Let Life Happen Read online

  Kam leaned against the bar with a stack of napkins, talking to Jenna. Her hair was long, dark, and messy. It was such a natural look; it threw me off guard. Her green eyes and olive skin made her seem exotic. Kam said something funny, apparently, and she put a hand on his forearm as she threw her head back, laughing. It was an honest-to-God belly laugh, and I found it sexy as hell. The girls I liked to get naked with were fake. Their laughs, their orgasms, their makeup. I didn’t care, though. They weren’t there for real conversation, and I wasn’t either.

  I shook my head and brought myself back to the conversation at hand. The welcome back party was huge. It was essential we kick ass to get all the recruits we could. Our rivals, the Alphas, were starting to piss me off by stealing all our ideas. “Zeke, will you call to double-check the DJ after this? Also, Jon, we need to stock up on toilet paper for the ladies’ room. Remember last year’s rush party? It was a hot-ass mess.”

  “Good call, bro. I forgot about that. See, no matter what they say, you’re always looking out for the ladies.” He smirked at me.

  “Aren’t I always?”

  I felt my phone going off and saw I had some texts from a couple girls. Being the president of a frat really had no downside. I answered a couple of them and hopefully had multiple prospective lays for the night. Once again, I acknowledged I was an asshole, but at least I was honest with myself.

  Kam came back with a smug smile on his face.

  “What’s so funny, dude?” Jon asked.

  “Ah, nothing. Just refreshing to see a hot girl not fawn all over Aiden. No offense. But you get more ass than most guys we know, and she gives me hope.”

  The rest of the guys snickered behind their drinks, waiting to see how I responded.

  Jon couldn’t hold it in and laughed. “Sorry. It’s true. I’m enjoying it.”

  “Piss off, man.” I smiled, knowing they were right. It was amusing.

  As if she knew we were talking about her, she walked over carrying a couple orders of fries. I couldn’t help but watch the way her hips swayed in her tight jeans. I openly checked her out again, but she refused to acknowledge it.

  “Here are your fries, gentlemen. Anything else?”

  “Wanna come to our party tonight?” I didn’t think twice about the invitation, regardless of how it made me come across.

  She smirked and bit her lip before shaking her head no. “Ah, no thanks. Jorts already asked me to stop by, but a bunch of drunk guys and desperate girls really isn’t my scene.”

  Kam looked up, confused at her nickname for him, but without pausing to think, I responded, “You work at a college bar. How is that not your scene?”

  Kam interrupted before she could reply, but I saw the heat in her eyes, and it wasn’t a passionate kind. I’d pissed her off with that comment. Hell yeah. This was fun.

  “Did you just call me Jorts?”

  Her narrowed eyes were still on me, a snarl forming on her lips, but she took a breath before turning toward Kam. “Uh, it’s a habit. I make up nicknames for people I’m serving so I know who to bring what. It’s a bartending trick. You were wearing jean shorts, so naturally…” She waved her hand in a flowing motion, assuming we understood her train of thought.

  “What’s mine?” Nate asked curiously.

  “Yeah, I’m curious, too,” Jon added.

  “Are you sure you all want to know?” She gave a nervous smile before answering. “All right, you were Surfer.” She pointed her stare at Nate.

  “I can live with that. It’s because of my charm and tanned skin.”

  “Actually, no, it’s because of your hair. Surfer blond and shaggy.” She shrugged with a smile. Damn her smile.

  “Right on,” Nate replied, throwing up a hand sign. He was such a loser. “I am from Cali.”

  Jenna giggled, and the sound irritated me. She turned to Jon and motioned toward his beard and said, “Bear.” She pointed to Zeke’s popped collar and said, “Really? A popped collar and sweatband. That’s not in anymore.”

  I noticed she didn’t look at me, and I ran my hand through my hair out of habit. “What about mine?”

  “You know yours,” she sneered.

  “What, uncontrollably good-looking?” I baited her, excited at the exchange.

  “No. Douche. Man-whore. Pick one.” Her green eyes heated before she turned around.

  She walked away. I was left with four of my friends all smiling at her in awe.

