Fate (Steel Brothers Saga #13) - Helen Hardt Page 0,16

were we discussing bacon? This was college?

“Pick a side, Daph,” Patty said.

“I like bacon. That’s my side. I just don’t like thinking about…”

Patty laughed. “Daphne is a carnivore who loves animals.”

The two guys laughed as well. My cheeks warmed. They were making fun of me.

“Go vegan then,” Dirk said. “Save the bunnies.”

“I’m not against consuming meat,” I said. “I just want the animals to be treated with respect.”

“Hey, I totally respect the pig who gave up his life so I could have bacon,” Dirk said. “Life without bacon isn’t a life worth living.”

Ennis and Patty laughed.

And I decided I didn’t like Dirk much.

“I just mean I like the animals to be treated humanely while they’re raised for meat. I know you treat your pigs humanely, Patty, but most animals raised for meat aren’t treated that way.”

“If it bothers you, love,” Ennis said, “do something about it.”

“What can I do?”

“First off, stop eating mass-produced meat. You can buy from local ranches and farms.”

Dirk grabbed the remainder of my slice of bacon off my plate. “That means you don’t want this.” He shoved it in his mouth.

Yeah, Dirk was a jerk. It even rhymed.

“Unfortunately, you’re not going to find anything but mass-produced meat at a college cafeteria,” Patty said. “Tell you what. I can get my family to send us pork from the farm. We can eat that.”

“How would we cook it?” I asked.

“There’s the kitchenette in the dorm,” she said. “Or better yet, I bet we could store it and cook it at Sean’s condo.”

Sean’s condo was also Brad’s condo. That meant I’d see Brad.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Patty went on. “I’d even join you. We eat vegetarian here in the cafeteria, and when we feel like meat, we get it from my family or we find other sources of humanely raised meat.”

“Brad Steel said all his animals are treated humanely,” I said softly. “Plus they’re grass fed.”

Patty clammed up at the mention of Brad Steel. I wasn’t sure what, if any, significance that had.

“Brad?” Ennis said. “The guy who used my jaw for a punching bag?”

Right. For a moment I’d forgotten. Brad had been an ass.

Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Did we still have a date for pizza? I had no idea, after last night’s debacle.

He’d treated Ennis, my first real friend here, like crap. But he’d been nice to me.

“That reminds me,” Patty said. “He and Sean are picking us up at six tonight for pizza. That work for you?”

That answered my question. “Sure. Fine.”

“You’re going out with that Neanderthal?” Ennis said.

“It’s not a date, really,” I said. “I hardly know him.”

Again, Patty said nothing. This was getting weird. Did she know something about Brad Steel that she didn’t want to tell me?

“To each his own.” Ennis looked at his watch. “We should go. The first program starts in an hour.”

After depositing our trays, we headed out.

Orientation was a whirlwind of lectures, activities, and mixers. The four of us stuck together, although I could have done without Dirk. I was glad to be rid of him when, after lunch, we divided into our dormitory corridors and Patty and I met the rest of the girls on our floor.

Our senior counselor, Mariel, led us through some “get to know you” activities and then sat us down, saying it was time to discuss something important.

“Last school year,” she said, “three college girls were raped on campus. Only one of the perpetrators was caught and convicted. This is a growing problem, so please keep yourselves safe. We have an escort service available. If you’re alone after dark and need to be escorted back to your dorm, use the service. A male student who has been vetted will walk you safely wherever you need to go.”

My heart started to beat a little faster. I wasn’t sure why. It was scary to think we might not be safe here. Her comments never left my thoughts the rest of the day.

Mariel and the rest of our floor headed to dinner, but Patty and I begged out and returned to our room to wait for Brad and Sean to pick us up. I decided to wear my hair down. I pulled it out of the braid and let its wavy length fall down my back nearly to my butt.

“You have great hair,” Patty said.

“So do you. I love the color.” No lie. I never liked red hair much, but Patty’s was a lovely strawberry golden, and it was perfect on her.

“I wish it