Palm South University: Season 2 Box Set Read online

  Still, I could have waited until I wasn’t shitfaced to talk to her about it.

  Maybe she caught feelings. Maybe she’s jealous seeing me with Shawna. I actually laugh out loud at that, knowing there’s no way in hell Erin would ever want to actually be with me. She’s got her eyes set on a doctor or a lawyer, I’m sure, and even that won’t be until after she’s reigned as president of KKB.

  A loud chorus of laughter from the other room shakes my thoughts and I grab my Gatorade, making my way toward the noise. Several of my brothers are gathered around my Little’s laptop, pointing and talking over each other. Josh is furiously typing and clicking away, almost like he’s playing a game.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  Half of them go sheet white and they all stop talking. Instantly, I know they’re up to no good.

  “Nothing. Just watching YouTube videos,” Josh lies. I know it’s a lie, I can see right through his blushing ginger cheeks, even if he did bake on the fake tanner this week. I narrow my eyes.

  “Do I need to remind you guys about the warning Alec hand-delivered to us before Spring Break? If any of you fuckers get us suspended, I’ll personally kick all of your asses.”

  One of the pledges gulps and Alex, a sophomore pledge who seems to be the leader of the new class, salutes me. “Aye aye, captain.” He’s a cocky son of a bitch, that’s for sure, but he’s the only reason we’re all in this swanky house for Spring Break, so I can’t exactly bitch at the moment.

  Everyone fights back laughter just as Shawna slides up next to me, pulling my arm around her shoulder. “Hey, you ready?”

  My eyes still hard on my brothers, I give them one last pointed look before turning and pulling Shawna with me. I don’t have time to deal with their bullshit today. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

  “So where are we going?” she asks when we’re outside. I pat down my pockets, checking to make sure I have my phone and wallet.

  “Anything but Smathers Beach.”

  She giggles, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and lacing her hand in mine. I’m so used to seeing her in her regular glasses it almost feels weird to see her in shades. I much prefer having full visibility of her green eyes. “Can we start with breakfast? I’m starving.”

  “Breakfast it is,” I oblige, kissing her hair as we walk.

  We don’t even look up anything on our phones, just stroll into the first brunch place we find, which just so happens to have unlimited mimosas until noon. And that’s how the rest of the day goes. We don’t plan, we don’t rush — we just take our time and enjoy a little of everything Key West has to offer. We rent bikes, riding them through the shaded streets between colorful houses and stopping at the major tourist spots, like Mile Marker 0 and the Southernmost Point. At sunset, we park our bikes by Mallory Square and find a place on the edge of the water right behind where a man dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow is collecting tips for photos.

  As the sun sinks over the water, musical performers serenading us as it does, I pull Shawna in closer, wrapping both arms around her middle and resting my chin on her shoulder. For once, I kind of just want to stay in tonight, take her back to the house, take her slow and steady between the sheets all night long. The crazy thing is that I’m not even scared of the way she makes me feel.

  “I’m not ready to go back to reality,” she says with a sigh, leaning her head back against me. I rub the smooth skin on her arms with my thumbs as the sky breaks out into a red glow. I feel the same way. When we go back, it’s tests and homework and social events. Family Weekend is right around the corner, which means I have to get everything figured out for my brother’s stay. But here, in Key West, we don’t have any responsibilities. We get to be who we want and do what we want, even if just for a week.

  “Stay with me in paradise for a little while longer,” I whisper into her ear, my nose in her hair. She smells like tequila and pineapples, my little island girl for at least a few more hours.

  Shawna twists in my arms, pulling off her sunglasses to look me in the eyes. We don’t say anything, but that one look between us tells me we’re both completely out of our element here.

  “Maybe we can bring paradise back with us.” A smile curls at the left side of her mouth and I slide my hand into her hair. She leans in, pressing her lips to mine just as the square breaks out in applause, the last of the sun sinking away.

  “ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT?” Jess calls out again, this time tossing the same pillows she just rummaged through on one side of the room to the other. “It’s Vera Bradley, Can–”

  “Canyon print, small backpack, with your name embroidered in yellow I know, Lei, and no, for the one-hundredth time, I haven’t seen it,” I cut her off. “Jesus, just chill. You can get another Vera bag.”

