Always Crew
Chapter 36

JORDAN

I loved going out with my crew.

It would’ve been better if Z was here, but it was what it was. Bren and Cross didn’t get it. Well, Cross did, but Bren was f*****g clueless. Both had no idea the effect they had on people. They were noticed. Watched. Observed. Bren and Cross walked down the street, and it was just known that they were there. It didn’t matter if people didn’t know them. If they didn’t, people got curious. Bren was beautiful. Cross was badass. There was something they gave off, something in the air. People felt it, tuned into it, and woke.

These were my people. Mine.

I loved walking with them. I loved having their backs. I loved knowing they’d have my backs.

No one f*****g got it. None.

These people were my family. I would die for them, and they’d do the same.

It was nothing but pride I felt when I walked beside them down the street.

Everyone was out partying. All the frat houses had their lights shining, windows open, and their own music pounding out. There were neon lights strung up all over. Girls were running around wearing bikinis, neon bracelets, and waving neon light sabers in the air like they were at a rave. Some lawn games were set up, and even though it was nearing dusk, they’d be playing long into the night. There was a reason they were all partying tonight, but I didn’t know the why. A couple girls from class texted me, letting me know so I knew this shit wasn’t just frat and sororities. And thinking of them, I shot a couple texts out to them and a few other girls.

I wasn’t hurting for company, but they weren’t Tabatha.

And even thinking that, I was feeling a burn in my chest.

When push came to shove, she clammed up. She did her own thing. She thought she could handle it on her own, and that shit hurt. Felt like a knife sliding between my ribs, you know?

But I failed her, too.

Bren was the one who hadn’t. Bren found out about the cheating and called bullshit. Yeah, yeah. I know she was all huffy and puffy that she was going to go and beat the crap out of Tabatha, or think about it, but Bren was actually softening. All her dysfunctions from the past shuttered, she was becoming functional more and more, and she was friends with Tabatha now. She cared about Tabatha. They weren’t normal girlfriends by a long stretch, that was something Tab had come to accept about Bren, but Bren would get to that, too. One day. But all that being said, she went to replace out the truth because she was right.

Tabatha wasn’t a cheater.

And that was on me. I should’ve seen through it. I hadn’t. I got suckered in, let my hurt feelings control me, my wounded ego and all that crap.

“Hey!”

I turned.

A blue, glow-in-the-dark girl pushed through the crowd. Bren frowned at her, but I recognized her. She was one of the girls who texted me earlier. I gave her a nod. “What’s up?” “Hi.” She was out of breath, and I checked her out. She was wearing some weird toga sheet thing with the blue neon lights wrapped around her and looped around her neck.

Bren was eyeing the lights around her neck, and I knew what she was thinking. Dumbass chick move. In a fight, she’d get choked out, but that was Bren for you.

Cross moved in close to his girl, and I went back to eyeing this one. “Trina?”

“Yeah.” She was almost preening, blinking. Her cheeks were rosy, I saw when she got closer to me. “Did you guys just get here?” She didn’t wait for my answer. Turning, she pointed to one of the houses. “My friends and I have a little table over there. We pulled out a picnic table, and there’s a bunch of us from our psych class.” She saw Cross and paused, blinking again, startled. “You’re in that class, too.”

Cross didn’t reply, he had a hand on Bren’s h*p.

The girl was studying Bren now. “Are you in our class?”

Bren started to smile, but I cleared my throat, speaking first, “You guys got booze over there?”

Bren’s smile was one of her feral ones. I didn’t know why it was coming out, but this side of B was best dealt with extreme caution. I shot Cross a look and he nodded. He got it, too.

“Oh.” Trina’s smile dimmed a little. “We don’t. I mean, we do, but not for others. My friend—”

“Bitches!”

Another girl came from the crowd, a whole group in tow. When Aspen came from the back, heading right for Bren, I remembered these girls. One was Aspen’s roommate, and the others were her floormates.

“Hey, Bren!”

Aspen went right up to Bren, the feral smile completely ignored, and she threw her tiny arms around her. Blaise’s girl was wearing the same toga-like costume, but a bikini top under it. Knowing how nuts Blaise was about his girl, I was sure she had shorts underneath as well. Not the Trina girl. It was clear she had no bra, and if I had to guess, maybe a thong? Maybe. Maybe not. And she was giving me a look saying that I’d be welcome to replace out for myself.

I shot her a grin, and her cheeks pinked.

Then my phone buzzed, and I glanced to it.

It was another girl from my communications class.

Sonya: Red house! I see you. Come 2 me.

“No fair.” The ‘bitches’ girl was scowling at me, nodding at my phone. “I haven’t f****d you. I get first dibs. No girl can cut in with a text.”

Trina glared at her. “Excuse me?”

The ‘bitches’ girl just moved in, putting herself between Trina and me. Her back to Trina and her front to me, and she smiled right up at me, making sure I got a good view of her cleavage. And that view looked damn good, too.

