Never Have You Ever (The Love Game Book 1) Read online

  The DJ played a mix of songs that got everyone up and dancing, and there was even a cash bar with a few signature drinks that were clever puns on musical names and songs—like a John Lemon, which was basically a lemon drop with a frozen strawberry. She’d probably found most of the names and recipes on Pinterest, but still.

  I was sipping on a Juice Springsteen and talking to Drew and Joey when Emma came running up to us. She gave us each a big hug before immediately relaying a story about one of the frat guys falling into the hot tub out back.

  “Now the water’s black because of his temporary hair dye,” she said.

  Emma continued to tell us a few other stories about things we’d missed while we’d been waiting for Aamee to let us in. I could tell when she seemed to realize that Joey might be with us.

  “Sorry, I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Emma.”

  Joey introduced himself as well, both as Joey and Selena.

  “Are you guys together?” Emma asked, gesturing between Drew and Joey.

  Joey said “yes” as Drew said “no,” and they both fumbled awkwardly before clarifying that yes, they were at the party together, but they weren’t actually “together-together” as Drew so eloquently put it.

  Thankfully, Emma seemed appropriately satisfied with that explanation. She nodded like it made complete sense.

  “Who else came with you?”

  “Some people I know from a class I’m in,” Drew said. “And Sophia’s old friend Taylor.”

  Emma’s eyes moved back and forth between Drew and me. “Old like late twenties or like our moms’ age?” She asked the second part like she was worried it’d kill the party on impact.

  “Old like I’ve known her since we were little,” I said. “She’s our age. She goes to school in Jersey and went out with a bunch of us a few weeks ago when Carter was talking about the party, and she wanted to go.”

  I looked around to see where Taylor had even ended up, and here came Aamee.

  “Are any of you planning to enter?”

  “Enter what?” I asked.

  “God, you’re oblivious to life. I’ve been posting about it all week. I’m having a lip-sync competition. It’s twenty dollars a person to enter. I’m taking last-minute entries.”

  Aamee asking us to participate meant one of two things. Either she wanted us to embarrass ourselves or she was desperate for people. Maybe a little of both. But something told me she was asking us because she needed the money. Asking us if we wanted to compete in the contest was a last resort. Aamee’s version of being lost in a desert and realizing she’d have to drink her own urine to survive.

  “Are there a lot of people competing?” I wanted to know even though I had no plans of entering.

  Aamee craned her neck to wave to someone behind us. Even though she’d approached us, her expression was one of complete disinterest, as if she couldn’t be bothered to speak to us.

  “Depends how you’d define ‘a lot,’” she muttered absently, her attention on some person she was waving to. “You in or not?”

  I pretended to think about it. “Not.”

  “Not a chance,” Drew said when Aamee looked to him. I thought Joey looked slightly disappointed, but he didn’t say anything.

  Aamee left without speaking, instead pulling Emma with her like a mother dragging an uncooperative toddler around a grocery store.

  “Guess she didn’t like that answer,” Drew said with an amused shrug.

  The three of us chatted for a few more minutes until Drew saw Carter.

  Carter had just ambled in, obviously having been able to convince his plus one to be Nala from The Lion King. He’d also convinced the entrance guards that Simba and Nala were a musical couple.

  Carter was going to get an earful from Drew.

  Once I was by myself, I took the opportunity to move around the party and take in the effort that went into planning something like this. I’d helped my mom with events from the time I was a child, but heading one seemed so much more daunting.

  Not that Aamee didn’t have help, though. The event was co-run by a frat, which was the sole reason Aamee could serve alcohol. It was another ancient rule that prevented sororities from hosting events with alcohol. Some schools had already done away with that regulation, but Lazarus wasn’t one of them.

  So much for modern-day feminism.

  If I won the presidency, maybe that would be one of the changes I’d make.