  She huffs, standing with her hands hooked on her hips, her hair in a crazy bun as she sweeps the corners of the room with her eyes. “It’s not the bag I’m worried about.”

  “Was your wallet in it?”

  “No.”

  “Your phone?”

  “No, it was just something important,” she says, frustrated, digging through Skyler’s bag now. I roll my eyes, still thumbing through social media on my phone.

  “God, if I didn’t know you better I’d say it was stashed with drug money.” I laugh, shaking my head.

  “Could you at least fucking pretend to help me find it?” she snaps, her eyes wild. “You’re just sitting there being a giant bitch, which usually I don’t mind, but for once in your life can you help me without making me feel like shit in the process?”

  “Excuse me?” I scoff, uncrossing my feet on the bed and sitting up straighter. “I am always there for you. If anything, you’re the one who always holds me at ten-foot-distance. So don’t take your period out on me because you can’t find a fucking backpack.”

  “Whatever, Jess.”

  “Yeah. Whatever,” I repeat, snatching my drink off the nightstand and walking my happy ass downstairs. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

  Everyone else is already on Duval Street, but I agreed to stay back with Ashlei so she could look for her bag without everyone being there. Now, I’m wishing I would have let her do it on her own. She’s already being dishonest about whatever is happening with Bo, and now I get the feeling she’s hiding something else. At this point, I’m tired of trying to step around the fact that she’s being secretive. She knows it, I know it, and I’m sure she can feel that I’m getting tired of it.

  Just as my foot hits the bottom step, my phone screen lights up with Jarrett’s number.

  “Come get me,” I answer and he chuckles.

  “Over it, are you?”

  “Beyond. What are you doing?”

  “I just got out of the shower, have to work at the bar tonight. But I was… thinking of you.”

  The way he says the words flips my stomach. “Were you now?”

  “Let’s just say I’m more than a little worked up at the moment,” he replies, his voice husky. “Are you alone?”

  Ashlei curses from upstairs and a loud clatter breaks out. Clearly we’re going to be here a while, might as well get my kicks.

  “Not right now, but I could be.”

  “Find a room. I’ll call you back.” Jarrett ends the call before I have the chance to ask why he needed to end it. Confused, I keep my phone in my hand and duck inside the small half-bathroom downstairs, flicking on the light and checking my appearance in the mirror. If I’m going to be sending him pictures, I definitely want to make them drool-worthy. Luckily, there are about a million makeup bags lined up on the counter, so I reapply my red lipstick and darken my lashes. As soon as I pop the lid back on Skyler’s mascara, my phone buzzes.

  This time, with a video chat request.

  Oh.

  “Hi,” I say as Jarrett’s blurry face slowly comes into view. I almost forgot how incredibly sexy he is. The only view I have is of the top of his shoulders, covered with tats, and his heart-stoppi
ng, demanding dark eyes. He’s still in his bathroom, the mirror fogged up behind him and small beads of water from his shower gathered on his neck.

  “Goddamn, I miss you,” he breathes, his eyes searching mine. “Take your clothes off.”

  I almost laugh, but he’s not joking, there’s no playful tone to his voice — he meant what he said. His eyes hooded, he bites his lip as I set up my phone on the counter, my hands pulling my hair down from the loose hair tie I had it in.

  I shimmy out of my jean shorts first, letting them drop to the floor and eying him through my lashes as I hook my thumbs in the band of my panties and pull them down next. My blouse is light, and I peel it off with ease, unhooking my bra and shaking it off each arm quickly. Jarrett’s eyes never leave me, his breaths coming harder.

  He moves from the bathroom to his bedroom, propping himself up against his headboard. The camera blanks for just a moment before the view switches and I see him sprawled out in his sheets, his hard body still damp from the shower. Slowly, he unwraps his towel and lets it fall to the side, and I moan when I see how hard he is. He grips himself, stroking slowly as he grows even harder, and suddenly I can’t breathe.

