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“ M om, now’s not a good time.” With less than fifteen minutes to get ready, I set the phone on my dresser, then dug for the calf-length pink dress in my closet.

“This will only take a second,” she insisted. I rolled my eyes because my mother was notorious for the length of her phone calls. “Your sister needs you to send final measurements. She thinks you may have gained a little weight?”

I appreciated the question mark at the end, but she and I both knew I’d been eating my feelings since the “break” with Toby, as she liked to call it. Case in point, I’d just had to move a day-old plate of nachos to search through my jewelry box for the pearls I was required to wear that evening.

“I’ll send them tomorrow, okay? I need to be downstairs in a few minutes to play hostess for the annual welcome back open house.”

She clapped her hands together. “Oh, I remember my time as an older sister in the house. You’re going to love the bonds you form.”

“I know, Mom. I’ve been a Chi Omega for three years. I don’t imagine year four will be much different.” My assurance was a straight up lie. I knew exactly how different this year was going to be.

She huffed. “No need to get snippy. I know you’re in a new place with new girls. I’m only trying to help.”

“I know, Mom, thanks.” I wasn’t really thankful, but I’d been trained from a young age to be the peacemaker in the family. Despite recent events, I couldn’t seem to shake the habit.

Mom ignored me and launched into a story of her sorority years I’d heard enough times I could quote it. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad she had such fantastic memories, but it would be nice if she listened to what I had to say once in a while. Since I had at least ten minutes to finish getting ready before she required a response, I hit speaker and held the dress up in front of the mirror.

I frowned at the amount of figure showing around the material. It had fit me perfectly last year when I’d hosted at my old school with my old sorority sisters. It would probably still fit now, albeit a little tight.

My hips had widened a smidge, and my boobs spilled over my lacy bra cups a little more than usual. Whatever, guys liked cleavage, and I liked food. I was done watching what I ate for appearance’s sake.

Brighton wouldn’t like it since her bridesmaid dresses were special-ordered, and it would probably need to be adjusted again. Hence the call.

Too bad. Her perfect Christmas wedding would still be perfect if I popped a seam.

Without any input from me or consideration of my time, Mom segued into an account of Toby’s sister, who was working in the State Capitol now. At least she wasn’t talking about Toby directly this time. She’d been on a reconciliation mission the last few weeks, while I’d been trying to move on. No thanks to Toby. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell them we’d broken up before he’d run to his mom—my mom’s best friend—about my “overreaction” the night of the party.

According to him, I’d walked in on him playing a card game in his friend’s room with some friends who happened to be girls and lost my shit. The reason depended on who he was talking to—hormones, not adjusting to the new school, sabotaging his future. He was always innocent and always hurt that I didn’t just talk to him.

No mention of the drunken orgy I’d seen with my own eyes.

My stomach turned at the memory, and I flopped down on my bed careful not to land on my dress. One of the perils of dating within close family circles was you could never truly break up with someone. They’d still be in your life, no matter how much you wanted them to go away. Like glitter. Or herpes.

“Toby’s going to look so handsome in his suit,” Mom crooned.

I blinked and realized I’d tuned her out at some point. Crap, she was talking about Toby after all.

“We’re doing couple pictures before the ceremony, so be ready for 9 a.m. hair and makeup. The guys lucked out. Your dad is surprising them with an early tee time, but don’t say anything to Toby.”

“We’re not a couple,” I blurted out.

Mom sighed heavily. “There’s plenty of time before the wedding for you two to patch things up.”

The undertone clearly said I had plenty of time to apologize. I had to admire her sheer tenacity in believing whatever the hell she wanted. In her defense, I hadn’t explained anything about the breakup. I wasn’t ready to wreck Toby’s perfect reputation among the families with the truth.

Honestly, I wasn’t ready to deal with anything Toby-related. The hurt was too fresh, compounded by the continued reminder of everything I’d left behind for him.

“Mom, I really have to go or I’m going to be late.”

“Sure, sure. Have fun tonight, and maybe skip the appetizers. At least until the wedding.”

“Right,” I deadpanned. “Love you, Mom. Bye.”

As soon as I hung up, my phone buzzed again with a call from Brighton. I hit decline without a second thought. She could wait one more day for my measurements.

