“Okay, cool. I’ll be right back.” He took off toward the bar.
I searched around for someone I knew. Unlike house parties, date parties were limited to just the brothers and their dates. I saw a few girls I had classes with, but that was it.
“Oh Cara, how are you, sweetie?”
I turned and came face to face with Abby. I smiled to myself. This was Kyle’s ex. Considering we’d only spoken twice, the sweetie term was a little over done. “Hi, Abby. I’m doing fantastic.”
“Are you dating an Omega now? I guess it didn’t take you long to get over Aaron?”
Wow, bitchy. Two could play that game. “Who are you here with? Didn’t Kyle dump you?”
She crossed her arms, nearly spilling whatever was in her red plastic cup in the process. “No, I dumped him.”
“Oh. And you’re dating one of his brothers?”
“Yeah.” She straightened her shoulders. “Pat was pretty much just waiting for me to dump Kyle. He’s been interested in me a while.”
“Lovely.” There was a definite note of sarcasm in my voice.
I turned, unsurprised to find Kyle hesitating halfway between the bar and where we stood.
“Wonderful catching up, Abby, but my date’s waiting for me.”
I gave her an obviously fake smile before joining Kyle. I leaned into his side when I accepted the drink. I whispered in his ear, “Get frisky.”
“Uh, seriously?”
“Just do it, Kyle.”
He grabbed my ass, and I turned just in time to watch Abby’s face twist into a mask of anger and shock. She deserved it.
I gripped his bicep. “I’d say my work here is done.”
Kyle laughed. “That was cool of you.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t hard.”
“Dare I ask how you’re so good at this?”
“I’m a girl. I know how other girls work. A guy is exponentially more attractive when someone else has her paws all over him—and he has his paws all over another girl.”
He sipped his beer. “We all want what we can’t have, I guess.”
“Exactly. I’m usually all about girl power, but what Abby did was bitchy—and she’s proud of it. That makes it worse.”
“Tell me about it.”
“But you deserve better. You’ll meet someone soon.”
He took a slow sip of his beer. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
I smiled. “Any time.”
“So, who’s this new guy you found?” He watched me expectantly.
“Let’s walk outside.” The house felt suddenly stuffy. Kyle led the way out the back door. We definitely weren’t alone out back, but the fresh air helped.
“Tell me about the guy. You said he wasn’t on campus. Is he older?”
I figured it couldn’t hurt to spill the details. “He’s a musician actually. He’s twenty-five.”
“Anyone I’d know?”
“Chase Denton?”
“As in the lead singer of Chance of a Lifetime?”
“You know of them?”
“Yeah, doesn’t everyone? I’m known for playing them a lot on my show.”
“Your show?” I sipped my beer. It was definitely bitter.
“I have a Thursday night show over at the campus radio station this year. I got pretty lucky on the time slot.” He smiled.
“Oh, my sorority sister Jade has a show too. I think it’s at like five a.m. though.”
“I know Jade. She’s cool. Yeah, that’s what happens with freshman.”
“So, you got up at the crack of dawn for a show too? You must be committed.”
“It’s just something fun. I wanted to do something that Dylan never did, and I love music.” Then he gave me a funny smile. “I’m guessing you haven’t listened to the station much?”
“No,” I admitted. “Music isn’t usually my thing, but I get why you put in the time for it.” The only activity I’d ever gotten up that early for was pledging, and it definitely wasn’t by choice. “I may be tagging along with Jade sometime though.” After talking to Chase, it didn’t sound like I had a choice anymore.
“You could stop by my show too. It wouldn’t require getting up before the sun.”