Page 57 of Beginning Fate

Sure, I may be younger than him, but in many ways, I acted far older and was probably more mature.

That wasn’t really fair because he’d never done or said anything that led me to believe he was immature or anything. But a party? I was struggling to wrap my mind around it.

“Relax, Lauren. Just breathe.”

I hadn’t realized how wound up I’d gotten myself until he spoke. He then wrapped his arms around me, causing my whole body to shudder against him.

“I’m okay,” I told him. And I was, but I was also confused by everything happening between us.

Denny

Chapter 15

Lauren seemed hesitant. Was it because of me? Was she embarrassed to go out with me?

Despite what people thought, I cared a lot about what others thought about me. I was a people pleaser by nature and in my younger days it had often gotten me into some bad situations, or the kind of situations where I just came out looking like an idiot for the joy of others.

I could still do that. Mostly it didn’t bother me, but there was always this little voice in the back of my head telling me others only liked me because I did what they wanted.

It would look bad if I didn’t show up to the party, or at least make an appearance. But also, none of the frat would think anything of it. They all knew what I was going through and would be on my side. I was positive about that, but if the Panthers or Theta girls showed up, they’d notice and comment on it.

Not that long ago, it would have bothered me. Now, I wasn’t sure I cared.

The last thing I wanted to do was make Lauren uncomfortable.

“If you don’t want to go to the party, we don’t have to,” I told her.

“Don’t do that. I know you want to go. It’s just that I’ve never been to a party before.”

“Never?”

“Not even a birthday party. Nothing. I have no idea what to expect or what to wear. I wouldn’t even know what to do or how to act.”

I considered that for a moment. It shouldn’t have surprised me to hear it, yet it did. Not even a birthday party as a kid? That was so sad.

“Well, it’s nothing fancy. You can wear what you have on. Jeans and T-shirts will mostly be the attire for the evening.”

I knew that wasn’t entirely true. If any of the sorority girls were back, they would show up dressed to perfection trying to look as hot as possible in hopes of taking one of my boys home with them or make it back to one of their bedrooms. I wasn’t even sure they cared who it was, just that it happened.

Lauren wasn’t that type of woman. I loved her casual style. She didn’t need short skirts and massive amounts of hair product and makeup. She was naturally gorgeous. And I hoped the only man whose bed she might want to make it back to was mine. Otherwise, I shuddered to think of what might happen.

The edges of my vision started to cloud in shades of red as I thought about another male looking her way.

Could I handle being in that position?

Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure that going to this party was a good idea after all.

I’d been okay with having her around my brothers, but I knew and trusted them. I hadn’t had to tell them to stay away. They knew because they knew it was not normal for me to be territorial like that.

Lauren was mine.

A low growl threatened to rumble through me, but I pushed it back down.

“We can skip it,” I blurted out.

“Isn’t it sort of your party? Don’t you have to make an appearance?”

“Yes, but it’s okay. No one will miss me. They probably won’t even notice.”

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