500 Days (35 page)

I was just about to sit down when I ran into
Reece. “Hey,” he smiled.

“
Hi,” I blushed back, my
mood instantly changing.

“
I got to jet, but I just
wanted to tell you I’m looking forward to tonight.”

“
Me too.” And I was. I sat
down not able to remove the smile from my face. Declan and Colton
had joined us. Casper had a sour look on his face and I wondered
what had changed.

“
Was that….?”

“
Reece,” I
smiled.

“
I forgot how cute he
was.” Colton frowned at Declan. “Not as cute as you baby.” She
kissed him on the lips and his smile returned. Colton looked over
at Casper and his smile faltered. I looked up to see Casper’s lips
pulled in to a tight thin line.

“
What’s tonight?” Casper
asked.

Declan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. I
swallowed. “Reece and I are going on a date tonight.”

“
Again? Didn’t you just go
on a date with him?”

“
So?”

“
Isn’t that a bit soon,”
he argued.

“
No, it’s not.” I went
back to my lunch not happy about Casper’s sudden attitude
change.

“
Where are you guys going
tonight?” Declan asked, excited.

“
I don’t know yet, but I
might want to borrow one of your dresses.”

Declan clapped excitedly. “I know the
perfect dress to.”

Casper pushed his chair back and stood up.
He grabbed his lunch and threw it in the trash and then walked out.
I watched him leave wondering what the hell just happened. “What’s
his deal?” Declan looked over at Colton. They exchanged words with
just a look, but neither of them cared to elaborate. Colton just
shrugged his shoulders and I went back to my lunch.

Reece picked me up around eight and took me
to a really nice restaurant. We talked all through dinner and when
we talked, I felt like I was talking to a friend. Reece was someone
who I was comfortable with and I liked to be around him. He was
very easy going and laid back. I enjoyed his company and I was
pretty sure he enjoyed mine.

He dropped me off afterwards and walked me
to my door. “Do you have any plans for this weekend?” I shook my
head no. “My fraternity is having a mixer and I was wondering if
you would like to go with me?”

“
Okay.”

“
Is that a yes?” he asked,
not sure.

“
Yes, I’ll go with
you.”

“
Great, so I’ll see you
Saturday at eight?”

“
Eight is good.” He leaned
in for a kiss, lingering a little longer, but not too
long.

“
Goodnight
Alex.”

“
Goodnight
Reece.”

I was floating on cloud nine. I felt like a
giddy little school girl with my first crush. That all came
crashing to a halt when I spotted Casper in the kitchen. He was
hovered over a tool box. His head shot up when he heard me
enter.

I threw my purse on the counter. “What are
you doing here?”

“
Hi to you too,” he said
with a half-smile. He seemed to be in a better mood from
earlier.

“
Sorry, hi.” I sat down on
one of the stools and waited for him to answer my question. When he
didn’t respond I pointed to the tool box.

“
Right,” he wiped his
hands on his already dirty shirt. “Declan called and said your sink
was leaking and asked if I could take a look at it.”

I raised my brows. “You know how to fix a
leaky sink?”

“
Yes, I am capable of
fixing a sink. I even know how to use this nifty little hammer like
thing.” He held up a wrench, a small smile twitching at the side of
his lips. I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be done shortly.”

“
No rush.” I got up to
grab a beer from the fridge and offered Casper one. Declan came out
of her room and joined us in the kitchen.

“
Hey, so how was the
date?” She clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them
while leaning on the counter.

“
It was good.”

She dropped her hands and stood up
straighter. “It was good. That’s it? That’s all you’re going to
tell me?” I shrugged, taking a sip of my beer. “Any sparkage”

“
Yeah,” there was a loud
smack and Casper ducked out from underneath the sink rubbing his
head. “You okay?” He nodded, throwing some tools in his tool box. I
turned back to Declan who was waiting to hear more. “He’s so sweet
and such a gentleman and so different from all the other assholes
I’ve dated.”

“
Did he kiss you yet?” she
asked, eyes wide.

“
He did,” I blushed,
feeling giddy. Casper slammed down the lid of his tool box, making
me jump.

“
And?” Declan
prompted.

“
And it was nice. Just a
quick kiss on the lips.” Casper made a humph noise. I narrowed my
eyes at him. “What?”

“
Nothing, sounds like a
tool.”

“
He is the opposite,
actually, and the reason I like him.”

“
You do?” Declan
asked.

“
Yeah, I do.” Casper
chugged half his beer before slamming it down on the
counter.

“
When are you going out
again?”

“
Saturday, he invited me
to his fraternity’s mixer.”

“
This Saturday?” Casper
asked.

“
Yeah, why, what’s it to
you?”

He smiled, like he knew something I didn’t.
“Nothing.” He picked up his tool box. “Sink is fixed.” He walked
over to the door. “See ya Saturday,” he winked, closing the door
behind him.

I gave Declan a strange look. “Why would he
say that?”

She scratched her head. “Did you forget that
they were in the same fraternity?”

“
No,” I shook my head.
“Please tell me this isn’t happening.” I dropped my head down to
the counter.

“
Uh, overdramatic, don’t
you think?”

I lifted my head to meet her eyes. “Have you
forgotten that Jaxson and Jacob also now belong to that
fraternity?”

“
Oh,” she said, drawing
out the O. “If it makes you feel any better I’ll be there.” I
rested my head in my hand. I wasn’t looking forward to Saturday any
more. She patted my hand. “Hey, it might not be that bad.” I gave
her a skeptical look.

“
Isn’t the third date a
little too soon to meet family? I don’t want to scare him
away.”

“
If he’s in the same
fraternity I’m sure he’s already met them, which might be a good
thing.”

“
I don’t know,
maybe.”

