Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(6)
“My point is,” Ava practically shouted. “Everyone knows who he is, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s absolutely gorgeous and rumored to be from a wealthy family from Northern California.”
“And,” Erica interrupted. “He was talking to you. He has your phone number. He said he would talk to you soon. He’s f*cking hot. You are so lucky.” She marked each statement by grabbing a different finger on her hand.
“Whatever. We’ll see,” Regan said, smiling faintly at Erica’s animated display.
“I thought he was with Olivia Reynolds,” Ava said. “But who knows. Maybe they’re finally over for good.”
“Who’s Olivia Reynolds?” Regan asked, hating the emotional poison turning in her stomach. She didn’t know Lucas. He might have joked about auditioning for the role of her boyfriend, but that didn’t mean anything. He was probably making conversation, humoring the pathetic freshman hiding in the corner. Nothing more.
“The president of our sorority and captain of the dance team,” Erica offered. She searched the room. “There she is.”
Regan’s eyes followed Erica’s pointed finger. Of course, Olivia was none other than the brunette marking Lucas as her territory earlier. “Right. I think I saw them talking earlier.” She quickly looked away from Olivia. “So what’s the plan for tonight? You promised me you’d make it worth my time if I ventured out of the dorm room.”
“This is it,” Ava said. “We mingle. We dance. We drink. And if we’re lucky maybe we find a guy.”
“Oh goody,” Regan said sarcastically as she raised her eyebrows. Between studying and the notoriety of her dad’s extracurricular activities, she didn’t have the time or the desire for a guy in her life whether it was for a night or a month.
“Don’t be so lame,” Ava said, pushing Regan’s shoulder lightly. “We’re going to have fun tonight. End of the story. Absolutely no moping allowed.”
Regan laughed. “Fine, let’s do it.”
Ava and Erica quickly dropped the subject of Lucas Evanston and the three of them joined the herd of people dancing. Before Regan realized it, several hours had passed, and it was well beyond midnight. Erica had disappeared hours ago. The crowd had thinned, obviously taking advantage of the rooms upstairs if the steady stream of couples climbing the stairs were any indication. She hadn’t seen Lucas in hours or at least not since she’d seen him walk out the front door with his arm loosely wrapped around Olivia’s shoulders. Which was absolutely fine with her. Lucas Evanston could do whatever he wanted. Truly.
Chapter Three
The music stopped, and no one made a move to play another song, a clear signal the fraternity party had ended.
Regan sent a text to Erica asking if they should wait for her. When ten minutes had passed without an answer, Ava impatiently checked her watch.
“Let’s go. Erica’s a big girl. She can take care of herself,” Ava blurted out with her hands on her hips.
“Are you sure? Maybe we should check upstairs. She drank a lot. She could be sick in the bathroom.”
Ava scoffed. “No way. We are not going upstairs. You don’t just wander the halls of a fraternity. Erica didn’t drink any more than usual. Besides, I think I saw her go upstairs with Mike so she’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Regan didn’t know Mike, but she had heard plenty about him from Erica. He only showed interest in Erica after partying. He hardly acknowledged her any other time. Erica swore that she was done with him. Apparently, she had changed her mind tonight. From what Regan had heard secondhand from Ava, Erica would never learn her lesson when it came to Mike. He was some sort of illusive obsession that she wouldn’t give up. “Let’s give her twenty more minutes and then we can leave.”
“Fine.” Ava rolled her eyes. “But you know how she is when it comes to Mike. She says one thing and does the complete opposite.”
“I’m going to check the kitchen.” Regan pointed at Ava trying to emphasize her point. She liked Ava, but she could be self-centered sometimes. “Don’t move from this spot. I don’t want to walk home by myself.”
“Fine, but if you disappear for longer than twenty minutes, I will assume you decided to join someone upstairs.” Ava flung her hand in the direction of the wood stairs near the back of the house.
“There’s not a chance of that happening,” Regan yelled over her shoulder as she walked away.
Moving against the crowd of people heading toward the front door, she walked toward the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, she cringed at the sensation of her feet sticking to the tile floor, a token reminder of the sugar mixed with spilled beer from the impromptu show earlier. When she looked down, she noticed a piece of toilet paper trailing from her shoe. Nice. She needed to remember to dump hand sanitizer on the bottom of her shoes when she got back to the dorm. The sugar and beer were probably the most benign substances coating that floor.
Without warning, a person slammed into her back, causing her to fall face first onto the floor. Pulling her now contaminated body from the floor onto her knees, she glared at the perpetrator, a guy wearing a white t-shirt with Greek letters emblazoned on the front.
“Great,” Regan said dryly. “Now I’ll have to bathe in Clorox.”