEC

  I had hit the jackpot when it came to roommates, but Caz had his asshole moments. Like this morning when he threw a sneaker at my chest at 7:00 am and then demanded we go for a run. When he made up his mind, I had no chance of changing it.

  We were almost back to the dorm when Caz led me to a building right across the street from our dorm. “I want to show you something.”

  “I hope it’s a big plate of pancakes and hash browns because I’m fucking starved.” We slowed down to a walk, and I took deep breaths, wiping the sweat off my forehead with the bottom of my shirt.

  “Hey, I offered you a can of Betty’s best this morning. It’s not my fault you declined.” He drained the rest of his water before tossing it into a nearby recycling can. When we reached the entrance, he pulled open the door and I followed him inside.

  “I don’t know who told you icing was a meal, but they were yanking your dick, compadré.” I followed Caz down the hall. Despite how early it was, we weren’t the only ones finishing up a workout. The building was filled with people carrying racquets and gym bags.

  “Don’t hate on Betty, man. Our friendship has limits,” Caz retaliated.

  My roommate was a fucking weirdo, but at least he was interesting. We jogged up a flight of stairs, and Caz led me to a wall of windows. “This is where the Acroletes train.”

  The room was more like an arena, the ceiling several stories high. Inside I could see gymnastics equipment and trampolines of all different sizes. I thought he’d said the Acroletes was a club.

  “What do you guys do in there?” I leaned closer to the window so I could see more clearly. In the dark corners of the massive room, ladders were tied to the ceiling and ropes hung from rafters. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure this shit out.

  “Badass stuff. You take gymnastics, mix it with the circus, add in a little extreme sports, and you have the Acroletes. Oh, and don’t forget flipping through fire. That’s the best part.”

  “That sounds insane.” Memories of zip lines and obstacles flashed through my mind. I needed to come back and check this out later.

  “You mean awesome. Come to practice, you won’t be sorry.” Caz walked backward toward the main entrance, and I turned to follow him.

  “It depends how training goes.” I looked back over my shoulder for one more peek. Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be able to stay away.

  “We have the hottest chicks on campus, Hart. You haven’t seen anything as fine as girls in spandex bouncing on trampolines.” He tilted his head. “Amanda will be there.”

  I laughed and considered what he said. Girls, spandex, and trampolines. You couldn’t go wrong with that combo. Besides, if Amanda’s kiss the other night was a preview, I was ready to catch up with her again for another viewing. “I guess I have no choice then.”

  ***

  People think that the life of a university athlete is all fortune and glory. That’s because they don’t see all the hours we spend getting abused on the field or working our asses off in the gym. There was a lot of grunt work that went into the actual playing of the game. That part sucked.

  My muscles screamed as I pushed the bar up, and Jeremy, who was spotting, helped me guide it back to the support. I never liked lifting weights, but now I hated it. Caz and his ropes course had
ruined my idea of working out.

  “Nice,” Jeremy said. “Spot me?”

  I traded places with him, glancing at the clock. If training ended on time, I’d be able to make it to the Acroletes practice, if I hurried.

  Jeremy reached up, adjusting his grip around the bar. “This is not what I thought training was going to be like. I can’t wait to get on the field and do actual drills.” He lifted the bar off the supports and lowered it to his chest. “This shit sucks.” He growled through his teeth. His breath hissed out of his mouth as he pushed the weight up.

  “Tomorrow we have interval training,” I reminded him. “You’ll be missing this place when you’re puking up your guts after the sprint drills and burpees.”

  Jeremy grunted as he forced the bar up in another rep. He did a few more before finishing his set and then sat up. He grabbed the towel and wiped his face. “Any interest in getting together before weight training to do some stick drills? Toss the ball around a bit?”

  I shrugged. “Sure. I don’t have a class beforehand. I’m free.”

  “Cool. Meet me tomorrow at two on the practice field.”

  “Time to hit the showers boys!” Coach called. The sound of weights crashing back into place filled the room as we headed for the locker room.

  “Hart. Hold up a minute,” Coach barked out.

  “See you tomorrow,” I told Jeremy as I tossed my towel into the bin and headed for Coach. I stretched my neck from side to side and rolled my shoulders, wondering what I’d done to deserve a lecture.

  He leaned a shoulder against the wall and watched with a serious expression as my teammates left. When we were alone, he said, “Your father called me yesterday to check in on your progress.”

  Fuck. I’d been at college for less than a goddamn week and the man was already breathing down my neck.

  “Yes, sir.” I nodded, trying to appear unfazed.

  “He asked me to give you some extra sets in the weight room to make sure you maintained your focus. He’s concerned you’ll lose your way here on campus before the season starts. Is there something going on that I need to know about?”