"You got into a fight, Abs?" Sigrid chastised me after I told her what had happened at the Four Seasons. "Seriously?"

We were having our lunch break at the Starbucks by the store I worked at. We were sitting next to the window, and she was drinking a coffee while I was eating a chocolate muffin with my tea.

"What else was I supposed to do? She insulted me and she would have hit first if I hadn't," I defended myself.

"I know, but you need to refrain yourself or you're going to get in real trouble. You're lucky you haven't been kicked out of your employment agency yet."

I sighed. I knew she was right, but how was I supposed to remain calm when people like Brooke called me a whore?

"Anyway," she changed the subject. "Do you plan on meeting Matthew again?"

"Sig, you know I don't—"

"You don't do repeats, I know," she cut me off, exasperated. "But honestly, Abs, aren't you tired of that? Don't you want to settle down with a person you like and, I don't know, maybe try to love them?"

"No, I don't," I replied sharply.

An awkward silence fell between us. She was disappointed in me, and I was angry at her for being disappointed. Why did it matter to her what I was doing with my ass? Weren't the US the alleged land of freedom?

"I'm worried about you, Abs," Sig finally broke the heavy quietness and took my hand in hers.

"You don't have to," I snapped, still annoyed.

"Yes, I do," she insisted. "When you started sleeping around, I said nothing because you were miserable and angry and lonely, and that seemed to make you feel a bit better. But it's been going on for a while now. I know you, and I know you're not happy with this. You need to try and move on."

That was a painful blow. Every single day since that day, I'd had to fight against my own mind not to collapse. Not a single day had passed without me pushing painful memories back to the darkest corners of my brain. Precisely because I was trying to move on, like she said. Her throwing it to my face, unexpected, was thoughtless and uncharacteristic of her.

"You're such a jerk for saying that," I told her, remaining calm. She was my best friend, I would not start an actual fight with her.

"I know," she admitted. "But that's what I'm for. I'm here to tell you the ugly truth, even if you don't want to hear it."

I had nothing to respond to her because she was right. I loved her, she knew how to handle me and was never afraid of telling me what I needed to hear, and not what I wanted to. And I did the same to her.

"Let's forget what I just said, okay? Just try to be safe, please," she requested.

I nodded and we reoriented the conversation towards a less sensitive subject. I was telling her about the gigantic spider I had found in my bathroom when a soft knock on the window startled us. The man behind it waved.

"Who's this?" Sigrid asked. Then she noticed his hair color. "Is that Ginger Dude?"

"Himself."

"Oh wow, he does look uptight. I bet he has never—"

"Shush!" I hissed. "He's coming in."

Three seconds later, Ginger Dude – GD – was standing next to our table, looking down at us.

"Good afternoon, ladies."

We politely answered, then he reminded me about his jacket.

"It's in my locker. I'll go get it in a minute, when my break is over."

"I'm sorry for insisting, but could you please to give it to me now? I have to go back to my office."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he'd be difficult about it.

"Can you really not wait for ten minutes? I'm almost done."

"Please, Marian." Sigrid looked at me inquisitively at the mention of my fake name so I quietly signaled to her that I would explain later. "I just want my jacket, I'm not trying to bother you. I'll leave as soon as I have it."

I didn't want him to think that he could just command and I would obey, but, on the other hand, my break was almost over and I had finished my tea. It would be childish, even from me, to make him wait just for the sake of irritating him. Plus, he had defended me on the night of the gala, he deserved that I be nice to him for once.

"Okay," I conceded. "Let's go. See you later, Sig."

She gave me a look that clearly meant that I would have to tell her all about it later.

GD followed me to Eleanart's, the store where I worked. We walked through the various aisles straight to the staff area. I opened my locker and handed him his jacket. He noticed something was off right away so I didn't bother pretending and gave him the torn-off button as well.

"What happened?" He inquired. "Have you fought a wild animal on your way home?"

One could say that...

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"I do, actually. You've damaged my something that's mine, you owe me an explanation."

