Rebound (Pro-U Book 3) (3 page)

Chapter 4

Natasha

"Can you believe the leaves are starting to turn already? It's too early." Emily dipped a French fry in her ketchup and glanced up at me and Clara Russell.

"The weather has a mind of its own." I lifted my hands to the ceiling and bent over a little each way, stretching out my back. Emily turned as if looking for someone.

"My chemistry teacher has a mind of his own too. I swear he grades on a curve no matter what. How is anyone supposed to learn anything that way?" Disgust swept across Clara's pretty face as she scowled.

"What do you care? You're probably the reason the curve is steeper." I smirked. She was a brain and a half and by far the most proper girl I'd ever met. My mother would love her. She belonged in a ballet class and not swimming her guts out in an Olympic pool, but like me, she fought against society’s expectations and did what she loved.

"This is true." She shrugged as Emily turned back around.

"Aubrey was going to meet us for lunch." She let out a short sigh. "I'm worried about her."

"Why? I saw her yesterday running on the track. She looked great and seemed to be in a good mood." I reached over and snagged a French fry off Emily's plate. The school cafeteria wasn't the best place to grab a bite to eat, but with everyone rushing off to their next class, it would have to do.

"Yeah, but she misses Lucas. Can you blame her?" Emily pushed her plate toward me. "If Jacob left for a year, I'd have to think about going with him."

"You guys just started dating." Clara glanced over at Em. "Don't you think it's a little too soon to be talking about marriage and babies?"

Emily chuckled softly. "I've been falling in love with Jacob Wright since freshman year. If he wants marriage and babies, I'm totally in for the ride."

"Oh Lord." I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Let's just graduate college first and then we can start hanging up plastic silver bells and buying bird seed, all right?"

"I seriously haven't met anyone here that would even remotely cause me to think about settling down." Clara glanced around as her scowl appeared again. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and her regal features combined with her perfect posture gave off the best
bitch
look I could imagine possible.

"What about that hot new Italian guy on the swim team. What's his name?" I glanced over at Emily. "He's got dark hair and big chest muscles." I lowered my voice and tucked my chin, trying to sound manly.

Clara's lip lifted a little, but she seemed to catch herself and pulled it back down in the nick of time. "His name is Dillon Coleman and he's an idiot."

"Come on, now." Emily picked up her Coke and took a quick drink. "He's not an idiot. I met him the other day. He's a new transfer that joined the house recently. He and Micah seemed to hit it off. I can assure you that Micah wouldn't hang out with an idiot."

"Why is it that the conversation always turns to Micah?" I ate another fry and tried to ignore the butterflies dancing in my stomach. As long as they stayed there and left my heart and hormones alone, I was good.

"Micah is a great guy, but he's just being nice. I'm telling you... Dillon is an idiot. I heard the coach berating him the other day over the grades he transferred into Providence. He's not going to be on the team long if he can't pass his classes. It's really that simple."

"They'll put him in tutoring and give him a few more warnings. It's not that strict, Clara." Emily gave us both a questioning look.

"It's pretty serious." I added my two cents. "But, they will give him every opportunity to get his grades up. Maybe he just needs a little bit of help from the right girl."

I nudged Clara only to have her turn her scowl onto me.

"Not happening. Boys are a torrential waste of time. I have a teddy bear, a tub of chocolate, you guys and a great vibrator that never seems to run out of batteries."

I almost spit my food from my mouth. Never in the two years of knowing Clara had I heard her talk about anything sexual.

"I'll need the name brand, please." Aubrey sat down next to us and seemed to force a smile. "Too much?"

Clara laughed. "Nope. I'm happy to share. The brand. Just the brand."

"Ugh." I brushed my hand down my face. "You guys are gross."

"I don't need one." Emily danced around in her seat. "My boy is more than ready to-"

"Thank you." I lifted my hand. "No details needed."

"I'd love details." Aubrey pressed her elbows to the table and cupped her face as she leaned toward Emily. The dark-haired dancer was one of my mother's favorite students, which left me unsure how I felt about her. Outside of the awkwardness of her loving my mother to death and me hating the old bat, Aubrey was cool. Her boyfriend Lucas White was the All-American favorite on campus, or was before he graduated in the spring. The Washington Capitals swept him up before he could blink twice. It was a dream come true as far as most of us were concerned, but by the dark circles under Aubrey's eyes, I'd say she didn't agree with our assessment.

