Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(3)
Regan paused at the entrance of a room resembling a family room. The furniture had been shoved against the yellowed walls to accommodate more bodies. She scanned the faces. She didn’t recognize anyone.
As she turned to leave the room, her gaze fell on a man sitting nearby in a brown leather chair. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, and an amused smile played at the corner of his lips, curling them upward ever so slightly. A pretty, willowy, brunette with silky brown hair and a forced smile perched on the arm of his chair. Her hand possessively stroked his forearm almost as if she were marking her territory. Sensing Regan staring, the woman’s eyes met hers as she tugged nervously on the bottom of her black sweater.
Leaning down, the woman whispered something in his ear. His eyes zeroed in on Regan. They were an amazing amber color, fringed with thick black lashes. The intensity of his stare momentarily immobilized her. She couldn’t look away as a thousand emotions swirled through her—desire, curiosity, confusion, and surprise. She’d never felt an instant attraction to anyone before, but as his eyes soaked in every detail of her body, starting at her head and moving slowly downward, flames shot through her making her feel alive.
And then…he smirked before he leisurely looked back at the brunette, and threw his head backward, a deep laugh erupting from his chest that made her breath hitch.
What was wrong with her? Caught staring and feeling completely exposed, she studiously trained her eyes on the wood floors beneath her feet as she pushed her way out of the room, fighting the swarms of people to search for her friends, Ava and Erica. They had told Regan to meet them at the party but, so far, she hadn’t seen one familiar face.
Knowing her friends, they were sidetracked on a mission to find the Holy Grail, otherwise known as any form of alcohol. Regan had arrived at least forty-five minutes after they agreed to meet, hoping they would already be there, and she could avoid the awkwardness of roaming around a party, not knowing a single person. Apparently, their pre-party went on longer than anticipated. God knew they wouldn’t risk showing up at a party completely sober. Where was the fun in that? Oh wait, she was entirely sober as usual.
Entering the kitchen, she watched open-mouthed as a group of girls danced on the countertop to “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard. As she stared at the display, she decided the lyrics were way more provocative than a sloppy reenactment performed by a group of drunken, self-absorbed sorority girls pouring sugar all over each other while a bunch of fraternity jackasses cheered. The literal interpretation didn’t really do the song justice.
Courtesy of the free soft porn show on the countertop monopolizing everyone’s attention, she didn’t have to wait in line for a drink. Normally, she didn’t drink alcohol, or go to parties for that matter, but she promised her dorm friends she would make an effort to enjoy herself and be a normal college freshman for once.
All her friends had rushed a sorority at the beginning of their freshman year a couple months ago, but Regan evasively refused to participate making some lame excuse that it might hurt her GPA, and she couldn’t risk losing her academic scholarship. In reality, her dad, a Professor at the University, told her Greek life wasn’t an option, that she was there to learn and not to party, end of discussion. Accustomed to his autocratic bullying, she didn’t push the issue, instinctively sensing she would lose the argument. Besides, the great Professor Pierce would find a way to blackball her from the sororities if she participated in rush, so it was pointless to try.
Even though she didn’t join a sorority with the other girls from the dorm, her friends swore she wouldn’t be denied access to the party. Apparently, when a fraternity hosted these parties, it gave one sorority the golden ticket to attend, so in theory, only the chosen girls would be admitted to the party. In reality, the fraternities admitted any halfway decent looking girl who knocked on the door. Of course, no other guys were allowed. According to Regan’s friends, this increased the odds of finding a hook-up for the night. It sounded kind of sleazy to her, but who was she to judge. She had a father that preyed on students. Okay, maybe it was just one that she knew of, and she’d heard the girl was twenty-one, but she refused to throw stones.
Regan’s parents filed for divorce two weeks ago, and she had been moping around the dorm ever since. Her dad was always domineering, condescending, and generally not pleasant to be around. She often wondered how her mom put up with him, but when Regan complained about him, her mother always defended his behavior saying he was a good and loyal man who took care of his family.
Catching her dad with his pants down on his desk with one of his students quickly changed her tune. When her mom broke the news to her, Regan thought she was joking. Her dad always acted so moral and righteous, constantly looking down on people who failed to meet his lofty standards. The thought of him stepping over the line and not only breaking University policies, but also destroying his family in one swift stroke kind of blew her whole reality out of the water.
Sipping on the cheap, barely cold beer from a red plastic cup, she kept her eyes downcast, hoping no one would approach her. Beneath the veil of her eyelashes, she covertly scanned the room for her friends while attempting to blend into the dimly lit corner of the kitchen. Good thing she agreed with Ava’s recommendation to change out of her flower appliqué sweater because she would have literally qualified as a wallflower, not to mention it was kind of a lame sweater.
If her friends didn’t show up by the time she finished her beer, she fully intended to leave, regardless of what she had promised. Her friends argued she needed a night to relax and have fun, but hiding in a corner at a party where she knew no one wasn’t going to improve her mood.