through it and fluff it. His face was flushed, but his skin was cool from the river.
I stared up at him with hero worship in my eyes, practically begging for a kiss. All I had to do was go up on my toes and brush my lips against his.
He looked away. "We'd better get back."
He started walking so suddenly, I nearly toppled over.
I had to nearly run to keep up with him. "Zach?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for back there."
He nodded. "Don't underestimate the Tau Psis. They take advantage of girls. What were you doing out at the cliffs alone?"
I couldn't tell him I was watching him jump. "Getting in line to jump."
He shook his head. "Wise up, pledge. Double Deltsies don't do shit like jump off cliffs. Not unless they have an adoring audience of frat boys egging them on."
I couldn't believe he was warning me. "What do they do?"
He made an exaggerated point of rolling his eyes, like, duh, you have to ask? "Flirt with frat guys, party, and look hot."
I couldn't tell if he was teasing or not. Just then, he looked up overhead. I followed the direction of his gaze. Two parasailers were floating down from the cliffs on the opposite side of the river on brightly colored sails.
"Shit!" Zach grabbed me and covered my eyes, playfully. "Don't look, baby pledge."
"What?" I flirted back, pulling his hands away with halfhearted effort and pressing against him and his hard chest.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." He dropped his hands. "Stupid Zeta Nus trying to show off. You have to be better hung than that to actually show off."
I looked up just as they floated overhead, getting a look of two naked butts and dangling dicks. "Ugh." I made a face of disgust.
Zach laughed. "Don't let those tiny dicks scare you off real men."
"That's going to be burned into my brain."
"Yeah, and I packed hotdogs for lunch. Yum." He turned and took my arm, propelling me away as the parasailers landed and ran through the crowd.
We reached our group too soon. As soon as we did, any intimacy between us vanished. Zach morphed into houseboy mode, cold and aloof like a disapproving older brother.
Morgan spotted us and ran to us, suspicion glittering in her eyes. "Where have you two been?" Her voice was almost venom.
Zach shook his head like he was disgusted, and nodded toward me. "The Tau Psis separated one of your pledges from the herd."
His disinterested tone seemed to satisfy Morgan. "And you saved her?"
"They were about to throw her in the river," he said.
Morgan laughed. "The douches. Did they try to untie your bikini top, too?"
Paul came up and gave Zach a playful shove. "Our hero."
Zach was caught off guard and winced.
Morgan's eyes went wide as she saw the bruise on his back. "You're hurt." She glared at me like I was the one who'd hit him. She took his arm, caressing his hard bicep. "Let's get you some ice for that." She put a purr in her voice as she led him away.
I tried to ignore Morgan. She fawned over Zach and held a plastic bag full of ice against his back, laughing when he pulled away because it was so cold. But it was like a traffic accident on the freeway. Morbid curiosity took over. My gaze seemed to wander back to them against my will.
The afternoon passed slowly, even with the house guys barbecuing hotdogs and hamburgers for us. It was torture not to talk to him and watch him while he laughed and talked with the older girls who were already members. Some of the girls were friendly. Others treated the house guys as if they could snap their fingers and the guys should do their bidding. Even though Kelly made it clear that guys were off duty and our guests.
When it was my turn, Zach handed me a hotdog with a straight face. "Perfectly charred. Just for you."
Going along with his kidding, I took it from him, slathered it with mustard and took a big bite, licking the mustard off my lip suggestively. "Delicious!"
Unfortunately, I couldn't linger and spar with him.
After lunch, Kelly called us all together. "Time
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