Yeah, I had not really hoped he would just let it slide, if I was being honest.

"All right," I conceded. After all, he would be embarrassed by my answer, I wouldn't. "The button is missing because my lover was a bit impatient."

"Pardon?" He asked, although he looked like he started to understand. The color of his face almost matched his hair.

"You want details?" I asked sarcastically. "I was with a man, I undressed him, he undressed me, and, well, he was not very delicate when he removed the jacket off me."

"Are—Are you saying you had intercourse while wearing my jacket?" He stuttered.

"No. Usually, that's an activity I'd rather do naked."

He flushed an even brighter red. That was too easy, and too funny.

"You will have to pay for this," he eventually shook off his embarrassment and came back to his senses.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll need to have this fixed by my tailor. I'll give you the bill."

I laughed hard.

"Not happening," I refused. "What I can offer, however, is to sew this button back myself. It's very quick and easy. It'll take me five minutes."

"I won't let you ruin such a valuable piece of clothing."

"And I won't give you any money."

"Yes, you will," he assured me through gritted teeth.

"Then make me," I defied him.

We glared at each other, two stubborn people that didn't want to give in. But one of us had to, and it wouldn't be me. After a few seconds, a minute maybe, GD sighed and looked away.

"All right, I'll let it go but you'll owe me a favor, Marian, and be sure that I won't forget about it."

"What kind of favor are you thinking of?" I asked with my famous 'fuck-me' voice.

Like a knee-jerk reaction, I flirted with him. That was my best talent, after all. I took one step towards him, my gaze leveled with his. His eyes were a unique color between yellow and brown, the color of dark honey. They brightened as I leaned even closer to him. I stood on my tiptoes and brought my face only a couple inches away from his.

"I could kiss you," I murmured sensually into his ear. "Or I could—"

"Don't!" He yelled, jerking away from me as I was bringing my hand to his waist. "What is wrong with you?"

"What? You're the one who said I owed you a favor."

"Not that kind of favor! I have some decency; do you really think I'd want that from you?"

"What if I said that it would be my pleasure?" I intensified the 'fuck-me' voice.

Everything in his attitude made it obvious he was not comfortable talking about sex. So, naturally, I found it entertaining to flirt with him and see his composure crumble.

"Stop this right now," he commanded, "or I'll sue you for sexual harassment."

And the threats again. It was getting old already. I knew better than to keep the game going.

"I'm just kidding, sweetheart," I patronized him. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed."

My words made his cheeks redden even more. For once, I had the upper hand.

"Anyway," I ended his ordeal, "I've got to go back to work. Goodbye."

* * *

The first thing I did when I got back home after work was calling Sig to explain to her what had happened with GD. The second was putting on my boxing gloves to start hitting my punching bag. I had been unusually restless all afternoon and my fists were itching to hit something. So I started punching. As usual, the first blows hurt me a little, but the pain quickly faded out and I punched harder. I hadn't even taken the time to change into workout clothes.

When, after half an hour of solid punching, I realized that my restlessness would not just disappear, I decided that I needed a more effective outlet. So I called Cedric.

"Hi Abs!" He picked up after the third tone. "What's up?"

"Hey Ced, are you busy right now?"

"Nope, just chilling at the house."

"Great. Can you come over?" I asked.

"Sure. Everything all right?

"Yes, everything's fine."

"I'm leaving right now. Be ready."

"I will. See you."

I hung up and went to take a shower. I quickly washed and shaved my body, then tried to decide on what I should wear. Then I concluded that it didn't matter and just put on tee-shirt just large enough to fall below my ass. I was untangling my hair when Cedric rang the doorbell.

"Come in," I called out.

"You know, you really shouldn't leave your door unlocked, it's not sa— Wow!" Cedric stopped mid-sentence.

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to be half naked already."

"The fewer clothes, the faster we get down to business."

"That's not how it works, Abs!"

"What's the problem? I took a shower just before you came, what was the point of getting dressed?"

