6. Kennedy

I’m soexcited that you’re going to the bar crawl with us, Kennedy,” Pepper squeals, and every muscle in my body clenches from the grating sound of her peppy voice.

It’s a sad day when the only person I can hang out with is a campus student ambassador I met on Final Decision Day. This is exactly why I wanted to stay in a dorm instead of in the off-campus apartment my parents rented for me. It will be so much harder for me to make friends living there, although admittedly, I’m not the easiest person to get to know.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,”? I say with as much genuine emotion as I can muster.

“Of course! The crawl is a school tradition at the beginning of every year and an essential VCU rite of passage. There’s no way I would let you stay at home and miss it.”

“I believe you.” I fake a smile of gratitude.

I look at myself in Pepper’s floor-length door mirror and wonder what it would take to convince my mom to buy me a boob job. I look like Peter Pan in this dress.

“I should have brought a jacket.”

“Are you kidding? You look badass in that dress and there’s no checking coats at a bar crawl.”

“But I’m freezing. I thought it was hot here.”

“Yeah, Vegas weather is tricky. You think it’s going to be hot all day but then the temperature drops at night, but trust me, where we’re going you won’t need a jacket. We’ll meet up with a few of my floor mates at our first stop, The Pike, and just let me warn you now, it’s going to be packed with a lot of jocks.”?

“By the tone of your voice, I take it they’re not your favorite people?”

“Some of them are nice to look at, but they’re sloppy drunks.”

“Isn’t that the point of a bar crawl?” I snicker. “To get drunk?”?

“Yeah, but they’re bad drunks, and by the end of the night, I guarantee you that most of them will end up in a fight, especially if the new guys are there.”

“The new guys?”

“Our new hockey team. They’re a bunch of freshmen all insanely gorgeous and supposedly very talented. You’ll see when we get there. You’ll know exactly who they are.”

* * *

Pepper wasn’t kidding.

If this is what the rest of our night is going to look like, I’m not going to make it through the entire crawl.

The Pike is packed with college kids who are double-fisting tall glasses of beer and liquor shots. The music is so loud that my eardrums are vibrating and it’s so hot in here that I’ll need to whip out my stretchy hair tie and pull my hair up into a high pony relatively soon.

“It’s wild in here isn’t it?” Pepper asks laughing, shoving us against other sweaty bodies so we can push ourselves closer to the bar.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Damn.” She checks her cell phone. “Minka is outside. She’s having trouble getting in.”

“Why?”

“Because Minka looks about thirteen years old on a good day. The poor thing always gets carded. I’m going to have to go talk to the security guy at the front to get her in.”

“Okay, I’ll try to make my way to the bar. Maybe by the time you get back, I’ll have made some progress.”

“Cool, just order us a round of tequila shots,”? she orders as she flips her long blonde hair and heads to the door.

Pepper acts nothing like she did when my father and I first met her during the summer. Instead of the sweet, all-American, good-girl image she portrayed, she actually has more of a wild, bossy, blonde thing going on.

Naturally, she doesn’t leave me any money to buy the shots but it’s whatever. Fortunately, my father gave me an in-case-of-emergency credit card to use. I’ll just run a tab and deal with him admonishing me about the balance later. I don’t think paying for drinks at a Vegas bar crawl is what he had in mind when he gave it to me.

Three bartenders are moving at the speed of light, taking orders and pouring drinks, but when I raise my arm to try and get someone’s attention, nobody even gives me a second glance. I guess I need to get closer to one of them or hike up my dress.

When I suddenly become squished by two burly-looking guys looking to maneuver in front of me and place their order first, I react, “Hey!”?

One of them grunts back at me and the other completely ignores me, already two sheets to the wind.

“The key is to push them back,”? a velvety deep voice says beside me, elbowing one of the guys with his right arm. “Then raise your hand with a twenty dollar bill in it. They will see you then. I’m convinced that bartenders can smell money.”?

When I pivot in the tight space to identify my champion, I become tongue-tied as I rake my gaze from his well-developed chest up to his mesmerizing eyes, one green and one brown. I”m too dumbfounded to immediately respond, my gaze held captive by the strange color combination sparking in his eyes.

“Dude!”? the guy he shoved protests, startling me out of my hot boy stupor.

“You were shoving my new friend here,” he retorts. “Wait your turn, asshat.”

“There’s no taking turns at The Pike.”

“There is now. Now what did you want to order?” hot boy asks me, actively ignoring their belligerence.

“Um, tequila shots, please,” I finally stutter, pulling out a crumpled twenty-dollar bill from my crossbody purse.

“How many shots do you want?”