  “We got shit to do. Let’s eat and get a move on,” I barked.

  “I like her,” Zeke said.

  A chorus of me-toos went around the table, and once again, they all were gawking at me as if this were the highlight of their day. Was it often a woman openly disliked me from the start? No, but I’d had my fair share of slaps from one-night stands.

  “Knock it off with those damn smirks. She’s apparently immune to my charm. Chug up. We need to get a start on tonight.”

  They didn’t say another word, and shortly after, we headed out.

  My phone rang, and I saw it was my dad. I motioned for the guys to go on without me. I didn’t need to deal with his lecture, but I knew if I didn’t answer, he would continue calling. “Dad. What’s up?”

  “Have you thought about the internship I offered you yet? I can’t keep my partners waiting when we have a whole list of people wanting this. You need to accept it.” His tone held no room for affection—business all the time.

  “Damn it, Dad, you know I don’t want to take it. I’m not even sure I want to continue with law.”

  “Son, we’re not having this conversation again. This isn’t an option. I need you to get your head out of your ass and come to my office. The frat is good for networking, but it’s time for you to grow the hell up.”

  “Do you even listen to what I’m saying? I don’t want to be a goddamn lawyer.” My patience was gone.

  “If you want to continue your education and presidency at Sigma, you will. Bye.” He hung up on me.

  Shit. I smacked the brick wall in the alley. Sometimes, I hated my dad. I kicked some of the pebbles on the ground and let the Phoenix heat burn out some of my anger. “Goddamn it!”

  “Oh, uh, sorry to interrupt. You left your tab open and, uh, your card.”

  I whipped around and saw Jenna standing there holding my credit card. Her eyes showed concern and little bit of fear.

  “You okay?” she questioned with a hesitant look.

  “Just peachy as hell. Can’t you tell?” Why I wanted to make her miserable, too, I had no idea, but her smug face and accurate judgement pissed me off more.

  She stood there unsure of what to say. I didn’t blame her. I saw an expression of pity cross her face. That fueled my anger.

  Needing a release in any form I could manage, I took a step closer. “Don’t look at me with pity. I’m just some douchebag who screws anything who can walk. Wanna have a turn on my dick? You look like nice lay even though you really aren’t my type. I prefer girls who don’t talk.”

  Her nostrils flared for one second before I felt her hand across my face. “Get the hell off the property. You’re an asshole.”

  I grabbed the card from her and took off. Ten minutes later, sweating my balls off, I regretted my words. I was a dick and deserved the slap. Every time I talked to my dad, I became filled with such indescribable anger. Yes, my parents got a nasty divorce when I was younger, and I hadn’t seen my mom in ten years. I didn’t want to follow in my old man’s footsteps. I didn’t want to join his stupid-ass law firm. But for him to threaten my presidency in the house, which I downright earned, pissed me off. He was an alumnus, but he crossed a line.

  My phone rang again, and this time Jon’s face popped up. I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm down before answering. He would know immediately if I didn’t get a grip. “What’s up, dude?”

  “You okay?” The one question was all he needed to ask. After over ten years of friendship, he knew the ro
cky relationship my father and I had. Well, shit, it was the same with my brother and I, too. My family was all sorts of messed up.

  “I will be after I get rip-roaring drunk. Everything go okay? They following orders?”

  “Yeah, they are, and we’re staying within our budget. It’s nice when shit works out, eh?”

  “Good. I need this to work out,” I agreed.

  “My question is, though, we doing jungle juice or nah?”

  “Might as well. Get it started, but not in the tub. That shit was disgusting.” I cringed at the memory.

  “On it. Lighten up, Aiden. Tonight’s going to be awesome.”

  Chapter 3

  Players Gonna Play; Assholes Gonna Be Assholes-Jenna

  I shoved in my headphones and put on my helmet before riding my moped back to my apartment. My hand stung, and my heart still raced from the confrontation with Aiden. Not the good kind of racing, but the kind that made me want to punch something.

  “Hey, bitches, I’m home.” I threw my helmet on our coffee table and dropped my keys in our key basket. Kennedy attempted to make our apartment more organized and forced Maya and me to start using the basket. I hated it.

