Page 94 of The Bro-code

I guess it was gradual.

I started by appreciating him as a friend who’s also handsome and as he and I got closer and Topher began showing his true colors, my feelings for Cole grew and evolved. I didn’t realize how I felt until last year’s disastrous Christmas break in Connecticut.

Even before I overheard that conversation between Topher and his father, I had found myself wishing I hadn’t gone.

Cole had decided to stay on campus for the break because flights were too expensive and he didn’t feel like driving all the way to the East Coast. Of course he had refused my offer to buy him tickets as a Christmas present. But knowing that he was in the frat house, by himself, I kept wishing I had stayed.

It was strange and disconcerting that I was meeting my long term boyfriend’s family and I couldn’t get my best friend out of my head.

When I was in bed with Topher, every time I closed my eyes, I thought about Cole.

I’m so caught up in my own thoughts, that I almost don’t realize that Cole did lower his head.

“Baby,” his voice is like a warm blanket and I shudder at the way my skin reacts. I wonder if he can see the goosebumps that just appeared on my arms as my skin is begging for his touch.

I look into his eyes, not daring to speak. Right now I don’t trust my own voice. I don’t trust myself not to really beg him to kiss me.

There have been a few moments like this one in the past, where I thought he was about to kiss me. But it never happened and after the way he reacted at the kissing booth, I think I’ve been just imagining things.

His hand cups my jaw just the way I’ve been dreaming of.

He runs the pad of his thumb over the sensitive spot behind my ear and I swear my clit throbs.

I don’t even stop thinking about how crazy that is, because his gaze softens.

Cole’s warm breath fans over my lips and the tip of his tongue comes out to wet his lips.

“Bay, baby, I?—”

His face is so close now that the tip of his nose is touching mine.

This is it.

Cole is about to kiss me.

Maybe living together made him see that we could be more than friends. I don’t care, I?—

“Let’s play a game of musical partners!”

RYKER

These parties are all the same.

Sadly I came to this conclusion after I drank my fill of cheap keg beer and got laid at every single party I attended my freshman year.

Sometimes, I got laid multiple times in the same night and not with the same woman. The bunnies at my old college were very dedicated, that's all I can say.

The novelty wore off pretty quickly though and by last year, I rarely even bothered going out. That was even before that whole mess with my roommate and the coach’s daughter. I had become an inactive member of Gamma Delta Tau way before I became persona non grata when everyone thought I was fucking another brother’s girl.

Then why the fuck am I here?

I’m new on this campus and practically all my teammates are Gammas, so I need to show my face at least for an hour or two to build some team spirit.

I exit to the backyard and accept a beer wondering if I’ve been here long enough and I can call an Uber or even walk back to my off-campus apartment.

Bullshit.

I intentionally ignore the voice in my head as I scan the backyard looking for her.

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