Page 28 of The Dare

To my great amusement, twice the amount of hands shoot up. That’s right—six Kappas, and none of them look the slightest bit sheepish this time around. I suspect they’re receiving some sort of perverse pleasure in admitting it because Abigail is such a bitch.

Abigail’s trusted lackey Jules sports a deep scowl. “Anyone here ever heard of the girl code?”

Sasha snickers. “You tell me, Julianne. Weren’t you the one who just stole Duke Jarrett away from some Theta Beta Nu chick?”

That shuts up Jules.

Charlotte clears her throat. “Alright, we’ve strayed off-topic. Fiona, you were telling us about the candidate speeches?”

Just as Fiona opens her mouth to answer, my phone buzzes again, eliciting an excited shriek from Rachel, who’s draping practically her entire body across the dining table to see the screen.

“He’s FaceTiming you!”

My heart does a nervous flip. “I’m so sorry,” I tell Charlotte. “Let me just ignore the—”

“Ignore?” Charlotte echoes in disbelief. “For fuck’s sake, Marsh, answer it.”

Oh my God. This is my worst nightmare. What on earth compelled my stupid fake boyfriend to FaceTime me when Ijusttold him I was in a chapter meeting? Why would he do this to—

“Answer it!” Lisa Donaldson shrieks.

I’m pretty sure this is the only time Lisa Donaldson has ever even spoken to me.

Heart racing, I tap theacceptbutton. A second later the call connects and Conor’s gorgeous face fills the screen.

“Babe, hey.”

His deep voice fills the Kappa Chi dining room, and I notice several of my sisters honest-to-Godshiver.

“Sorry, I know you said you were in a meeting, but I just wanted to tell you—” He stops mid-sentence, his gray eyes narrowing with appreciation. “Mmmm, damn, T, you look good enough to eat.”

I’m not sure it’s humanly possible to blush harder than I currently am. I shove a hunk of hair behind my ear and grumble at the screen. “Seriously?That’swhat you interrupted my meeting to say?”

“Nah, that wasn’t it.”

He offers a little boy grin and anyone with a clear view of my phone sighs and swoons like Victorian maidens.

“Then what was it?”

Conor winks. “Just wanted to tell you I miss you.”

“Oh my God,” breathes Rachel.

Damn. Someone’s laying it on thick. Before I can answer him, the phone is grabbed from his hand and a new face greets me.

“Taylor!” Matt Anderson exclaims happily. “Yo, when you coming over next? Foster found us a new movie to watch.”

“It’s got black holes and giant squids!” comes Foster’s faint shout.

“Soon, Matty,” I promise, then pray he doesn’t call me out for referring to him asMatty. But hell, if Conor’s allowed to lay it on thick, then so am I. “Anyway, I’m hanging up now. I’m busy.”

I disconnect the call, set down the phone, and find an entire room of wide-eyed girls staring at me with naked envy. Even Sasha seems impressed, and she’s in on the charade.

“I amsosorry,” I say awkwardly. “I’ll make sure he never interrupts during a meeting again.”

“All good,” Charlotte assures me. “We all know those hockey players are hard to say no to. Trust me, we know.”

The rest of the meeting continues without a hiccup, although it’s difficult to ignore the death stares coming from Abigail and Jules’s direction. Then Charlotte dismisses us with the clap of her manicured hands, chairs are scraped back, and everyone disperses. I bump into someone during the stampede, stepping away quickly when I realize it’s Rebecca Locke.

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