  “How was work? Make any good tips?” Maya sat drinking an iced coffee, clearly wasting time on social media.

  “I did fairly okay, but boy, do I have a story for you. I’m pissed.”

  “Oh, sounds juicy. Does it involve some hot guy?” Maya shut her computer and turned all her attention on me. In our lifetime friendship, she’d proven over and over again that boy gossip was the best gossip. She was a hopeless romantic at heart, where I was a cynic and tried my best to avoid feelings, let alone love.

  “It involves Aiden Chad.” I grabbed a bottle of water and told her the entirety of the story. “And then, after he said that, I smacked him in the face. I haven’t smacked anyone in the face since…”

  “Since seventh grade when Bradly told me I was too ugly to be a girl. You did punch some girl in high school, though.” Maya finished my sentence and stared at me for a full minute before continuing. “I can’t believe it. He’s a god around here. Every story I’ve ever heard is about how amazing he is in bed. He’s so charming and great…until your time is up.”

  “Not like I need another reason to not like frat guys, but this is just the cherry on top. Damn. The worst part is since he left without his card, I had to close the tab, and I didn’t even get a tip!”

  Maya laughed and looked nervous. “Okay, well, I was going to have a hard enough time trying to convince you to do this regardless, so this kind of ruins my plans for the night.”

  “What do you mean?” I thought she, Kennedy, and I were going to explore one of the cool new bars downtown.

  “Well, see, Garret invited us to this huge party tonight. It’s supposed to be epic, and there’s a huge beer pong tournament. It’s our first night of sophomore year.”

  My stomach dropped. I was pretty sure I knew where this was going. “And this party is at the Sigma house, right?”

  She looked down and attempted to give me a small smile. “Yup.”

  “Damn it.” I knew it was stupid, my aversion to frat guys. Well, honestly, it was all Greek organizations. They rarely did anything good with their power. Why not start an awesome charity or volunteer? But people who used Daddy’s money without knowing hard work were not the kind of people I liked to associate with.

  Kennedy chose that moment to walk into the room and happily dropped her keys in the basket, which made me roll my eyes. “Kennedy, just because Garret invited us—”

  “No. Shut your mouth, Jenna Smithson. I’m calling the RAC. You are going. No arguments or attitude. You will let us dress you, but you can do your own hair.”

  I sat there, mouth agape, as Kenny played the Roommate Agreement Card. We were each given five RACs a year to use, no questions asked. Generally, they were used to go on liquor runs, food runs, and a couple rides in the morning to prevent walks of shame, but this seemed too preplanned.

  “You guys planned this, didn’t you?” I looked between the two of them and saw their traitorous smiles.

  “Yes,” they both said without shame, and I laughed. My best friends were crazy. You would think I would’ve known it by now. Apparently not.

  “Okay, then.”

  I might’ve sulked in my room for an hour before coming back out, but I decided I was going to turn over a new leaf. “Ladies. I have officially decided I’m going to drink as much free booze as I can at the Sigma house. I will dance like a fool. I will enter the beer-pong competition and try to win, and lastly, if Aiden Chad says one word to me, I will punch him in the dimples. Are you all in?”

  “Hells yeah!” Maya jumped up and grabbed a couple beers from the fridge for us to drink as we got ready. At least my best friends liked the good beer like I did. We didn’t drink piss in this apartment.

  Maya turned to me with a look of horror. “I told Kennedy about Aiden. I think she might’ve cried a little bit.”

  “No! I didn’t cry. It’s just…he’s so pretty it hurts. It’s not fair he’s such an asshole. I could punch him for you. I think Garret wants to join their frat. That’s why he’s going tonight, and their potential rushes were told to invite hot girls.”

  “Of course they told them that. At least he thought we were hot girls even though he saw all of us wear braces and sports bras.” Maya shrugged.

  “If Garret does, then I expect a lot of free booze, and I’ll only make fun of him once a week.” I took a sip out of the bottle. Kennedy rolled her big blue eyes at me. I always poked fun at Garret. He was our odd fourth member…somehow fitting into our crazy group.

