Frayed (Connections, #4)(7)

“Ne . . . needs?” I stuttered.

She peered at herself in a compact mirror. “You be whatever he wants you to be. You know, make sure his cup is full, flirt with him, tell him what he wants to hear. Make yourself his dream girl for the night. But never, ever let him know it’s your job. It should seem natural and real—like you really like him.”

I stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk.

She looked over at me. “You can do that, can’t you?”

“Of course.” I swallowed, thinking maybe my silver tongue had gotten me in over my head this time, but then I thought no, I had read many books where girls molded themselves to be what the guy wanted and ended up liking who she became. With that thought I knew I could be the kind of girl she was talking about—strong and confident in her sexual prowess. I could be just like one of the heroines of my romance novels.

“Great! Just relax. Enjoy the free booze and man candy. I promise it’ll be fun.”

I bit my lip, hoping my brother Xander wouldn’t be there. He’d kill me not only for not telling him where I was going or for what I was wearing, but more so for what I was going to be doing.

She pushed her boobs up. “Oh, and if he wants a blow job, make sure you give him one.”

My eyes widened and my mouth fell open.

“Only kidding. But you should have seen what I had to do!”

“What?” I asked, once again stifling the urge to turn back around.

“I was forced to dance on tables for all the fraternities on campus to absurdly sexual songs.”

Oh God, I thought.

“So, tell me about that brother of yours that’s in the band.”

I couldn’t look at her. I was still trying to process what I had gotten myself into. I finally took a deep breath and said, “His name is River and he’s coming to visit in a few weeks. His band is actually going to play on campus.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, I love rock stars. You have to introduce me to him.”

“Um . . . sure, I can do that.” But I already knew she wasn’t his type.

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

I laughed. “No, he says he doesn’t do girlfriends.” And I air-quoted my last word as she had earlier.

“He sounds dreamy,” she said.

Again I cursed my silver tongue.

When she opened the door to the frat house, all I could do was stare. People were everywhere. Music played loudly from the speakers in every corner, silver kegs lined one wall, and large plastic bowls overflowed with food on the tables. She led the way and when she stopped abruptly, I ran right into her.

“Sorry,” I hollered over the pulsing music.

She ignored me and moved forward, but I stood glued to the spot I had stopped in. My pulse was racing. My cheeks prickled with heat. There he stood, Ben Covington, just a few feet away—tall, beautiful, messy blond hair, a body that made mine tingle everywhere, and a smile that caused me to melt without even knowing why it formed on his lips.

Claire doubled back. She noticed my stare.

“Can I be assigned to him?” I pointed, my stomach fluttering.

She made a low dismissive noise. Waving her hand, she said, “He has a girlfriend.”

“So you don’t assign guys with girlfriends?” I asked a little too sharply.

She raised an eyebrow. “Sure, he’s all yours. But you should know he never really pays attention to any of us.”

I shrugged and resumed my staring.

She shook her head at me. “I have to say you really are a strange one.”

Lightly laughing at her comment and trying not to take offense, I kept my eyes glued on him. He was across the room talking to some younger guy rather animatedly, and when he stretched out his hand with a red Solo cup in it, I straightened my shoulders. “I’m off.”

She pursed her lips and grabbed my arm. “Do you want any pointers?”

Knowing I must seem like a contradiction, I met her eyes. “I got this, Claire.”

She grabbed my elbow as I started to walk toward him.

I twisted to look at her.

“Honey, my name is Stacy. Claire is my dream girl name. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Bell Wilde.”

“Oh, I like it. Is that your dream girl or real name?”

I gave her a blank look. “Real.”

“So what’s your dream girl name?”

A smile crossed my lips as I looked over to the guy who had captured my attention since I first saw him just a few weeks ago. Xander had taken me to a frat party but made me leave when he saw me drinking a beer and staring at Ben. The guy across the room was also the same guy I had been obsessing over since he talked to me in the library a few days ago. I couldn’t believe he was here.

“S’belle,” I said to her, more sure of that than anything I had since I met her. At that moment, I stood tall and strode across the room chanting, I can be his dream girl for the night over and over.

My insides froze when I stopped in front of him. I was so nervous that when I wrapped my trembling hand around his cup, I thought I might be sick. Then I thought, I can do this. It’s my job, after all. But when our fingers touched and a heat spread throughout my body, my nerves were back.

He grinned down at me with eyes that had to make every girl look twice. He shuffled his feet and for a second I thought maybe he was nervous too, but only for a second because when I looked up into the smoldering heat of those blue eyes, I saw nothing but confidence. That one look gave me strength and I suddenly found my words. “I’ve been assigned as your little sister,” I said, feeling as if my tone came out more little girl than dream girl. But the way he looked at me, I didn’t think that was what he thought at all.