A beat passes between us, where Tucker shifts his body weight, his elbow hitting me in the side on accident. Then, he taps me on purpose to get my attention. “What’s up with you? You’re acting like you love her.”
“I like her a lot,” I admit, holding his gaze. “And I need you to back down, so I can go after her. She’s not going to date both of us.”
He tilts his head back and laughs. “Since when are you afraid of a little brotherly competition?”
“Since I met Jemma. And for the record, I’m not afraid of competing with you. But there’s no way either of us will ever get her if she has to choose between us.”
“She couldn’t even tell us apart. Do you really think she knows which one of us she likes?”
“I don’t know.” I roll my shoulders against the bench. “But I’m hoping it’s me.”
Tucker holds out his hand to me. I stare at his hand, and he adds, “Peace offering.”
I shake his hand. “So, we’re good?”
He nods. “Yeah. Good luck.”
“Are you still entering the bachelor auction?”
He nods. “Yep. I told Romeo I would. Are you?”
Every year the sororities team up to host Strickland’s Most Eligible Bachelor Auction, with the intent to raise money for the children’s hospital. The auction is usually comprised of a mixture of athletes and fraternity members. You have to be asked to join, which is considered somewhat of an honor at Strickland University. We’ve been asked every year.
“Yeah,” I respond. “What do you think the chances are that Jemma will bid on one of us?”
Tucker laughs. “I wouldn’t count on it. She’s ignored us for weeks.”
“I guess we’ll see. Right?”
He removes a pair of headphones from the bag on the floor between his feet and slides them over his ears, leaning his head back against the top of the bench. “Get some sleep. You’re gonna need it with that girl.”
Twenty-Two
Jemma
I can’t stand another second of singing. The girls in the chapter house are belting out the Delta Kappa song, their voices so loud they’re giving me a headache. My skull pounds from the girls next to me screaming in my ear, as they work on making new shirts for the next charity event.
One thing I’ve learned about sorority girls is they like to not only wear sparkly shirts with Greek letters on them, but they also like to design them. I’m a minimalist, never one to care about what I’m wearing or how much flare is on my clothes. But not my sisters. They take this whole sorority thing to another level.
When the song ends, they start again, and I want to bash my brains out. I glance over at Jordan, who’s holding up the shirt she just finished, admiring her work. She smiles at the tee and catches me glaring at her from across the table. My older sister knows me well enough to see the boredom written on my face.
Jordan sets the shirt on the dining room table and tilts her head to the side, in the direction of the kitchen. I push out my chair and follow behind her. The kitchen is empty, the marble counter at the center of the room full of various trays of cookies. Some are decorated for Christmas, which is only a few weeks away, where others are covered in sprinkles or chocolate chips.
“You okay?” Jordan lifts a sugar cookie from a tray and offers it to me.
I take it from her, biting into it before I respond. “Yeah, I guess. This stuff doesn’t interest me.”
“Even when we were kids, you always had to rip the heads off the Barbie dolls or go roll around in the mud and ruin your clothes.” She cups my shoulder with her hand. “I’m proud of you.” Jordan smiles as she says this. “I honestly didn’t think you would make it through the pledging process. I was so sure you’d give up after the first task we gave you. But you handled yourself perfectly, and even though you don’t like baking or decorating or hosting events, you’re a Kappa girl now. And I couldn’t be happier.”
“Thanks.” I swallow the last bit of the cookie and smile. “I wish I was in a better mood. But it hasn’t been the same since I returned to school.”
“Because of the Kane twins?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Look, if it bothers you that Tucker and Trent are part of Strickland’s Most Eligible Bachelor Auction, I can make sure they’re replaced. I can make that happen in a second.”
“No, I don’t mind that they’re being auctioned off. It’s for charity. I’m sure someone will pay a lot of money for them, and at least it’s for a good cause.”
She steers me over to the kitchen table and kicks out a chair for me to sit. “You’re afraid to see them? Is that it?”