  I talked to a few other sorority sisters as well as some other people I ran into whom I knew from classes. People seemed to be having a good time dancing, drinking, and lip-syncing…

  But all I could think about was Drew. Here and there we’d locked eyes for a moment, just long enough to catch each other’s attention, but other than when we’d first arrived, we hadn’t seen much of each other.

  Drew was busy talking to some other guys he must’ve known, and I hung out with Aniyah and Taylor for a bit, throwing back a few shots that Taylor had gotten us. We danced drunkenly to “Say My Name” and a few other Destiny’s Child songs, which Aniyah had requested the DJ play.

  We laughed and flipped our hair around and tried to look sexy—a feat that always seemed easier for others than it did for me.

  By the time the three of us were tired, I was sweating, even in my short dress without the jacket I’d brought.

  “I’m gonna go outside to get some air,” I told them as they headed back to the bar.

  “You want anything?” Taylor asked.

  “I’ll grab some water when I come back in.”

  Taylor yelled an “Okay” over the noise, and I headed for the back door.

  There was a hot tub sitting on the small back lawn of the frat house, and it held way too many bodies, some of which looked completely naked, even though it was a costume party. A few other groups of people milled around, tossing footballs or chugging beers.

  I moved away from everyone and around to the side of the house, leaning against the cold stone and enjoying some peace and relative quiet. My heart began to slow from the dancing, but the second I heard Drew’s voice, it picked right up again.

  “There you are,” he said.

  I wished it was a little lighter so I could see him better, but even in the dark I knew the shape of him—his height, his broad shoulders, his posture as he stood in front of me. I hadn’t realized I’d paid that much attention to any of those things until now.

  “I saw you go outside,” he said, “but I didn’t see you out back.”

  “I’m outside. Get it? Outside,” I said slowly in case Drew suddenly morphed into someone who couldn’t understand my corny jokes.

  “I get it.” He moved into the haze of light that was shining from around the corner until I saw him smile. “Clever.”

  “Really?”

  “I was just being nice.”

  I smacked him on the arm. “Where’s Joey?”

  “I’m not sure. He isn’t who I want to focus on.” Moving a little closer to me, he said, “I saw you dancing.”

  I was sure my cheeks blushed as I thought about Drew watching me gyrate drunkenly to nineties girl jams.

  “And you came out here to tease me about my moves?”

  He shook his head slowly as he brought a hand to the back of my neck to play with my hair.

  “I came out here to tell you how hot they were. Especially since there wasn’t some creep grinding all over you this time.”

  “I think you need glasses,” I said, my voice quiet and serious.

  Gradually, our mouths inched closer to one another until our lips touched. And once they did, I knew I couldn’t stay away from him. His mouth was warm, and as he brought me closer to him, I moaned.

  The kiss started slow, but the pace picked up quickly. Both of us hungry for the other, we let our hands roam wherever they wanted to go—over each other’s backs and lower.

  When he grabbed my ass and pulled me harder against him, I became a puddle of want. I wanted him to lift me up so I
could wrap my legs around him, wanted to feel the taut sinews of his chest and back as he held me.

  But mainly I just wanted him to fuck me against the side of this house.

  Is that too much to ask?

  Apparently it was, because Drew pulled away.

  “We probably shouldn’t do this here,” he whispered, his voice low and gritty.

  The fact that he’d said here and not that we simply shouldn’t do this made me hopeful that we could pick up where we’d leave off, though probably not tonight since Taylor was staying over.

  “Okay, yeah. I should get back inside anyway. Taylor and Aniyah are probably wondering where I am.” As I walked away, I tried to think of anything other than Drew Nolan and how incredibly turned on he just made me.

  Once inside, I found Xander and the girls pretty quickly. We still hadn’t seen much of Toby, which hopefully meant he and his date were hitting it off. Drew found us a few minutes later, and I was just getting ready to suggest we all call it a night when the music cut off and Aamee’s voice boomed over the DJ’s microphone.

