Page 149 of Talk Swoony to Me
Definitely not good.
I clear my throat. “What’s up, guys?” I ask. “The meeting starts at four, right?”
Seth looks at his phone. After a few quick taps of his screen, my phone vibrates in my hand. I turn it up. A new photo message.
“Mr. Newbury has come to us with a dispute,” Brick says. “Care to explain that photograph, Mr. Rose?”
I swipe it open.
Fuck.
Heidi was too late.
I pinch and zoom, hoping that there’s something there that could cast some doubt. Maybe my face is cropped, or she drew a mole or a freckle I don’t have. Anything that might argue that this guy isn’t me.
But that’s my face. Those are my hands.
And that’s my distinguished-looking dick.
I zoom in on the title card. Heidi Newbury. Hard to argue she wasn’t the artist with that sitting there, too.
The Objectified Man?
Really, Jenna?
“Rose.”
I look at Brick. “I think good art speaks for itself,” I joke.
He doesn’t laugh. No one does.
Especially not Seth.
“Why is my little sister drawing you naked, man?” he asks me.
Point blank. Eye contact.
I could lie. I could try to bullshit my way out of this. I could say that I modeled for her class. That’s true, after all, but it’d only take Corey to confirm that I wasn’t there on full figure day. Wouldn’t take a genius to determine how she really got up close and personal with my lower half.
Now is the time.
I swallow hard. “Because we’ve been seeing each other,” I answer. “Since September.”
The room shifts. A shiver races down my spine. No one says a word, but the way the air moves when two dozen men all look to their leader at the same time is bone-chilling.
Seth just glares. I wish he would say something, though. Or shout. Or punch me in the nose. I can take it. Hell, I deserve it.
Brick takes a breath and stands a little taller. “Any Delta Xi man who breaks Delta Xi law will be punished to the full extent of Delta Xi law!” he says.
They all raise a fist.
“Drop! Drop! Drop!”
I stand alone, surrounded by the chanting voices of my brothers as Seth looks on.
Well, shit.
CHAPTER 43
