were in the room, I moved aside so she could enter, and then I pulled the pocket door closed behind us.
Aamee took up a defensive position immediately, her arms crossed tightly across her chest, hip cocked, bitch glare in full effect. “What?” she asked icily.
I sighed heavily. “Can we not do this?”
“Do what?”
Gesturing at her, I said, “This. Despising each other was fun for a few months, but I’m kind of over it now. Can’t you be?”
“Why should I be?” she asked, though she dropped her arms back to her sides. “You’re the one who started this whole nightmare.”
“No, it started because you kicked me out of the house for a bullshit reason. And it continued because…” I took a deep breath. This next bit was difficult to force out. “Because I was angry and hurt, and I wanted to hurt you back. But I’m over that petty bullshit now. Or at least I want to be.”
She looked less like she wanted to bury my body in a shallow, unmarked grave, but she was still clearly wary.
“What do you want?” she asked quietly.
“I’m not sure. I’ll tell you what I don’t want. I don’t want to take the presidency from you. I don’t want to be someone who takes on a responsibility like that just so someone else can’t have it. I don’t want to be a bad sister.”
Man, admitting that hit me on multiple levels. My clarity didn’t only extend to wanting a better relationship with the girls in my sorority; I wanted a better one with my brother too.
Seriously, who the fuck ducked off to parts unknown and felt more comfortable discussing it with a stranger than his own sister? And while I’m glad Brody did what he did because it brought me Drew, it was still a symbol of just how messed up our relationship was.
Aamee’s face showed hopefulness before shuttering again. “Is this for real? I can get past a lot of things, but if you’re fucking with me right now, I swear—”
“I’m not,” I interrupted. “I promise. While the idea of being president has grown on me, I don’t want it like this. And the fact is, it means more to you than it does to me. But I…”
When I didn’t continue, Aamee said, “What?” in the softest tone she’d ever directed at me.
“Can you just promise you’ll be fair? That you’ll be the president that Zeta Eta Chi deserves?” I had to get the question out there. While I didn’t want to place contingencies on my bowing out of the race, I wasn’t going to go back to idly sitting by while Aamee was a dick to whomever she felt like mistreating. There had to be progress on both sides.
I could see her gearing up to argue with me—to defend herself against my words. But whatever internal battle she was fighting, the side that had her taking a breath and relaxing her posture won.
“Yes. I can promise you that.”
Smiling, I extended a hand toward her. “Then I guess we have a deal.”
She stared at my hand for a beat before offering me a small smile in return and grasping my hand. “I guess we do.”
Our hands remained clasped for a few seconds, as if we were cementing the truce. When we broke apart, I moved to the door and slid it open. As we walked back to where our sisters were, Aamee said, “I guess this means you want to move back into the house.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.”
Her exhale was audible. “I guess. As long as you keep your bait-and-switch drama out of the house.”
I swung my head in her direction and gaped. Did she…?
A smirk played at her lips as she kept walking steadily forward.
“You know, don’t you?” I asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
“Whoa, are you giving me credit for knowing things now? My, how times have changed.”
Sarcasm dripped from every word, but I couldn’t think of a solid retort. I was too dumbfounded. A thousand questions were on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed all of them. This was her chance to prove to me she could be different. That she wanted things to be different. While she’d been trying to make everyone believe I’d been fucking my brother, she hadn’t exposed the actual truth.
Maybe she hadn’t known it long enough to expose us. Or maybe she preferred to discredit me on a rumor that, while annoying, was too unbelievable to have