Let Life Happen Page 5

  Her face fell into a frown, and it was so fucking cute I put my arm around her and squeezed. Her body tightened in response, so I quickly pulled back. “You won’t regret it. You’ll get paid, and I’ll even fill you in on the old men’s dirty secrets to entertain you.”

  “Great. My kind of Friday night.” Her tone reeked of sarcasm.

  “It won’t be that bad. I’m sure you’ll be off by eleven.”

  “Hmm, it would be a nice change. I normally get off after two on Fridays. Keep talking. What else would be great about it?”

  “Besides the tips? And getting off early? I’ll take the lead on a lab sometime. Like a homework pass.”

  “Not necessary. I’ll never miss a class.” She scoffed as if I’d suggested she jump off a building.

  “You? A Goody Two-shoes?”

  She narrowed her eyes and gave me a sarcastic grin. “Oh, don’t pretend to know me, pretty boy. I like knowing you’re in my debt. I may cash it in sometime.”

  “Wow. I don’t like this. Was that a threat?”

  “No, more like a promise.” Her lips pursed, and I recoiled in awe and fear. She had more balls than some guys I knew. Shit. I admired it.

  We worked together with casual conversation here and there for the rest of class, and she threw me a peace sign before leaving. “See you Friday.”

  “I’ll text you information. Thanks again.” I watched her leave and found myself oddly looking forward to the event. This was a goddamn first.

  Chapter 7

  Old Men Can Party Like It’s 1985-Jenna

  “YOU look different. Nice almost. Kind of handsome. It’s weird. Are you really wearing that?” I asked Joel as he stood outside my apartment door, wearing a bright-red bowtie. His tatted-up arms, which usually drove girls crazy, were hidden behind a nice button-down shirt. He even did his hair. I was impressed. He wanted to be a gentleman and offered to take me to the Sigma house, but really, I knew he wanted to ride my moped with me.

  “Weird? I look dashing! I’m wearing a bowtie and everything. Honestly, woman, how are you not attracted to this?”

  Maya walked out and did a double take. “Da-yum, J-Dog. Looking fresh as hell.”

  “Thanks, baby girl. You know I clean up good.” He winked.

  Maya blushed. I rolled my eyes. Over the past four years, since he’d become one of my best friends, Joel had gotten to know my roommates pretty well. It took him almost no time at all to break down my walls. Most times, he was worth it.

  “You did wonderful on our little star over there. Tight black halter dress. Heels. Dang. The little apron was a nice touch. The men are going to be eating out of her hands.” He patted me like I was their little project they’d dressed up.

  Maya replied as if I weren’t currently standing between them. “I know! It was my plan. Well, and to entice you-know-who.”

  “Unless we’re talking about Voldemort, which we’re not, stop hinting about Aiden. Let’s vámonos, Joel.” I marched out the door, ready to leave with or without him.

  He sent a hurt look toward Maya before kissing her goodbye. “Are we a little touchy today? Nervous to see Mr. February himself?”

  I chuckled. After I told Kennedy and Maya about Aiden’s and my truce, they became obsessed with the idea of the two of us. They did some research—aka Facebook stalking—and found out he was in a calendar a couple years ago. Now it was an inside joke between the four of us. Joel might not live with us, but I swore he knew everything going on in our lives. He was worse than a gossipy old woman.

  “No, I’m not nervous, per se. You know I get weird around rich people. I don’t understand how they can just throw around money.” I had a modest upbringing, and had a hard time relating to anything else.

  “This is just a job. We go in. We laugh at their jokes, flirt with them when needed, charm them every second, bring them drinks, and earn big tips. That’s it, baby girl.” He held out his hand and tried to convince me to let him ride front. “But, J, you’re wearing a dress. You need to straddle against me so you don’t flash everyone.”

  “I hate it when you’re right.” I grabbed my helmet and hopped on behind him. We were required to get there at least an hour before it started to help set up. Cynthia called in Maggie to be our other server. I would handle the drinks while the other two served food. They would both admit I knew how to make drinks better than them. It was perfect.