  “Sorry to interrupt everyone’s fun.” Her smile was wide and borderline psychotic. “But I thought I should let all of you know that there is a short video posted of tonight’s party on my Insta. Or more specifically, a video of Zeta Eta Chi’s presidential candidate Sophia Mason making out with her brother.”

  A low murmur carried through the crowd. People were already taking out their phones, including Drew.

  I was incapable of retrieving my phone because I was stuck in a catatonic trance that didn’t allow for any movement except my heart pounding out of my chest. I wondered if people could hear it.

  “I don’t know about you,” Aamee continued. “But I don’t think someone involved in this type of thing… Incestuous relationships,” she clarified proudly for anyone who was too stupid to infer her meaning, “should be leading a sorority. I’d say her judgment is clouded and her morals are slightly skewed, wouldn’t you?”

  Enraged and embarrassed, I hadn’t taken my eyes off Aamee.

  It was only when Drew showed me the video—shot from a window above us—that I managed to look away from her.

  It was dark, but anyone could tell it was us. I wondered who’d filmed it, because something told me Aamee hadn’t. If she’d been watching, there would’ve been no way she could’ve kept her mouth shut. Drew and I would have no choice but to admit we weren’t related and that Brody wasn’t Brody after all.

  The real Brody would be nothing less than pissed, but right now, my reputation was on the line. And I wasn’t about to let my brother continue to wander around Europe without a care in the world while people thought I was some sort of incestuous deviant.

  The video couldn’t have been more than ten seconds long, but whoever had taken it had gotten the good stuff. At the time, I was disappointed Drew had pulled away when he had, but now I was glad he had. Who knows what would’ve been captured.

  Both of us stared at the screen. Drew, no doubt, was searching for any excuse, any solution that might fix this situation.

  Maybe I could say I thought he was someone else and he could say the same. It was dark. We were both wearing costumes. We were drunk or could at least pretend we were. All those things would be believable, but they still didn’t let us off the hook completely. Making out with a sibling was making out with a sibling whether you realized it or not.

  “Are you sure that’s Sophia?” came a voice from behind us.

  I recognized it as Gina’s, and I’d never been so thankful for any question in my entire life. Hopefully it would put doubt in the minds of others. Whether she believed it was me or not didn’t matter right now. I just needed people to think it might not be so I could deny it.

  “Please,” Aamee said. “It’s obviously her.”

  “Obvious to who?” I asked. “You can see the tops of two people’s heads in the dark. You can’t even make out what clothes they have on. It was a good try, Aamee, but you’ll have to do better than that. Destroying your opponent’s image just to get a few votes is pretty dirty.”

  I watched her lip twitch up into an evil grin. “I bet you and Brody like it dirty.”

  “You’re disgusting.”

  I couldn’t help but cringe at the idea that Brody and I would ever make out with each other, even though she’d actually been talking about Drew.

  “You’re calling me disgusting after I caught you sucking on your brother’s tongue?”

  She laughed, directing it at her audience, who now seemed captivated by the show.

  “I told you it wasn’t me,” I responded.

  “Well, if it wasn’t you, who was it?” She looked around the room for anyone who might step up to say they were the one on the video.

  “It was me.”

  The words had come from Taylor. So anxious about what to do, I’d forgotten she was even here. And in basically the same outfit as me. Had I been first to think of it, I would’ve tossed Taylor’s name out there from the start, knowing she would have my back.

  She held up her hand from across the room, and Aamee looked over.

  It took her a few seconds to place who Taylor was, but when she did, she said, “That’s convenient. Your friend just happens to be the one who’s kissing Brody? I think it’s more likely she’s covering for you.”

  “Is it?” I asked, now talking more loudly so others could hear me. “Is it more likely I made out with my brother or that my friend did?”

  “If it was you in the video,” Aamee said to Taylor, “why didn’t you say that right away?”

  It was a valid question and one I hoped Taylor had an answer to because I sure as hell didn’t.

