Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“Maybe I’m overreacting.”
“No way.” Jordan’s tone grows serious. “They played with your head. Those assholes should consider themselves lucky I haven’t murdered them for what they did to you. If you had let me, I would have issued a campus-wide warning to every girl not to talk to them.”
I roll my eyes at her. “I thought you were joking about that. It would be impossible to do that on a campus of this size.”
She leans back in her chair and laughs. “You underestimate our power. With your sisters’ help, the twins would spend their last semester without sex.”
“It’s hard, you know. I don’t know what to do. At some point, I will have to confront Trent.”
“You’ve spent weeks avoiding him. So far, so good, right?”
“We’ll cross paths at the charity auction. There’s no way around it.”
She scrunches her nose as if thinking. A beat passes between us, and she says, “Do you want to be with him?”
“Yes,” I admit. “But I’m still so confused.”
“You kissed Trent at the kissing booth, right?” I nod, and she continues, “He’s also the one you had sex with. And the one who asked you on a date.” She bites the inside of her cheek, mulling it over. “I want what’s best for you.”
“You didn’t think Corey was good for me either.”
“Corey is a good man, but he isn’t going anywhere. He’s a good friend, a hard worker, and a nice guy. It’s just…”
“He’s not the one.”
“I suppose one good thing came from the twins’ incident,” Jordan says.
“Yeah. How was that a good thing?”
“It helped you decide about Corey.”
“That’s true.” I cover her hand with mine, holding it against the table. “Thanks for this. You helped me more than you know.”
She flashes a bright smile. “Good. Let’s get back to work before our sisters notice we’re gone. Abby will have a stroke if she thinks we’re dodging our duties.”
I return her smile, feeling less stressed than before, though still somewhat confused and frustrated about my feelings for Trent.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jemma
Crammed with several hundred people, the auditorium comes alive with excitement. Girls crowd the front rows of the room, holding bidding paddles in their hands. According to Jordan, this event raises the most money for charity all year at Strickland University. Everyone is in attendance, even Dean Whittaker and the heads of the departments.
The auction is going according to plan, with all the guys on the ice hockey team settling in with the girls who paid for a date with them. Trent is the last one up for bid. They announce his name before he strolls onto the stage, his head held high and confident.
It kills me to think of him with another girl on his arm. The auction starts at a measly twenty-five dollars, yet not a single hand rises. What the hell is going on right now? No one is bidding on Trent, of all people. I expected hands to fly in the air as they did for Tucker and the rest of his teammates.
This is bizarre.
Trent stands on stage next to the podium, a confused expression crossing his face as he stares at the crowd. He holds the same smile he’s donned since he stepped onto the stage, pretending he’s not bothered. Though, it’s easy to see the confusion on his face.
I don’t blame him.
I’m equally confused about why no one has bid on him yet. I was sure paddles would fly in the air with girls fighting over who would win a date with him. And yet, not a single paddle has lifted. Not one girl in the crowd seems the least bit interested.
I look over at Jordan. She covers her mouth with her hand and whispers into Abby’s ear. They lean against the wall and laugh. Did they have a hand in this? Was this part of some evil plan they concocted to get back at Trent?
Anger seethes through me at the thought of my sister sabotaging this event on purpose. She wouldn’t, would she? This day means too much to our sorority, too important to place a stupid vendetta ahead of our core mission. The twins pissed off Jordan, but they don’t deserve this humiliation.
“We’ll start the bid at twenty-five dollars,” Bella, a senior in my sorority, repeats the exact words she had muttered several times before with no reaction. “Do I have twenty-five dollars?”
Again, girls turn their heads away, uninterested. Their paddles are on their laps, their backs arched against the chairs. Of all the women in this room, no one wants a date with Trent.
I want the date he owes me.
So, I do something I hadn’t planned, hoping I don’t regret my decision to save him. A brunette in the chair closest to me rests her paddle on her knee, so I swipe it in one fell swoop and raise my hand high enough for Bella to acknowledge me.