Page 65 of Frat House Fling

I jumped, almost losing my balance again when I heard Grant’s voice. He seemed to have a sixth sense about when I was up to no good in this room. “Um… hi. You scared me.” He was leaning against the wall near the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. How long had he been here? “I was just vacuuming.”

He looked pointedly at the vacuum cleaner that was a good twenty feet away. “Clearly.”

He pushed off the wall and strode me, like a tiger who’d spotted its prey. Upstairs, at the dinner table, he’d been Grant, Theo and Ian’s friend. But down here, in this secret room, he was Grant, vice president and pledge master of the most notorious frat on campus.

And he somehow seemed taller, too.

“I’ll just go finish the carpet,” I said, but his gaze somehow pinned me in place.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered. His voice was soft but deadly.

I gulped. Was this some kind of punishment he inflicted on the pledges? Was he going to smack my knuckles with a ruler? But I somehow found myself obeying. My left hand rose shakily in the air.

He rolled his eyes. “The other one. I’m not placing a ring on your finger.”

Oh. I held my right hand out and he took it, raising it high in the air and then tugging it toward the pole. I grasped the smooth metal, but he shook his head. “Higher. Really stretch that little body of yours.”

Feeling foolish, I slid my hand up as high as I could, which sure didn’t seem all that high compared to a giant like him. He probably could’ve reached up and easily touched the season.

“Okay, face me, with your body perpendicular to the pole.”

Trying to follow along, I took a sidestep away from the pole and turned toward him. He shook his head and put his hands on my shoulders, repositioning me. “You were too far out, you shouldn’t have to lean in.”

I didn’t know why he bothered explaining when he was able to manhandle me into place like that. All the guys in the frat were taller than me, but being next to Grant made me feel especially tiny.

Grant stepped back, surveyed me, and frowned. “Kick off your shoes.”

He could have thought of that before putting me in this pose, but I did as he asked, toeing my sandals off and pushing them out of the way.

“Okay, take three large steps around the pole. Start with your inside leg.”

He micromanaged as I did so, telling me to point my toes as I stepped. To lean my upper body away from the pole. And even to walk with dignity, which seemed like a bit of a contradiction. Wasn’t the purpose of this thing to have women wearing as little as possible while zooming around on it?

At last, he was satisfied by my progress. “All right, this time, after the three steps, grab onto the pole with your left hand, about chest height.” He shook his head as I reached too high. “The height of your chest, not mine.”

Three graceful steps. Toes pointed. Arm taut as I kept my grip on the pole. I brought my left hand in, my body still facing outward.

“Not bad,” he said. “Now swing your left leg out. Keep it straight, toe pointed.”

“Do you give pole dancing lessons or something?”

He grinned. “I’m a fan of the artform. Now do it again. Gracefully this time.”

It took three tries before he deemed I was ready for the next step. “Okay, this time, bring your left leg in, and put it across the pole, with it just touching your ankle.”

“Huh?”

He rolled his eyes. “Do it from the start.” I complied, but when I got to the step where I pointed my left food out, he said, “Freeze.” He knelt down, and for the first time ever, I could see the top of his head. “Give me your leg.”

I swung it around and he grasped it with both hands. He bent my leg at the knee, folding it in until my heel was touching the pole, just like he’d said. “Good. And that’s it, that’s the position. Now you hold on tight, push off with your right leg, and spin around the pole. You’ll go around a couple of times as you sink down to the ground. You land gracefully, let all the horny men stuff dollar bills in your garter belt, and let the next girl take the stage.”

Great, now I had an alternate career if I flunked out of school. But I had to admit that his words had made my pulse speed up. He stood up and stepped back. He motioned for me to go ahead, and for some reason, I obeyed. When I got to the point where I was basically supposed to fly around the pole, I took a deep breath and pushed off with my back foot. “Keep your knees bent but your legs stiff,” Grant said as I lifted my legs off the ground.

Which caused me to drop like a stone. Grant caught my arm before I crashed all the way onto the carpet. “Let’s try that again.”

Why, I wanted to ask. What did this matter? I had carpets to clean, and later, papers to write. But I said none of that. I just got my feet under me and stepped back into the starting position. My arm tingles where his large hand had gripped me tightly.

Three steps. Point toe. Swing leg around. Hook the pole with my ankle. Glide round and round like a graceful swan until I landed gently on the floor. Yeah—that last step was the hard part.

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