Songs For Cricket Read online

  My eyes popped open when my phone buzzed. I guessed I dozed off. On the screen was a text from August saying let’s bounce.

  I got up and swung open the door the same time as Finley and stopped dead.

  Talk about smoke show. Her hair was pulled back exposing a lovely neck that led to shirt that left inches of skin on full view. Further down she wore shorts that should be illegal worldwide.

  If I could, I would have shifted on my feet and adjusted myself. My dick was on red alert. Unconsciously, the nubs of my nails dug in my palm. It was going to be a long fucking night. The way she was looking, guys were going to notice. My knuckles would be split before the night was over.

  3

  finley

  “Mom, I have to go,” I said into the phone, glancing one last time in the full-length mirror I’d just unpacked from the car.

  “Have fun, but not too much fun,” she said.

  “Pssh. I’m going with August. He’s the king of not letting me have fun.”

  “Your brothers are just looking out for you.”

  She’d included Cooper, but he’d never been the one trying to control my fun meter.

  “No, August just doesn’t want me doing what he does to someone else’s sister.”

  “You are being safe?”

  Horror coursed through me. “Mom, oh my God. I’m so getting off this phone.”

  “I put some condoms in your bag.”

  I lost my breath. “Seriously.”

  “I may not be eighteen, but I remember what it’s like. I’d rather you be safe and not pregnant.”

  I took a few deep breaths. “Mom, there isn’t any need for me to be safe because I’m not doing anything.”

  “Okay, but if you ever want to talk . . .”

  I was so not having this conversation. How would it go? Mom, I’m still a virgin, but if Shepard wanted to do the deed, I would be so on board. I shook my head and tried to clear those thoughts from my mind.

  “Time to go. I love you, Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  I hung up before she could say anything else that would embarrass the both of us. I looked up and saw my reflection. Even with embarrassment still staining my cheeks, I thought I looked okay. I left my room and came to a complete halt. Shepard’s door had opened the same time as mine had, and his eyes swept over me from head to toe.

  I’d spent an ungodly amount of time trying to pick something to wear that might possibly get Shep’s attention only for him to look angry. It took strength I didn’t know I possessed not to turn around and close myself back in my room. Instead, I lifted my chin and said nothing. I made the few feet to the stairs without my expression of nonchalance breaking.

  Slowly, I descended. He wouldn’t break me. I couldn’t fix the things I didn’t have like curves. I was me, and if that wasn’t good enough for him, then too bad.

  When August came into view, I dug up a smile from six feet under and hoped he wouldn’t call me out for faking a grin.

  “Are we going?” I asked stubbornly, waiting for my brother to say something to annoy me.

  August’s eyes dropped to my feet and back up again.

  “And that’s what you’re going to wear?”

  I folded my arms. “When did you become my father?”

  “When Dad left me in charge. Shep, back me up.”

  Pivoting on my heels, I stared at the guy in question.

  My no bullshit glare had him lifting his hands in surrender.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said and spun back around, aiming invisible daggers at my brother.

  August shrugged. “I guess you want to attend the funeral of any guy who lays his hands on you.”

  I pointed at him. “Don’t you dare. See, this is the reason I wanted to stay in the dorms.”

  He gave me a serious look. “You need to trust me. I know what these assholes are thinking.”

  When Cooper arrived, I dragged him into it. “Coop, you’re on my side, right?”

  The youngest of us felt just as bullied as I did. But Coop just glanced between August and me and said nothing.

  “Shepard,” I said before slowly facing him.

  He shook his head. “I’m staying out of this.”

  I growled in frustration and pushed past August, snagging the keys out of his hand and headed for the door.

  “You are not driving,” he protested, staying on my heels.

  “It’s our car, not yours.”

  Our parents had the means to buy us each a car, but Dad felt it was necessary to teach us what it was like to live like he had. It was fine most of the time. I wasn’t into fancy things. But sharing a car had been too much at times like this.

  I skipped my way over to the car. August might have been bigger than me in every way, but I was quicker and lighter on my feet. It took my quickness to avoid his torture as a kid. August loved to catch me off guard.

  Though I got the door open, August blocked me.

  “If you don’t move, we’ll all walk,” I dared. He didn’t move. I twisted and ducked under his arm. “Fine.”

  Out of nowhere, Cooper plucked the keys from my hand and slipped into the driver’s seat beating all of us. Coop was pretty passive on most occasions, except when he was on the football field. So his move had shocked us.

  While August stood there, I made my way to the other side and slipped into the front passenger side.

  When August didn’t get into the back right away, I knew he was pouting. I rolled my window down and half crawled out to yell at him, “Come on, cry baby,” with the biggest cheesy smile I could muster.

  After rolling his eyes, he finally got in the back seat, Shep sliding in after him.

  August found a way to take control by calling out directions to Cooper. It wasn’t a far drive. We were on Greek Row in under five minutes.

  I wasn’t sure what to expect at a frat house, but it wasn’t a white mini mansion with huge columns that came into view. A welcome banner clung to one post and blew in the breeze like the aftermath of a massive party had happened the night before. Then again, maybe it had.

