Palm South University Season 1 Omnibus (24 page)

“I’m not getting into that with you. You don’t care, anyway.”

“Oh? And what, you don’t owe me an explanation for having to ask for money from me…
again
? Or how about for the fact that you haven’t talked to me one fucking time since I sent you money last time?”

“We’ve never been close, Clinton. Stop acting like I’m the big bad mom in this situation.”

“The big? The?” I laugh, my hysterics reaching an all-time high as I try to repeat what she just said but fail. “Do you hear yourself?”

“Please, Clinton,” she begs just as the doors open behind me.

“Bear?” It’s Skyler, and now I’m even more pissed. My life at Palm South is not my life back home. In fact, the person I was before college doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t want anyone – especially not Skyler – seeing where I came from. Or
who
I came from.

“You need to go,” I say firmly, my jaw hard.

Mom nods, at least having enough common sense to not push the subject now that Skyler is present. “Just please, help your family, Clinton. Consider what will happen if you don’t.” She swallows and I shake my head in warning. “We’re staying at the Motel 8 down the road.”

With that, she turns and jumps back in the car and I’m left with Skyler. I know she wants to ask what happened, but she doesn’t – she just walks up and leans her head on my arm. After a moment, she asks, “That your mom?”

I nod.

“You don’t look anything like her.”

I don’t know why, but for some reason, hearing her say those words makes me smile. Skyler shivers a bit against me and I pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her shoulder and burying my nose in her hair. She smells like nothing I’ve ever smelled before, something too clean and put together for my life.

“You can talk to me, Bear. I know it may seem like I won’t understand, but I might surprise you.”

Sighing, I don’t even try to fight it anymore. I spill everything. I trust Skyler more than anyone else at this school and she’s done nothing but prove time and time again that she’s a great friend. So, I tell her about my shitty past – about my mom, my brother, the drugs, the money, my little brother caught in the middle of it – everything. When I finish, she pulls back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“They need money again?”

“Yeah. Who knows how much this time.”

Skyler chews her bottom lip so hard I think she might draw blood and then quickly reaches for her clutch. Pulling out a slender wallet and a pen, Skyler scribbles out something and tears the small sheet of paper away, handing it out for me to take. “Here.”

When I pull it under the light shining from inside the hotel, I realize it’s a check.

For two-thousand dollars.

“What the fuck, Skyler?” I shake my head, thrusting it back to her. “No. Hell no.”

“Bear, hear me out.”

“No! First of all, who even has checks anymore?”

Skyler laughs. “I send money home to my family all the time. Checks are the easiest and safest way to do that.”

At that, my hand drops to my side, the check still firmly grasped between my fingers. “What? How often?”

“At least once a month.” She shrugs. “They don’t ask me for it, but I send it anyway.”

I don’t have words for that little nugget of information. I knew Skyler had a strange family situation at home, I knew she entered poker tournaments all the time for a reason, but I had no idea she was sending money home that frequently.

“Give that to your mom, Bear. Tell her that’s it, that’s all she’s ever getting from you again, and call it done. They’ll get themselves out of whatever trouble they’re in and you can breathe easy knowing you don’t have to drain your savings.”

“This is too much,” I say, shaking my head and staring down at her neat handwriting.

“Psh,” she says, waving her hands. “I can make that back in a weekend at the downtown casino. No sweat.” She winks and I know she’s lying, but she’s trying her best to make me feel okay with this situation.

“Why Skyler?”

“Why am I helping you?” I nod. “Are you kidding, Bear? Your family may be fucked up, but what you don’t realize is that you’re
my
family now, too. And families help each other – always. That’s why you have always helped your mom and your brother, and that’s why I’m helping you now.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Call your mom, have her come back to pick up this check, and then get back in there and drink with me.”

Still staring at her like everything she’s saying to me is completely ludicrous, I pull her in for a crushing hug. She laughs against my chest and wraps her small arms around me, too. “I love you, Bear.”

“I love you, Sky.”

“Hey,” she says, pulling back. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”

I shrug. “Probably staying on campus with some of my brothers.”

“Will you come home with me? Meet my parents and my older brother? Please?”

“What is this, Bear Charity Case Night?”

She chuckles. “No, I just want them to meet my new brother.” At that, I return her smile and kiss her forehead.

“You have a knack for making a big guy feel really small, you know that?”

Skyler opens her mouth to respond just as the doors beside us fly open and Jess tears across the parking lot. Skyler calls out after her but Jess doesn’t stop. She hops into one of the waiting cabs and before we have the chance to digest it, she’s gone.

“Well shit,” Skyler says. “Wonder what that’s about.”

I sigh. “Omega Chi parties never have this much drama.”

Skyler barks out a laugh and punches my arm. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Call your mom and come back inside.”

After Skyler leaves, I do call my mom back. I make Carleton get out of the car with her and I stare both of them in the eyes when I hand them the check and threaten that this is the last time they better ever contact me for money. They both seem insanely grateful, but I know it’s just temporary. As much as I want to believe they won’t ask me for money again, I know they will.

But tonight, I don’t let that thought hold me down. After their car leaves, I make my way back inside and Erin slides me a new drink as soon as I reach our table.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

I cock a brow. “Yeah?”

