Clenching my jaw, I debate between taking Andreas up on his offer and staying to supervise these guys. But in the end, the hole in my stomach wins. I need food, pronto.
“Fine. We’ll be back soon. Stay off the second floor,” I warn them.
CHARLIE
On the way back home, I think about Ben’s chicken idea. As complicated as it would be to pull off, that would be an awesome prank. But no, I really need to learn to let go even though, last night, I promised war. Ben and I went through the boxes, and besides the beer stains, the costumes aren’t completely ruined. After a wash, they’ll be wearable again.
I make a pit stop at the grocery store first because, most likely, the little bit of food I had left in the fridge and pantry are long gone. I know how ravenous drunk people get.
It takes great effort on my part to keep my irritation to a minimum when I think about last night’s party. One of my flaws is the inability to forget and forgive.
I park just behind Troy’s car and wonder if he managed to clean up the mess already. Boy, if he didn’t, there will be hell to pay.
No, Charlie, you can’t get mad all over again.
After a mental pep talk inside the car, I finally get out, bringing all the grocery bags with me in one trip. I prepared myself to deal with Troy, not the four strangers who are currently cleaning the living room, and it takes me by surprise.
“Who the hell are you?”
I would have dropped the bags and reached for the pepper spray can in my purse if it weren’t for the fact that these guys are on their hands and knees, scrubbing.
“Uh, we’re Pike pledges,” one of them answers.
Like that’s supposed to make me feel better. Fuckers.
“Okay, pledge. Why are you cleaning my house? Where’s Troy?”
“He left with Andreas to grab food,” a second dude replies.
“Of course he did.”
I head for the kitchen, which is spotless. They did a good job here, I’ll give them that, but my anger has come back with a vengeance nonetheless. Who leaves four strangers in the house and goes out? Nimrods like Troy. Damn. He didn’t even stop to consider what I would think. Like that’s every girl’s dream—to walk into her house and find four strangers in it.
I put away my groceries and then head to my room, locking the door for good measure. I’m seriously considering Ben’s chicken idea now. Still obsessing about Troy and my aggravation with him, I begin to take off my clothes. Absentminded, I open the bathroom door, half-dressed, only to find another pledge taking a shit in my toilet.
With a scream, I slam the door shut and quickly put my jeans back on.
“What the hell! Why are you in my fucking bathroom?” I yell.
“Sorry. I didn’t want to go downstairs.”
Fuming, I storm out of my room, almost colliding with Troy.
“What happened?” He looks at me, worried.
“What happened?” I shriek. “You’re a fucking asshole!”
I don’t think twice, just lift my knee, hitting Troy’s crown jewels with all my might. He groans, folding forward as he covers his crotch with his hands.
“What the fuck? Are you insane?” His face is contorted in agony as he stares at me as if I’m crazy.
Poop Boy comes out of my room, sporting a guilty expression on his pale face. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Get the hell out of my sight,” I grit out.
Giving me a wide berth, he hurries down the stairs.
Troy is standing straighter again, but his expression is no longer contorted in pain. Fury flashes from his eyes instead.
“You are one crazy bitch,” he says.
“That’s typical male behavior. You screw up, and when I retaliate, I’m the bitch.”
“How in the world did I screw up this time?”
“Really? You don’t know?” I gesture wildly. “How about you throwing a party last night without the courtesy of letting me know first? Never mind letting your friends tear through my things. And now I come home to find a bunch of strangers in my house with you nowhere in sight. But the cherry on top was to walk into my bathroom and find a dude taking a big dump in my toilet.”
My breathing is coming out in bursts by the time I’m done with my tirade.
Troy is no longer shooting daggers from his eyes. What I see shining from those hazel depths is much worse than hate. It’s desire. The realization that he wants me serves to awaken a fire in the pit of my stomach that quickly travels through my body.
“I’m sorry,” he says in a husky voice.
My bones melt, and my pussy throbs as if getting it on with Troy is actually an option. Hell to the fucking no. He’s an asshole. I don’t fall for those, no matter how good-looking they are. Heart-stopper as he may be, I’m not going to succumb.
“Right,” I say, hating how feeble I sound.
My knees are weak, and if he keeps staring at me with that hungry gaze, I might combust on the spot.
I run back to my room and lock the door. I have to do something to make Troy forget any ideas about me. I’m not sleeping with him, and he needs to stop wanting that.
Chickens in his bedroom it is.
11
TROY
Rooted to the floor, I run a nervous hand through my hair. My heart is beating furiously inside my chest as I stare at Charlie’s closed door. My junk still hurts like a mother, but that didn’t stop my cock from standing at attention. I got a hard-on watching Charlie vent her frustrations. I must have gone insane. But her furious red face and wild arm gestures made me want to pin her back to the wall and crush my lips to hers.
“Oi, Troy. Everything okay up there?” Andreas asks from the bottom of the stairs.
His voice brings me back to the situation at hand. And then I get fucking angry. I practically run down the stairs just in time to catch the idiot who used Charlie’s bathroom before he can sneak out.
I grab him by the back of his shirt and yank him away from the front door. “What the hell were you doing in my roommate’s bedroom?”
His pale face turns ashen, and sweat dots his forehead. “I-I had the shits and didn’t want anyone to know.”
His friends snicker, but one pissed-off glance from me has them shutting their pieholes in an instant.
“I warned you to stay clear of the second floor, didn’t I?” I glower at the guy in my hold.
“Y-yes. I’m so sorry.”
“Troy, come on. He didn’t do it on purpose.” Andreas tries to help, but I’m not having it.
“You shut your mouth too. I should never have listened to you.”
“Man, all that fuss because Charlie is pissed at you again. If I didn’t know you any better, I’d say you have a major crush on the nerd.”
His statement makes me see redder.
I shove the pledge forward. “Get out of my house. All of you!”
The guys don’t waste any time, hurrying out the front door. Andreas doesn’t move a muscle, just keeps staring at me with a knowing smile on his stupid face.
“You’re wrong about me. I don’t have a crush on Charlie.”
He raises his hands. “Sure you don’t. It’s cool, man. I’m not judging.”