“I think four should do it.”

“You’re going to drink four shots?” His mouth tilts one side up into a smirk.

“I’m here with some friends.”

“Ah, understood. Well, you’ll need more than that twenty to cover it.”

“I’ve got a credit card.” I reach inside my bag for my wallet, but he stops me by placing his hand gently on the inside of my wrist.

“It gets too wild in here to start a tab. The bartender holds onto the card, and you may never get to the bar again to close it out,” he tells me. “Put your card away. Your first round is on me, beautiful.”

My mother taught me not to accept favors, especially drinks from boys I don’t know but the fact that he’s waiting for a response, respecting my right to say yes or no to the offer, makes the offer that much more appealing.

“I appreciate it, although you really don’t have to do that.”

“Not a problem__.” He waits for me to tell him my name.

“Kennedy.”

“Hey Kennedy, I’m Shane.”

His lips curve into a satisfied smile as he casually leans on the bar counter, drawing the attention of an attractive female bartender with long black hair and a silver halter top. I’m a little annoyed at just how quickly he’s able to get her attention when I’ve been trying to place my order for the last ten minutes.

”Six tequila shots,” he orders on my behalf, holding up a hundred-dollar bill. I’m assuming the extra shots are for him.

His voice is smooth and rich, and he has an accent I can”t quite place. The bartender offers him a sexy smile in return, nods, and then fetches a bottle from a shelf on the wall behind her to pour our drinks.

“Seriously, thank you,” I manage to say as the shots are lined up before us.

I remember my mother’s warning again and try handing him my twenty-dollar bill to at least pay for some of the bill, but he refuses.

“It’ll be your treat next time,” he smiles, and my panties almost melt.

Next time.

“Nice, she gave us the top-shelf stuff,” he notices.

I bet she did, I think to myself. It’s obvious he has an effect on women. I wonder if he even realizes it.

My bar champion picks up two glasses and hands one to me. ”To new friends,” he says, holding his shot up for a toast.

”To new friends.” I clink my glass against his, and we knock back the liquor as the hum of chatter in the bar grows louder.

The shot burns its way down my throat, but it warms me even more to see a wicked grin light up his face.

God, he’s beautiful.

Insanely beautiful.

“I assume you”re new here?” he says, and it’s more of a statement than a question. His mismatched eyes scan my face intently.

“Yeah, I’m a freshman.”

”That makes two of us,” he replies with a grin. “Where are you from?”

“Philadelphia.”

“Philly, huh?” he replies animatedly. “I’m from South Jersey. What are the chances I’d meet a hometown girl all the way in Vegas?”

“Ah, that explains the accent.”

“I’ve got an accent?” he chuckles inquisitively.

“A little.”

“What dorm are you in?”

“I live off-campus in an apartment,” I say with a tinge of disappointment.

“That’s a sweet situation for a freshman,” he says in a reassuring tone, perhaps picking up on my disheartened one. “You don’t have to share a bathroom or deal with the strict visitation rules.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s another way of looking at it,” I agree, suddenly feeling upbeat.

“What don’t you like about it?”

“I just feel like I might miss out on stuff living off campus. Plus, I don’t think it’s helping me meet any new friends.”

“You have a friend now,” he offers, and I swallow silently as a blush crawls up the back of my neck.

“Who are the other shots for?” He scans the crowd, looking beyond me. “Are they coming back?”

“I’m here with a girl I met when I visited over the summer. I think they’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, okay.” His eyes seem to linger at the cleavage of my dress for a moment, then back to my face. “Have you declared a major yet?”

“No, but it’s going to be something in business.”

“Why business?”

“My dad owns a couple of pizza franchises and wants me to run them when he retires.”

“That’s cool. I love to hear about all that generational wealth and stuff.”

“Thanks, and what about you? Do you know what you want to do?”

Suddenly, there”s an uproar behind us, and his eyes dart toward the commotion. His jaw tightens as he watches a group of rowdy guys jostling each other around. By their large stature, it’s obvious they’re all athletes.

“I wonder if that’s the baseball or infamous hockey team I keep hearing about?” I chuckle, noting the matching black and gold hoodies they’re all wearing.

“The latter,” he replies with a sigh while running his fingers through his messy, dark hair. “Although I don’t think they deserve the bad reputation they’ve already been given.”

”Oh really?” I say skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure I saw some of them fighting on campus during Final Decision Day.”

”They’re not all bad, though.”

“I’m not sure the rest of the school would agree with you?” I scoff. “Must be friends of yours. Who are the exceptions on the team? ”

His eyes drift back towards me, and he grins, ”I”d like to think I”m one of them.”