The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,1

for a moment changing her fitted, flattering pants for her more comfortable pair, but decided that the nice ones might as well see a little bit more action tonight. They made her feel bold. Confident.

She pulled her shoes back on, shrugged into her coat, and grabbed her purse. Locking the dorm room door behind her, she made her way down the steps and back out into the night.

It was amazing, she reflected, how the prospect of seeing Zach had the ability to turn her whole night around. But then, she supposed everyone felt that way about their best friend. It was just that a best friend wasn’t something Rhea had ever really had before.

She had been so isolated growing up. She knew she was lucky to have wealthy parents—she had never wanted for anything, and it was thanks to them that she had been able to attend the college of her choice. But their money had also driven a wedge between Rhea and her peers. She had never been able to relate to the things her classmates were going through, the struggles of normal, middle-class teenagers.

Now that she was away from home, in college, things were a bit different. It was possible to go through days and weeks at a time without being reminded of her parents’ money, and she was sure that her classmates had no idea how wealthy her family was. She deliberately dressed to match the styles that other students on campus were wearing. No one needed to know that the hoodie she’d thrown on this evening was a designer garment. It looked just like everyone else’s.

And not having that barrier between herself and her peers had allowed Rhea to find real friendships for the first time in her life. She wouldn’t have traded that for anything.

Zach had been her first friend at college. The two of them had met at a party the first semester of freshman year, and they’d spent the whole evening in the corner laughing together as the party went on around them. Now, two years later, Zach was probably the person Rhea trusted most in the world. He was the only one she wanted to talk to tonight.

Hill’s Pub was only a few blocks from the heart of campus, and even though Rhea arrived quickly, Zach had beaten her there. She spotted him at a booth in the corner with two bottles of beer in front of him, and he waved her over.

She started to sit opposite him, but he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid,” he said. “It’s cold in here. That window in the back is still busted. Sit by me.”

She nodded and took the seat by his side. “Are they ever going to fix that?”

“God only knows.” He handed her one of the drinks. “Here. To bad dates.”

She clinked her bottle against his and took a long pull.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

She shrugged, pulling off her coat and tossing it onto the seat across from them.

“He was just annoying,” she said. “All he wanted was to talk about himself and how great he was.”

“Was he great?”

“He was a philosophy major.”

“Ohhh.”

“A philosophy of feminism major.”

“I don’t understand,” Zach said. “Is that worse?”

“Not automatically,” she said. “But he definitely just picked it so he could meet girls.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me.” She took another long drink of her beer. “He told me he considered education and women’s studies, because those would also be female-heavy specialties, but decided against them because he thought the women in the philosophy department would be more air-headed.”

“Whoa. He actually said that?”

“I think he thought I might take it as a compliment somehow,” Rhea said. “Like, because I’m not a philosophy major, he’s saying I’m not as much of an airhead. Like I’m better than the girls he usually dates or something.”

“Wow.” Zach drained his bottle and signaled a server for more. “What a jerk.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Anyway, no more dates for me for a while, I think.”

“You can’t let one bad apple spoil your whole college experience,” he said.

“It’s not just one bad apple. This is my third crappy date this month.”

“I guess you are on kind of a bad streak,” he said.

“What happened with you?”

“Oh, she was only after me for my body,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I’d think you’d be used to that by now,” Rhea said. Zach did have a very nice body.

“Most girls at least want to have a conversation,” Zach said. “As soon as I picked her up, she