"I'm a man, Abs, a flesh-made man with feelings, not a lifeless sex toy. I can't just get in the mood on command and fuck you right here, right now. Ever heard of foreplay?"

"I think of you more as my personal orgasm donor than as my sex toy, you know?"

He didn't laugh like I expected him to. I thought that was a good joke.

"Don't worry about getting in the mood," I went on. "I'll get you in the mood all right."

Without further faffing, I grabbed him by the neck of his tee-shirt and made him sit on my couch. I straddled his lap and kissed his lips like I had something to prove. My kiss was neither soft nor tender. On the contrary, it was rough and intense. My hands rested on his shoulders as I undulated my hips on his crotch. He instinctively grabbed my ass, holding my lower body close to his. I was relentless. I ground and kissed and nibbled and touched. He got a personal demonstration of every single move from the playbook. Then we'd see if he would dare accuse me of skipping foreplay again.

"What's wrong?" He asked mid-kiss against my mouth.

"Nothing."

I kept kissing him but he pushed me back, my crotch still getting hot against his, but my face being kept at arm's length from his.

"I know you, Abby. The only times you've worked me up so hard were when you were very mad, very sad, or very drunk. Which one is it?"

"I'm fine. I'm just a little tense from work and I need to relax, that's all."

"You know I'm not buying it, right?"

"Do we really need to discuss it right now? We're in the middle of something."

"All right, let's fuck first, and then we'll talk about it. But you're not getting away with that."

He finally let me kiss him again. I was in the mood for fast and hard, so I went straight to the point. I took his tee-shirt off and started to unbuckle his belt. I knelt down before him and lowered his jeans and boxers in the same movement. He wasn't hard enough yet.

I didn't hesitate and took his dick in my mouth and began to make long and slow movements. I felt him harden between my lips but didn't stop anyway. He placed his hand on the back of my head, as if wanting to control the rhythm, but he just accompanied my movements and let me do my thing.

"Mmh, yeah..." He sighed, his head tilting back. "You really are the queen of blowjobs."

His comment made me laugh, which made his penis vibrate in my mouth.

"Oh God!" He moaned.

His thighs flexed as the pleasure grew inside him. When I ran my tongue piercing along his length, giving special attention to his tip, I lost him.

"Okay. I love what you're doing to me, Abs, but I'm the one who's supposed to make you feel good, not the other way around. Let's get on your bed."

I released him and followed him to my bed. I lay on my back while he knelt between my legs.

"You said you wanted to relax, right?"

Without waiting for my answer, he went for my chest, played with my boobs, squeezing and nibbling them, giving extra attention to my pierced nipples. I could feel his erection on my pelvis and my insides contracted in anticipation. I wanted him and I made sure he got the memo. I lifted my hips against his crotch, shamelessly grinding.

"Are we getting impatient?" He teased.

"Stop playing, Hickey, and bang me already."

"Yes ma'am."

He finally removed my top and made a face when he saw me, naked, underneath.

"You can't be serious, Abs!" He thundered.

"What's the matter, again?" I asked, irritated by his umpteenth comment.

"You're not even wearing underwear, am I just a piece of meat to you?"

"You're really making a fuss over nothing, we both know why you came over!"

"Yeah but you could try to preserve a bit of mystery or something."

I threw him my most unimpressed, incredulous look. He didn't budge and just crossed his arms on his chest, looking stern.

"Let's just call this off," I decided. "Our arrangement is supposed to be easy and you're making it complicated right now."

I pushed Cedric off me and sat up, looking around for my shirt. He was not having it.

"Wait" he said as I made to stand up. "You're right, I'm being an asshole. I'm sorry, I shouldn't care that much about what you're wearing or not wearing. But if you think for a second that I'm going to leave you unfucked, you're delusional. Lie back down and let me take care of you."

"I don't want to anymore."

"Yes, you do. Lie down. Now."

Yes, I did. Terribly so.