  “I want you so bad,” I whisper, palming my breasts and imagining his hands on me, instead. Each time he strokes, he grows harder, longer, thicker, his fist opening around his shaft as his thumb grazes the tip. I drop to my knees in front of the phone and insert two fingers between my lips, eyes on the lens as I suck my own flesh. Jarrett groans, flipping the camera and adjusting his phone so that I have the most glorious view — his hard cock in his hand, his slick abs and chest, his bottom lip pinned between his teeth as he strokes and watches me.

  “Take those wet fingers and fuck yourself with them,” he demands, his forearm muscles flexing under the tattooed skin. Grabbing my phone, I lean back against the door and spread my legs wide, taking my time dragging the lens down my body until it lands between my legs. Slowly, my eyes still on his dick, I spread my lips and slide one finger inside, my head falling back at the sensation.

  “Oh fuck,” Jarrett breathes. “You’re always so tight.”

  “You’re always too big,” I moan, dipping another finger inside as Jarrett quickens his pace.

  “I want to bury my face in that pussy,” he husks and the filth turns me on. I let my legs fall open wider, moving up to circle my clit before plunging my fingers back inside. “Taste yourself.”

  I pull my fingers out and slowly trail them up my stomach, pausing to work my nipples between the slick tips before sliding them in my mouth. Jarrett groans and the guttural noise sends a jolt through me. I’m so fucking hot it’s uncomfortable. Squirming, I bite my lip and fuck myself with my fingers again, this time steadying my rhythm, reaching for the orgasm I feel mounting.

  “Do you even know how sexy you are?” Jarrett asks, his voice raspy as he pumps. When his hand rolls over the tip of his cock it grazes the abs just above his naval. His every inch is on full display, and all I want is him inside me right now. “You make me so weak, Jess. So fucking weak.”

  I try so hard to stay quiet, but I know Ashlei must hear my screams as I tumble over the edge, pulling my fingers out to circle my clit and lengthen the ride. Jarrett comes with me, flexing his hips into his hand one last time before grunting out his release. I never thought it would be so seductive to watch him shudder and hear him moan my name as he busts on his abs. I keep my eyes glued on the screen, fascinated, feeling powerful and sexy as hell.

  Our breaths are both loud, our limbs weak as we clean up. Jarrett brings the screen to his face, biting his lip. “Hurry home tomorrow.”

  “Cancel all your plans until Monday.”

  He chuckles, his eyes low and sedated. “Have fun tonight.”

  I blow him a kiss and end the call, staring at all my clothes on the floor and laughing to myself. Did I just video sex my boyfriend in a bathroom?

  Oh my God, did I just call him my boyfriend?

  Shaking my head, I quickly dress and burst through the bathroom door, ready to storm upstairs and drag Ashlei down to Duval Street. Instead, I find a sticky note on my purse.

  Left without you. Didn’t want to interrupt. ;) – Lei

  “That little bitch,” I whisper with a laugh, wondering if she’s still mad at me. I hate fighting with her, and now that I’ve worked off some tension, I realize I was a little harsh upstairs. Locking up behind me, I scamper down to the street and flag down the first cab I see to shuttle me down to the bars. I’ll make it up to Ashlei tonight. Our last night. Spring Break is almost over.

  My phone pings and when I slide the screen, a full photo of Jarrett in just his board shorts pops up. He’s holding the phone to show his reflection in the mirror and my eyes stick hard on the area where his lower abs meet his hip flexors, forming that glorious V.

  – A little something to get you through the night. –

  I drag my teeth over my bottom lip, shaking my head before tucking my phone away. For once, I can’t wait to get back to campus.

  MY FAVORITE TIME TO BE ON THE BEACH is after midnight, when the water is calmer, the sand cooler, and the conversation deeper. Leaning back on my palms, the heels of my feet just barely touching the sand at the edge of my blanket, I listen to the waves roll in.

  The last night of Spring Break is coming to an end.