She held her drink right in front of them, taking a slow sip, and being all sultry as she swallowed. “Aspen told me your situation. I don’t care. I like to have s*x and I don’t think you’ll be scared of me. My reputation is already getting around.”

Jesus. This girl.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Veronica.” She shot a glance under her eyelashes to her friends. “We could go and come back before Angeline starts giggling. I’m shocked she hasn’t started, to be honest, but between you and me, her tolerance level is getting better. Before she’d drink one wine cooler and the giggles would start.”

I was thinking Angeline wasn’t the giggling girl I’d had at our house. Bren would not be down with that.

I was eyeing Veronica, then moved to the rest of the girls. And nope. It was a different girl. I could tell which one was Angeline because she was staring into her drink, her shoulders shaking the whole time.

“Too late.”

Veronica looked and swore under her breath. “Aww, crap. Now Jade won’t let me leave to f**k you. I’m going to have to watch Angeline all night now.” With that said, she shoved aside a guy who had danced into our circle and went over to her friend, taking her drink away from her. She finished it for her, then took her hand and dragged her away.

The other girl remained. She’d been over to the house once with Aspen.

Jade? I was pretty sure that was her name, and she was eyeing me, too.

I smirked at her. It was more a reflex by now.

My phone buzzed again.

Sonya: Are you coming?

Sonya: No underwear. And it’s toga night. You do the math.

I g*****d, but then Jade had come over. I looked, but no Trina. She was gone, too.

“Hey,” she said as she sipped her drink.

Dark hair that was pulled back, off her face. Dark eyes. Nice, dark red lips. Pretty face. Fantastic f*****g body. She wasn’t wearing the toga thing, but had on a tank top, a cute little frilly skirt, and a backpack. The backpack threw me.

“Why the bag?”

She snorted. “I bring my own drinks. You think I’m going to trust some fraternity with my intoxication? No, thank you.”

I liked her. She was smart.

“Your name is Jade?”

Her eyes got big. She hadn’t expected that from me. She gulped, her head ducking a little. “Yeah. You’re Jordan.”

“We in a class together?”

She shook her head, a knowing smile tugging at her mouth. She moved her drink up, and I was getting irritated. I couldn’t see all of her mouth anymore and that was pissing me off.

She said, a laugh in her tone, “There’s a trifecta thing going on with you. One, everyone knows Blaise DeVroe, so that means everyone knows who his near look-alike brother is. That means they all know you because you come with his brother. Two, you jumped Harper, and he’s a frat legacy, so that’s big. And three, you’re Jordan Pitts. You’re six-three and gorgeous. I don’t need to have a class with you to know who you are.”

I inclined my head. “And you’ve been to the house, right?”

She blushed. It spread all over her face.

She almost spilled her drink, too. “I didn’t know you knew that.”

I frowned, edging back. “You f**k Zellman?”

More blushing. She went from a cute tan pink to full-fledged red. “No. God, no!”

My frown deepened. “Nothing wrong with my boy.”

“No. Oh my God. I know. And no, I mean—” She stopped, swallowed, and then drank the rest of her drink.

Aspen had moved back to us, a drunk smile on her face. She was swaying to any of the music hitting us from the houses. Take your pick. “Hi, guys.” She tipped her head back, her eyes closed, and kept on swaying.

Bren moved in next to her. “Aspen.”

“Hmm?”

Aspen did not stop swaying, open her eyes, or even look at Bren. The girl was in her own time zone.

Bren frowned at me. “She’s wasted.” She turned to Jade. “Where’s Blaise?”

Jade shrugged, some of the blush was fading. “This is a girls’ night. Boyfriends are not allowed.” She eyed Cross, who was keeping a look out at this point. “You’re not officially on our girls’ night.” Her eyes skirted to me. That blush was coming back. “But flirting is totally okay.”

I was remembering that Veronica girl. I was guessing flirting and f*****g were okay on girls’ night?

My phone cut in again.

Sonya: Too late. Offer’s been rescinded.

Christ. Who was this girl?

Jade leaned in, yelling over the music. “I know you dated Tabatha Sweets. Everyone knows.”

I scowled, putting my phone away. “You’re offering a pity f**k?”

Her eyes bulged out. “No! No.” She eased back, starting to glare at me. “Who do you think you are?”

I snorted. “According to you, you know exactly who I am.”

Bren’s hand came to my arm. She was frowning at me, taking in the conversation.

I rolled my eyes and ducked down, saying close to her ear, “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Instead of f*****g, I think I’m spoiling for a fight.”

Her hand tightened on my arm, and for a second, I thought it was because she wanted one, too. Bren usually did, but she didn’t reply, and she wasn’t looking at me now. Her gaze was trained past me, and her hand just tightened again.

I looked and g*****d.

We had incoming.

Harper was leading the charge, with six other guys behind him. Zeke Allen was included.

In these moments, I always knew what I was going to do. Back up my crew, but I glanced at Bren and then to Cross. He was watching his girl, too. We shared a look, thinking and knowing the same thing.

Bren was the one spoiling for a fight.

Our little feral she-wolf was about to come out and play, and I was going to love it.