Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(7)
“Sorry about that.” The guy grinned drunkenly and held out his hand to help her up.
Without thinking Regan wrapped her hand around his and let him help her to her feet. “Thanks,” she mumbled, pulling her hand out of his grasp and wiping it on the sides of her jeans. She turned to walk away.
“If you aren’t with anyone, you could come upstairs with me.”
Regan’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
The guy shrugged. “If you’re interested.”
“Um, let me think.” Regan tapped two fingers against her chin. “Should I follow some random guy to a random room after he pushed me face first into a pile of who knows what?” Regan paused, shaking her head dramatically. “No thanks, I think I’ll pass.” Then, she muttered “*” under her breath as she turned to leave.
“Now, Regan. Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to end your first fraternity experience on a high note?”
Regan recognized the voice teasing her. Taking a deep breath, she turned and saw Lucas Evanston, King of the Panty Droppers, leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms folded across his chest.
She walked toward him attempting to remain calm in the face of his unnerving presence, even more so now that Ava and Erica gave her the run down on him. She couldn’t decide how she wanted to respond to his comment. Part of her wanted to scream at him, mostly because she was humiliated he’d witnessed her basically licking the floor. In the end, she decided to ignore the comment entirely because she knew he intended to tease the guy rather than her.
“Is there a towel somewhere in this kitchen?” she asked, her hip pressing into the counter a couple feet from him.
“No comment on ending the night on a high note?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.
“How could anything top being shoved into a puddle of mystery liquid?” She saw him smile and she quickly looked away. Was that a dimple on the right side of his face? Clearly, he’d played the genetic lottery and won. “About that towel, could you point me in the direction of one?”
He walked over to her and pressed lightly on her hip. Shivering, she stepped out of his reach. She certainly didn’t need to be reacting to the innocent touch of the King of the Panty Droppers. He opened a drawer and held up a dingy white towel and then tossed it in her direction.
“Thanks,” she replied, dabbing the front of her sticky sweater with the yellowed towel. Her sweater was a lost cause, but it gave her something to do other than stare at him like a pathetic fan-girl. At least it was black so she didn’t have to add indecent exposure to her list of cringe worthy events.
“So how was your first time?” he questioned, leaning into her shoulder, brushing against her.
Regan laughed. “Ah, so we’re back to that now?”
“Yep.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, I did have fun. Well, at least until I fell on my face.”
“It happens to the best of us. So where are your friends? Did they leave you again?”
Crap. She needed to find Erica. She searched the kitchen and realized it was empty except for the two of them. That didn’t bode well for Ava’s staying power. Ava wasn’t known for her patience. If Regan didn’t find Erica she would be walking home alone unless she could find a cab, which was unlikely given all the bars had begun emptying out about fifteen minutes ago. “Maybe.”
“Do you want me to help you look for them?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll manage.” Regan pushed away from the counter. “Erica disappeared with some guy named Mike a couple hours ago, so she’s probably a lost cause, but Ava’s supposed to be waiting for me by the front door, which means I’d better find her unless I want to walk home alone.”
Regan made her way toward the front door and looked around. Other than a few stragglers, the main floor was pretty much empty. A fun night out with her friends was quickly morphing into a total bust.
“Why don’t you call them? Maybe they’ll answer.”
Regan jumped when she heard Lucas’s voice. She hadn’t noticed he followed her out of the kitchen. “No. I think I’ll just walk home. It’s only five blocks. I walked here by myself. I’ll be fine.” As she reached for the front door handle, she felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Absolutely not. You can’t walk home at two in the morning by yourself. That’s insane.”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
“I’ll walk you home,” he said, his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowed.
“No thanks. I don’t know you.” Regan pulled the front door open, then paused. “Besides, what would your girlfriend think? Isn’t she waiting for you in your room or something?” Regan didn’t like the idea of walking home alone regardless of whether home was five blocks or one block, but she didn’t want Lucas to accompany her. She didn’t know much about him and his attention made her uncomfortable. Bringing up Olivia seemed like a good way to distract him from coming to her rescue.
Lucas smirked. “The girlfriend issue isn’t relevant so don’t worry about that. As for not knowing me, do you want me to give a couple character references? Would that help?” Lucas pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. “We can call my mom or my coach. I don’t think they’ll be awake, but I’m sure they won’t mind saying a few words on my behalf.” He tipped his phone toward her so she could see a picture of a beautiful older woman with the word “mom” written next to it.