Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(8)

“You might be surprised,” I bluffed.

“Yeah.” He nodded, his gaze skimming me, and suddenly I wished I had worn something besides a shapeless sweater. “I would be.”

I clamped my lips shut to stop myself from arguing with him. He thought I was a nice girl because that’s how I looked. I wasn’t going to change his mind with words. That was the kind of thing one proved.

He bent his arm and tapped his elbow. “Use your elbows to get through out there.”

He stepped away and filled another pitcher. He set it down in front of me. I fumbled for my money in the tiny purse strapped across my chest.

He swiped a hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Really? Thanks.”

He pointed out into the main room. “Just remember to use those elbows, Nice Girl.”

With that parting tip, he moved down the bar to the next customer. I stood there and stared after him for a moment, contemplating our exchange. Nice Girl. It echoed through my head. Fantastic. That’s how he thought of me. No name. Simply that.

Someone nudged me to move out of the way. Turning, I maneuvered back through the room, following his advice and using my elbows. It got me glares, but worked.

“Pepper! Over here!” Emerson waved wildly from a table.

Two guys already occupied the table. Something told me they’d had it first. Half a pitcher of beer sat in the middle. Emerson and Georgia sipped from glasses that were doubtless courtesy of their tablemates.

“Guys, this is Pepper.” She slapped the arm of the guy next to her. “Troy, be a gentleman. Let her sit down.”

“It’s Travis.” He stood and waved me into his seat.

Lowering myself into the chair, I set the pitcher down beside the other one.

“Well.” Emerson scooted closer. “How hot is he?”

I poured a glass and took a deep gulp, suddenly feeling like I needed the fortification even though I wasn’t a fan of the stuff. Coming up for air, I answered. “Hot.”

“Did you talk to him?”

I shrugged one shoulder, for some reason keeping to myself that he was the guy that helped me with my car last night. That might lead me to explaining how he had just dubbed me “Nice Girl.” I winced anew over that. He might as well have dubbed me “Undesirable” or “Leper.”

“I ordered beer,” I volunteered.

“Ugh, that’s all? Well, there’s lots of fish in the sea.” She motioned around us. “We’ll find you someone to hone your wiles.”

My gaze skimmed the sea of people, including the two guys at our table. The one who gave up his chair squatted now, sitting on a motorcycle helmet. He watched Emerson raptly as if he was actually a participant in our conversation. Meanwhile, his friend was working hard to impress Georgia. I couldn’t imagine a more hopeless endeavor than that. She had to have told him she had a boyfriend. Georgia was like that. She wasn’t into leading guys on.

“Looking to hone your wiles?” Travis echoed. “I can help you there.”

“Down, boy.” Emerson patted his arm and I could read her subtext even if she was too kind to say the words: You’re not what we’re looking for.

“I wasn’t actually talking about me. I was talking about the campus kink club.”

“Kink club?” I blinked.

“Yeah. Everyone’s talking about it.”

“Whoa, hang on a minute. Did you say ‘kink club’?” Emerson held up a hand. “Everyone can’t be talking about it. I haven’t heard about it.”

“It’s invitation only. Members are few and select.”

She angled her head and gave him a pointed look. “And again, I haven’t heard of it.”

I grinned. Emerson’s sharp blue eyes cut to me. I quickly covered my lips, trying to hide my amusement. She obviously felt slighted to only be hearing about this now.

“What’s a kink club?” Georgia asked, and the words themselves seemed odd emerging in her Alabama accent.

“You know,” Travis’s friend volunteered. “It’s just what it sounds like. A club for people who like their stuff outside the box, you know?” He drew a little box in the air as if that somehow explained everything.

“People who like their stuff outside the box,” I murmured, glancing at the faces around the table. “That’s not that helpful.” Especially considering I wasn’t even sure what everything was inside the box.

“The girl in the apartment across from mine is a member,” Travis added. “She told me about it.”

“Yeah?” Emerson’s eyes sparkled with interest. “What’s she into?”

Travis looked the three of us over. “Oh, she’d be into the three of you.”

“She’s gay?” Emerson looked unimpressed. “What’s so outside the box about that?”

“I said she would be into the three of you.”

We stared for a long moment. Then Emerson ahhed and Georgia nodded in understanding. I still stared blankly.

Travis laughed at my expression. “As in the three of you . . . together. All at once.”

“Oh.” My cheeks burned.

Travis laughed. “Your expression is priceless.”

“Kink club. Huh.” Emerson looked at me thoughtfully. “You would definitely learn a thing or two if you visited—”