Color Me Pretty: A Father's Best Friend Romance

Lauren all but glared at Jamie’s kind response. I barely refrained from rolling my eyes before she caught me. “We’ve missed you at practice. There was talk that you may even be coming back.”

Talk that started because of Sophie, no doubt, but I didn’t call her out on it. “I heard the new girls are doing well. Sounds like there’s a lot of competition this year.”

Ophelia opened her mouth to speak, but Lauren cut her off. “They’re okay, but obviously not as good as the seasoned dancers. So, is it true? Are you coming back?”

Sighing, I adjusted the floral bag draped around my arm. It wasn’t as big as most backpacks I’d seen others have but held what little materials I needed for the semester. “No, it isn’t. If you don’t mind, I really need to get going.”

“Ah, yes. To the art department.” The way she said it made my eye want to twitch, but I held back. Her tone was no different than Sophie’s, and it bothered me more than I liked it to. Lauren’s opinion shouldn’t matter. Sophie was family, so the bubble of disappointment that appeared when I saw disapproval in her eye made sense. Lauren was just somebody who loved getting under my skin, and I hated that I let her so easily. “I heard you were honing your talents elsewhere. It’s a shame. I liked having actual competition.”

Jamie and Ophelia’s frowns were evident to everybody but Lauren. I was tempted to say that she had competition standing right beside her, which wouldn’t have been untrue. I did hear that Jamie had begun training harder to earn a better spot in recitals, and Ophelia always had the kind of natural talent that would take her far if she really wanted it to. Their mothers never pushed them as hard as Lauren’s did with her, so their training wasn’t as vigorous.

“Like I said,” I told her quietly, “I need to go. It was good seeing you guys.” I made a point to look at Jamie and Ophelia when I said that, giving them smiles that they both returned with head bobs.

When I sidestepped Jamie and escaped, I heard Lauren snap at them. I felt bad, but Jamie and Ophelia were old enough to decide who they wanted to be friends with. Once I stepped into the open first floor, I was immediately pulled into a hard side that smelled like lemon drops and mischief. I eyed my best friend as he grinned at me like he was innocent. “I was going to rescue you when I saw the shark enter, but Lauren scares me, and I got a papercut earlier, so she’d be able to smell my fear like blood.”

I playfully elbowed him, but he didn’t seem to care. “You fed me to her willingly then? Some friend you are.”

“Did I mention I’m sorry about the party and tell you how much I love you?”

“Yes, to both. Multiple times.” He had apologized profusely about what had happened. I told him what Theo said about being drugged, and the look on his face had told me he came to the same conclusion. One other girl had been taken to the hospital when her friends found her acting strange. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but it made the school open an investigation that shut down the fraternity temporarily. Between the third strike they had for even throwing a party and the allegations somebody roofied drinks, it didn’t look good for them. I wasn’t sure I felt bad for them though. Jase knew they’d been warned but he held the party anyway, and even though it wasn’t his fault someone was trying to hurt women, it still happened and could have turned out way worse than it did.

“You’re also pretty,” he added, batting his lashes, and making me snort.

We walked side by side down the less packed first floor hallway, which had more room for students to mill about while they waited for classrooms to empty.

“In hindsight, I’m lucky to even be alive after the way your guard dog snapped at me. I deserved it, but I feared for my life. Definitely would rather face off with Lauren.”

“Would you stop calling Theo that?” I huffed, eyeing him for the millionth time. “It’s bad enough I kept having to defend you to him when I woke up at his place. I already told you both that you’re forgiven, and it wasn’t your fault.”

“But he still hates me, doesn’t he?”

“Theo is…”

“I get it, Del. I do. He’s the father figure you needed, so he wants you to be safe. I know that you care about him…a lot. And no matter what you say, I’m always going to feel bad about what happened. About what could have happened. Listen, word got around that it might have been Evan who drugged a few drinks that night. There’s been talk he’s done it before but…”

“He’s never gotten caught.” My stomach dropped over what that probably meant. I told him I’d suspected him considering he was following me afte

r I turned him away. And Evan…there was something off about him that went beyond his distaste for me. “They have to kick him out, Ren. Please tell me there’s at least a hearing or something with the council or whatever it’s called?”

“They’re voting at next week’s meeting.”

I blew out a breath. That was something. I wasn’t sure why it was taking them so long. Nobody really liked Evan from what I could tell. How hard was it to secure a vote that made sure he wouldn’t harm people?

“But.” My body froze as we stopped at the double doors that led to my salvation in form of paint fumes. “It doesn’t mean anything will happen. Talk is talk.”

“What if there was proof?”

“There isn’t. We know it. He knows it.”

I shook my head, anger boiling my blood. People like Evan got away with too much. I would know, I’d seen it happen countless times. Who was I to talk though? It was no secret that my father hadn’t gotten away with things, which should have been prime reason for people not to think their money could protect them. “He deserves to be kicked out of the frat whether there’s clear evidence or not. If plenty of people are talking about it, obviously there’s a reason.”

He dropped his arm and turned to me, his light eyes dulled. “I agree with you, but it’s not that easy. We’ll deal with him eventually, okay? You don’t need to worry about it.”

“How can I not? You know better than anybody that Evan hates me already.” I frowned, blinking at my friend with genuine concern. “There are innocent people he probably hurt, and even more he hasn’t had a chance to if nothing is done.”

“We don’t know for sure he hates you. Why would he? You’ve done nothing to him, Del. And what happens to other people isn’t on you,” he reminded me. We’d had similar conversation before, so I knew where the conversation was going. “You need to stop trying to fix the world’s problems and focus on you and yours.”

“I didn’t realize I had problems.”