"Let's grab a candy bar or a brownie and I'll share." Emily got up and winked at me, saving me from the details of her love life. I didn't have one, and hearing about someone else's was fine - to an extent.

"Are you getting excited about Midnight Madness?" Clara reached up and started to fidget with her hair.

"Yeah. I love this time of year." I pushed the fries away. "Coach said I need to get into the weight room a little more, but I guess that's just part of being the strongest player I can."

"I'll go with you. I need to work on my arms and stomach." She glanced down as I scoffed.

"You're perfect. Why do you need to work on anything?"

"Same as you, I guess. Coach said I need to push a little harder to beat some of the competition this year. Losing isn't an option, so I'll be changing my diet up a little and hitting the weight room. Let's go together though. I wish they had one just for women."

"Why? I like having all those sweaty hot guys pumping iron around me."

"Ugh. Gross. I hate the way they stare. Stupid Neanderthals."

"You're never going to find a man here unless you go to the accounting building. They have guys in suits with pocket protectors and stuff."

She tilted her head and gave me a look that made me laugh. I was grateful for her keeping me and Emily balanced for the last few years. It was an odd friendship, but it worked for us.

"I like big sweaty idiots too, but I want a nice guy to go with the aggressive bedroom behavior."

"Aggressive bedroom behavior?" I let out a loud laugh. "That's fucking hilarious."

"What?" She brushed her hand over the top of her head. "It could happen."

"True. Maybe you need to ask Emily about Micah Sanders. He's a nice guy from what everyone says, but he's VP of the Omegas. The guy has to have a wild side that he only shows off to his friends."

I took a drink of my Coke and tried to act nonchalant about it.

"Please. I've seen the way he watches you. Don't even try and set me up with someone you're interested in. I'm not falling for your tricks." She dropped her hands into her lap and gave me a warm smile. "Ask him out. Stop messing around. You're the ballsiest girl I know."

"I'll second that." Emily dropped down and smirked. "He's going to ask you out though."

"How do you know who we're talking about?" I crossed my arms over my chest as Aubrey sat down to my left.

"Micah, right?" Emily glanced over at Clara. "It's always Micah."

"It is not!" I protested weakly before turning to Aubrey. "Save me. What's going on in your world?"

"You don't wanna know." She reached out and squeezed my hand. "You've been on my mind the whole time though."

"What? Why?" I kept my hand on the table under hers, though my first response would have been to jerk it back. Being close to anyone made my skin crawl. Product of my raising.

"Because of your mom being out for a few weeks. I wanna know what's going on, but I realize it's a private matter. Just know that I'm here for you or her if you guys need me." She squeezed my hand one more time and released me.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. If this isn't the prettiest table of women on campus, I'm not sure which would be." Jacob walked up and wrapped his arms around Emily, leaning down to press his lips to the top of her head.

My heart almost stopped in my chest as I glanced around, looking for Micah.

Jayce moved up behind Aubrey and gripped her shoulders. "What's up, sis? You guys save us anything?"

"Nope. We ate it all." Clara got up and gathered her stuff. "I'll check in with you guys after a while. I have a chemistry test coming up and there's no way I'm going to pass it."

"Liar." I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone, checking to see if my mother had left another message. I hadn't spoken to her in two months, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but guilt coated my insides. What did she need the last time she texted? Why hadn't I responded? Surely if it were serious she would have pushed the issue of me coming by to see her. Right?

Fuck.

"I'm pretty good at science. I can help," Aubrey offered.

"I might take you up on it." Clara waved and walked off.

"I'll be right back. I need to get a piece of fruit or something. You guys want anything?" I moved away from the table, but paused, hoping no one would need anything. No one did.

"We're going to the football game next time they have a home game. You need to come with us." Jayce lifted his eyebrow as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I thought we were protesting the football games because of Brody." I glanced over at Emily.

"Nope. He's an asshole, and I'm done with him." She shrugged. "I think we should go to all the events if we're able to. It's a great way for you guys to hang out together without having to spend money."