Several hours later, I regretted the pink dress. I’d ignored my mom’s advice to skip the appetizers, but my stomach was upset from the moment I walked out my door. Even if I wanted to eat, the dress squeezed my sides so tightly I couldn’t bend over.

Still, I’d helped decorate as requested, and I’d been mingling with a smile. Unlike some of the other Greek parties, ours weren’t crazy keggers, but the music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and I marked the night a success.

Until the pantry door slid mostly closed behind me as I was getting napkin refills, and I overheard two of my sisters talking about me in the kitchen.

“She looks like she’s going to bust a zipper.” The sniff that followed could only belong to Amanda, the self-proclaimed queen of the Chi Omegas. “I don’t understand what Tobias saw in her. I heard she hasn’t been to a single one of his games, even at Easton. She spends all her time in class or in her room. What does she even do in there all day?”

Read. Mostly. Hockey didn’t interest me, and Toby had told me I distracted him at games. In hindsight, my presence would have made it hard for him to pick up a puck bunny afterwards.

Kiki, Amanda’s bestie, chimed in with a laugh. “I know. It’s so weird. Why join a sorority if all you’re going to do is hermit?”

“Tobias said she might have anger issues, and I can see it. Why else would she dump him?”

I quietly rested my temple against the doorframe, debating if I should stop the torture by strolling out with my chin high or keep hiding until they left. The napkins crumpled in my hand as tears pricked my eyes.

“I mean, I heard he was with Grace and Heather that night…” Kiki trailed off, and I felt a quick burst of relief at the half-assed defense.

“Please,” Amanda scoffed, and I could hear the eye roll. “Everyone knew they had an open relationship. If she couldn’t handle it, she shouldn’t have been dating a hockey player.”

Everyone did not know we had an open relationship—I didn’t know. And I’d learned my lesson. Hockey players were right out. If a guy I’d known and trusted my whole life could turn on me, I had no interest in rolling the dice again with the same variety.

“As if she could get another hockey player,” Kiki added, abandoning any semblance of compassion.

Amanda laughed. “As if she’d even know what to do if a guy paid any attention to her. She’d probably run away and hide in her room until he left.”

I straightened from my position hiding in the dim pantry, the irony not lost on me. They were wrong. I wasn’t some meek doormat. Fiery determination heated my blood as I fixed a pleasant smile on my face before sliding the pocket door open.

“Ladies,” I greeted them, waving the napkins in their direction as I sauntered past.

They both wore the requisite pink dresses and pearls, but Amanda had paired hers with mile-high stilettos, perfect blonde curls, and a slit. Kiki looked like a knock-off version of Amanda, with darker curls and the same toe-crushing shoes.

Instead of mortification at my appearance, as I’d hoped, Amanda looked downright jubilant.

A knowing smile crossed her face. “We didn’t see you there, Kenzie. Everything okay?”

The question was so sweetly fake I nearly winced, but I didn’t stop moving back to the main party. Unfortunately for me, they followed.

“I’m fine. Just doing my duty as hostess.” I hoped the reminder we were there representing our organization would be enough to get them to back off, but they hunted me like sharks.

Kiki took the napkins from me and patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I can handle this if you want to head back to your room.”

I genuinely didn’t know if she was mocking me or trying to help. Why would I need someone to do napkin duty for me? We rounded the corner, and the answer stopped me in my tracks. Toby stood by the refreshment table talking to yet another girl I didn’t know with gorgeous red curls. A couple of big guys— teammates I hadn’t met probably—flanked him like confused backup dancers.

Amanda hooked her arm through mine, and her voice came from right next to me. “I’m sure she’s fine here. After all, she broke up with him . If anything, we should warn Tobias. He’s going to be devastated to see her.”

Somehow, I hadn’t realized how much he’d insinuated himself into my sorority. This was supposed to be my space, but so far, nothing at TU had been mine.

My breath left in a whoosh, and Amanda shook against my shoulder with quiet laughter.

“Maybe you should leave. You know, in case you have the urge to make another scene.”

Kiki made a humming noise I took as agreement, but before I could come up with a retort, Amanda stiffened.

“What’s he doing here?” She turned slightly toward the front door, and I tried to follow her line of sight. Anything to distract me from my ex and his newest conquest.

A generic crowd of people milled around talking and drinking, dotted with flashes of pink from my sisters. I couldn’t name a single person in the room who didn’t live with me or used to date me.