So I lay back down on my bed, my legs spread wide open. He brought his face to my vulva and started to suck on my clitoris like he was on death row and I was his last meal. He put three fingers in me without any kind of warning. I gasped at the abruptness of the penetration. It was sudden, but, as always, it was delightful. Cedric knew me and my body like the back of his hand, he knew exactly what I liked. That's why it took him less than three minutes to make me come a first time.

"Do you mind if I take a condom from your personal stock?" He asked after my body had stopped shaking under his enchanting assaults.

"Not at all, help yourself."

He opened my nightstand drawer and rummaged through the multitude of condoms I kept there.

He picked a cotton candy condom I had gotten for free from the shift I'd once done at a strip club. He tore open the wrapping and unrolled the condom on his length. It was a vibrant pink.

"It matches your hair, baby!" Cedric noted and brought his penis next to my head to compare the colors.

"If that sticky thing goes anywhere near my hair, I'm chopping your dick off, understood?"

"Yep!"

He backed away and placed himself at the entrance of my vagina. Like with his fingers before, he entered me fast and deep, and unceremoniously, just like I wanted him to. He thrusted inside me with force and intensity. He grabbed one of my legs and placed it on his shoulder, thus adjusting the angle of penetration. He pushed inside me even deeper, making my eyes roll in their sockets from pleasure. He picked up the pace, holding on to my thigh for stability, and kept pounding me, always harder, always faster. Cedric had a lot of stamina, it had always impressed me.

"Turn around," he ordered while he pulled out, after he eventually took a break to catch his breath.

He did not have to ask twice. I rolled over and got on all fours. I rested my weight on my forearms, arching my back, much aware of how that accentuated the juiciness of my butt. I felt Cedric position himself between my legs. He rubbed his penis against my wet flesh and penetrated me from behind.

The sensation was so good that I let out a groan. Or was that a moan?

I heard a similar sound coming from my friend's chest. It didn't surprise me, doggystyle had always been our favorite position together. Mine because I enjoyed the way his penis hit my G-spot in every single thrust, not to mention the spanking he never failed to grant me with; his because he enjoyed the view on my ass – and because "it feels so much tighter."

As if to prove me right, his hand slapped my butt cheek with a loud sbaff! I yelped in appreciation.

As he rammed his penis into my vagina, bringing me closer and closer to the stars, he reached over and pulled me up until my back was flush against his chest. He went for my breasts with one hand, and for my vulva with his other hand. He titillated my nipples, tugging mercilessly on my piercings, and rubbed his fingers on my clitoris, while still maintaining the fast pace of his hip thrusts.

"Hold on tight, babe, it's going to be a spectacular finish."

I did as he asked and, as always, he was true to his word. We both came a few minutes later, me a few seconds before him. We both collapsed forwards, my hands stopping our fall. I could feel the sweat from his chest on my back and his ragged breathing in my ear.

"Thank you," I eventually said, "that was exactly what I needed."

"Anytime, babe," he said as he kissed my shoulder and got off my way too small single bed.

He took off the condom and discarded it while I took my tobacco pouch out of my bag and rolled two cigarettes; one that I lit right away, another one that I gave to Cedric. Post-coital cigarettes were my favorites, and his as well.

We sat down next to each other on my bed, our backs against the wall. He wrapped his arm around my neck and mindlessly fiddled with my nipple while taking drags off his cigarette with his other hand.

"I'm going to take a shower," Cedric said when he put off his cigarette in the ashtray. "Be ready when I'm finished because I'm taking you out."

"Where are we going?"

"First, we're having dinner so you can tell me what's going on, and then we're going to the frat house. There's the first pool party of the year and we need your help with initiation."

"Oh, interesting! What will I have to do?"

"You'll see once we're there. Hurry up and get dressed."

"Wait, I'll join you. I need a quick rinse."

He smacked my bare butt as I ran past him on my way to the bathroom. He followed suit right after me.

I got out of the bathroom first and searched for the perfect bathing suit for that night. I picked a yellow crochet bikini with colorful trims. I wore a simple black dress and a yellow jacket over it, and I put on my gold wedge sandals. I applied a little waterproof makeup and I was ready to go when Cedric finally got out of the bathroom, his blond hair dripping with water.

