Hazed (Palm South University)

Which is a very, very dangerous thing.

So when Kade came over and told me he missed me so much he wanted to ditch every fraternity event for the next week and spend all his free time with me, I didn’t argue.

Well, okay, I argued a little bit, because I do want him to be the next president, and I know that takes a lot of work and dedication. But still, I’ve missed him, too.

And Alpha Sigma can survive a week without him.

All week long, we’ve been wrapped up in each other, lounging in bed and losing days on end.

It kind of makes me thankful that I’m not a working woman just yet.

I’m doing my best to keep my moans in check, since Ashlei is set to be home any second now, but the way Kade is sucking my clit, it’s virtually impossible. And when he slips two fingers inside me, one and then the other, curling them in just the right way, I lose the fight completely.

Distantly, I hear my phone buzzing on the bedside table. I know it only sounds faint to me because I’m wrapped up in the pleasure Kade is wreaking on my body, but in reality, it’s buzzing so loud and hard, it’s moving itself across the wood.

It goes off, and I sigh, focusing on Kade’s mouth again.

Until the phone starts ringing again.

“Goddammit!”

“Leave it,” Kade says, kissing up my thighs, my stomach, until he’s between my legs. He hikes one knee up, and with a swift removal of his boxers, he’s lined up at my entrance when the phone stops buzzing again.

I press my heels into his ass, and the tip of him slips inside.

We both sigh, foreheads together, our bodies trembling at the feel of being connected.

And then my fucking phone goes off again.

Kade groans, dropping his head to my chest. “Maybe you should see who it is.”

“Maybe I should kill whoever it is.”

Kade chuckles as he grabs the phone and glances at the screen. He frowns, holding it to me. “It’s Cassie.”

“Cassie?” I ask with a frown of my own. And then sadly, Kade and I separate, and I scoot up against the headboard before answering the call. “Cassie, everything alright?”

“No,” she answers immediately, and it’s with a blubbery voice and a sniff.

“Oh, babe,” I say, giving Kade an apologetic smile. “What happened?”

Kade kisses my forehead and mouths that he’s going to get some water, and then he dresses and leaves me alone, closing the bedroom door behind him.

I can barely understand Cassie through her blubbering, but after listening for a few minutes, I gather the gist.

Adam got a job in another state. He’s moving after graduation and she’s staying here. Cassie is losing her shit about long distance. And she’s scared.

She’s practically out of breath when she finally stops, and she sniffs, waiting for my response.

“Well,” I start on a breath. “I’ll be honest, long distance is going to be tough.”

Cassie whimpers.

“But,” I continue. “It’s not going to be anything you and Adam can’t get through. Okay?”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve had a front-row seat to the shit show back and forth games you two have played for years.”

Cassie laughs through her next sob.

“Seriously,” I say. “Adam loves you more than anything. I mean, you’re wearing his letters around your neck, are you not?”

A sniff. “I am.”

“He wouldn’t lavalier you if he wasn’t serious.”

“I know, I know,” she says. “It’s just that I had this whole picture in my mind of where our lives would go next, and now…”

I laugh a little. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in the past few months, it’s that life rarely goes as we think it will, or as planned. We just have to roll with the tides, babe. And look, yes, it’s going to be different. But like you said, you’ll have the whole summer together, and then you’ll have school to distract you, and then you’ll only be a few hours from him when you start at Johns Hopkins.”

“If he stays in Boston,” she reminds me.

“Right. And if he doesn’t, he’s still going to go see you as much as he can, and I know you’ll do the same. And in the meantime, you call, and text, and video chat. It’ll be hard, yes, but in the end, it’ll only make you stronger.”

Cassie is silent for a long pause before she asks, “What was the hardest part for you and Jarrett?”

I haven’t heard those words together in so long, they steal my next breath.

You and Jarrett.

And suddenly, I understand why Cassie called me, why she wanted my advice.

I sigh. “Well, I don’t think we were ready for long distance. I mean, we had barely gotten our shit together, and then he was just… gone. And for a while, we were fine but…” I swallow. “Honestly, Cassie? I was young. And jealous. I couldn’t see the big picture. I was too obsessed with wanting my boyfriend here with me, partying, going to social events, whatever, to understand that what we had was special.”