She smiles, her light brown eyes shimmering in the soft light of the ballroom. Her dark blonde hair that’s usually hanging to her shoulders is pinned up in an organized mess of curls and it accents her slender face. She always looks classic and traditional, but tonight she looks royal. “Yeah. I want to dance.”

“Well, it is your ball, princess.” I wink and chug down the rest of my Hennessey before letting her drag me to the floor. And then I dance and drink and laugh until I forget everything else.

Everything except Skyler.

I’ll never forget that girl.

SKYLER HAS BEEN OUTSIDE with Bear for almost half an hour now, and that means I’m finding it harder and harder to ignore Clay’s douchebag ways. Pair that with the fact that I’m two shots past drunk and you could say I’m not exactly in the best state of mind right now.

Clay spots me watching him and Cassie dancing and he whispers something in her ear, making her giggle and me growl before excusing himself. Moments later, he slides up next to me at the bar, but I don’t even turn to acknowledge him. Even without looking directly at him, I can see his douchey Ken doll smirk.

“Having fun, Brooks?”

“Yep.” I let the end of the word pop as I take a large drink from my glass. “You?”

“Oh yeah. But I guess you already know that since you’ve been watching me all night, huh?”

I shake my head, finally turning to face him. The cocky grin plastered on his face makes me snarl my next sentence. “I don’t fucking like you being around Cassie.”

“Oh, I’m sorry – did I ask for your permission?”

“She’s a good girl, Clay. I’m serious. Don’t fuck her around.”

“Didn’t plan on it,” he says, sipping from the shot glass the bartender just slid him. He props his elbows up on the bar and scans the room until he finds Cassie. “Now fuck her up and down every inch of my room tonight? Definitely.”

“Goddamnit, Clay!” I growl, slamming my glass down hard on the bar. He just cackles and I grit my teeth before storming across the room. Cassie’s eyes widen as I approach her but I don’t say a word, I just hook her by the inside of her elbow and drag her out to the hallway near the bathrooms.

“What the hell, Adam?”

“You can’t leave with Clay tonight.”

Her mouth pops open. “Oh my God, are you serious right now?” Her green eyes take on a more hazel look under the low light of the hotel and she crosses her arms, popping one hip to the side. It’s the sassiest I’ve ever seen her.

“Yes, I’m dead serious. He just wants to get in your pants, Cassie.”

“Well, I guess it’s lucky for him that I’m not wearing any pants tonight, huh?” She rolls her eyes and tries to stride past me but I pull her back.

“Damnit, this isn’t a game!”

“And you’re not my boyfriend!”

I blanch. “That’s not what this is about.”

“Oh?” she asks, stepping closer. “It’s not?”

Swallowing, I search her eyes for the hundreds of questions that lay hidden behind that one she posed. The air between us feels thicker, charged with an energy I can’t quite determine. “I’m just looking out for you. Can’t you just trust me when I say he’s bad news?”

“He’s been nothing but nice to me,” she murmurs softly, still not stepping out of my space. Reaching out, I let my hands just barely rest on her arms.

“He knows what he’s doing, Cassie. He’s good at it.”

Her brows pull together, and for a moment I think she might listen to me, but then she shakes her head and pulls back just as Clay emerges from the ballroom. “I can handle myself, Adam.”

“Everything okay?” Clay asks, faking a concern I know he doesn’t have.

“Yeah. You ready to get out of here?” Cassie asks.

“Absolutely.” Clay tosses his jacket over his shoulder and throws his other arm around hers. Cassie glances at me once more before turning toward the door, and then it’s Clay who looks at me. With a smirk, he winks, pulls Cassie closer, whispers in her ear and bites her earlobe. She leans into him, giggling, and I curse, punching the padded wall outside the main room just as he tosses back his head with a laugh and walks her through the large glass doors.

I’m still frustrated when I snap for the bartender’s attention back at the bar. Skyler reappears, looking just as gorgeous as ever, and wraps her arms around my neck. Desperate, I pull her in for a long, hard kiss, tangling my hands in her hair as she moans against my mouth.

Cassie is my friend and I do care about her, but I can’t make her decisions for her. I can’t make her
mistakes
for her either. I may have lost my cool, but there’s nothing I can do to take any of it back now. Instead, I’m just going to focus on the beautiful girl wrapped around me and the sounds she’ll be making in my bed later tonight.

Cassie McBee is on her own.

IT’S A LONGER CAB RIDE from the hotel to the beach than from campus, but it gives me time to think. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get the image of what I saw earlier out of my head. Maybe I should have called them both out on it right then and there, but I didn’t have the balls. I mean, how often do you see your best friend and your Little making out in the back of semi-formal?

It’s not even the kissing that bothers me. At least, I don’t think so. I mean, I’m not exactly cool with it, but then again, whatever – who am I to judge, right? But why did they have to lie to me? Bo’s been making me feel like shit about how we never hang out and Ashlei has been sneaking around at all hours of the night. Is that where she’s been going? To be with Bo?

God, just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

What’s with all the fucking secrets around here?!

I let everyone in on my dirty laundry. Hell, not only do I hang it up to dry in front of all my sisters but I practically ask them to take pictures and post them on social media. I couldn’t give two shits what they think about my scandals. Maybe that’s where I’m doing it wrong. I missed the memo about not sharing shit with your fucking sisters.