Page 68 of Terror Tuesday

I can’t even swallow my nervous laughter before the door jingles, and Hailey’s voice slices through the mood like a sequin-covered knife.

“There you are!” she calls, heels clacking across the floor. “Ashlyn swore you’d be here, but I saidOlivia would never be caught dead hanging out with a civilian—and yet…” Her eyes rake over Elliot with barely concealed interest.

Sora trails behind her, arms crossed, already searching for threats like a sniper. And Ashlyn—brilliant, brutal Ashlyn, our latest pledge, already causing drama—just smirks as she settles into the booth like she owns the whole bar.

“Oh,” she says, tossing her thick light-brown hair behind her shoulder. “Thismust be what we’re doing now.” Her gaze scans Elliot like a hawk circling for decaying carcasses.

Hailey slides into the booth next to me before I can stop her. “You came here without telling us? Are you okay? Did you lose your phone? Are you drunk?”

“I’m fine,” I laugh, setting my drink down. “I’m just…off duty.”

Sora’s eyes narrow at Elliot. “You’renot in Greek Life,” she says plainly.

Ashlyn snorts a laugh, as if she’s trying to hold back a louder one, and Elliot shrinks away. I’ve never seen him appear so uncomfortable. Sweat beads form on his forehead.

“Liv, you were supposed to approve the bids before dinner. I have them here on my tablet, though. Just a minute.” Sora digs into her bag, still standing at the end of the table like a waiter. I grimace at Elliot with a sympathetic face, but he’s suddenly turned extremely shy. Stiff through the shoulders.

Ashlyn stares between us like she’s doing quantitative math.

“There they are!” Hailey gasps and bounces on the end of the seat as the Nighthawks football team enters, rowdy and trailed by a string of scantily cladSigmas, while theOmegasfiling in behind try to appear as if they justhappenedto come in at the same time. SomeThetasjoin them, including my brother Aiden.

“I thought you were with Jason,” I say with another glance over at an uncomfortable Elliot.

“Josh. Not anymore. He sucked someIota’stoes in the dungeon on Terror Tuesday. Fucking disgusting.”

“Some people like that, Hailey,” Sora snaps, and Ashlyn’s irritating stare is yanked over to her for a momentary distraction.

“I didn’t think you had any kink in you,” Ashlyn says. Then glances over at Elliot. “Butyouseem to…”

“Um, I think I need to head out,” Elliot interrupts, his focus solely on me.

Shit. Maybe we don’t belong in each other’s worlds.

I bump my hip against Hailey’s. Elliot darts from his seat, forcing Ashlyn to stand. “You don’t have to get up. I’ll grab the tab,” he tells me with a small wave. With more speed than I thought he would have, he scurries over to the bar.

Ashlyn crosses her arms with a look like she just won some unspoken victory. Hailey lets me out with a huff. Sora’s faceis downtrodden as I slip past her and ignore her outstretched tablet.

“I’ll come, too!” I call out at Elliot’s back. When I snag my tote bag, I give Sora an apologetic look. “I’ll go over them in more detail tomorrow, I swear.”

“Olivia…” she warns me like a mother hen.

Ashlyn tosses her fluffy hair back and smirks. “Was it something Isaid?”

But I don’t know how to answer her…

When Elliot exits the bar, I follow closely behind, though I’m worried he’ll shoo me away like some tainted Greek meat. Instead, his entire body relaxes.

We walk slowly, shoulder to shoulder, beneath the golden haze of a streetlamp, our breaths misting in the cold.

And then, as if in answer to my lingering worries, his hand reaches for mine. It’s warm, inviting, and caring. The way my fingers lace through his feels different.

Theyfit.

Yet my eyes dart toward the street cameras as we veer off the path. It’s growing dark now, and I hope that will somehow shield us from prying eyes. Eyes that could do more damage than anything.

I’ve made up my mind about what I want.

Halfway to theOmegahouse, I stop beneath an old ash tree. One of the few blind spots I can think of.