"Let's go," he said, "you know where you want to eat?"

"Yes, pizza."

"Pizza it is."

We took the metro to a pizzeria close to Ced's campus. We sat face-to-face at a table covered with a red gingham cloth and ordered the same thing as usual: the Calzone for him and the Hawaiian for me.

"I still don't understand why you eat that crap," he commented as the waiter was bringing us our order.

"It's delicious!" I defended my favorite pizza. "You should try it before you knock it."

"Ew. I'll never stand behind a pizza with pineapple on it. Sorry, babe." He took a giant bite off his own pizza and looked at mine with disgust. "Okay, so, what's going on with you?"

I had hoped he had forgotten about that.

"There's really nothing to say, really. I just had a bit of a crappy day, that's all."

"Then tell me about your day," he said.

I decided it couldn't do me any wrong to tell him, so I did. I told him every detail of my day, starting with Sigrid's comment about how I should have moved on, and finishing with GD threatening to send me his tailor bill for one miserable button.

"I'm sorry Sigrid said that to you. She wasn't wrong but it was hurtful nonetheless." He took my hand.

I shrugged. She meant well, we both knew that.

"And as for that Ginger Dude – you don't know his name, do you?" I shook my head. "Do you want to sleep with him?"

I almost spat out the soda I had in my mouth.

"Hell no, why?"

"What you guys seem to have sounds like textbook sexual tension to me."

"Sure," I snorted.

"You honestly think it's not the case?"

"Yes." I truly did.

He raised an eyebrow at me. I ignored it.

"Okay, let's pretend it's not," he conceded. "Maybe you should have sex with him anyway. It might clarify things."

"In what world does sex clarify anything? It's the opposite, it tends to make everything more complicated."

"Not with you. Sex is easy for you. Feelings, on the other hand..."

A middle-aged couple that was sitting at a table near ours gave us side glances. They had obviously overheard our conversation and didn't seem to approve of it. Like I cared. I winked at the man and blew him a kiss. He blushed and looked away, but his wife glared at me. I gave her my darkest stare before she eventually decided to look elsewhere too.

We kept talking while we ate our pizzas, and Cedric had the decency to avoid speaking of GD and my absence of feelings in general.

"About what Sigrid said to you. I'm sure she meant well, but she shouldn't have. Everybody processes stuff differently. You don't have to move on just because someone believes you do."

"I know, but thanks, Cedric. I appreciate it. Can we—can we please not talk about it anymore?"

"Sure. Just one thing. You're okay, right?"

"As okay as can be."

We finished our meal, split the bill, and went to the frat house. It was still early but the mansion was already noisy, and its backyard was packed with people wearing swimsuits... or not. The huge pool had been dyed emerald green for the occasion.

I recognized many faces and greeted many people before stripping off my dress and shoes and diving into the pool with Cedric. The water was abnormally warm, even for LA weather, so I tried not to think about the amount of piss and spilled alcohol that must have been the reason for that.

"Abby!" Spencer – the president of the fraternity – greeted me from the pool ledge. "I'm glad you're here, did Cedric tell you we need you for the initiation?"

"He did, but he didn't explain what I will have to do."

"You'll see soon enough, we're about to get started. Come with me!"

He took my hand and pulled me out of the pool and wrapped me in a towel before leading me to the living room, which was empty except for a few people. I immediately recognized the guy I had slept with at the last party and, apparently, he did too.

"What is she doing here?" He exclaimed, pointing at me with an annoyed look on his face.

"You have a problem with Abby?" Spencer asked, rather defensively.

"Yes, I do. She's a whore!"

Wow, that was next-level saltiness. He might not have appreciated my leaving his bed while he was still in the bathroom. His bitterness made me laugh, he was not the first man to call me a whore or a variant of the word. Spencer, however, did not find this funny. He grabbed the infuriated man by the back of his neck and pulled him towards me, head bent.

"Apologize to the lady," Spencer ordered.