"I'm down." Jacob sat down next to her. "Besides, we have Brody's little brother at Omega now. The kid is nothing like his asshole brother."

"Is he a freshman?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah. His name is Talon." Jacob glanced up toward Jayce. "We just need Mr. All-Around sports guy to join us."

"It's just hockey and baseball. No biggie." Jayce's cheeks colored, leaving him close to adorable.

"Are you really going to do both?" Emily asked as I turned and walked back toward the cafeteria line. I'd be there all day listening to their round-robin conversation style if I let myself. I had a good group of friends. Now to force myself to open up a little more to them and get to know them better.

I pulled out my phone and called my mom only to have the call go to voice-mail. I went for a text instead.

Me: Hey. Aubrey said you've been out for two weeks. What's going on? Cold or something?

Mom: I'm fine.

Me: You sure?

Mom: Yes.

I stared at the phone for a few more minutes before letting out a long sigh and tucking it into my back pocket. If she didn't want to talk about it, I sure as hell wasn't going to force her to. If she needed me, she knew where to find me.

The guilt and worry would subside. Time and distance would take care of that. At least it had for most of my life growing up under her staunch disapproval.

Nothing was good enough for my mother. Least of all me.

Chapter 5

Micah

"They found what? When? Ugh. What the fuck?" Jacob paced the floor in front of the refrigerator as I sat at the kitchen table. "Why does this shit keep happening? I swear to God I'm going to strangle whoever the fuck keeps setting us up. Mark my words."

"Right, and your anger is going to cause us to have to shut the doors. The reason you didn't get all the details yesterday at the police station is because your happy ass was escorted out. You can't keep blowing up at everyone." I brushed my fingers down my face. "We'll figure this out, but our best bet is to let the cops do whatever they need to do in order to wrap up their investigations. We know that someone called them to come search the house, and whoever did that shit planted the paraphernalia."

"But why not plant the weed?" He stopped and put his hands on his hips. "This makes
no
sense to me."

"Because they're just fucking with us, Jacob." I stood up and walked to the fridge to pull out a beer. "Are we still planning on having the party tonight?"

"Yes. Until they shut the fucking door and slam my dick in it, we're going to live like any Omega brother should. Freely." He barked the last word and walked out of the kitchen.

I was used to his antics, and understood his aggravation more than he realized, but there was no telling him anything. He was in a mood, and something told me until we figured out what the hell was up with Layla, he would stay that way. I didn't know the girl well enough to ask her about whatever was happening in her life, and I didn't know her best friend Aubrey much better, but Em did. Maybe there was a way I could get Emily to look into it for all of us. I was surprised that Jacob hadn't asked Emily for help, but maybe there was a reason for that. It could be that he didn't want his girlfriend thinking he cared for another woman too much. A really hot woman.

I smiled at the thought of Layla and popped the top off my beer. Where she was a beautiful girl with shapely legs and dark blond hair that brushed by her shoulders, she wasn't Tasha. I wasn't sure why, but every girl had been compared to Tasha by me since seeing her tear up the basketball courts my freshman year. She was a sophomore and was already the starting point guard for the Lady Friars. The way she carried herself combined with how petite and shapely she was left me panting, my cock hard and heart racing. I hated the power she had over me, namely because she didn't even know to use it. That was my fault.

Emily. Em could help me with Natasha too. I'd played it cool around my closest gal-pal, but the truth be told, she was more than willing and able to help me score a date with Tasha. I needed to cash in on the conversation and move things along.

I texted her before I could lose my nerve and told her to bring Tasha with her to the party that night. She texted back immediately that she would, which caused my stomach to turn and nerves to fray.

"Shit. I'm such a freaking pussy," I mumbled and walked into the living room as I bumped into Darren, a big ugly-ass sophomore that gave Jacob more hell than any of the other guys.

"You said it, Bro." He snorted. "You always talk to yourself?"

"I tried talking to your mom, but she can't talk around my cock when it's lodged in her throat. Sad stuff, right?" I lifted my free hand and shrugged. "Good talk."

"Asshole. I'll fuck you up for talking-" Darren started as I walked languidly toward the backyard.