  Muted music vibrated in the air with a promise that maybe my night would change. A warm palm landed on the small of my back taking me out of the moment. I glanced back, and Shep was there. My stomach rose in my throat like I’d just gone over the steepest hill in a roller coaster.

  He too was caught up with gawking at the place. I doubted he noticed where his hand was until he did. It vanished, and he stepped away. I pushed aside the crushing disappointment as a trio of girls exited the house with big smiles and bigger everything else compared to me.

  One of them greeted the guys. Knowing they weren’t interested in talking to me, I walked briskly forward and, as predicted, was completely ignored. Fine. Whatever.

  Inside held none of the majesty the outside did. A set of large, saggy, mismatched sofas filled the main area. A guy lay passed out on one. A couple of girls sat on the other huddled together as if they were trading secrets. Outside of that, only a few people milled about.

  Dead ahead through glass sliding doors was the real party. The pool was at capacity, ringed with people cheering at what had to be some game involving a beach ball and copious amounts of alcohol. I headed directly there. Sweet smelling smoke wafted from the side suggesting someone had a grill or a smoker going. Music took center stage, and I was immediately greeted by a really cute guy holding a red plastic cup.

  “Hey, welcome to Omega Psi Theta. You are?”

  “Finley.”

  His eyes skimmed over me. “Welcome to our place, Finley. They call me Billy. Make sure to let me know if you need anything . . . anything at all.”

  They’d called him Billy. It made me curious what his name actually was.

  “Finley, you want a drink?” Shep asked, coming up to stand next to me.

  I felt the frown form on my face before I realized I was doing it. I gritted my teeth to bite back
a snarky response. He was only asking because he and my brother were determined to block any guy from talking to me. I said nothing to either guy and made my way over to a cooler.

  Inside held a variety of drinks from water to soda and cans of beer, which surprised me because there had been a keg closer to the door.

  I chose a beer when Billy entered my personal space. He hadn’t been deterred by my unwelcome bodyguards.

  “Want to join my team in a game of beach ball?” he asked.

  I glanced over my shoulder at the pool. The blazing summer heat made it tempting.

  “I didn’t bring a suit.”

  He shrugged. “Most didn’t.”

  Then I saw my brother and Shep headed our way and made a decision. I reached for the hem of my shirt, whipped it over my head, and grinned.

  Billy seemed to appreciate everything he saw. Maybe things were looking up.

  4

  shepard

  Finley’s shorts dropped before we could reach her. Then she ran in her bra and panties towards the pool. I couldn’t appreciate what I saw because I was too busy deciding the quickest way to kill the asshole staring at her ass.

  “Welcome to Omega Psi Theta,” the asshole said with a smirk. He glanced in the direction Finley had gone. “It’s great to be back. Enjoy the view, fellas.”

  He might have walked away, but August wasn’t having that.

  “That’s my sister,” August sneered.

  His mouth held open for a second. Then he held up a finger. “Twins?”

  “The important thing to know is she’s off-limits.”

  The bane of my existence stared at my best friend as if August had offered to buy him a beer and not warned him about hitting on his sister.

  “I think that’s for her to decide.”

  The guy casually walked off, and that’s how I learned his name. As I held August back and said, “He’s not worth it,” the crowd shouted Billy like he was some kind of god.

  August jerked out of my hold and pointed at the pool. “See, that’s why I didn’t want to bring her. Shit like this.”

  As much as she didn’t believe it, August truly worried about her as did I. If Billy’s thoughts about Finley were anything close to mine, I’d have to kill him.

  “Let it go. She’s just going to make a scene,” I said.

  He aimed his finger at me and grumbled, “You wanted her here. She’s your problem, and I’m trusting you.” His stare weighed heavy. He wouldn’t trust me if he knew. “I’m going to get a beer.”

  Before he marched away, I said, “Where’s Cooper?”

  That caused us both to do a slow perusal of the party. Cooper had been behind us, hadn’t he? Our eyes locked a second before August took off. It was very possible Coop had ditched us. It could have very well been the reason he’d taken the keys.

  I knotted my fingers together at the back of my head. Shit. This party was turning out to be a disaster. I didn’t have expendable cash for an Uber, and the idea of walking home wasn’t appealing. I hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place. I snagged a beer and popped the top. I would need a buzz to get through the rest of the afternoon.

  A hand landed on my forearm and shifted my focus toward a tiny brunette wearing a red top that barely covered her tits. Further down, her shorts looked like they couldn’t possibly contain her ass.

  “Hi there, you’re new?” she slurred and then giggled.

  As she laughed at herself, I sought out Finley and found her in the pool splashing douchebag Billy. When he moved closer to her, I couldn’t watch. If she let Billy kiss her, I would lose it. I turned back to the girl.

  “I’m new. You aren’t?”

  “Sophomore.” She burped and covered her mouth. “Excuse me.” Then she shook her head like a puppy trying to get dry. “I never get this drunk.”

  Somehow I seriously doubted that.

  “Is that you?” When I turned to the new voice, I lost mine. “Shepard Connelly? What are the odds?”

  “Emily,” I said.