"No."

"You see, Luke, we are a fraternity that respects women, and we do especially respect Abby. Insult her and you'll be insulting us all. Not the smartest way to assure your membership among us, right?"

"Are you really telling me you're going to kick me out of the house if I don't get along with her?"

"I am. You may have a room already, but you're not a true member until the end of initiation. You're so close to your goal, surely you don't want to ruin everything just because of... because of what, Abby?" Spencer asked me.

"I believe he's angry because I didn't stay after we had sex the other day," I said truthfully, and I heard a few people laugh.

"You're wrong," Luke replied. "I called you a whore because I know you fucked the whole frat house. What's wrong with you? Don't you have any self-respect?"

"Enough, Luke," Spencer said menacingly, still holding Luke's neck. "Apologize now and I'll forget about your misplaced male pride."

"I don't want to."

I hissed mentally. Challenging the president of the fraternity clearly wasn't the best way of ensuring one's membership.

"You can go and pack your things. It will take me a second to find a new pledge tonight."

"All right, all right!" Luke gave in. "I'm sorry for insulting you, Abby."

Spencer turned to face me.

"Are you satisfied with his apology?" He asked me.

For a moment, I considered answering no, just for the sake of chaos. Then I decided otherwise. After all, he was young and stupid. I didn't want to be responsible for having him kicked out of the fraternity. I knew how important those things could be.

"Well, now that it's settled," Spencer spoke up, "we can begin the initiation. Pledges, please make a line."

Eight men, including Luke, stepped forwards and formed a line in front of Spencer.

"As you know, one of the characteristics required to become a Sigma-Alpha-Epsilon member is to be skilled with women, if you know what I mean." A laugh spread in the audience. It never failed to amaze me how Spencer could pull off this straight frat bro persona when, in reality, he was anything but. "You will therefore be randomly assigned one of the ladies over there," he pointed at me and the other seven girls who were in the room, "and she will become your partner for the night. You'll have to do a series of tasks with her, so I suggest you treat her well."

He took a bag from the table next to him and addressed us, girls.

"In this bag are the eight names of the pledges. The name you'll pick will be the guy you'll be paired with. Abby, you start."

I was putting my hand in the bag when he suddenly took it back.

"On second thought, just pair up with Luke. Is that okay with you?"

"No problem," I agreed.

Luke, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled by that idea. Spencer removed his name from the bag and let the other girls pick. A few seconds later, the eight pairs were made, and we headed outside, right by the pool. The music stopped and every look converged towards us. Spencer took the microphone and explained what the first task would be.

It was quite easy: the two partners had to kiss passionately for five minutes while being judged by a jury composed of members of the fraternity – including Cedric. The couple that would perform the hottest, sexiest, and most indecent kiss would win. It could be easy for me to make Luke lose, I could just stay still, grimace, or even refuse his kiss. That's why Spencer had assigned him to me, I believe. He knew I could make him pay for his behavior and refuse to cooperate. However, I was competitive and a sore loser, so there was no way in this world I would make us lose on purpose.

As we had been told to, we stood face to face and waited for the signal. When I heard Spencer blow a whistle, I let my towel fall to the floor, I grabbed Luke by the neck of his tee-shirt, pulled him towards me and collided my mouth with his. I took the task seriously and kissed him like he was my long-lost husband. He, on the other hand, didn't put much heart into it and barely returned my kiss, his arms immobile on his sides. That idiot was going to make us lose.

I took matters into my own hands and told him to catch me while I jumped and wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands got hold of my butt and my boobs we flush against his chest. But that still wasn't enough. I was sure the other pledges were extremely motivated to win their place into the fraternity. They couldn't be as unenthusiastic as he was.

"Shove your hands in my swimsuit bottom and unlace my top with your teeth," I whispered instructions into his ear.

He did what I told him to but remained stiff and distant. He had even less sensuality than a broomstick; at least, a broomstick was hard enough to... Never mind.

