Page 4 of Rookie Mistake

I’m not surprised. I knew that this guy would be tonight’s hottest commodity, and I love a challenge.

My gaze finds Davis’s, and he smirks, arching a dark brow as if to say,What are you waiting for?

Things are moving at breakneck speed, bidding rising to two hundred and fifty bucks within a handful of seconds. I keep raising my paddle as the bidding continues to escalate, my gaze locked with his the entire time. Already growing tired of the back-and-forth bids, I step forward and raise my paddle in the air with finality. “A thousand dollars.”

The crowd around us goes wild, a symphony of cheers and catcalls, and I smirk, dragging my gaze back to Harper and Lily. They both fall into my side, linking our arms together and giggling with me.

I said I was going to win, and I don’teversay anything that I don’t mean.

“Oh, shit. Alright, going once… going twice,” Kappa’s president says to the room, and no one else raises to bid. “Andsoldfor one thousand dollars to this gorgeous girl right here!”

When Davis’s eyes find me, I grin and bring my fingers to my lips, blowing him a flirty kiss. He lifts his fist and closes it around the air as if he’s catching it from across the stage.

The auction continues, and Harper ends up bidding on grumpy guy toward the end. Lily, of course, doesn’t bid on anyone despite both of us trying to get her to try for the shy ginger-haired guy that we caught her secretly eying.

“Let’s go to the bathroom so we can touch up our makeup?” I say once the auction is over.

Harper nods. “Yes, please! I’ve had to pee for like an hour, but I didn’t want to miss anything.”

I reach for Lily’s hand, and she follows closely behind Harper as we make our way through the crowded frat house. The lights are still low and the music even louder now that the auction has ended. It’s hot and humid with the sea of bodies crammed into such a small space.

When we make it to the bathroom, there’s a short line, but thankfully, it moves quickly, and soon, we squeeze inside and lock the door behind us.

I immediately move toward the full-length mirror next to the bathtub and pull my favorite lipstick from my purse.

“I love that dress on you, Zar,” Lily says from where she’s sitting on the counter. “Princess Polly?”

After I finish reapplying my signature red lips, I turn to her and nod with a smile. “Yep. It was on sale too.”

“Honestly surprised yourwardenlet you out of the house wearing that tonight, babe. Or that he’d evenletyou come to the Kappa auction,” Harper mutters, walking to the sink to wash her hands.

The warden being my stupidly overprotective older brother, Oliver, whom I unfortunately live with.

He takes protective and overbearing to a whole new level.

Groaning, I nod. “He’s driving me fucking nuts. I told him that I’m an adult, and it’s time for him to stop suffocating me and that I don’t need a babysitter, but if anything, it only makes him more crazy knowing that I’m not going to listen.”

Of course, when he found out I’d be here tonight, he gave me a lecture and forbade me from coming. Especially after he saw me wearing my new satin black minidress that’s backless save for the thin corset straps.

And while I love my brother and appreciate that he wants to look out for me, I seriously cannot handle the suffocation.

The constant fighting with him like he’s my father and I’m a petulant child that isn’t following his orders is honestly exhausting.

“Did he break out the ruler?” Lily asks, amusement twinkling in her pale azure eyes, her white teeth flashing as she grins. “To measure again?”

“Nope, but I would’ve punched him in the balls if he did.”

Harper whips around. “He didnottry to measure your dress.”

I nod. “He did! He’s losing it. Seriously. If I have to come crash in your dorm, you know why. I swear, I don’t put it past him to put a tracker on me or something. Anyway, we ready?”

Nodding, Harper takes one last peek into the small mirror above the sink, smoothing her blonde hair down, then helps Lily off the counter, and together, we walk back out to the party.

“Why do you think that Oliver has been acting like this since you got to OU?” Lily asks, bringing the conversation back to my brother.

“I honestly don’t know. It’s like he and my dad both think I’m incapable of making my own decisions or making good choices since I’m not straight and narrow the way Ollie is. Sure, I’ve never been perfect, but then again, like who is? All I know is that I am done thinking about it. I refuse to let him ruin the vibe tonight.”

It’s already been a fantastic night, and the last thing I want to do is let the same exhausting fight with him fuck up my energy.

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