She squeezed my hand. “Don’t stress about
it.”

“
I’m gonna go to bed.” I
spun around and jumped down off the stool. Then I dragged my feet
across the rough carpet on the way to my room. I got undressed and
crashed into bed trying not to think about all the things that
could go wrong this Saturday.

Chapter 15

Casper

I accepted the fact that she had a date. I
even accepted that she had a date with one of my fraternity
brothers and when I found out whom, I wasn’t worried. But now that
he was taking her to the mixer and I overheard the conversation of
how well everything was going, I was shitting bricks. I hadn’t seen
this coming and it made me nervous. I couldn’t lose her now.
Especially not to that douche bag Reece.

On the surface he was the all American good
boy, but I knew it was all a show. I knew guys like him. I used to
be him, but then I decided there was no point in pretending to be
something I wasn’t. With me, what you see is what you get. The sad
part was, I welcomed him in to the house. He was a brother from
another chapter so it was a given he be accepted. I knew something
was off the moment I met him, but figured what the hell? All of my
brothers were a little off. I also never expected Alex to like him.
He was not her type.

I thought for sure after the other day
things would change. I had planned to ask her to the mixer, but
when she slipped out on me, all plans changed. I thought things
were different this time. I wanted so badly to confront her about
leaving, but when I saw her, I chickened out, and instead I played
it off like I knew she would expect me too. Unfortunately I
couldn’t reel in my temper when she talked about going out with
Reece. I didn’t see this coming. I felt like I was blind-sided and
the reality of possibly losing Alex was slowly seeping in. Greyson
told me I should just give up. He said it wasn’t worth all this
effort I was putting in just to try to get her to notice me. He was
wrong. Alex was worth it. I’d never met a girl like her and I knew
there would never be anyone else that could compare.

I had the advantage on Reece. I already knew
three of her four brothers and we all got along. Her cousin was
dating my best friend and she loved me – most of the time. Declan
even encouraged me to go for it with Alex, but after their
conversation I was a little confused on who she was rooting for.
Nevertheless, I had my work cut out for me.

I made sure to run into her all week. In
class I sat next to her, handing her a pen because I knew she would
forget. I walked her to her next class and ate lunch with her. I
visited her at work and walked her out to her car when she was done
to make sure she got out safely. Those days spent with her were
probably some the best times I had. It wasn’t anything special, but
we were together.

By Saturday I was ready
for the day to be over. I knew tonight was going to be hard seeing
her on the arm of someone else, but I just kept reminding myself I
was biding my time. They wouldn’t last. I headed over to the house
early so I could help set up for the party. Usually this was the
pledges’ job, but I needed something to distract myself. Plus I
needed to remind the pledges to not act like fucking assholes. When
all was
said and done I had about an hour
before the party started. I headed home and hopped in the shower,
taking my time so I wouldn’t be ready too early. If I had to sit
and wait I knew I would drive myself nuts thinking about Reece and
Alex. I would wonder what she was wearing and what they were doing
together and if he was going to take her out to eat first? I didn’t
need those thoughts clogging my head.

I told Colton I would drive tonight and I
was slowly regretting it. He was taking forever to get ready. I
never understood how it took him so long. I really wanted a fucking
beer right now, but I thought it would be wise to hold off for a
bit. I stomped down the hall to his room and pounded on the door.
“Just tuck your shit in and let’s go already.”

“
Relax,” he yelled back.
“And you call me the pansy ass.” I kicked the door for emphasis and
walked away. Ten minutes later and he was finally ready.

“
I’m telling you now. If
this is how you’re going to be the rest of the night you might as
well just stay home.” I rolled my eyes. “Seriously Cas, she’s going
to be there with someone else. Can you handle that?”

“
Alex and I are friends.
Why would I care if she’s there with someone else?”

“
Really, you’re gonna play
this bullshit?” I crossed my arms in a standoff pose. “You are not
friends, at least not in your head. You can’t pretend you feel
nothing or it will eat at you. You need to make a choice and do it
now. Either you admit to her you want to be more than friends or
you give up and move on.”

“
Fine, I’ll tell her
tonight.” I grabbed my keys and headed to the door.

“
You’re gonna tell her
tonight?” he asked, skeptical.

I opened the door and gestured for him to go
first. “Yep, tonight.”

He shook his head and laughed. I stuck my
foot out when he walked through the door. He tripped and turned
around to glare at me. “Dick,” he mumbled under his breath. I was
suddenly in a better mood.

We had to pick up Declan on our way and I
was secretly hoping to get a glimpse of Alex, but apparently Reece
had already picked her up. I gripped the steering wheel tight
trying not to think about what they were doing. This was going to
be a long night.

There were only a handful
of people at the house when we arrived. I made a promise to myself
I wouldn’t drink a lot tonight. I wanted to be in the right state
of mind when I talked to Alex. Within the first hour I had shots
thrown at me, but I turned down every single one of them. My
brothers asked what was wrong with me. I informed them I was
driving and it wasn’t worth the risk
,
so they let me be. By ten I was on
my second beer and had turned down my third girl. Alex was still a
no show and I was beginning to worry. I grabbed Declan and asked
her where she was. “Reece took her out to dinner first. Why are you
being such a spaz?”

“
I’m not,” I spat. She
narrowed her eyes at me, not appreciating the attitude.

“
He’s going to tell Alex
tonight he likes her,” Colton told her. The look on Declan’s face
said she didn’t think that was such a great idea.

“
What?” I asked
her.

She bit her lip and then looked at Colton
before she turned back to me. “I just…I think you should leave her
alone. She’s really happy and she really likes Reece and I just
think if you say something now she’s going to turn you down. I know
this isn’t what you want to hear, but I think you should move on
from Alex.”