Authors: Alexis Lauren
"When you're ready to admit it, come find me." He release the grasp he had on her wrist and watched her walk away.
Just before she got to the door joining their rooms, Dusty came barging into the room, closing the door quickly. "There you are!" He yelled at her. "I've been looking for you all over. I have a little surprise for you."
Marlo groaned, she wasn't really in the mood for his games at that point, not after dealing with Tobias and his ego. "What now?"
"Cheer up buttercup. You'll like this." He promised. He went back to the door and opened it up.
Marlo saw a vision that was a sight for sore eyes. There stood a petite woman with bright red hair, pale skin with freckles, and crystal-clear green eyes. "Ryver?"
"Breze!" The little red-head yelled back.
The two girls ran to each other, laughing , and embraced. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?" Marlo asked.
"Your brother invited me to stay with you while you're here. He said you're never in one place for long, so this was the perfect opportunity to get together." Ryver, or Rachel, explained.
Marlo looked at her brother, so much joy in her eyes, and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered.
"You’re welcome." He hugged her tighter before releasing his sister.
"Come over here and sit down so we can catch up." Marlo said, dragging Rachel to Dusty's bed. "How have you been?"
Rachel's eyes wandered to the nearly naked man that was laying in the next bed, watching the two girls curiously. Marlo followed her eyes and groaned again.
"That's Tobias, Tobias this is my best friend and pledge sister, Rachel." Marlo introduced grudgingly.
"Nice to meet you." Rachel said with a wink of her eye.
"And you." He gave his patented smirk. "So, I'd love to hear some stories of the wild college days. How did you two meet?"
Marlo wasn't speaking up, so Rachel did. "Lola and I met at a sorority rush. We were both looking at all the sororities, and got to know each other going back and forth to all the rush parties. When we were both invited to pledge Zeta, we instantly clicked. We went through a semester of hell together, and even though we had other pledge sisters, we had this bond that no one else could match. We really leaned on each other through the whole thing, and after that, our friendship was cemented."
"Ah, how nice." Tobias said with fake sentiment. "So, give me the dirt. I want to hear all about the little partier that we all know and love."
"Well, there was this one time that Lola…" Rachel started but couldn't finish because Marlo had her hand covering her mouth.
"Come on Rach, let's go to my room. I'm sure the guys want to get ready to go out." Marlo said, dragging her friend to the door.
"Are we going out too?" Rachel asked.
Marlo looked to her brother, wanting to go out, but was unsure of her safety. Dusty nodded his reassurance to her, effectively making up Marlo's mind. "Why the hell not. It'll be good to let off some steam." She glared at Tobias.
In return Tobias waved, his smile growing by the minute. "See you soon, lover."
Marlo flipped him off and disappeared through the door with Rachel.
"So, what's with him? He's kind of cute." Rachel asked about Tobias.
"Ugh, just a thorn in my ass." Marlo rolled her eyes.
"So, what's the man situation?" Rachel was always looking for a good time.
"Well, Sammy and AJ are really cool, both are available. Um, don't go near my brother, he's off limits, and Pierce is too…I think." Marlo gave her the info.
"What about Tobias?" She asked.
"What about him?" Marlo shrugged. It was the unofficial end to the conversation, even though it wasn't an actual answer. "So, we better get ready, the guys won't wait forever for us."
The girls talked about what had been happening since they saw each other last, and even though Marlo told Rachel some of what had happened when she was assaulted, she didn't give the full details. Marlo didn't know that there was no need to tell her everything, Dusty already had. Rachel didn't push for details, if Marlo wanted to talk, she would. If she didn't, that was alright with Rachel too, since it hurt even her to hear all of what happened. Even if Marlo didn't like Tobias, Rachel still thought he was ok in her book for saving her best friend.
Marlo took one final look in the mirror before deciding that she was ready. She wasn't trying to look perfect, she had no one to look perfect for. She sure wasn't searching for anyone either. Rachel appeared next to her, and Marlo took her outfit in. "Wow, if those aren't 'Fuck Me' shoes, then I don't know what are." Marlo laughed.