  We arrived within five minutes, and I took a deep breath.

  “They better have some misters set up if it’s outside, or I’m losing the jacket and shirt,” Joel whispered as we walked onto the yard.

  “I’m sure it’s inside. It’s over a hundred out! I swear, Aiden’s going to owe me big-time if this is outside. They’re old men. They can’t be out here too long.”

  “Who are you calling old, darling?” A deep, distinguished voice caught my attention.

  I whipped around to see Aiden walking up with an insanely attractive older man. Same sharp jawline, gray eyes, huge build. It was clearly his father. Aiden’s smile faltered when his gaze met Joel’s hand resting on my shoulder.

  “I apologize, sir. I was clearly not talking about you. I can see you’re Aiden’s father, but by God, you don’t look old enough.”

  The older gentlemen laughed and held out his hand. “Christopher Chad. Pleased to meet you.”

  “Jenna Smithson. This is Joel Fitzgerald. We’re part of the catering crew scheduled to work tonight. We work for Isaac’s.”

  “Ah, here I thought you were a guest of Aiden’s. Bummer. Maybe I’ll get to meet one of his ladies one of these days.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Good luck with that, Mr. Chad. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I’ll be at the bar.” I winked at him and continued walking toward the air-conditioning. I was going to freaking melt.

  “Wait up, Jenna.”

  I turned back to Aiden. “Oh, good. Do you know where the bar is going to be? Please say inside.”

  He licked his lips before replying, “Ah, yes. It’s inside. As you said, they are old men. They’ll get hot quick.”

  Color flooded my face, and I put my hands up to cover it. “Shit. I can’t believe he heard me. How embarrassing.”

  “Don’t worry. He liked you. Said you had spunk, and spunk is a good thing. But really, it’s true. They are old. Well done, flirting with the pops, by the way. You’re a natural.”

  His tone was teasing, but I flipped him the bird anyway. “Piss off.”

  He put his hand on my lower back and led me toward the basement. “The bar should be stocked. I just texted you Jon’s number, so if you need anything, let him know. I’m sure you could get started now. A couple of them have already started showing up. I need to go get changed into a suit. Fuck me.”

  He took off, and I continued down toward the basement, finding it completely transformed from the party house to a classy room filled with decorations. The tables had nice tablecloths on them. The chairs even had covers.

  I went to the bar and checked out all the stuff they had in storage. Clearly, the house had money, because they were stocked as well as Isaac’s.

  “Shit. Impressive,” I muttered to myself and about jumped into a wall when I heard a reply.

  “I would have to agree. I’ve never seen this place look so clean before.” Kam appeared from behind one of the pillars.

  “Oh, hey, Jorts. You scared me.” I put my hand over my heart, willing it to settle down.

  “My bad. Nice dress.”

  I blushed a little at his obvious examination of my outfit. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t strike me as a girl who wears dresses a lot.” He leaned against the bar next to me, and his strong cologne clouded around me. It was pleasant but overbearing.

  “You would be correct. Only when my roommates force me, or it’s some fancy-ass event like this. Why was everything so last-minute anyway?”

  He sighed and
picked up one of the mixing tools, playing with it. “Aiden’s dad is an alumnus and planned this dinner to test him.”

  “Sucks.” I felt bad for a second, but then it flew away. “Clearly, he passed the test. This place looks like it did a one-eighty.”

  “Pledges. We gave them toothbrushes.” He smiled, and I found it contagious.

  “Awesome. That sounds like the movies.” I began making mixers of sour and set up the drinks I knew I would need the most. “Tell me. Do you really haze the hell out of them?”

  He leaned close to me, almost a head away from my ear, and whispered, “Yes.”

  “I wish I knew how. I think it’s hilarious.” I imagined the worst possible things they could do, but Kam laughed again.

  “It’s not anything illegal or so damn crazy they cry. It’s mind games. We want to break them, let them know they’re low on the totem pole.”

