What the hell was I thinking bringing Baylor to a sorority party? Walking through the front doors, all I can picture are those illustrations where you pick out the one thing that doesn’t belong with the others.
Bay might as well have shown up carrying a neon sign emblazoned with ‘OUTSIDER.’ It’s almost laughable how she stands out, but the funny thing is—I think she planned it that way.
Me, I’ve got on a pinstriped button-down polo, rolled up to the elbows and left open over a plain white t-shirt. It’s pretty much my usual attire which tends to blend in well with the Greeks.
Baylor’s never been one to care what others think of her. Still, in her nervousness over the party, I thought she might attempt to look like she fits in. So as I again look her over from head to toe, I’m in awe of the individuality she has never failed to express. She’s not wearing a short skirt or a tight designer dress paired perfectly with stilettos and a matching pedicure that would mirror what most of the girls in this house are wearing. No, my girl is dressed in faded jeans that are frayed at the cuff, converse sneakers and an adorable shirt that’s just tight enough to enhance her curves. When I picked her up earlier, I cracked up at the Dr. Seuss shirt that pictures The Cat in the Hat and says ‘Read a book – Stay in school.’ Apparently she was reading over my shoulder earlier today when Karen texted me asking if ‘Thing 2’ was coming to the party with me. I’m quite sure the shirt was deliberate.
I know she didn’t dress this way for me—she probably thought I expected her to conform, even if just for the night. I reach in my pocket and let my finger run over the rough etching of her engraved keychain. What she doesn’t know, and what I plan on telling her, as well as showing her later, is that I’ve never been more attracted to a girl than I am right now.
She’s left her hair down and the light-brown waves bounce effortlessly over her shoulders when she walks. She exudes an almost flawless beauty. She doesn’t even have to make an effort to garner attention. And based on the looks she’s already getting from several guys in the room, it’s gonna be a long fuckin’ night.
I spot Karen across the room talking with Angie and some other friends. They all stop and look our way. One by one, their jaws drop open as they look at the girl on my arm from head to toe as if she’d just arrived from another planet.
I wearily glance over at Baylor to see that she is watching their reaction to her as well. She turns to me and says, “They’d better close their mouths before they catch flies, or worse . . . frat-boy penises.”
My jaw is the one dropping now. Baylor and I laugh so hard, tears escape my eyes. God I love this girl.
“What’s so funny?” Karen asks, having snuck up on us during our fit of laughter.
“Nothing,” Bay and I say in unison as we wipe our tears.
I realize that although Karen and Baylor know a lot about each other from me, they’ve never actually met. I reach over and grab Baylor’s hand, not missing the fact that Karen watches the gesture with an eye roll. “Karen Thompson, meet Baylor Mitchell,” I say.
Baylor holds her other hand out to Karen. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Karen eyes Baylor’s outstretched hand for a beat before loosely shaking it with her own. I half expect their hands to gravitate apart—like when two magnets of similar charges attempt to join but can never physically connect. These girls are so completely different in every way but one—they both want my heart. I still feel guilty sometimes that I could never give Karen what she seems to want so badly. But being with Baylor makes me realize exactly what I would have been missing—what I was missing—what I think I would have gone my entire life without had I not met her. I was missing myself—something I can only be with her. The words from her keychain weigh heavily in my pocket.
“Yup, you too,” Karen says dismissively.
Karen makes a half-assed attempt at not being a complete bitch around Baylor, and Bay refrains from rolling her eyes at Karen’s numerous references to our wonderful childhood and close friendship. It’s a match made in heaven.
Karen eventually returns to her posse and I introduce Baylor to several people on our way to the keg. I have to reach behind me to make sure she’s still with me as we weave through the crowd. It’s refreshing to be with a girl who doesn’t have to drape herself all over me in public. Every other girl I’ve hooked up with at a party tried to join themselves to me at the hip, staking some sort of claim over me. Ironically, the one girl who doesn’t do this is the girl that owns me.
I get pulled to the side by a few guys from my team. I glance back at Baylor who nods at me to go ahead and speak to them. Pussy, I think. Did you really just ask your girl’s permission to talk to your friends?
Not a minute later, when I look back at her, I see Grayson Butler standing too close to her, sloshing around his beer all over the floor, bringing me flashbacks of that night of the football game.
In seconds, I’ve got Grayson pinned to the wall with beer spilled at his feet. I lean in close and grumble in his ear, “Not yours.”
He wiggles out of my loosening grip and spits out, “Fuck you, McBride. It’s not like she’s wearing a sign that says ‘Property Of’.”
“Well, now you know,” I say with clenched teeth. “So you can take your syph-dick and your overused pickup lines and try them on someone else.”
“Whatever,” he says. “It’s not like you haven’t done the same thing, Gavin. Quit being such a fucking hypocrite.” He walks off, refusing to pick up the red cup that he dropped during my assault.
“Syph-dick?” Baylor questions.
“Yeah, he caught syphilis from some chick last year earning him the name. Some guys are just too stupid to wrap it up,” I say. I quickly turn to her and add, “Always . . . I always did, Bay. I don’t want you to worry.”
Her face softens. “I’m not worried,” she says. “I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, Gavin.”
I kiss her cheek. “You can bet on that like a prize-winnin’ horse, darlin’.”
“You know,” she says with a raised brow, “you didn’t have to go all ‘Bay Watch’ on me. I can take care of myself.”
