She scrunched up her face. “No, thanks. So how is this supposed to work? I have a place and a life.”
Emmett got up to get a beer, bringing a Coke and amaretto back for me. In the beginning, the brothers tried to give me shit over my drink. Screw them. I liked the cherry flavor of the amaretto. After a few well-placed punches and a couple run-ins with Milo, that shit stopped.
It took a few minutes for Milo to answer. “For now, you’ll stay with one of us anytime you’re not in class. We’ll need your schedule.”
She sputtered, her face turning an alarming shade of red. “It really will seem like I’m the slut of Alpha Delta Omega if I’m never out of your sight.”
“You don’t have a choice, I’m afraid.” Milo fell onto the other end of my couch. “But we’ll let you pick who you want to spend the night with tonight. Don’t worry, you won’t have to sleep in the same bed as anyone, we all have pull out couches.”
Emmett raised his eyebrows. “Comes in handy for one-night stands we can’t shake.”
“Emmett.” Milo shot him a glare. Emmett was going to undo all of the goodwill he was attempting to build with his manwhore comments.
He raised his hands, his beer dangling from his fingers.
“I understand if you want to stay far away from Emmett. You can rotate, if you’d like. I don’t expect this to be a permanent thing. Let’s just get to know each other.” Milo’s smile was so wide and bright, it sparkled.
This was going to fuck everything up. All of our carefully laid plans were going to be placed on hold while we sorted out this Pin-up problem. The one thing that took some of the steam out of my anger was the despondent look on her face. She didn’t want this anymore than we did. If she were one of the status chasers, I thought I would have strangled her.
“Not Emmett.” She blew out a harsh breath. This time, I did laugh in the only way I could. Milo glanced over and gaped as my chest rocked from my silent hilarity.
“Okay. So who will be your choice tonight?” Milo continued to stare at me. With his attention not on her, he completely missed when she pointed to me.
This could not be happening. Why would she choose me?
Because I couldn’t speak. That made me a safe choice for her. For the first time in years, something like humiliation burned through me. That old feeling of rage bubbling low under my skin.
“Jules. I choose Jules,” she said. If Milo was surprised, he didn’t show it. He merely nodded.
“Jules, go ahead and take her to your room. I’ll follow you down.” Milo set his glass on the table and motioned for us to get the hell out.
Emmett opened the door, waiting for Elise to go through. She hesitated at the threshold. He pointed two fingers at his eyes, then pointed them at her. Real smooth. It worked. Her shoulders shrugged up to her ears, and she marched out with her head held high. I followed, passing her and leading the way. Down on the second floor, more of the brothers were trickling in. Their confusion was written all over their faces when they saw Elise at my side. I never brought a girl here. On the rare occasion I fucked a girl, it wasn’t in my room. Women were clingy, and I wanted the freedom to leave. If I had them in my space, trying to get them out would have been like sticking hot pokers in my eyes. Maybe more painful. Especially with their incessant chattering.
The frat brother Emmett had texted earlier stopped right in front of us. “Here’s her bag.”
I took it but glanced at Emmett. Were we letting here keep her stuff?
He shrugged. “Milo didn’t say we shouldn’t give it to her. I’ll let him know she has it. This can be her first test.”
“Night, Jules,” Trey called as he entered the room on the other side of mine.
I unlocked my door, when something down the hall caught my eye. Johnny and Jamie were trudging up the stairs, a girl between them. This one exactly their type. Johnny stopped, smacking Jamie on the chest. Both their gazes locked onto Elise right before she entered my room.
This wasn’t good. They made the claim before the fights, but nothing could be done about it. Not now that she’d walked into something she never should have.
I ducked into the room and shut the door. Let Milo deal with their petulance. Turning on the lights, I got an old T-shirt from Dexter’s Gym, then turned on the light in the bathroom. She got the idea and slid in, shutting the door softly behind her.
While she was locked in the bathroom, I changed into a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt. I normally slept in briefs, but that was out of the question with her in here. Not only was she fucking up our plans, she was going to cost me a good night’s sleep.
By the time she came out, the pull out bed was made up. She went straight to it and climbed in while I took my turn in the bathroom. It was weird to have someone else in my space that wasn’t Milo or Emmett, but at the same time, it was nice that she was silent.
No sooner than I laid down, giggling and thumping started on the wall I shared with Emmett. I buried my face in my pillow. Damn these fucking thin walls. When he got started, it would be a good hour or so before the noises stopped.
Emmett laughed, slapped his select on the ass, and said something that didn’t filter through the door. If Elise had any doubts who was next door, she didn’t now. His voice was recognizable, even if his words weren’t.
She didn’t twitch. The girl really must be immune to his charms. The thought made me smile, even as I grabbed my phone to put on some low music. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But at least I didn’t have to listen to his groaning and her giggles.
A text came through.
Milo: I locked your door from the outside. Text me when you wake up.
Fantastic. I was locked in with Pin-up. Hopefully, she wasn’t a serial killer. That would be fucking ironic if she was more dangerous than us.
Chapter Four
Milo
My phone beeped. It beeped again.
It was too fucking early for this. I shoved my arm under the pillows, tossing the blanket over my head to drown out the world.
Another beep.
Then I remembered… Pin-up. And Fuckface.
Groaning, I threw the covers down. My fucking phone. That was probably Jules, wanting to get out of his room.
Jules: We’re up
Jules: Where are you?
Jules: Wake your FUCKING ass up!!
I responded: I’ll be there in two
I got dressed, pissed, brushed my teeth, and made it to Jules’ door in four. This was an old house, and while the door could be locked from the inside, the key lock was completely separate. I hated to do it, but until we understood her a little better, we had to keep her under lock and key. She should feel lucky we let her keep her phone.
She seemed to take me seriously enough when I told her the only two options available to her. If she had been on campus for any amount of time, she would know who we were and what that meant. Not about the darker side of the fraternity, but who our families were. Then she would know that money was no object, and if we wanted her to disappear, she would. We would never have to lift a finger.
Jules glared at me from the other side of the door. Elise must have a horrible snoring problem. She jumped and the top of her head peeked over his shoulder before she disappeared again. Without her heels, she was completely eclipsed by his body. For Jules to be so peeved, she must have talked his ear off. He hated that.