"Don't you want to win at all?" I asked against his lips while undulating my pelvis to try to make our whole charade look more real. "Just act like the arrogant asshole you were last time and that should do it."

He groaned but complied. His hands dug deeper in my flesh while he plunged his head between my bare tits. I tilted my head back dramatically and faked a moan. We kept this almost-fucking pretense going for the rest of the five minutes and, when Spencer blew his whistle again to signal us that it was over, I could feel Luke's erection growing between my legs. I got off him and hid my breasts with my hands while he laced my top back.

The jury took a few minutes to deliberate and gave us the rankings. Luke and I finished third and were awarded fifty points. The first ones got one hundred and fifty and the eighth, zero. I wasn't really satisfied but it could have been worse, given the time it took Luke to get involved in the game.

I didn't even have the time to scold Cedric for not awarding us more points that we had to get ready for the second task. In that one, we had to drink a one-gallon beer keg as fast as possible. Given that chugging alcohol was something I excelled at, that task would be a piece of cake.

As I had predicted, we finished our keg two whole minutes before anyone else. I had drunk more than half of it and I felt it. We were now second in the race. When Spencer asked us to get ready for task three, I asked for a short break and ran to the bathroom and made myself vomit into the toilet. The alcohol burned my throat on his way out but, at least, I would not be too drunk to play properly. I rinsed my mouth and brushed my teeth with my finger and some toothpaste that one of the frat boys had left on the sink and went back to the yard.

The third task consisted in replicating the famous Dirty Dancing lift, meaning Luke would have to lift me at arm's length above his head, and hold on as long as possible. The man from each pair had to stand on the ledge of the pool, the slightest imbalance would make the pair fall right into the water. I was strong, which was an advantage, but heavy, which was not. I just had to hope that Luke's arms weren't made of jelly.

When I heard the whistle, I took a few steps back and ran towards Luke. His hands grabbed my waist and he lifted me with surprising ease. I spread my arms on my sides and contracted all my muscles to be as hard as a stick. And then we just had to wait for the others to fall.

Three couples were disqualified because the girls had momentarily rested their hands on their guy's shoulders and three others fell into the water. We had been holding on for one full minute now, and my entire body was aching. But I didn't show it. I forced myself to smile and even wink and wave at our contestants, hopefully to make them believe that we were fine and could go on for several more minutes like that. I could feel Luke's arms shaking beneath me, he wouldn't last much longer. Just when I was thinking that, he tried to readjust his hold on my waist but failed to do so and we both fell into the pool. The second we hit the water, the other couple celebrated their victory by jumping in the pool too.

It was time for the fourth and final task. I had done the math and I had deduced that the only way for us to win that night's competition was to finish first in that task. I briefed Luke about it and ordered him not to mess up once again.

"I did what I could, it's not easy carrying you! You're not exactly lightweight."

I shouldn't have taken it as anything more than a neutral statement, I was objectively on the heavier side. But he made it sound like an insult, so I punched him in the upper arm. He winced.

"All right everyone," Spencer called out to us. "Now has come the time for the final task of the evening. This one will take place in the pool. The eight ladies, while sitting on their partner's shoulders, will have to untie the bikini top of their opponents. The last one with her top on wins. Falling into the water is allowed. You can't retie a knot that has been untied. To make sure the game is fair, I'm going to tie your bikinis myself, so please, ladies, stand in line before me."

We hurried to get in front of him; I was last in line. When I was the only one left, Spencer made me turn around and untied the knots of my bathing suit and laced them back with the same amount of tension he had used for the others. His fingers were gentle on my skin, and I couldn't suppress a shiver when they brushed my neck to push my hair aside.

"You know, if you don't know where to sleep tonight, there's a spot in my bed. I'm always game for a quick roll in the hay," he whispered in my ear as his hand lowered to my butt.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied and pushed his hand away. "I'm already sleeping with Cedric tonight."

I liked Spencer. He was sweet to me and the one time we'd had sex, it had been truly awesome. There was no real reason for me to keep pushing him away except that I didn't do repeats. Cedric was the only exception to the rule, because I knew I would never think of Cedric as anything else than a friend. Repeats led to attachment which led to love. And I didn't want to love.

