Page 4 of Wicked Games (Silvercrest U #1)

I roll my lips inward to stop my grin. Eden and I met our first week of freshman year, and we ended up at the same party a few days later.

She got sloppy drunk, and I took her back to her dorm to sleep it off.

Only instead of letting me put her to bed, she decided it would be a good idea to try and seduce me by doing an interpretive dance that her drunken self must have thought was sexy.

I managed to not bust a gut laughing and eventually got her into bed, but it’s still one of the funniest things that’s ever happened to me, and as her best friend, it’s my duty to make sure she never forgets it.

“Thank fuck I was with you and not some skeezebag who would’ve actually fucked me when I was too drunk to even use words.”

My smile falls. “Yeah, I’m glad it was me too.”

“So, hot pot?” she asks, changing the subject.

“Yeah, just let me change into something that won’t get my ass turned away at the door.”

Eden leans back on her hands as I go to my dresser to pull out a pair of slacks and a button-up.

Every dining hall on campus has its own rules and dress code. Belmont is one of the stricter ones, and anyone who brings a guest who doesn’t adhere to the rules gets an infraction on their record.

Thankfully Hamilton House is relatively lax when it comes to the dining hall, and members can wear pretty much whatever they want when there isn’t a special event or a house dinner going on.

Guests don’t have the same freedom, and there’s a laundry list of rules they have to follow, including a dress code that rivals the one at Belmont.

As far as I know, I’m the only non-member who’s ever lived here, so I have no idea what rules apply to me or if I’m even allowed to bring a guest.

“Are you going to stare at me while I change?” I shoot her a teasing look and pull off my hoodie.

“You know it.” She gives me an exaggerated once-over. “I gotta get my kicks somewhere since everyone here hates me and thinks I’m a freak. And not even the good kind of freak.”

“Hello, Pot, my name is Kettle.” I toss my t-shirt at her.

Giggling, she catches it. “I feel like I should stick some dollar bills in your briefs.”

“Dollar bills?” I arch my eyebrow at her. “Did you forget what world you’re in?”

“My bad.” She bats her eyelashes at me. “Hundred-dollar bills.”

“That’s better.”

I’m just pushing my sweatpants down over my hips when the door to the room swings open and hits the wall with a loud bang.

Eden lets out a surprised squeal and whirls toward the door. I glance over at my stepbrother, sans guard dogs for once, as he strides into the room.

“Next time put a tie on the door.” Killian shoots me an irritated look. “I don’t need to be walking in on whatever the fuck you freaks are about to get up to.”

“I’m changing,” I say, making sure my tone is even and unbothered. “Nothing freaky about that.”

He may have caught me in nothing but my briefs, but I refuse to show him any sort of vulnerability or shame. This is my room too now, and I can change whenever I want.

“Then hurry the fuck up. No one wants to see that ,” he snipes and stalks over to his bed.

Eden catches my eye. “I want to see that,” she whispers.

I bite back a laugh and step into my slacks.

“I need the room tonight,” Killian says abruptly, his back to us as he rifles through his bedside table.

“Why?” I ask as I do up my pants.

“None of your business why.” He glares at me over his shoulder. “Just be scarce until midnight.”

“Fine.” I want to argue with him, but I don’t. I’ve learned to pick my battles over the years, and this isn’t worth fighting over.

Killian stops digging around in the drawer and shoves something in his pocket. Without another word, he stalks out of the room, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

Rolling my eyes, I do up the buttons on my shirt. “And it’s only day one,” I mutter.

“It’s not fair that he’s so hot,” Eden says as I slip my feet into a pair of dress shoes. “Have you noticed that the hottest guys are always the biggest assholes?”

I slip my school ID and phone in my pockets. “That seems to be a trend here.”

“Why do you think they need the room tonight?” She slides off the bed and pushes her long braid over her shoulder.

“No clue. He said something about house business before he left earlier, so it’s probably related to that.”

“Do you ever wish that you were a member?” she asks in a hushed voice as we head toward the still-open door.

I let out an involuntary bark of laughter. “Not even for a second.”

Unlike most frats, the ones on campus are invite-only.

There’s no rushing, and it takes a full year of hazing and proving your loyalty to get initiated into the frat.

From what I’ve heard, less than two-thirds of the guys who are given the chance to join actually end up making it through and becoming full members.

None of that sounds even remotely appealing to me, and I’ve never been more grateful that my status as the stepkid of a founding legacy isn’t enough to get me an invite into the club.

She waits as I lock the door behind us. “Really? You don’t wonder what goes on in the Rebels and if the rumors are true?” she whispers.

“Nope.”

She shoots me a dubious look as we walk down the hall together. “You’re really not even a little curious?”

I shake my head. “Not in the slightest. Not my monkey, not my circus.”

She giggles and looks around nervously, like she’s expecting Killian or the twins to jump out from the shadows and catch us talking about their club. “Well I’m curious. I wish you’d gotten tapped for initiation so I could get all the juicy details from you.”

I make a face. “You know I hate that saying.”

“I know, and that’s why I say it.” She bumps my arm with hers. “ Juicy details are the best kind.”

“Why do I put up with you?” I ask, not bothering to hide my smile.

“Because the stepfreaks need to stick together. And you don’t have any other friends to hang out with.”

Laughing, I push the door to the stairs open for her. “Stepfreaks unite.”

One of the first things Eden and I bonded over when we met was our shared experience of being the unwanted stepsibling of a powerful member of the Rebels. Her stepbrother, Jordan, is one of the leaders, and he hates her even more than Killian hates me.

Jordan is the one who coined the term “stepfreaks” for us, and he’s also the reason no one at school will have anything to do with Eden.

People stay away from me because I’m weird and don’t care enough to fit in. Part of it is also because Killian openly despises me and people don’t want to get on his bad side, but most of it is because I don’t give a shit if anyone at this school likes me or not.

Unlike me, Eden cares what people think of her.

She does her best to hide how much Jordan’s bullying and being ostracized on campus bothers her, but she didn’t grow up in this world like I did.

And she’s still learning exactly how fickle people in our tax bracket can be and how little they truly matter in the grand scheme of things.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I ask, hoping to distract her from where I know her thoughts have gone.

“There’s a movie screening in the quad at nine,” she says as we hurry down the stairs together. “Or we can hang out in my room and watch something until curfew since Heidi’s off on some shoot somewhere.”

I link our arms together as we leave the stairwell and walk through the grand entrance of the building. “Whatever you want sounds good.”

A few of the guys in the lobby give us some side-eye, but I ignore them.

Living in Hamilton House is going to be an adjustment, but it’s only until the end of the year. I’ll be fine as long as I keep playing my favorite game of pissing Killian off and making him lose his shit for no reason other than it’s fun.