Rushed (The Rushed Series) (17 page)

"Hang on. I'll be right there."

I was sitting on my bed, waiting for him when he arrived. When he knocked on the door, I yelled at him to come in.

"Where's the emergency?"
 

I pointed to the sockets stuffed with every hair-taming device I could find.

"Are those
all
on?" He turned to me, looking like he appreciated the situation and was trying not to laugh.

"They were until the power went out."

"You were using all of those? At once? Curling and straightening?" He shook his head and gave me a comically skeptical look.

"I told you I was having a bad hair day." I laughed. "Close the door and get in here." I jumped up and shut it for him.
 

"You look great to me." His voice was husky.

"Great! Then it worked." I turned serious. "I was saving your ass from Morgan."

His face became a mask. "You saw that?"
 

I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Kind of hard to miss a lap dance like that right in the middle of the living room."

"Fuck."

"I'll say." I kept smiling at him. "What if someone less tolerant and understanding than me, like Kelly or one of the other girls, had seen you?" I ran one pointer finger over the other, making that
naughty, naughty
motion.

"It's not what it looked like. Morgan gets horny when she's drunk, but she doesn't mean it."

I laughed and moved in until I was standing toe to toe with him. "Nice try. Sure she does. She wants you." I singsonged the words, teasing him, wanting him.

"And you thought I needed saving?" His gaze held mine.
 

"You didn't?" We were so close, but we weren't touching.

"Shit, pledge, don't tease me." His voice was ragged.

I went up on my toes, trying to look him in the eye.

He took my face in his hands and pressed his mouth to mine. His kiss was gentle at first, a nibble. A brush of the lips, like he was trying to hold back. I leaned into him and opened my mouth to him, hungry for his kiss. I ran my tongue around the inside of his lips until he shuddered, but it was me who was going weak in the knees.

No guy I had ever kissed had tasted as good, smelled as good. Felt as good as he dropped my face and wrapped his arms around me, cupping my butt and pulling me into the hard bulge in his jeans.

I wrapped my arms around him and pressed into him. That kiss was both desperate and gentle. Passionate and mind-blowing. I forgot we were in the sorority house. That at any minute Morgan could come storming up to see what was taking Zach so long to flip a switch. I just fell into him and kissed him. And kissed him and kissed him until he pulled his lips from mine and trailed kisses along my neck.

I arched my head back, exposing my neck, begging him to feel my pulse beating for him, moaning softly as he made circles with his tongue on my tingling skin. He lifted the hair from my neck to suck my ear. He froze and I knew he'd seen that stupid hickey.

"It's nothing," I whispered. "It doesn't matter."

"Shit!" he said, tracing it with his finger. "Dak?"

I didn't answer. I clutched the back of his head, holding it to me, begging another caress. But his lips remained still.

He covered my hands with his and lifted his face to mine. "You could be
the
girl, pledge." He took a deep breath and pulled my hands away from his head. He took a step back and folded my hands in front of me, still covering them with his. "That's why I can't do this to you. It's not fair."
 

"No! Zach, wait. I know it's not fair. But they're just stupid house rules." In my rush to make my point, I slurred my words together, afraid he'd leave before I could finish. "Your job's on the line, I get that. But we could work around it. We can be careful. No one will know."

His eyes were dark and soulful. "Like now? This is careful? Morgan's probably prowling the halls, looking for me right now."

"I know. I was dumb. But we could be better. We could meet outside the house—"

He shut me up with a hard, desperate kiss. "If it was just the house crap, we could deal. But I come with too many issues. I'm not going to saddle you with my shit." He turned away and started pulling blow dryers and curling irons out of sockets.

"I have my own crap." I couldn't keep the desperation out of my voice. "Everyone does."

He unplugged another blow dryer with so much force the cord snapped back and prongs slapped him on his bare arm. He didn't even wince as it began to welt. "Not like mine." He sounded angry.

I watched him finish unplugging the rest with a lump in my throat. I'd met him just over a week ago and yet I felt my happiness slipping away. A door closing on what could have been something wonderful and once in a lifetime.

He walked to the door. "Hang on. I'll have the power back on in a few." He stepped into the hall and disappeared as I listened to his footsteps retreat.

I stood like I was lost in a trance. Until the light over my dresser came back on. And the whoosh of a blow dryer broke the silence and I jumped, startled. He'd missed one. Yeah, my love life might blow. But I wasn't giving up.
 

Two weeks passed and August slid into September. The days were hot, but the nights were cool. The leaves were changing colors. Greek Row was alive with red, yellows, and oranges. I loved walking to class with the rustle of leaves overhead, the crisp crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet, and blue sky above.

I was no closer to getting close to Zach, though. He sat with his adoring group of girls in class and avoided me at the house. Once I managed to convince him to sit in the study room and discuss the sixties music we were listening to in class. I felt like we were opening up to each other, then he backed off.

Dakota had mysteriously backed off apparently, too. Maybe he'd gotten the message.

