Matchplay A New Adult Romance - By Dakota Madison Page 0,3

warning,” my dad grimaced. “The boxes are heavy.”

Emily rushed over to us and handed me my room key. “Sorry, I got held up with your key. I’ve already had to break up a fight and do a quick roommate reassignment.”

“Emily Dickinson, I’d like you to meet my dad, Mr. Ron Dey.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dey,” Emily said as she extended her hand to my dad.

I thought I saw a bit of a twinkle in my dad’s eye as he shook Emily’s hand. Was he flirting? I thought about how I’d feel when my dad started dating. I didn’t think it would be immediately. It had only been five months since my mom died but I knew it would happen eventually. I wanted my dad to be happy again. It had been so long since I had his genuine smile.

“I’ll let you all get back to the big move-in,” Emily said enthusiastically. She had to be one of the perkiest people I ever met.

My dad nodded and Emily bounced toward another family.

The four of us stared at my pile of belongings.

“Well, all of Rainy’s stuff isn’t going to move itself,” Olivia said.

So we each grabbed a box and headed into the dorms.

After we got the last box hauled up to our second floor dorm room, it was time to say good bye to my dad. I was dreading the moment not wanting either of us to get too emotional about it.

“I’ll be back in a few months for Parent’s Weekend,” my dad assured me.

“I know,” I gulped.

My dad embraced me in a big hug. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered.

“I’ll miss you too, Dad.” I tried to hold back tears. “Will you call me when you get home?”

My dad let go of me and nodded. “Remember to have fun.”

I nodded as my dad turned and walked out the door.

“Well, that was a heart-wrenching scene,” Olivia teased. “I was lucky my parents slowed the car down long enough for me to grab my bags as they drove by.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “That’s a complete and total lie. Don’t take anything she says at face value. She always goes for a laugh first. The truth is optional.”

I plopped down on my bed. I was starting to feel the physical and emotional effects of the move.

Olivia and Lucas both sat down on her bed.

I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject of Aaron. He had been on my mind since I laid eyes on him and I just couldn’t shake it. But my sane and rational mind wanted to know why they thought he was trouble. I finally decided on the bold approach. It seemed to work well between Olivia and Lucas.

“So, why did you tell me to stay away from Evan and Aaron?” I ventured.

Olivia and Lucas eyed each other and I immediately regretted bringing it up.

An awkward silence filled the air for several seconds until Olivia finally leaned over to Lucas. “Why don’t you tell her the story?”

Lucas seemed to be pondering the question or maybe trying to decide what he wanted to tell me.

Finally, his expression turned solemn and he said, “You have to promise never to repeat what I’m going to tell you. I could get into a lot of trouble if anyone found out I told you this story. I don’t want to get jumped and beat up on my way home from a night class.”

A feeling a dread overcame me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know anything that could get one of us beat up.

“Do you promise?” Lucas’s face was stone.

I gulped then slowly nodded.

“Ian was my roommate freshman and sophomore years. Now he lives in The Clubhouse. Evan and Aaron live in The Clubhouse, too. But they’re seniors.”

I nodded but I already had questions. The most obvious being: what is The Clubhouse?

Lucas must have been good at reading my mind because he said, “The Clubhouse is a social club.

After several major lawsuits involving underage alcohol consumption and death, the university banned sororities and fraternities on campus. So a group of alumni, who had been active in the Greek system in the 70s and 80s, bought the old fraternity and sorority houses and turned them into social clubs. They function in a similar way to fraternities and sororities but are not bound by any of the rules that you would see in the Greek system at other schools. They do what they want because they are not affiliated with the school in any official capacity.”

The way Lucas