"Hey, just because you don't want to get any tonight doesn't mean that I don't either." Rachel laughed. They were so alike in many ways, but the main area they differed was the sex issue. Rachel couldn't get enough, while Marlo was content still being a virgin.
"Well, let's go find you a man then. Might I suggest Sammy?" Marlo asked formally. That way she felt less like a pimp.
"Lead the way." Rachel waved her hand and allowed Marlo to walk ahead of her.
The girls picked Dusty and Tobias up first, then went to get Sammy and AJ. Marlo couldn't help but notice how extra hot Tobias looked that night, as if he had actually put some effort into getting ready. Most of the time his sex appeal come from his nonchalance about looking good. Tonight was a different degree of sexiness all together. His black pants were neatly pressed, and his blue button down shirt was nice and crisp. He had the sleeves rolled up a couple of times, showing the black leather band around his wrist. The top two buttons of the shirt were open, giving a glimpse of the beginning of his pecs, along with the leather necklace tied tightly around his thick neck.
Marlo shook herself. She was concentrating too much on Tobias, he wasn't anything special. She took her brother's arm and hooked it with her own. AJ was on the other side of her, and she hooked her other arm with his. She felt like a star, with a handsome man on each side of her. So what if one was her brother, he was still a cutie.
Behind Marlo and her boys, Tobias and Sammy took Rachel's arms. Sammy was doing his best to impress the girl he had just met, but felt like he was falling in the shadow of Tobias.
At the club, they found a rather secluded table to sit at. It was an area for the in-betweens…not quite famous VIPs, but not common folk either. The drinks flowed freely, and everyone was feeling good not too far into the night. Marlo had pulled AJ to the dance floor, knowing that he had moves. She sang to the music as they shook their asses. Marlo hadn't had this much fun in a long time, and in the moment, she realized how much she missed it.
By the time they returned to the table, they were worn out and sweating. AJ hugged Marlo tightly, happy to have his dance partner back.
Marlo looked around and saw her brother talking and laughing with a girl that looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. Sammy was at another table a few feet away, talking to a group of guys, laughing and having a good time. Nowhere did she see Rachel or Tobias.
A sudden, sick feeling hit her at the pit of her stomach. She thought that she had given Rachel the impression to stay away from Tobias. Her eyes roamed over the bar, several times over, trying to find the two missing from the group.
AJ noticed her sudden anxiety, and mistook it for her being nervous around so many people. He reached over and began massaging her shoulder, trying to give her some reassurance. Marlo caught his eye and smiled, a little shakily.
"You want to get out of here?" AJ asked her.
"In a minute." She turned her head to continue looking for Rachel. She finally saw her parting the crowd, trying to make her way back to the table. A little relief came over Marlo, until she saw Tobias trailing behind Rachel, linked together at the hand.
When they got closer, Marlo notice that Rachel's lipstick was smeared, and Tobias was wearing it. Her hope had been crushed. Marlo pulled Rachel aside, wanting to find out what was going on, and what had happened with her and Sammy.
Marlo looked at the joy written on Rachel's face, and it hurt her. "What happened to Sammy?"
"Oh, yeah, he's not really my type." Rachel slurred, after a moment of careful thought.
"So you went for Tobias?" Marlo asked unbelievable. "What are you thinking?"
"Dude, he's hot!" Rachel giggled. She looked over at Tobias and waved, and he winked back, just before tossing a shot.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him!" Marlo was getting angry, and she had no idea why. Rachel was her best friend, but at that point, she had never hated her more.
The smile left Rachel's face. "No, you never said he was off limits. You only said Dusty and Pierce." Even though she was drunk, she still remembered the conversation and she was quite proud of that fact.
"Well I'm telling you now, he's off limits!" Marlo yelled at her. She could feel the blood rising to her face as the anger really set in. She didn't realize how loud she had yelled it, and had no idea that Tobias was close enough to hear her.
"Why is he off limits all of a sudden?" Rachel wanted to know.
Marlo got even more flustered. "I don't know, he just is."
"Well, it's too late. I'm really into him." Rachel argued.