  “What are you going to wear, Kennedy?” Maya asked.

  I didn’t even bother asking. After living with them for two years, I knew they’d try at least seven outfits. Each.

  “I don’t know. It’s so damn hot. I’m thinking a crop top and a black skirt. You?”

  I wasn’t going to stick around to hear them talk strategy. I yelled at them from down the hall, “I’m going to shower the day off me. Let me know when my outfit is ready.”

  * * * *

  Maya was dressed in a romper, which only she could pull off in her tall, lanky frame. Kennedy ended up in a short two-piece dress, and they both looked great. They always did. I noticed the outfit on my bed, all laid out for me, and it made me smile. They sure took care of me. Most of my outfits were jeans, Chucks, T-shirts, and tanks. They were bat-shit crazy with girl shit, but when you were raised by a blue-collar grandpa, you missed out on some girl genes.

  “J! Get your ass ready and come pregame with us,” Kennedy yelled at me from down the hall.

  “Coming. Calm your tits,” I said under my breath.

  “Never!” She stood and made her boobs do a weird dance.

  “You are such a dork,” I mumbled.

  “I know, but you love me.”

  One would think the temperature would cool down at night in Phoenix, but one would be wrong. It was still hot as hell outside as we walked the short distance from our apartment to the Sigma house. Music was blaring. There was a line around the block, and it looked like a scene from a movie.

  “Wow. Is this even legal?” I muttered, but Maya and Kennedy had already run up to Garret and his buddies in line. I was heading toward them with a skeptical look on my face when someone called out my name.

  I found Jorts waving at me from the front of the line. He motioned for me to come up there. Maya and Kennedy were both looking at me like I’d grown an extra head. For someone who’d never set foot in a frat house, I was now getting VIP treatment. I shrugged and went up to him.

  “Jorts! ¿Qué pasa, Mufasa? Are you the bouncer?” I attempted to be friendly. Plus, I liked this one more than Aiden.

  He smiled at me, wearing the same outfit as earlier, just khaki shorts instead of jeans. “Mufasa? Really? We have people on a list, and we have to check IDs, even though
it really doesn’t matter. I’m glad you made it.”

  “I got forced into it by my roommates. They’re those two girls giving me a weird look right now.”

  He motioned for them to come on up and gave me a side glance. “You have hot friends. You didn’t mention this earlier.”

  “I know. Normally, it isn’t a conversation starter,” I quipped.

  “What? You didn’t mention how hot we were when you meet random strangers? How dare you!” Maya mocked and held out her hand. “The name’s Maya. The blonde one is Kennedy.”

  Jorts’s lip quirked the same time he introduced himself. “My name’s Kam.”

  “Oh! I wondered what it really was. This is Jorts from earlier.”

  Maya and Kennedy nodded in recognition. Kam shook his head in laughter and motioned for us to join the party. “I’ll catch ya later, Jenna. Have a good time!”

  “You didn’t say Jorts was hot. I pictured some old, balding super-senior with a fanny pack,” Maya said, looking back and openly checking Kam out.

  “Wasn’t the point of my story, I guess. I’m going to find the keg, and hopefully, it isn’t shitty beer. Being a beer snob is tough.”

  Kennedy nodded, and the three of us made our way toward the keg. Thank God it was Blue Moon. That I could handle.

  “Jenna?”

  On my fourth cup, I saw Surfer heading toward the keg, and once again, it caused Kennedy, Maya, and now Garret to give me puzzled looks. “Surfer Dude. How’s the surf?”

  “Kickin’ party, yo.” Was I close to being drunk? Yes. Did I give a shit? Not a one.

  “You’re a riot. Glad you could stop by, but after that exchange with Aiden, I didn’t think you’d come.”

  “I didn’t want to, but these assholes forced me with a RAC.”

  Nate looked taken aback and tilted his head. “Did you just say a rack? Like boobs?”

  I burst out laughing and shook my head. “No, but it is a kinky image. It’s the roomie agreement contract. These are my roommates, Kennedy and Maya. This one’s Garret. We keep him around because he’s pretty.”