"You'll shut up and sit down, bitch, or I'll put you out with nothing more than a roll of toilet paper to keep your big ass warm at night. Back up," Jacob barked, and everything went silent.

I ignored all of it and walked out to the backyard as some of the other frat brothers worked to get things ready for another hellacious night.

"Hey, buddy. Just the man I needed to see." Dillon walked toward me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I've been thinking about your offer, and I'm down. You help me pass Economics and I'll start picking up shit around the house."

"Great. Consider it a partnership." I took one more drink of my beer before sitting down at one of the picnic tables. "It starts tonight. You're in charge of getting all of the beer and weed out of the house by six tomorrow morning."

"Deal." He nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Some of the guys said that Jacob was going to start looking into all of our shit. I guess he thinks someone in the house is fucking with him?"

"He knows someone is. We just visited with the campus police yesterday. Someone is setting us up."

"And you really think it's someone
in
the house? How stupid would that be?"

"Very stupid, but yeah. We do. Things keep happening and it couldn't be someone out of the house. It's an insider for sure." I set my beer down and readjusted the dressing on my hand. "You know anything about it?"

"Hell no. You know I ain't got no loyalties here. I just got here." He snorted. "I would say it's that Darren fucker if I had to guess, but maybe not. He's loud and always getting up into everyone’s shit. Maybe I should lay a turd in his bed. That might teach him a lesson."

"Snapchat that shit if you do. I'd like to have a picture of him waking up beside it." I snorted. "Looks like the party is starting early."

Some of the cheerleaders and hockey players walked out the back door of the house, lifting their hands in the air and shouting a victory cry.

I laughed and got back up. "Just help us keep an eye on things tonight. It gets wild and people get stupid fast."

"Will do, boss." He nodded and walked off toward the crowd.

"That's usually my line." I smiled and finished off my beer. The night was going to be long and arduous unless Tasha showed up. "Here's for hoping."

*

The smell of weed seemed to be everywhere, which was part of the party scene every Friday night, but fuck if I didn't hate it. I waved my hand in front of my face as I walked through the kitchen to the living room to check on everyone.

A pretty Hispanic girl I'd seen a few times was laying on her side in the middle of the floor, her dress hiked up over her ass, showing anyone and everyone her goods.

"Damn," I mumbled and squatted beside her. "Hey there. You all right?"

"Mmmm... you're so hot. You're the good boy, right?" She hiccupped and rolled onto her back, running her hands down over her stomach to her legs.

"That's me." I reached down and grabbed her hands as she started pulling her skirt up over her thighs.

"Wanna be bad just tonight? Hmmm?"

"Absolutely." I stood up and helped her up before tossing her over my shoulder. She was wobbly on her feet and there was no way in hell she had put herself in a good position being in the Omega House with thirty horny idiots looking the way she did.

"I like your butt. It's so squishy." She giggled as she played with my ass the whole time I was carrying her upstairs. "Are you a virgin?"

"Yep. You want my V-card tonight?" I kept her talking just to make sure she remembered where she was when she woke up. I hated the thought of her barfing in my room, but that was the least of my worries. I pushed the door open and laid her down on my bed as she reached for me.

"Come here and fuck me." She pulled at my shirt, looking like sin incarnate laying in my white silk sheets.

"Let me grab a condom and I'll be back." I pulled her hands from me carefully and covered her up. "What were you drinking, baby?"

"The red punch." She rolled on her side and giggled loudly. "Hurraaaaaa. I'm tired."

"Be right back." I locked the door from the inside and slipped out into the hallway. Someone had spiked the fucking punch again. I walked down to the living room and grabbed the cooler full of it. Several people yelled as if in agony when I dumped the whole fucking thing in the backyard.

"Whoever keeps spiking the punch... fuck you too." I chucked the cooler toward the yard and walked back into the house, frustrated as shit. It was a date rape drug and Jacob might not get the chance to fuck up the bastard that kept using it at our house. I might do it before he could. It was a dangerous game he was playing.

"Cameras," I mumbled and glanced up to see Tasha and Emily walk through the front door. My cock twitched in my jeans at the sight of her. The short white shorts she had on combined with her light blue top left her breasts front and center and her slender waist the epicenter of my gaze. Where there was no way I would ever take advantage of the pretty woman in my bed upstairs, the one standing by the door felt like fair game.

