A giggle escapes despite my nerves. “That’s a really disturbing visual.”
Madison and Noah, ever creative, are doing a role-reversal thing. Madison is wearing a leather jacket, black pants, pimp cap with a feather and several heavy gold chains. Noah, her ho, dons only a pair of bedazzled briefs and a glittery bare chest. It’s actually hilarious, despite the fact that I’m having a panic attack.
I tug the little shorts lower on my hips. I’m willing to show an inch of stomach if it means my butt is contained.
Noah laces up his red running shoes that happen to look ridiculously adorable with his sparkly briefs. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy we’re doing this. But why are we going to the Delta Sig party tonight?” he asks.
I hadn’t exactly told them about the whole Jase thing, but now might be time to come clean. “Jase invited me. We’ve been hanging out a little. Plus, I’m trying this new fun, carefree side like you guys have always wanted.”
“Avery 2.0. Nice.” Noah nods.
Madison’s head whips in my direction. “What do you mean you’ve been hanging out with Jase-the-manwhore-Owens?” Of course that’s the piece of information she zones in on. She adds a few more gold chains to her outfit. “Girls don’t just hang out with him. If said hanging out involves getting in a good mattress workout, then yeah…” She waves her hand in my general direction. “But this…not so much.”
“God. Madison, those romance novels have corrupted your brain. Guys and girls can just hang out.”
Her eyebrows dart toward the ceiling. “So he hasn’t tried anything?”
I shake my head. “Nope.” Is that so strange?
“Nothing? Not even like accidently brushing your boob with his arm?”
“No Madison. And I don’t want a guy whose sole mission is to get in my panties. That’s not a turn on.”
She looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Then what is a turn on for you?”
Intelligent conversation, healthy debates…those are the things sure to kick start my libido, if my time with Jase is any indication. “A guy trying to get into my brain,” I return.
She laughs. “So the question is…who’s occupying space in that brain of yours?”
Good question indeed. I remain quiet, unwilling to acknowledge, even to myself, that my friendship with Jase might be a bit unconventional. That I might want a tiny bit more. Of all the guys to be interested in…Dumb, Avery, I silently curse myself.
“Noah, seriously…help me out here?” Madison pleads.
He shakes his head. “Sorry, babe. It’s true. You’re in uncharted territory here. Jase isn’t exactly known for keeping his dick in his pants this long.”
They’re ridiculous. I’ve hung out with Jase a handful of times – one of them in a classroom. Do they really think he just whips it out whenever, wherever? And why does the thought of him handling himself make my stomach do a little flip? Sheesh. I need to pull myself together if I’m supposed to face Jase in this…outfit. Who am I kidding? Outfit is too generous a term for this. A few scraps of fabric covering the important bits do not constitute an outfit. Yet, I dutifully slip into the heels Madison has supplied and teeter out the door after my friends.
Lord help me. I’m going to fall on my ass. And then my ass will fall out of my pants. Disaster city.
When we reach the party, the line to get inside wraps around the side of the house, and I see that my outfit isn’t so outlandish after all. It’s like each girl took it upon herself to reveal her inner slut tonight. It’s disheartening, but since I have no room to talk, I huff my exposed ass up the front walkway and wait at the door to be let in. Unlike the last time, there’s a bouncer manning the door. I recognize him as Jase’s friend Trey, but considering he’s only looking at my chest, I doubt he recognizes me. He steps aside to let me and Madison inside, but stops Noah at the threshold. “Whoa bud. Sorry. You’re not getting in.”
Noah’s outfit is certainly untraditional, but Trey isn’t budging, not even as Madison launches in to a tirade about sexism and equal rights. Good Lord.
“Hey, I don’t make the rules; I just enforce them.” Trey smiles at Madison. “Hot chicks only.”
I remember Jase punching his number into my phone at the coffee shop and fish it from the tiny handbag Madison secured to my wrist. “Guys, let me call Jase. He’ll get us in.” The fact that I have his phone number earns me another suspicious glare from Madison.
I step to the far end of the porch, distancing myself from the dull-roar coming from inside. It rings several times and just as I’m about to hang up, Jase answers.
“Whistle? Is that you?”
I ignore the idiotic nickname. “Yeah, it’s Avery. We’re here, but we can’t get in.”
“Shit. I’m in the back removing a couple of over-drunk ass**les. Don’t leave. I’ll be right there.”
Seconds later, Jase appears at the door just long enough to exchange a few terse words with Trey. Trey barks something back in response, and Jase’s eyes flash to Noah. Ever the drama queen, Noah cocks a hand on his hip, daring them to comment on his outfit, or lack thereof.
“Whatever, just let them in,” Jase says, then turns to me. “Find me later,” he calls before disappearing back through the sea of bodies.
* * *
It’s been fifty-four minutes since I last saw Jase. I hate that I know that. I hate how aware I’ve become of his presence in a matter of a few short days. I nurse a cup of beer, mostly to keep Madison and Noah off my back, and stand with them in the crowded living room. My ass has been grabbed at least half a dozen times and beer spilled down the front of my corset twice. I want to leave. But first I want to see Jase again. Traitorous body.