  “Ah, I see. Makes sense.” I had my setup done and looked into Kam’s eyes. “What’s your role tonight? Want a drink?”

  “Sure.” He ordered a beer and then thanked me with a little too much attention. “I’m part of fundraising, so I get to schmooze them and hope they donate to the frat.”

  “You’re charming. You can do it.” I gave him a thumbs-up.

  He ran his tongue over his bottom lip self-consciously. Kam and I got along really well. He was attractive, but he just didn’t do it for me. I could tell he was working his way up to something.

  “Listen, Jenna, I was thinking—”

  “Ass face. Get up here. We need help in the kitchen, pronto.” Aiden’s voice boomed down the stairwell and interrupted whatever he was going to say.

  “Damn it. Bad timing. I gotta get up there, but I was trying to ask you out sometime. Think about it, and I’ll find you later.”

  He ran up the stairs, and I was left alone in the basement with his odd proposal. I knew I was going to respectfully decline the offer and hope to still be friends.

  Aiden came into view, and I forgot all the reasons I disliked him. His hair was recently cut and his jaw clean-shaven, defined and strong. His body filled out the suit and tie so well, I lost all words. And that never happened.

  “Like what you see, eh? The douchebag can look nice.” He spun and did a leg kick before walking toward me.

  It was so ridiculous, I snorted. “You do look nice. And I can say your douchebag points have tremendously gone down.”

  “Good to know. The music player is behind the bar, so I set it on shuffle. If it stops, could you restart it?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Someone called him from upstairs, so he held out the phone toward me and took off, shouting, “Remember to restart it if it stops. I don’t know how busy I’ll be, but I’ll try to come down and check on you in a bit.”

  “Wait, is this your phone, Aiden?” I looked down at the slick piece of technology in my hands.

  “Yeah. That’s where the playlist is.” He looked at me like I’d grown two heads.

  “You’re trusting me with your phone?” I held it out like a ticking bomb. “You could have weird pictures on there. I don’t want to see that.”

  “You’re my almost friend, I think, so yeah.” He said it so honestly, I smiled.

  “Fine. We’re friends. But you realize I could mess with it.”

  “Yup. You could. But you won’t, because any other girl would’ve just taken it and had their way. You’re not like most girls. Plus, I’m your lab partner. Piss me off and we still have three months together.”

  He took off, and I started the music. I got the shot glasses lined up and even pulled out the cigar tray and cutter from my bag. If these men were anything like my grandpa, after a drink or two, they’d begin smoking.

  “Hey, gorgeous. CC on the rocks, please.”

  That was the first order I heard, and it was two hours later before I had my first break. Four bottles of wine were gone. Two fifths of whiskey and two kegs of beer. The cigar plate was a hit, and I was amazed at how much these older guys could party. The tip jar, which I didn’t remember being there to begin with, was filled with twenties. It made my breath catch, and then I realized the music stopped playing. “Shit!”

  I ducked beneath the bar to restart the playlist and saw Aiden had over thirty text messages. It wasn’t like I looked. The phone was so damn big just touching it showed all the notifications. He was a player by nature, but I was warming up to him.

  The music started again, and I saw Christopher leaning against the bar. “Hey there. Having a good night?”

  He smiled and raised his glass to me. “Yes, I am enjoying myself. I was once the president at Sigma back in my day. It’s nice being back here.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t too long ago.” I threw in some extra charm because I still felt bad about my comment earlier.

  “Oh, hush. You’re quite the charmer. Are you a student here as well or just a full-time bartender?”

  His question held no judgment, yet I didn’t like his curiosity. It made me nervous.

  “Yes. I’m a student here, too. This is just a part-time job to pay the bills.”

  “I guess. So how did you and Aiden meet? At some Greek event?”

  I laughed at his comment. “Oh no. I’m not in a sorority.”

  “Why is my answer funny, if I may ask?” His sharp gray eyes assessed me, and I was losing my patience.