Kiki leaned closer and sucked in a breath. “I heard he swore off parties this year until the season was over, but maybe he made an exception for us.”

Amanda smoothed her hair behind her ear and fluffed the bottom curls. “The last time we talked he said he’d see me later. That was before practices officially started though. He must have been busy with the team or he would’ve come sooner.”

The shock from seeing Toby started to fade, only to be replaced by a weird buzz in my chest, like I’d had one too many glasses of wine despite not drinking tonight. TU was a Division 1 school, which meant there were plenty of teams she could have been talking about, but Amanda and Kiki were closeted puck bunnies. Whatever hockey player they were lusting after must have shown up to our open house.

Not Toby, since clearly he’d been expected.

I finally pinpointed the person they were discussing. He stood with his back to me, and I had to admit it was a nice back. Broad, clearly muscled… my eyes trailed down to his butt encased in jeans and my brows rose. A nice everything apparently, but hockey players as a whole tended to be in great shape.

The buzz traveled to my head as I studied his tousled dark blond hair. Déjà vu hit me hard, but for the life of me, I couldn’t name a single hockey player other than Toby. I certainly didn’t know any of them.

Amanda preened for a second longer, then slid her arm free from me so she could face Kiki. “Look check.”

Kiki studied her, nodding. “Perfect. He’ll be so glad to see you.”

I rolled my eyes, absolutely done with the evening. “Does he even know who you are?”

“Better than you.”

Enough. I was nice to a fault, but I didn’t have to be Amanda’s punching bag. She thought I was a coward, but I’d once wrestled a snake out of my mom’s house while everyone else screamed on top of the furniture.

I could handle the ego of one hockey player—wouldn’t be the first time.

“Want to bet?” I asked her, yanking her attention away from her quarry.

She frowned as her eyes drifted from me to him and back again. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll bet he knows me well enough to come back to my room with me.”

Kiki snorted. “He doesn’t go to girls’ rooms.”

Amanda’s smug smile returned. “What do you want to bet?”

“Kitchen duty for the month.” I hated cleaning up after a house full of entitled girls, and somehow, I ended up with kitchen duty every week. “If he goes to my room, you take all my kitchen assignments.”

Her nose wrinkled, then she tilted her head, examining me from head to toe. “Fine. When he ignores you, I get your room.”

My brows flew up. One of the benefits of my mom’s status as a Chi Omega was the legacy bedroom I’d lucked into with its own bathroom. Kitchen duty wasn’t worth nearly as much as my room on the first floor.

I glanced at the guy again and mentally shrugged. People usually liked me. All I had to do was explain about the bet and ask nicely. “Done.”

Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t tell him about the bet.”

I offered her a friendly smile while my pulse picked up. “I hope you enjoy scraping off baked-on nacho cheese.”

With a finger wave to Kiki, I turned my back on them and questioned my sanity. I hadn’t forgotten Toby was on the other side of the room with a clear view to the door, but my brain refused to prepare any farther than hi, I need your help .

I’d never approached a guy at a party before. The last time, I’d nearly tackled one, but I couldn’t regret the wild events that followed. Unfortunately, that was angry Kenzie—the same angry Kenzie who’d proposed the bet—and I was quickly devolving into stuttering nervous Kenzie.

Not the vibe I wanted to project right now.

I marched up to my target, telling myself the churning in the pit of my stomach was excitement rather than the urge to throw up. The guy he was talking to made eye contact with me as I drew closer and nodded his chin in my direction. Now or never.

He turned, and I stumbled at the familiar green gaze. A slow smile spread across his full lips.

I should have recognized the shoulders. Or the hair. The memory of my hands clenched in those dark blond strands hit me at odd times, like in the shower or the middle of class. At least in the shower I could take care of the aching need that left me clenching my thighs together. Now was a really inconvenient time to relive my single one-night stand.

Why in the hell did it have to be him ? Reece no-last-name. Distantly, I recognized Amanda’s high-pitched giggle. They were watching, no doubt about it, but I refused to give them what they wanted by running.

At least his friend had disappeared into the crowd so no one was actually close enough to overhear our conversation.

“Back for round two?” he asked.

Heat filled my cheeks, both from embarrassment and from the memory of the last time I’d seen him. Arm resting on his knees as he stared up at me with that same half smirk on his face while I searched for my still-missing panties.

I swallowed hard and raised my chin. “I want my panties back.”