  I thought it would be weird, coming with Skyler, her sisters, and Omega Chi Beta without a single other brother of my own. Somehow, though, I managed to have the best time of my life. It was never weird, it was a constant high. Funny enough, I’m one of the last ones standing tonight. It has to be at least three in the morning and the only other people on the beach that I recognize are Cassie, Ashlei, and Bo. They’re all gathered around the last beer pong table set up on Smathers Beach, playing against three Omega Chis I don’t recognize.

  We started our night on Duval Street but moved the population from half the bars to the beach around midnight, wanting to take over the Key West sand one last time. Skyler and Jess turned in pretty early, both exhausted from the week, and Clinton dragged Shawna off not too long after. But I’m still buzzed, not ready to give up vacation just yet.

  “Hey.” Cassie’s voice catches me off guard, I didn’t realize she’d stopped playing. Lifting my eyes up her long, lean legs, I note the way the beach fire makes the edges of her silhouetted hair glow a fierce orange. She points back at Bo and Ashlei. “I think we’re about to head out.”

  I frown, nodding. “Okay. I have a key.”

  “You’re not coming with us?”

  I shrug, rolling my neck a little and turning back toward the water. “I don’t know, I’m not really tired.”

  “Me either,” she says.

  “Hang out with me?”

  Even with the fire light behind her and her face hidden by the dark night sky, I see the faintest smile. “Okay. One sec.” She jogs back over to the girls, saying something I can’t quite hear before hugging them both and watching them leave. The last straggling Omega Chi brothers follow suit and then it’s just me and Cassie. As she makes her way back across the sand, a familiar ache settles in my chest. It’s the same one I’ve been dealing with every night sleeping next to her — like heartburn, but worse.

  I slide over, making more room on my blanket for her to sit. She plops down, pulling her knees up to her chest and threading her arms under her thighs. “I can’t believe it’s over.”

  “It’s not,” I correct. “Not yet.”

  She grins, laying her cheek on her knees, her green eyes curious as she watches me. She’s quiet for a while before she bursts out in a fit of laughter. “I still can’t believe you danced on stage at the Red Garter.”

  “Hey, I got a few dollar bills in the waistband of my boxers that night,” I tease, throwing her a wink.

  “Yeah. Until the security guards threw you out.” She laughs harder, her lightly-tanned cheeks flushing.

  “I love how I’m getting picked on by the girl who took fifty-seve
n seconds to do a beer bong.”

  “It was my first one!” She smacks my arm and I grin, pulling her head under my arm and ruffling her wild red hair. She pokes me hard in my chest until I release her, both of us still chuckling.

  “It really was an amazing trip,” she breathes, stretching her legs out on the blanket, her eyes on the waves, mine glued on her. I’ve never seen her look so free before. Even with her pink lips chapped from the sun and fresh freckles on her cheeks, she’s absolutely beautiful in the low glow from the half-moon. Crossing her arms over her chest, she shivers slightly.

  “Are you cold?”

  “A little.”

  I smile, opening my arm. “Come here.” Her green eyes assess me, as if she’s afraid of my touch. “I radiate heat like a werewolf. Seriously, come here.”

  Cassie hesitates, but slides over, letting me wrap my arms around her. She settles into my grasp and sighs. “Wow. You really are warm.”

  “Told you.”

  A small curve meets her lips and she rests her head against my chest. The moment she does, I feel the energy change. I can’t explain it. It’s like the ocean blanketed us in an electric mist the minute her skin met mine. My throat constricts as I battle with what I should do and what I want to. I don’t know if it’s the moonlight or the sand or the energy from the night, but I give up trying to fight my urge when it comes to her. I don’t want to fight it tonight. I want it to consume me.

  Attempting to swallow the lump in my throat, I lift my hand from where it was holding tight to her middle and trail it up her arm, rendering chills in my wake. She stiffens when my fingers graze the bottom of her chin and I lift it, just slightly, tilting my own down toward her. My thumb grazes her jaw and her emerald eyes flick to mine, pupils large and dark. She holds my gaze, her breaths as hard as mine when she lets her eyes fall to my lips.

  “What are you doing?” she breathes, so quiet against the sound of the waves that I almost don’t hear her.

  “Kissing you.”

  I feel her heart stop and start again with a kick beneath my forearm as I lean in closer, my hand sliding into her hair.