inside I’m mildly swooning over the at least I’ll have the most beautiful date there. One last look in the mirror and I’m shutting the visor. “We’re not gonna die, but I came up with a safety measure just in case.”
Her brow perks at my admission, and she shifts in her seat enough to face me. “Do tell.”
“If we pull up to the house and don’t see any other cars, we’ll keep driving and come back home, okay?”
She doesn’t so much as mull it over, outstretching her hand to me. “I like that. Deal.”
I’m expecting to feel the sizzle of her touch, but she goes beyond that, yanking me toward her hard enough that her lips just barely graze mine. “I also meant what I said. Hottest date and all of that. You look gorgeous, Jules,” she murmurs.
“I gotta hold up next to you,” I shrug, “can’t have these people think a show stopper like you would bring a hag as your plus one.”
She really is in full, lethal glam too, and damn is it a beautifully rare sight.
Kaia smiles, stealing the breath right out of me as a hand gently and unexpectedly encompasses my throat. “Knocked it out of the park, baby girl. Red is your color.”
I think I die a little right there at the term of endearment, melting into a puddle. Another shaky breath leaves me, eyes falling shut as my heart slams against my chest in anticipation. Here’s another one of those moments I was talking about... “Kiss me, Kai,” I whisper.
I can literally feel her smile. “Ask and you shall receive.”
Is that really all I had to—
My entire body sings the second her mouth seals over mine, dissolving whatever thoughts were floating at the forefront. This just feels so...right. If my eyes were open, they’d probably roll to the back of my head—that’s how right it feels. I don’t want it to end, almost whimpering when she eases back.
“C’mon, we’re gonna be late. There’s plenty more of those to come when you least expect them. Just gotta make sure we don’t die,” she winks.
“We’re not gonna die,” I laugh, “Although I may die if you keep kissing me like that.”
“You told me to try you, remember?” she counters, opening Spotify on her phone. “I’ll be trying you all night, if we don’t die, so brace yourself.”
“Oh my God, we’re not gonna die, okay?” I laugh again. “So bring it, don’t hold back.”
My reply? Pitbull’s “Time of Our Lives” fading in through the speakers as she leans forward and turns up the volume.
A fitting choice in retrospect.
Not that we knew it then, of course.
Chapter Nine
Kaia
There’s cars.
There’s actual fucking cars, at least twenty or so when we pull up to the old Plantation house just before nine. It may be old, but clearly, it’s been well-kept over the years, and it’s absolutely beautiful. Bright, white paint, cozy furniture on the illuminated porch. What I notice almost immediately is that none of it gives me that ominous vibe the invitation did, and as Jules shuts off her car, I actually breathe an audible sigh of relief.
Maybe she was right. Schools are always trying something new to get kids involved, and perhaps this is the Greek Letter Organization’s way of attempting to recruit people who’d never considered the Greek life. Granted the invite was shady, but sororities do weird shit all the time during recruitment. Is this really that far off?
“Feel better?” she chuckles beside me, checking her gloss in the visor’s mirror again.
“It’s not a shit ton of cars, but clearly there’s obviously something happening here, so yes—I feel better. I want a cig before we go in, though. That was a long ass drive.” Jules doesn’t care that I smoke, she just doesn’t let me smoke in her car, which I totally respect.
I’m trying to cut cigarettes out anyway, so it works out.
“Nope. No cigs now.” She slams the visor shut and opens her door. “Let’s go inside, see who’s here, grab a drink, and then I’ll take your delinquent ass outside to smoke.”
“Fine.” I roll my eyes, “I could use a drink anyway.” Popping open the door, I step out onto the pavement as Jules comes around the back end to meet me and holds out her hand for mine. “Can you imagine if they’re anti-gay? They’re gonna regret inviting me,” I snicker, lacing our fingers together.
Jules seems completely unfazed, shrugging as we start up the walkway to the porch steps. “I doubt it. Somehow, I