Page 27 of Beginning Fate

I glared at him.

“And now we know why,” he muttered under his breath, making the others chuckle.

I almost growled at him again, but Lauren turned to me and her light-green eyes shone brightly as she smiled up at me.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on her for me. I really appreciate it.”

My mouth went dry, and I couldn't form words to speak, so I just nodded. I wasn't the kind of guy who was used to being speechless. I always knew what to say or how to talk myself out of or into anything in life. But the way she looked at me made me feel tongue-tied for the first time in my life.

“Do you go to school here too, Lauren?” Remy persisted.

“No. I'm just here to help Kylie get settled.”

“But you're staying, right?”

She gave him a confused look. “No. I have to head home in four days.”

My stomach churned and I thought I might puke. Wouldn’t be the first time I caused a scene like that in this cafeteria during my time here. Maybe the first time sober, though.

Remy looked at me with concern, but I subtly shook my head.

“So where's home?” he asked.

Why the hell couldn't he just shut up?

“New York City.”

“Oh. So you're a New York wolf?”

“I am.”

“Cool. Well, welcome to the ARC. I hope you'll reconsider and stick around.”

“And if you need a personal tour guide, Remy's happy to show you around,” Monte added, beaming back at me as he said it.

I growled a low guttural sound of warning, but it was halted quickly when Lauren put her hand on my arm and smiled sweetly back at him.

“I already have a personal tour guide and he’s done a great job, but thanks.”

“Good answer,” Remy said, looking triumphant.

“Enough. Let her eat in peace,” I said.

When she moved her hand from my arm, I instantly missed her touch. But I didn't want to spook her or anything, so instead of holding her hand the way I wanted to, I focused on my food as we ate in silence.

“So Denny, how many pledges are you taking this year?” Damon asked.

“I don’t know yet. We have room for six at least. I have one legacy but I’m not sure he's going to rush. I don't know what to do about that.”

“Oscar Westin?”

“Yeah.”

“Why isn't he going to rush? He's guaranteed a spot.”

“I know. I'll have to talk to him more about it later. He really seems on the fence, but I think most of the guys he's hanging out with this week will rush, so I'm not stressing it yet.”

It wouldn't look good for a legacy to snub the chapter and refuse to rush. And it would look even worse if he decided to rush another fraternity instead. I thought for sure this kid wouldbe a sure thing, but after meeting and talking to him, I wasn't so confident about that now.

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