I thought maybe a little jealousy would get Zach to reconsider what he was missing. I accepted an invitation to a date dash with a cute guy from one of the middling frats. I met him in English 101. He was funny. And desperate to get a date or face punishment.
 

A date dash was a crazy animal. The members of the house announced a house event that would take place in less than twenty-four hours and required a date. Pledges were absolutely required to attend with a date, or face being ostracized and punished. It made for a lot of desperate guys begging any girl they could find to take them on. I took pity on Kirk.

He pledged his eternal gratitude and we had a good time. But we'd gone as friends and that was the way it stayed, at least on my part.

Homecoming was only a month away. At our weekly house meeting, Kelly called on Shelby, our homecoming event coordinator, to present the annual philanthropy fundraiser.

Shelby cleared her throat. "This year we'll be competing in a powder puff football tournament."

A chorus of boos broke out.

Shelby looked around the group for the culprits. "Can it! I didn't pick the event. We were outvoted last spring by the frats." She rolled her eyes and made a disgusted face, like,
Men!

"Flag or tackle?" someone asked.

"Flag." Shelby stared at us, daring us to boo the news again.
 

Too bad. Tackle sounded good to me.

"What is the guys' part in all this?" someone else asked.

"I'm getting to that!" Shelby sounded put out. Clearly, she wasn't in favor of this idea. "Let me explain for those of you who are new. This is a fundraising event as well as a competition. We'll partner with a frat. The guys and the girls each have a competition. This year, the guys will take part in a Mr. University pageant. We get points for each guy who signs up. And the finalist and winners get more points for their team.

"The winner of pageant gets one thousand dollars to donate to his team's charity. The winner of the football tourney gets five thousand. The team that raises the most money wins a trophy and the prestige that comes with victory.

"Almost every frat on the row has issued us an invitation to partner with them. As you know, there are more of them than us. Which means we can be choosy and some of them will be left out of the fun."

Sarah raised her hand. "Which house has the most football players?"

"Good thought," Shelby said. "But the college players are restricted by league rules from playing charity events during the season."

"Former high school players, then," someone else volunteered.

"That would be the Zeta Nus," someone else called out.

"Don't forget the Mr. University pageant," Kelly said. "The Tau Psis are some hot boys and they have a fair share of jocks. They've both invited us."

We took a vote, but it ended in a tie between the two frats three times in a row. The house was equally split on what was more important—winning the pageant or winning the tournament.

Shelby gave up. "We have to respond to the frats by Friday at five. Think about it and we'll take a vote by secret ballot on Friday morning. In case of a tie, our leaders will make the final decision."

On Thursday, I went to study table time with my pledge class. I was working on a paper for English when five guys wearing masks and Zeta Nu sweatshirts burst into the study room. I looked up from my laptop, mildly curious as they scanned the room like they were looking for something.
 

"There she is!" One of them pointed to me. "Grab her!"

Before I could move, the biggest one, one who could have been a former high school linebacker, pulled me from my chair and tossed me over his shoulder.
 

"Put me down!" I pummeled him with my fists.

He was impervious to my attack on him. Which was when I realized he was wearing football pads.
 

Two other guys circled us like they would defend us from any attackers. Two others kept the entrance clear.
 

Em stood up to protest. "Where are you going with her? Put her down now!"

They ignored her, too. And the other girls who joined in.

As the big guy raced to the exit with me on his shoulder, one of the other guys issued an ultimatum to the girls chasing him. "We have one of your pledges. If you want her back, you'll have to negotiate her ransom. Call us. You know where we are."

Out on the street, the big guy tossed me in the back of a waiting car. We peeled out as the girls spilled out on the lawn, yelling at them to stop.

Chapter Eleven

Zach

Kelly burst into our room without knocking as Seth and I were studying. She was breathless and her eyes were wild. "The Zeta Nus have stolen one of our pledges!"

Seth looked up from his laptop and laughed. "So call the campus cops."

Kelly put her hands on her hips. "We're not calling the campus police. This is just a dumb prank. The Zeta Nus are demanding a ransom, and I refuse to pay. You have to go get our pledge back."

Seth turned to me. "I don't remember anything in our employment contract about rescuing kidnapped pledges, do you, Zach?"

"I don't remember an employment contract," I said.
 

"Shut up!" Kelly's voice pitched high when she was excited.

"What are they demanding?" I asked. "If it doesn't involve nonconsensual sex, give it to them."

"They're demanding we accept their invitation to be their partner for the powder puff football tournament. And I'll be damned if I'll accept it now! That will just encourage them to try these kinds of stunts in the future. We don't negotiate with terrorists." Her eyes flashed with anger.

"Terrorists? That's a little extreme." Seth didn't look like he was moved to act.
 

Paul and Dillon wandered in after hearing the commotion. "What's this about Zeta Nu terrorists?" Dillon asked.

"Great! You're here, too." Kelly grabbed Paul's arm. "Did you hear what I told Seth and Zach?"

Dillon shrugged. "Who did they take?"

I hadn't even thought to ask. It was inevitable that we were going to have to make a rescue attempt, no matter whom they'd kidnapped.