All three of us are adults and we can handle this new dynamic. After all, it shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Besides that, confronting my brother is nothing compared to confronting the crowd at Beta Beta Psi.
I recall the physical fight that broke out because of Titus. He was my guest and was now banned from any official Beta Beta Psi functions until further notice. I can’t blame them for that. But I do have a problem with bad behavior of other people not being held to account.
That’s one thing I have in my arsenal.
After the argument with Herc, Titus and I circled back to his truck, and he treated me to my favorite ice cream parlor to cheer me up and to help me strategize my talking points with Leela and Meghan.
When we arrive at Beta Beta Psi, I have to beg Titus to wait outside in the truck.
“Trust me, you don’t want to deal with Crosby. He’s a menace until you get to know him.” Titus shifts uncomfortably behind the wheel.
“I don’t like the idea of my girl being given the third degree about her personal affairs. I’ll wait five minutes then I’m going in after you.”
I fix him with a chastising look. “Babe. First of all, outsiders don’t go barging into this space without a hostess gift. Like cookies. Secondly, Crosby will squish you if you try to gain entrance without permission.”
“You.” He looks at me incredulously. “You’re giving me permission, right?”
All I can do is laugh. “That’s not how it works.” I cluck my tongue at him teasingly. “So bossy. What’s gotten into you?”
“Sorry, I don’t know what to do with myself now that we’ve…I…the urge to fight is stronger not weaker. Can we get this over with?”
I pout sympathetically and lean over to give him a soft kiss on the lips. “I’ll make it quick.”
He shakes his head and mutters something under his breath as I go.
I find Leela and Meghan out back on the patio, having sweet tea under the big umbrella.
“What’s going on, sweetie?” Leela asks, lowering her sunglasses to survey me.
Meghan lifts an eyebrow and sips her tea through a striped paper straw.
You can do this, Cass. “I have something to say,” I say brightly.
Both women watch me closely as I pull out a chair. The legs scraping against the concrete patio is such an abrasive noise for an intimate, woman-to-woman conversation.
“Here’s the deal. Titus and I are together. We’re a couple now. And I don’t need Beta Beta Psi breathing down my neck about it, or vetting him, or any overbearing crap. He’s been my best friend since we were kids, so there’s nothing you can dig up about him that would cause any alarm. So there’s that. And I know that he caused a scene at the last party, and you can’t have that. I understand he’s banned. It’s fine. But I have two things to say about that. If Titus is banned, so should Dale be banned. Titus may have thrown the first punch but Dale is an asshole and you know it. He started it with words. And don’t even start with me about whose family donates the most money to whatever. I don’t want to hear excuses. I grew up more privileged than either of you and I know what these families are like. And it’s bullshit. So if you’re not going to also ban Dale because of his words, then that shows me you’re more interested in protecting the image of Beta Beta Psi than you are in protecting your members. And if that’s the case then I’m gonna have to pack my things and move out. I don’t want to. I love Beta Beta Psi and everything you set out to do here, providing something exclusive to women like us. But I love Titus more.”
Leela and Meghan exchange looks. I can’t quite decipher what they’re communicating with each other. Leela, who was probably born to be a judge one day, says, “Love and principle. It’s always gonna come down to that. We’ll take it under advisement.”
Leela sips her tea and shoots me a wink. Meghan says, “Anybody can date who they want. Doesn’t mean we have to like them.”
I should take this and go. But I push, because I’m on a roll. “I know what you did to try to break up Leela and Crosby. I just want you to know if you try anything like that with me, I’ll—”
“Sweetie,” Meghan says, “I wouldn’t. Mostly because I need you to put in a good word for me with your brother.”
Leela groans. “Bad timing, Meg.”
That’s a bomb drop I wasn’t expecting.
If prickly Meg thinks she’s got the slightest chance in hell of gaining access to Herc, she’s delusional.
But I paste on a sweet smile. “One thing at a time, darlin’. Let me know what y’all decide.”
And then I go back inside the house and pack an overnight bag.
SIXTEEN