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“I’m ready,” she says, the adrenaline still running through her. I sense it when she sits next to me in the Jeep and as we drive down the road toward the next stop. But what I really notice about the girl next to me is that she’s full of surprises and for the first time in a long while, I’m eager to find out what comes next.

We’re notthe first to arrive at the rendezvous point, but the important part is that we’re not the last.

“You know those clerks are going to talk about this for years,” I tell her, pulling into the sandy lot. Reagan repeated her tactic at four other liquor stores and came away successful at each one, the last a woman who winked and gave it to her for free. “This night is going to go down as the one where ‘the girl flashed her tits for a fifth of whiskey.’”

“Hey, I’ve been famous for worse things.”

Ah, the blacklist.

Her smile drops, replaced with the same sadness and regret that has marred her expression for days. I feel the slightest regret over what we did to Reagan. She’s not as much of a prissy bitch as Andrea and Royer claimed. Or maybe this whole experience has just toughened her up.

“At least this one is a little more anonymous.” She runs her hand over her head, fingers lingering just above her ears. I snatch it from the air, twisting our fingers together. “I thought that one guy was going to try to reach across the counter to make sure they’re real.”

My blood heats at the thought of it. Fucking pervert. Most of the guys were shocked and amused. That old asshole thought he’d take advantage. If he’d tried…

“I would’ve cut his fingers off. One by one.”

She stares at me for a moment, then down at our twined fingers, like she’s trying to ascertain if I’m serious. Trust me. I am. The thought of some jackoff touching Reagan… well. Just no.

She pulls her hand away and quickly looks out the window. “So what’s next?”

It’s hard to see from here, but there’s a dune just ahead that slopes down toward the beach. The property is owned by an alumnus, and we have permission to party here all we want.

“You get to celebrate your success with a beach blowout, booze and all the pussy—” I wrinkle my nose and she does the same. “Guess you’re out of luck on the pussy part.”

“Guess so.”

I pull out one of the bottles of whisky and unscrew the cap. I hold it out to her and to my surprise, she takes it, swallowing a gulp. “Oh god,” she says, wheezing from the burn.

I grab the bottle from her and take two gulps. “Tastes pretty fucking good.”

She shakes her head; the shadows highlighting her cheekbones. When it’s just the two of us together, she drops the male bravado and it’s easy to tell she’s a girl. “You’re…” she starts but stops.

“What?” I take another, smaller swallow.

“Wild. Fearless.” She looks at me from under those long eyelashes. “Fun when you’re not being scary.”

My heart thuds from the adrenaline of the night—from the booze. I lean toward her and run my fingers through the stubble just over her ear. Her nervous spot. “You think I’m scary?”

She doesn’t respond, and I continue rubbing my fingers over the soft fuzz. I can smell the whisky on her breath. See the plump swell of her bottom lip from where she’s been worrying it with her teeth. The urge to kiss her, lick my way into her mouth is all-consuming. It’sstupid. She tenses, reaching up to toy with the pledge button on her shirt. I drop my hand and pull back.

“Seeing you flash your tits all over Wittmore was unexpected. Good, but unexpected.” I take one more sip and screw back on the top. “But you’re more fun than I thought you’d be.”

I pop open the door and when I get to the front of the car she meets me, backpack over her shoulder. I take the liquor loaded pack from her and sling it over my shoulder.

The party unfolds in front of us, the goats that successfully returned and all the brothers. Oh, and girls, a busload of them, all in string bikini tops and short shorts, have been brought from campus. Otherwise, what’s the point?

“Forty-seven,” Knox says, voice a roar over the music and surf. “How’d you do?”

“She—he—killed it.”Fuck!Reagan stiffens next to me, and I shove the bag at Knox, hoping he didn’t catch my slip.

He gives me a weird look, but opens the bag and pulls out a bottle, nodding when he sees the brand. “Good job.” He peers in again. “Wait. There are only four bottles in here.”

“Oh, right,” I say, pulling the fifth out of my back pocket. It’s half full. “I may have started early.”

I needed something to calm my dick down with this hot, unexpected girl next to me all night.

Knox nods. “Add it to the pile and celebrate.” He then grins widely at Reagan. “You’re one day closer, dude.”