"Hey ladies. Don't drink anything that you don't open." I stopped in front of Emily and gave her a quick hug as she moved into my arms. "Tasha. How are you?"

"I'm good." She glanced around and let out a soft sigh. "I have no clue what I'm doing here, but whatever."

"You look amazing." I kept my eyes on her pretty face. No need to act like the animal I felt like every time I saw her. She didn't seem the kind of woman that would appreciate that shit.

"I don't want anything to drink." Teri's voice caught my attention and I turned to find her and Geoff talking just beside us.

"I meant water, baby." He pulled her close and brushed her hair back.

Her belly was big and round with their baby, and where the thought of getting someone pregnant I wasn't married to scared the shit out of me, there was another part of me that was ready to move past all the college bullshit and get into a long-term relationship. I wanted the things that were hopefully soon to come more than I wanted what we had now. Booze, tits and sports were great for my friends, but I was growing weary of all of it far too fast.

"Can you believe that? Seven months pregnant and they’re still together. There's no way I would stay with that whore." Darren snorted and pushed past me as I turned toward Tasha.

She scowled and walked toward the living room. "Jeez. What a fucking asshole."

"Which one?" I moved up behind her and stopped by the fridge, pulling out two beers and offering her one of them.

"That big jerk that almost ran us over." She glanced down at the beer, causing her short blond hair to cascade around her face. I couldn't seem to stop staring at her little button nose, her perfect pink lips. My body woke up in ways it hadn't since high school when I realized girls were more than happy to spread their legs for just about anyone. I'd pulled myself out of the depravity as quickly as possible, but it would seem my hormones had a different view of things.

"Yeah. Everyone hates that guy." I nodded toward the beer. "You want something besides Budweiser?"

"Got anything that's lite?"

"Absolutely." I turned and pulled one out of the fridge. "It's the last one in the fridge, and they're Jacob’s. I'll take the heat and let you have it under one condition.”

"Are you bargaining with me, Micah Sanders?" The smile playing with the side of her mouth had my heart skipping a beat. Fuck, she was pretty.

"Yep. Want the beer?"

"Yes." She reached for it and I pulled back, but pressed my injured hand against her hip and pulled her a little closer.

"Come dance with me. Just one dance."

"Just a friendly dance. You're supposed to be the good guy in this house." She plucked the beer from me and turned, walking back toward the living room where the music was.

My eyes moved down the thick curve of her rear to her shapely legs. The woman had the most beautiful legs I'd ever laid eyes on. I couldn't stop thinking about how good it would feel to run my hands and lips over them before wrapping them around me.

"Stop it. What the fuck has gotten into you." I shook my head and glanced down at my beer, wondering if I was at my limit. I needed to be careful. Even good guys melted into a pile of hormones with enough liquor. I usually tried to avoid that shit at all costs.

I moved into the living room and set my beer down before pulling her closer to me. I left a little bit of space, but knew I was in trouble. How many beers had I had? Four? Five?

"You smell good." I leaned down and brushed my nose by her ear. "And look even better."

"Just friends, mister." She put her hands in the center of my chest and pushed a little.

Darren barreled past me, laughing loudly as he took the stairs up toward the bedrooms two at a time. Something inside my stomach soured.

"Absolutely. Just a minute, all right?" I released Tasha and turned, half stumbling myself up the stairs. My bedroom door was open from what I could tell, and the sound of Darren laughing filled up the hallway. "You better not be in my-"

I stopped beside the open door to see the big bastard dry humping the poor girl in my bed and red bled out my vision. I didn't come to until Jacob was pulling me off of Darren.

"Come on buddy. Get up. It's all right." Jacob patted my chest and grabbed Darren by his shirt, muscling him out into the hallway.

It was him. It had to be that fucker.

"You all right, man?" I glanced up to find Dillon standing in my open door.

"I think so. Let's go talk to Jacob. I think you're right about Darren. We need proof, but I think I might have an idea of how to get it." I got up, huffing and puffing as I made my way back downstairs. I made sure to look for Tasha, and much to my disappointment, she wasn't in the house anymore. "Fucking figures."