Page 32 of Frat House Fling

Which meant they probably wouldn’t miss it.

It was the perfect accessory for my new plan to act like professional kitchen staff to keep Bennett off my back at dinnertime. I added it to the washer and smiled to myself. For once, I’d found something good hanging on a hook instead of that stupid French maid costume that kept popping up.

There was no point in hanging out down here, listening to the washing machine go through its cycles, though I had to admit it was rather peaceful with no one telling me what to do, but I could better use this time studying in my room.

When I walked back toward the stairs, however, I heard another mechanical sound and a rhythmic thumping. Someone was using the treadmills. I paused and peeked around the corner—and nearly groaned out loud. Both Bennett and Grant were there. They had their shirts off, because apparently men weren’tallowed to wear them in this house, and they were running on adjacent treadmills.

Great. Just what I needed. I had half a mind to go back to the laundry room and hide in a dryer until they left.

I huffed out an exasperated breath as I weighed my options. The pounding of their feet as they ran was drilling into my brain. If only I could get to the kitchen steps without going past them.

I slid down to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest, but then I sprang up just as fast. Ian had specified that I should use the kitchen stairs. Did that mean there was another set? Now that I thought about it, there was no way that could be the only way down here. When they had those huge parties with hundreds of people, they couldn’t all tromp into the kitchen and then go single file up and down those stairs.

Slowly, I walked back toward the laundry room, opening doors as I went. One held dozens of folding chairs stacked against each other. The next one was a bathroom. This house sure had a lot of those—and unfortunately, I was in charge of cleaning every single one.

The third door off to the right was made of heavy wood. It wasn’t painted white like the others. The handle was a silver lever instead of a round knob.

Cautiously, I pushed the handle down. At first, I thought the door was locked, but as I pulled, it began to move toward me. When it was open just far enough, I slipped inside a dark hallway. The only reason I could see anything at all was because of the glowing red exit sign at the opposite end of the hallway. So I was right, there had to be another set of stairs.

I pointed the flashlight from my phone ahead of me as I ventured down the hallway. Large double doors were open on the left, and it looked like there was a big space beyond it.

Panning the light in front of me, I crept forward. The room was cavernous. The carpet was thick and plush under my feet as I shined the light all over.

There had to be a light switch somewhere, but I didn’t even look. It was clear I wasn’t supposed to be here. Ian had hinted as much.

Was this some kind of room for their fraternity rituals? There were only a few guys here in the summer, but during the regular school year, they had to have meetings and ceremonies and such, didn’t they? At least that’s how it was in the movies.

I stubbed my toe on something and looked down to see a row of seats, the kind where you had to push the bottom of the seat down, like at a theater.

There were other rows of seats, too. And in the middle of the room was… well, I wouldn’t say an altar. It was a fraternity, not a satanic cult. But the table was massive and heavy. Did Bennett conduct meetings from there?

I knew I needed to get out of here, but I couldn’t resist pointing my light at all corners of the large room. A flash of silver caught my eye, and I panned the light back, trying to see what it was.

In the corner of the room, there was a clear area without any seating. And in the middle of that was a silver pole.

A pole? There were a few large columns around the room, presumably for structural reasons. This was a very large house, after all. But the thin little pole couldn’t have held up anything.

I padded toward it, my footsteps silent on the thick carpet. I could see it better when I was a few feet away. It was shiny and smooth. Tentatively, I touched it. The metal was cold, and to my surprise, it shifted a little as I withdrew my hand. I gasped, afraid I’d knocked it over. But no, it had just rotated slightly.

Almost as if it was a?—

Light flooded the room and I blinked, shielding my eyes. After all the exploration in the dark, I couldn’t see a thing, and my heart rate spiked, knowing there was someone else in the room.

“Want to go for a spin?”

The deep voice triggered a spike of nervous adrenaline. My body was in fight or flight mode. Bennett had caught me wandering around an area that was clearly off limits. He moved closer, and apprehension filled me. He looked taller than usual, and I took a step back.

And then I blinked rapidly, my vision finally clearing.

That’s when I realized it wasn’t Bennett. It was Grant.

I let out the breath I’d been holding as he closed the distance between us. He was still a big man. And I was still where I shouldn’t be. But somehow, the fight or flight feeling I’d had a moment ago was no longer there.

“Hi, Hailey.” He sounded as casual as if we’d just run into each other in the hallway upstairs. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” I said automatically. “I just—” I paused. I couldn’t really tell him that I hadn’t wanted to walk past him and his cousin. “I didn’t know what was in here.”

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. The hard muscles in his bare chest flexed as he did so. “Well, now you do.”