Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Chase

Frat Rules #2: Roommates know best.

T he door opens and I look up from my phone. My hands have been wavering over the call button for hours. I click the screen off, thankful Matt's back early from studying. I could use the distraction. My mind is bruised up. I've been a mental punching bag to my guilt all night.

"Hey, man."

"Didn't expect you to be here," he says. "Did you call out sick tonight or cancel on your date?" He tosses his bag down and sits on his bed, taking off his shoes.

I should've. Honestly, I should have never asked the girl out in the first place. It didn't mean anything, but I still have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Even as just a friendly get-together with the girl, it still felt wrong.

"Stella and I went out to dinner, then I took her back to the sorority house."

"You worried about Ruby flipping a switch on you?"

My girl doesn't even know about tonight, because my chickenshit ass didn't have the heart to tell her. Every time I got the balls to say something, I couldn't get the words past my lips. After what she said about me not dating, I already knew how she was going to feel about it. And I didn't want her worrying about me falling for someone else.

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Fuck, man." I run my hands down my face. "I chickened out. I didn't want to make her nervous, Matt. You know how girls can get. I didn't want her worrying that I'm interested in someone else or looking. It's not worth losing her trust over a stupid dare when the date meant nothing. It was just two people grabbing some food together."

I could hear it in her voice the other night. She was so nervous. If I'd told her I was being forced to go on a stupid date, she would've begged me not to go. And that didn't feel like an option. Hunter's been breathing down my neck about it, so I went, not wanting to back down from his stupid dare. But with the way Matt's looking at me, I know it was a huge mistake.

"The date with Stella literally was us eating and talking about Greek life. After dinner, I took her home, and that was that. But now I feel like shit for going behind Ruby's back. I don't know whether to tell her or let it go and pretend it never happened."

I already know the answer to the question. I need to tell her. I need to beg for her forgiveness and reassure her that she has nothing to worry about.

"I think you should tell her."

"I know. I just need to figure out how and when." I need a few days for the dust from my nerves to settle and then I'll figure out how to slip it into our conversation. Make sure I don't make some dumb jock comment and fuck things up.

"If it makes you feel any better…" He sighs. "I royally fucked up tonight, too."

That's hard to believe. The guy couldn't hurt a fly. It's hard for me to believe he did anything wrong.

"What the fuck could you have done? You're a saint."

He drops his head back on his pillow, staring up at our dirty ceiling, which is covered in glow-in-the-dark stars from whatever frat brothers had this room before us. "I practically begged Sienna to fuck me, then I turned around and told her to fuck off."

"You slept with her?" I sit up, turning to face him. He is talking about the bitch from his school, right? The one he dreaded having to go on a double date with.

"No. I just put the moves on her. Then when she offered to go further, I told her it was never going to happen because she was a bitch in high school."

"Dude. What the hell?" I shake my head. That's a player's move right there. "Is Hunter rubbing off on you?"

"And the fucked-up thing is, Chase…" He turns his head, looking like his guilt is hitting him harder than mine. "In spite of how she behaved back in high school, I still like her."

Well, shit. I didn't see that coming.

"Okay, well, damn. Way to steal the show. You were more of a dick than me tonight. But you know what, Matt? People change. My Ruby was the shyest girl I'd ever met but look at her now." I smile at the thought of my girl who's no longer shy about anything. "She's come out of her shell and can dirty talk me into a fucking frenzy."

"Dude! Too much!" He waves his hand, shaking his head. I chuckle at his prudish ways. All the guys back home used to live for the juicy details. But Matt's virginal ears can't handle them.

"But I'm serious, man." My voice grows serious. "Now that she's out of that place, she could be different."

"Doesn't matter if she is." He looks back up at the ceiling. "Hunter still had her first, and she rejected his ass. There's no way he'd be okay with me dating her."

That sounds like a sorry excuse. I'm not sure what Matt sees in the girl, but if he really wants her, he should go after her.

"Are you really going to let Hunter stand in your way of love?"

His head turns to face me again. "Are you?"

He's right. I let Hunter back me up against the fucking wall, and then I went behind my girl's back. I'm the last one who should be giving him advice.

"Touché, dipshit," I state, looking up at the ceiling. But never again. Hunter can go fuck himself.