  “Listen, Mr. Chad, if you’re worried I’m using Aiden in some way, I assure you I’m not. I’m attending this university on an academic scholarship. I work four nights a week at a bar to pay for rent and food. Do you have any more questions for me?”

  He smiled and raised his glass again. “Aiden needs someone like you to keep him on his toes. Have a good night.”

  I was confused as hell at the weird confrontation but didn’t have time to think because the next round of refills was coming up.

  Kam headed over shortly after and gave me a shy smirk. “So did you think about my offer?”

  “I did, Kam, and I’m sorry. I really enjoy hanging out with you, but I would prefer to be friends. I work four days a week, go to school full-time, and then I’m studying the rest. I’m not making excuses, but I hope we can still be beer-pong partners every once in a while?”

  His expression only looked upset for a second before he smiled. “Absolutely. I just wanted to take a shot. No harm done. You having a good night? These old assholes can party like you would not believe.”

  “You aren’t kidding. You should see the amount of shit they’ve drunk. Oh, there’s a line. Talk to you later, Jorts.”

  An hour later, I was pouring a glass of wine when Aiden popped his head over the bar. “Doing okay back there? Need anything?”

  “Hey, I’m good. The party seems to be going well. Jesus, these men can drink!”

  He laughed and hit his hand on the bar. “I know. I’m so glad it’s backfiring in my dad’s face. He wanted me to fail at this, but I haven’t yet. I can grab you some food if you want. Have you eaten?”

  “No, I’m not too hungry. Maybe later. How long does this thing go?”

  He looked at his watch and shrugged. “Probably another two hours or something. Want to put up a ‘be back in five minutes’ sign?”

  “Eh, I’ll tough it out.” I hated taking breaks. I would rather stay busy and make the time go by faster. “Since you’re here, your phone had a million notifications. I didn’t read them, I promise, but I saw when I had to put the music back on.”

  He grabbed his phone and scowled at whatever he was reading. “This is embarrassing. This isn’t normal to have my phone blow up like this. I enjoy women, but I’m not this big of a man-whore.”

  “Don’t defend yourself to me. I don’t mind. We can be friends who don’t sleep together, you know.”

  His face twisted in confusion, and then he broke out into a grin. “Yeah! We can hang out as friends. Honestly, I haven’t had a friend who was a girl in a while. This
is new for me.”

  “Well, pretty boy, it’s the same thing. Don’t be a weirdo about it.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder and spoke in a quieter voice. “Promise me you’ll find me before you leave. There’s something I have to show you later.”

  Chapter 8

  Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives-Aiden

  “DUDE, you fucking nailed it. The chapter president loved it. He was raving about how much of a class act this was. Well done.” Zeke sat with his feet on the table and tie loosened around his neck.

  “I couldn’t agree more. Even though I was looking forward to our rush party, I think I made some badass connections for when I graduate,” Nate said.

  Kam and Jon both nodded in agreement and finally kicked back. We were in charge of the whole thing, so we had no time to relax the entire six hours.

  I looked around at my closest friends and felt nothing but pride. We somehow pulled off this insane request and looked badass doing so. “Fellas, I’m fucking proud. You all stepped up. I wish there was more to say, but I’m all out of words. Go enjoy the rest of your night as best you can. Here are some cigars.”

  “Hear, hear.”

  I stood and loosened my tie, noticing it was past midnight. I pocketed one of the Cubans and grabbed a lighter. I reached to grab my phone and realized it was still in the basement with Jenna. I waved bye and headed down the flights of stairs to go talk to her.

  Boy, she was a hit. I smiled at the way the guys talked about her. She charmed the curmudgeons, flirted with the old perverts, knew her drinks, and offered them a cigar. I was more than impressed with my new friend. It was still odd to think of her as a friend now. She was completely off-limits, but I enjoyed her company. It was for the best.

  “J-Money! You still here?”

  “Yeah. In the back.” Her muffled voice came from the utility closet.

  “What in the hell are you doing?”

  She stood on the barstool, barefoot, trying to shove a box of something onto the shelving.

  “Get your short ass down before you fall.”