  “Because she didn’t wanna out me,” Drew said. Aamee looked completely confused. “As straight. Or bi. Or…whatever.” Drew waved a hand around as he explained. “I don’t really know what I am. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

  “So you were worried people would find out you might be straight?” Aamee asked skeptically.

  “Yeah. I’ve known Taylor since we were kids, and we’ve always been close. I figured she was a safe person to experiment with. You know…to see if I felt anything…sexually. Or emotionally.”

  “And did you?” I wasn’t sure why Aamee asked the question because she had no way of verifying if Drew’s answer was true or not, but I found myself wanting to know the answer too.

  “I did. I felt a lot, actually.” His eyes darted briefly to mine as he said it. “I think it’s time I’m honest with myself and admit I like women.”

  “I knew it!” Emma called from across the room.

  “Prove it,” Aamee said to him, and then she looked at Taylor to let her know the directive was aimed at both of them.

  “How am I supposed to prove it’s me in the video?” Taylor asked.

  “Kiss him,” said Aamee.

  This bitch was crazier than I thought.

  Drew and Taylor looked at each other, and I hoped it was only me who could sense their hesitance.

  “This is ridiculous,” Drew said. “We’re not gonna make out in front of all these people just to prove to you it was us in the video. It doesn’t even prove anything.”

  It was a solid try. It really was. But I knew they weren’t getting out of this even if none of us wanted it to happen.

  Aamee crossed her arms and looked between Taylor and Drew, like she was directing some sort of fucked-up amateur porn and was deciding how she wanted the scene to play out.

  “No. I guess it doesn’t prove anything. But it can’t hurt.”

  Taylor and Drew both looked at me before they moved toward each other, the crowd parting for them. Once they were close enough, they closed their eyes and locked lips. Their mouths stayed closed for a moment before they both seemed to realize that wasn’t going to fool anyone, so they turned up the heat a little.

  It was painfully awkward to watch. It was more orchestrated than natural, but maybe that was because I knew what others di
dn’t—there were no romantic feelings between Taylor and Drew.

  I, on the other hand, felt things for Drew that I hadn’t wanted to admit until now. Even to myself.

  Watching him kiss someone else, put his hands on someone else, made my skin feel like it was on fire from the inside out.

  They gave it a few more seconds before they broke contact and looked back at Aamee.

  “Happy now?” Drew asked.

  “Yup,” she answered.

  That made one of us.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  D R E W

  “Remember when no one knew you made out with your sister?”

  Carter was referring to my living hell since the party. He slung an arm around me as we walked toward the stone building that housed the library. I was pretty sure he had no intention of actually using the library, so I could only assume he was tagging along because he wanted to bust my balls a little more.

  I removed a hand from one of my pockets just enough to elbow him in the ribs, which made him reflexively pull his arm from my shoulder. Once he was off me, I gave him a shove.

  “I didn’t make out with my sister, you dick.”

  Carter ignored my lie. “Whatever you say, bro. I gotta admit, though, the gay thing was a good cover.”

  I stopped walking and glared at him.

  Either he knew I’d been lying about being gay, or he was fucking with me. I wanted to punch him either way.

  “You think I pretended to be gay so I could fuck my sister?”

  Carter raised his hands in the air innocently and jerked his head back. “Whoa, whoa, no one said anything about fucking her. Jesus, dude, that’s some seriously messed-up shit right there. Kissing your sister is one thing. Fucking her is, well… Fucking her is…fucked up.”

  “With your speaking skills, majoring in communications is clearly your calling.” Adjusting my backpack from where it’d slipped a little when I’d shoved Carter, I turned toward the library again and continued walking.

  “Don’t change the subject. I’m just concerned for your future children if you forget to pull out. Look at all those old royal families whose children had all sorts of deformities because they didn’t want the bloodlines to thin. You don’t want your son slash nephew to have three ears or something, do you?”