I laugh at her use of the term I came up with last fall. I run my hand down her arm and entwine our fingers. “I know you can take care of yourself,” I tell her. “But I will still always watch out for you.” I look at her other hand that is still without a drink. “I’ll go get us some drinks. Stay here and I’ll be right back.”
I get stopped by more than a few girls along the way. Girls that blatantly come on to me, flashing their bright smiles and fake tits—something that would have gotten my attention before. I politely extract myself from each one of them and find I’ve wasted a good ten minutes by the time I get our drinks and get back to Baylor. When I do, I see that she has been joined by Jonesy and a couple of TriDelt girls. I hear some laughter when I walk up and take my place at Baylor’s side. “What are y’all talking about?” I ask.
Karen’s friend, Missy, sighs. “Don’t you just love his dreamy Texas accent?”
Jonesy rolls his eyes while Baylor’s slender brow arches in amusement. I realize that’s one more thing I like about Baylor. She doesn’t get all swoony over my accent. Why these other girls go batty-eyed for my southern drawl, that admittedly I share with millions of other people, is beyond me.
As the night progresses, I find myself doing the very same thing I despised girls doing—staking my claim on Baylor. I possessively drape my arm over her shoulder every time I see a guy glance her way. I realize this is all new to me. Guys checking out the eye candy on my arm never bothered me before. In fact, I welcomed it. Not only did it mean I was with the hottest chicks at the party, it meant that there were plenty of guys to pick up my leftovers when I was done with them.
I catch Baylor noticing a guy admire her from across the room. Even in her casual attire, she still garners as much attention as any one of the surgically-enhanced sorority girls do. She simply smiles weakly at him and then touches my hand that is still claiming her. I lean close and whisper, “Mine.”
She momentarily breaks from the conversation she’s involved in to breathe in my ear, “Yours.” Then she nonchalantly returns to the debate she was participating in over what Ryan Gosling’s best movie is, completely unaware that my dick just sprang to life.
I’ve never wanted anyone to say that word to me before. In the past, it would have sent me running for the hills. But that was then. Before Baylor. She has changed my life. She has changed me.
Baylor excuses herself to use the bathroom. I take the time to catch up with Karen, who is happy to have me to herself for a few minutes.
“So, I found out that Chris is seeing someone,” Karen says.
“Who’s Chris?” I ask, trying to figure out which one of her girlfriends she’s talking about.
“Chris,” she repeats. “You know, Baylor’s Chris.”
Oh, Asswipe. “He’s not Baylor’s Chris,” I tell her. “Quit calling him that.”
“Geez, jealous much, Gav?”
“Whatever,” I say. “So, he’s dating someone, that’s great. But I guess that means your friend is out of luck.”
“Yeah, guess so,” she says. “He didn’t say who he was dating, though. Do you know?”
I shake my head. “Don’t know, don’t care. As long as it keeps him from chasing Bay, I really don’t give a shit.”
When I check my watch and see that plenty of time for Baylor to pee has gone by, I go on a quest to find her, much to Karen’s displeasure.
I come around the corner at the end of the hallway and almost run smack into Angie’s back. She’s talking with Baylor. Angie is tall and she towers over Baylor, her height and her poofy black curls shielding me from Baylor’s sight. Since I’m happy Angie is making an effort to mingle with my girlfriend, I retreat a few steps back around the corner and let them talk. When I hear my name, it’s only human nature to try and move closer to hear what they are saying.
“It may be all fun and games now, but you must know that Gavin couldn’t possibly be that serious about you,” Angie says. “His father would never allow it.”
Baylor laughs. Atta girl.
“Gavin’s a big boy,” she says. “I think he is perfectly capable of choosing who he wants to be with in life.”
“In life?” Angie spits out. “You don’t really think he’s in this for the long haul, do you? You realize that his father may run for president one day. That requires Gavin to follow certain standards about who he can be with. He must marry someone of consequence, and a waitress in daddy’s diner is hardly that.”
Oh, that bitch did not just say that. I hold myself back, remembering what Baylor said earlier about taking care of herself.
“Let me guess . . . someone like Karen is who he should be with?” Baylor asks. “Even though I’m sure she hasn’t worked a day in her life.”
“Well . . . yes,” Angie says. “Her family owns half of Texas. She doesn’t have to lift a finger. Just being who she is makes her the perfect one for him. You could never compete with her, so don’t bother.”
“I wouldn’t even want to try,” Baylor says. I’m amazed that she’s stayed calm throughout their conversation. If she wanted to jump Angie and scratch her eyes out, I would sit back and enjoy the show. “That would make me like you and the rest of your plastic friends,” she says. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving. And when you report back to Karen, feel free to tell her that I’m leaving to go fuck Gavin. Again.”
Holy shit!
I want to high-five her for holding her own—a petite shy girl up against Goliath. But I don’t want her to know I was eavesdropping, so I back away and pretend like I was merely walking around the corner.
“Hey darlin’,” I say, pulling her into a seductive embrace and kissing her senseless for Angie’s benefit—okay, and maybe mine. I barely even hear Angie walk off in a huff, because the feel of Bay’s lips under mine and the echo of what she just told Angie she was going to do to me has my head spinning. I break the kiss and pull her behind me, passing by dozens of people without so much as a word. I can’t stop to talk, not with my dick pressing painfully against the fly of my jeans. Just hearing Baylor say fuck is all the foreplay I need.
I take her home and show her over and over exactly how perfect she is for me.