Frat House Confessions

3. Ridge

Three

Ridge

“Uh, looks like you got it handled,” Karrie’s hot friend said, then clicked off toward the party.

I looked down at the skeptical girl in front of me and suppressed a grin.

She may have been wearing glasses, unfortunate clothes, and not an ounce of makeup, but even with her hair piled on her head, I could tell she could be seriously hot with a little effort.

This would be almost too easy … if I could get her to play along.

“What sort of proposition?” Karrie asked warily.

“Come upstairs with me, so we can get some privacy, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Upstairs? Yeah, right. Why would I go upstairs alone with you? What do you think I am … stupid or easy?” she asked, and I bit back an impatient retort.

“Neither. It’ll be quiet, and we won’t have so many eyes on us. What I want to ask needs to be done in private,” I said.

When she looked like she wanted to argue some more, I looked her pointedly up and down and added, “Don’t worry, I just want to talk. You’re not my type.”

Karrie scoffed, looking momentarily offended.

I worried I’d been too honest, but then she shrugged and said, “After you. But, I’m texting my friend to let her know where I am, so she knows who to come after if anything happens.”

“Works for me.”

I grabbed a couple beers on the way up and led her to my room.

My mom had raised me to always make my bed and put things in their place, so I wasn’t worried about freaking her out with my piggish ways, like some of my brothers.

“Hey, Ridge!”

I looked down over the railing into the room below, to see Crush looking at Karrie’s back and giving me a thumb’s up sign.

Then he fisted his hands and gyrated them like he was f*****g the air from behind.

What an ass.

I ignored him and kept on walking.

Once we were to my door, I opened it and stepped aside to let Karrie walk in first.

“Wow, this is nice,” she commented, the surprise evident in her voice. “It doesn’t even stink. Drake’s room always smelled like sweaty socks. I always came armed with room spray.”

“Take a seat,” I said, ignoring her comment as I shut the door behind us.

Karrie looked at the bed, then at my desk chair, before choosing comfort and opting for the bed.

“Okay, I’m here. What’s the proposition?” she asked, accepting the beer I offered.

“First, let me ask you to hear me out, all of it, before you bust in all pissed and say no.”

“That sounds ominous,” Karrie said, and I chuckled. “But, yeah, okay … go ahead.”

I paced the room for a minute, then grabbed my desk chair and placed it in front of her. I sat down, keeping my eyes on hers, and prayed she was as cool as I suspected she was, and wasn’t about to kick me in the nuts or something.

“Here it goes … Crush, our VP and resident d**k, has the pledges picking girls to give makeovers to. The pledge that makes the biggest transformation, wins, although, I have no f*****g idea what the prize is … probably to wash Crush’s jock strap or something. Anyway, Crush and I don’t see eye to eye, and he’s been making noise about trying to get me fired as Sergeant at Arms so he can find someone to take my place who will do whatever he says. It was suggested to me, that if I play along and lead this stupid game, it’ll keep him off my back, at least this year. The position looks good on my resume, or I wouldn’t care, but I’m not gonna let that douche mess things up for me.”

Karrie looked more and more pissed as I talked, so when I paused, I held up my hand and said, “I’m not done yet.”

She stuck out her tongue, then bit down on it to let me know she was keeping her promise.

“I need to take someone home with me for Thanksgiving, to keep my mom off my back about settling down, even though I’m not even done with school yet. She’s a little crazy and is adamant that I get married right after graduation. Since I’m not prepared to pick out my wife just yet … that’s where you come in.”

I stopped talking, and when Karrie stayed silent, I said, “Okay, you can stop biting your tongue now.”

“What’s in it for me?” she asked, and I felt relieved that she didn’t automatically shut me down.

I didn’t know her well, but the fact that she was hiding her light under a bushel, and I could offer her something in return, made my job much easier. I’d rather not lie to some unsuspecting chick about Crush’s stupid game, and I didn’t want to pick one of the frat house groupies who may think I’d come to actually like them.

Karrie was obviously bitter, and still hung up on that douche Drake, which made her perfect for my plan.

“Drake and I hate each other. Like, I f*****g can’t stand him. From what I can tell, you and he were a couple and not only did you not know he was stepping out on you the whole time, but things didn’t end well. If he thinks you’re with me, it’ll drive him crazy.”

“Hmmm, I’m listening,” Karrie said, tossing back more beer.

“You’ll get to hang out here, which means free food and all the booze you can drink. Plus, I’ll pay for the makeover. That includes, clothes, makeup, hair … You’ll be set for the year.”

I looked her over again. She obviously needed some help putting herself together, and I had money to spare.

“And, we’ll pretend to date,” she clarified.

“Yup.”

“What about this stupid makeover thing for your hazing, what do I have to do for that?” she asked.

“It’s not a hazing, just a mess around,” I said, not wanting that s**t to get around. Hazing was illegal on campus and they wouldn’t hesitate to shut us down. “You’d come to the initial party next week, where all the pledges and brothers who are playing bring their girls and we take their before pictures. Then, in two months, we’ll have the big reveal, where we’ll show off the transformation and take the after pictures. There’ll be some sort of ceremony where Crush gets up in front of everyone so he can hear himself talk, and then he gives out prizes to the girls and pledges.”

“Then, Thanksgiving.”

“Yup, Chicago for Thanksgiving. And, after that, it’s over. We’ll stage a breakup and you can go back to your life.”

Karrie stood up and I followed suit.

“Can I think about it?” she asked.

“Of course. Why don’t I give you my number and you can call me with your answer? I just need to know before the party on Friday.”

I watched as she input my number into her phone, then walked her to the door.

“Thanks for hearing me out,” I said, but Karrie just nodded and gave me a small smile, before walking out and disappearing down the hall.

I shut the door and leaned against in, sending up a small prayer that she’d say yes.

She’s the one, I know it.