Page 25 of Frat House Fling

Then, ten minutes before the class ended, I got a text from Bennett.

Who was pretty much the last person I wanted to hear from. Worried he was going to fire me, I opened the message. Except it wasn’t a message, it was a summons. The grocery delivery was on its way, and I had to be there to put the food away.

But after class, I had dog walking. Bennett really didn’t get the concept of someone not working in the mornings. At least he hadn’t fired me.

After the lecture ended, I waited impatiently while a few students lingered, asking the professor about some assignments. When she turned to me, I spoke quickly. “I got called into my other job. I need to go there now, but I can come walk Sunny by one at the latest. Is that okay?”

She frowned. “She’s been alone all morning. And I can’t go home, I’ve got a lunch meeting.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were going to call me in. I’ll get to Sunny as soon as I possibly can.”

She didn’t look all that pleased, but she nodded. “Are you okay, Hailey? Today in class you seemed a bit unfocused.”

That was an understatement. “Sorry about that. Didn’t get much sleep.”

She frowned, her librarian-style glasses balanced on her nose. “Are you doing okay?”

No.

Except I didn’t say that. “I’m doing the best I can.”

“That’s all you can do.” She nodded and gathered up her things. I said goodbye and then dashed towards fraternity row, but I didn’t know if I believed her. Sometimes our best wasn’t enough.

Bennett and Grant were both in the kitchen when I raced in. Apparently, they had nothing better to do than to watch frozen foods melt. I ignored them the best I could as I put the perishable items away first.

I tried not to think about the fact that I didn’t know how to cook half the things that had been delivered. For a few of them, I didn’t even know what they were.

“Those don’t go in the fridge,” Bennett said sharply at one point.

“Sorry.” I wasn’t even sure what was in the small, sealed bag. Dried mushrooms, perhaps? I put them in a cabinet with other non-perishable ingredients.

At last, Bennett seemed to get tired of watching me. “I’ll expect a much better meal tomorrow night.”

“Not tonight?” If that was true, it was the best news I’d heard all day.

“It’s Friday,” Grant said, as if that answered the question. “Time to party.”

Oh. Sometimes I forgot that these were frat bros, since half the time they acted like they were royalty or something.

“Tomorrow,” Bennett said again. Something in his voice told me that he wouldn’t be giving me a third chance.

After they left, I scarfed down some leftovers from yesterday and then practically ran to Professor Whitmore’s condo. Sunny was overjoyed to see me and was quite eager to get outside. The poor dog peed three steps beyond the front door, and I felt guilty.

Then, back at the frat house, I vacuumed and cleaned the dining room even though not much eating had happened there last night. When I went in the kitchen to get some chilled water from the fridge, I stopped short.

On the counter under the cabinet with the glasses was a large book with a glossy hardcover that certainly hadn’t been there before.

I moved closer to it until I could read the title.Dining in Splendor: Timeless Recipes for Sophisticated Tastes.

My heart sank. Clearly someone in this house doubted my ability to improve on my own.

And at this very moment, I doubted it, too.

9

HAILEY

As Grant had said,the guys went out on Friday night. They didn’t wear suits this time, but they still looked good. Grant had on a leather jacket and jeans. Theo had on an olive green button-down that looked good with his eyes. Ian was dressed in tan slacks and a Henley shirt. It was nice to see him looking relaxed. Bennett was the only one who looked uptight. He had on a rust-colored button-down shirt that didn’t go well with his skin tone.