  She came in for a hug. The brunette left while I stood there trying to decide what to do next.

  “It’s so good to see you. Is Finley here? Did you guys ever get together?” Emily asked.

  That last part made me nearly spit out a mouthful of beer, and she stepped back as I coughed.

  “Why would you say that?” I asked when I recovered.

  She froze like she said something she shouldn’t have. “It’s just that . . . well . . . it was obvious you had a thing for her.”

  In a panic, I lied. “I didn’t have a thing for her.”

  She patted my arm. “It’s fine. I won’t tell. August would shit himself if he knew.”

  “No, he wouldn’t because it’s not true.” Liar, liar, liar, chanted in my head. “And yes, Finley’s here, and so is August and Cooper.”

  Her delight at my expense died. “Oh.”

  But my radar detected something that grabbed my full attention: Finley getting out of the pool, dripping wet. Her blue bra looked almost too sheer from the pool water.

  “There she is,” I said, determined to get to her before any other guy did.

  I guided Emily in her direction, wanting to intercept Finley from being whisked away by the asshole who, at the moment, was nowhere in sight.

  Only the asshat appeared with a towel he handed her just as we approached.

  Finley had just wrapped the towel around herself when she noticed us. “Emily.”

  The girls hugged, ignoring the fact that she was sopping wet. “I didn’t know you were going to school here,” Finley said.

  “Yeah, and I thought I wouldn’t know anyone until I met my roommate.” Emily laughed.

  My problem was solved when the two girls walked off. Finley barely gave Billy a backward glance as she and Emily headed for the house.

  Unfortunately, Billy didn’t retreat. He sidled up to me.

  “Does her brother know how much you want to tap that? Or is he too blind to see?”

  I glared at him, wishing looks could kill. “You don’t know dick.”

  “I know yours is hard up for her. But don’t worry. I won’t tell your friend because I’ll have her long before you get up the nerve to do something about it.” Then Billy lifted a hand to his mouth and shouted to the crowd, “Time for shots.”

  That got everyone’s attention. As if cued up by his command, several girls appeared with trays of Jell-O shots.

  Billy clearly wasn’t a nobody. Worse, he seemed determined to have Finley either because he could or he wanted to show me up and get the best of August. I had a bad feeling shit between him and me wasn’t over.

  I went in search of August. I had to warn him the girl that had nearly broken him was here.

  finley

  I changed quickly in the bathroom after drying off as best I could. Emily was here. The girl that had screwed with my brother’s head the summer before our junior year in high school.

  When I opened the door, she hadn’t gone anywhere.

  “So how have you been?” she asked.

  “Good. I’m surprised to see you.”

  She shrugged. “It’s a great school, and they have a great program for my major.”

  “Hey, Em. You disappeared on me.”

  I glanced up and up until a guy who had to have a few inches on my brothers and Shep leaned down to kiss my brother’s ex.

  Her cheeks brightened. “Kevin, this is Finley. We went to high school together.”

  His eyes barely gave me a glance as if they were all for her. I had to admit, he was easy to look at. He had light brown hair, curled at the edges. His scruff made him look older, a question I would ask her when we were alone.

  “In Texas?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  What she didn’t explain was that we hadn’t been friends exactly. She dated my brother, which meant she was around our house a lot. But we hadn’t hung out, not o
n purpose, anyway.

  “I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want one?” he asked her and glanced at me.

  He got points for that.

  “No, thank you,” I said.

  “I’m good for now,” she said with a smile I worried bordered on being saccharine.

  He loped off. His long legs quickly created distance between us.

  I turned to her. “He’s cute.” She shrugged and looked a little forlorn. “What’s the story?”

  “Guy from back home. We started dating this summer. He’s two years ahead of us. I don’t know.” She shook off whatever else she was about to say. “I assumed you and Shepard would have gotten together by now.”

  “Shepard,” I said, giving her a wide-eyed stare. “We’re just friends if you can call it that.”

  “Are you not interested?”

  I laughed out of nervousness. A part of me wanted to share my secret fantasy of me and Shepard together. But the truth was she had no loyalty to me. It would be mortifying if she ever mentioned my feelings to August not out of malice but as a conversation starter.

  “Shepard is a walking advertisement for bug repellant. He has that stay away or risk getting bit in the ass written all over him.”

  She giggled. “You’re funny.”

  “Hardly. Let’s go find my brother and get this over with.”

  I had started moving forward when she asked, “Get what over with?”

  “Him seeing you, and hopefully before he’s introduced to your boyfriend.”

  I didn’t bother to gauge her reaction. I moved through the growing crowd. The sun was setting, and more people were coming inside.

  August and Shepard sat on the couch surrounded by giggling girls. One was whispering in Shepard’s ear, and another came around and planted herself in my brother’s lap.

  I felt Emily beside me and glanced her way. Her jaw had clicked shut as had mine. I was about to tell her maybe another time when a lot of things happened at once.

  Kevin showed up and pulled Emily back to his chest at the same time my brother looked up. Something tickled my neck, and I turned to find Billy’s face millimeters away from my own. So close, our lips brushed as I turned to face him. I gasped and pulled back.