Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Find Owen. Find the shit-faced bastard and make him wet himself twice.
I went into the living room, and got caught up checking the place out. I didn’t have much experience with frat houses, but none of the ones I saw on television had expensive hardwood floors, chandeliers, Persian rugs, a mounted big screen longer than my body, or a spiral staircase leading into the living room from a loft.
Photos of handsome, smiling men circled the walls, gazing down with approval at the scantily dressed partiers. A deejay set up in the corner—professional setup and everything. Weaving through the crowd, guys dressed in heavy-duty trash bags offered their trays loaded down with shots. One of them came up to me.
Floppy, curly hair hung over his green eyes. Even in a trash bag he was cute. “Silver bullet?”
“Oh no, thanks,” I shouted over the music. “What’s the deal with the servers? Are you guys pledges?”
He scowled. “No, he’s a pledge,” the guy snapped, pointing at another trash bag-wearer. “I’m a brother. But that doesn’t matter if you’re a Dreg.”
“Oops. Sorry,” I said, but he was already walking off.
I shook my head at the whole mess. Owen wasn’t even in the frat, but he could come in here, throw a party, and force the actual brothers to walk around in a garbage bag serving drinks.
No wonder the guy didn’t think the rules applied to him. Everywhere he went, he made the rules up for himself.
Pushing through, I headed for the kitchen. Everleigh, Saylor, Gabriella, Piper, and Katie lined up at the counter, pouring cocktails from the endless supply of alcohol. I brushed up behind them, rounding the beer pong game.
“—totally disappeared on us this summer,” Piper said. “We texted you to come to the beach house for the back-to-school party.”
Another back-to-school party? How many times did these people need to celebrate being young, pretty, and rich?
“Blew us off,” Saylor said. She didn’t need to shout over the music. Her prim, imposing voice was heard by anyone she deigned to talk to. “We were starting to think you were too good to hang out with us.”
“I am too good to hang out with you guys.”
I stifled a sigh. Katie was a peach to everyone she knew. I didn’t know if that made me feel better or not.
“But that wasn’t the reason this time,” Katie continued. “My dad’s been keeping me super busy with the internship. Says I had to work, take college seriously, blah, blah, blah if I want my outrageously generous stipend to stay outrageous.”
“Harsh,” Everleigh said. “I don’t know why our folks waste our time with that bullshit. When one person catches you in last season’s Caddell and the rumors start spreading the Langfords are broke, they’ll dump all the money you want in your account.”
“Seriously,” Katie said.
“That’s it?” Saylor pressed. “You were MIA because of the internship?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it? Oh, there’s also a new guy that I’ve been screwing. Love you ladies, but you don’t beat orgasms.”
“You’re so crude,” Piper replied, amused.
Saylor didn’t let it go. “Internship and new guy. Sucky reasons to blow off your best friends, but at least it’s not because of that Bowden girl.”
I stopped dead.
“Yeah,” Gabriella chimed in. “You were so pissed after she went and drowned herself. Yelling and going on about the way we treated her.”
Blood soaked the tips of my nails as they pierced my palms.
“All those things you called us,” Saylor said, mimicking something that was supposed to be distress. “You were super mean, Katie. You called us bullies.”
I stood rigid, gaze fixed on a guy knocking back beer that had a dirty ball in it without seeing him.
“No,” Katie said lightly. “I called you vicious, harpy cunts who’d become sociopathic serial killers if stalking and murder didn’t cut so much into your shopping time. You know, if we’re being specific.”
A tense silence spread through the group, permeating my soul. Katie said all of that? She told off her best friends in defense of my sister?
Saylor burst out laughing. “Can’t even be mad. We are vicious. Why pretend otherwise? But you’re wrong about the serial killer thing. It’s not because of shopping that we don’t bother. It’s because we’re rich, boo. We’ve got people to take care of that for us.
“Let’s go. I saw Dylan go upstairs.”
A hard shove propelled me into a guy’s back. “Ugh, get out of the way,” Saylor snapped.
I held still, keeping my head low as they passed. It wasn’t just Katie, and it wasn’t only my sister. Saylor didn’t know the person she tossed aside wasn’t a Royal, so she truly was that heinous to everyone.
Vicious, harpy cunt was putting it lightly.
With them upstairs in search of Dylan, I moved free through the party, looking for Owen. I did two laps, looking hard at every guy in a mask. I didn’t see him in the front yard, in the backyard by the pool, or inside dancing with the girls who heard “anything but clothes” and decided to wear nothing at all.