"Rachel, all he's going to do is fuck you and leave you."
Rachel laughed at her friend and how naïve she could be. "I'm well aware of that. That's why I'm hanging out with him, it's the same thing I want."
"Forget it, I'm leaving. Thanks for visiting." Marlo was frustrated, not only with her friend, but with herself as well.
She went to get AJ, to see if he would take her back to the hotel, and when she looked back up, she saw Rachel and Tobias leaving the club together, hand in hand. Her and AJ went to say goodbye to Dusty and Sammy, then slowly walked back to the hotel.
AJ escorted Marlo to her door and hugged her goodnight. "It was great having you back again beautiful."
"Thanks Aj. For everything."
"Anytime." He waited for her to get into her room, then he went to his own.
Marlo looked around her empty hotel room. She wanted to throw something, to break something, but she wasn't quite sure why. Tobias hooked up all the time, why was tonight any different. If it wasn't Rachel, it would have been some other girl.
But it was Rachel! She was supposed to be her best friend. But it was Tobias! What did it really matter what he did or who he did it with? Marlo was so confused. She didn't know what was happening or where her feelings were headed.
She grabbed her pajamas and changed out of the club clothes that reeked of smoke. She washed the makeup from her face, and grabbed her nightly necessity, her ear plugs. Putting them in place, and shutting the world out, Marlo crawled into her bed and fell asleep.
*****
The next morning, the world looked a little brighter for Marlo. She knew that she had over-reacted the night before, but she still wasn't sure why. She was already showered and dressed when she heard a small knock on the door between the rooms.
She opened it to find her best friend, looking rough and ashamed. "Can I come in?"
"Of course." Marlo told her, trying to sound upbeat, but seeing her come from Tobias' room brought a sharp pain to her chest.
"Do you hate me?" Rachel asked.
"No." Marlo answered, but didn't offer anymore. The calm that she had felt earlier was shattered by seeing her disheveled friend.
"About last night…" Rachel started.
Marlo held her hand up. "I don't want to hear it. Please."
"But…"
"No, seriously, I don't want to hear it. Help yourself to the shower, I'm going downstairs for brunch." Marlo said, knowing her words must have sounded harsh, but she just couldn't handle hearing about Rachel's night with Tobias.
She left before another word could be said. She went downstairs to drown her sorrow in food. Not realizing how hungry she was, Marlo laughed when her stomach growled in the elevator.
She looked around the dining room where the brunch buffet was set up, grateful to see her brother and AJ eating already. She filled her plate, then zigzagged through the tables to meet up with the two very familiar faces.
"Wow, have you not eaten in the past week?" Dusty asked, looking at Marlo's plate.
"Leave me alone." She grumbled.
"Ok, what's wrong? You only eat like that when you're upset." Her brother was concerned.
"Nothing, I'm just hungry." Marlo plastered a fake smile on her face. She dug into her food, practically inhaling it. Before long, she was so full she could barely move, even though she still had half the food on her plate. "I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach."
"When you're ready to tell me what's wrong, let me know." Dusty stood up and kissed Marlo's head. He was such a good brother to her, she didn't know what she would have ever done without him.
Marlo was just getting up from the table when she felt a hand on her back. A deep voice whispered in her ear, "Nothing happened last night."
Marlo turned to look into Tobias' face. "What you do is your own business." She said coldly.
"I know that." He smirked. "But I'm telling you that nothing happened. I didn't touch her."
"Well yay for you." She bit back. She hated that smirk, she wanted to wipe it right off his face. He was so full of himself, like she actually cares what he did the night before. She started to walk away from the table, and nearly stumbled when she heard what he said next.
"You should be thanking me, I did it for you." He wasn't sure if he wanted her to hear that or not.
"I'm not even going to ask what you mean by that." She turned and said quickly before stalking out of the dining room.
She felt a little more calm as she went back up to her room, but wondering what Tobias had meant was nagging at her mind. She didn't know if what he had said was good or not. Why did he have to be so confusing, and so damn annoying?
Chapter 8
Marlo got back to her room to find Rachel packing her stuff. "Hi." She said softly as she walked into the room.