"One day, you'll change your mind, Abs."

"But that day is not today, Spence."

I laughed and left him to get ready for the task. I got in the pool and climbed on Luke's shoulders, and his arms firmly circled my thighs to secure my position. I reminded him that we couldn't afford to lose then Spencer blew his whistle.

A tenth of a second is all it took the pool to transform into a battlefield. The sixteen contestants were fighting with unprecedented ferocity, the men kicking one another and the women trying to grab the loose strings in their opponents' back while avoiding attacks from every side. My strategy was to aim for the girls that had tied her hair up, thus freeing the way to their back; what a rookie mistake. I had thought this through and had let my long hair fall down my back, so it would be a barrier between the other girls and my swimsuit. I explained my train of thought to Luke and he agreed with me. Thanks to that technique, I managed to untie two bikinis and two others were untied by my opponents. There were only four of us remaining, all with our hair loose. I gesture for the one on my right to ally with me so we could take the one opposite me. She agreed and we successfully took off her top, and the remaining girl suffered the same fate. I now had to fight my ally.

"Remember, Luke," I said to the head between my thighs. "We can't finish second. I hope you're swift on your legs."

"I am. Focus on the game!" He scolded me.

I narrowly avoided an assault from my opponent, which resulted in Luke scolding me even more. She attacked once again, and again. She clearly led the game, leaving me no chance to counterattack. But Luke did his job and helped me out of this mess by outrunning her carrier. He then abruptly stopped and our adversaries, carried away by their momentum, were momentarily distracted as they tried to regain balance. That's all it took me to untie the two knots holding her bikini. As everybody ogled her huge tits, I screamed in joy and climbed off Luke to hug him tight. We'd won!

"Congratulations Abby and Luke," Spencer said without enthusiasm when we'd all gotten out of the pool and lined up for the results announcement. "You are the winners of tonight's competition. Luke, you are now an official member of the Sigma-Alpha-Epsilon fraternity... on one condition."

Everyone looked at the president in confusion. We'd won, there were no other conditions to Luke's official membership.

"You see," he went on, "some wrongs have been committed earlier, and they need to be righted before you can accept you. Publicly apologize to Abby for what you said to her, and your sins will be forgiven."

"Are you serious?" Luke asked. "I already apologized earlier, and I did all the tasks."

"You don't have to do that, Spence. I'm good," I whispered to him.

"I want to," he said to me before addressing Luke. "I'm dead serious. That's your final task."

Luke thought about it for a few seconds but eventually gave in. It would have been really stupid of him to have come all this way just to fail because of some damn apology.

"Abby," Luke spoke up so that everyone could hear him, "I'm sorry I called you a whore earlier."

Spencer was about to ratify his membership, but Luke kept on speaking.

"It's not that you aren't one. I mean, you fucked the entire frat house, so the word is quite an understatement there. But it was rude of me to point it out."

And here I thought that the whole winning together had made him forget about our unfortunate dispute. Before I even thought of doing it myself, Spencer had already punched him in the face.

"You are permanently banned from this fraternity," he said surprisingly calmly. "I'll have your belongings from your room sent to you first thing in the morning. Never come back here."

"No. I'm getting my things now!"

He tried to pass through Spencer, and probably to hit him back, but the other members had come to his side. There was no way Luke could fight his way in.

"Don't make us escort you," Cedric threatened.

He raised his hands in surrender and turned around.

"I don't want to be part of a fraternity that worships a whore."

As Spence took a step to punch him again, I held him back.

"Don't. It's not worth it."

"He's insulted you, Abs!"

"I know. And you don't see me beat him up, do you? So you don't have to, either. Fighting on campus ground could endanger your position as president."

Luke left the premises before Spencer could convince me to let him throw a couple more punches.

"You'll have to find a new pledge," I noted.

"I already have. I didn't like Luke, he only got an offer because his dad used to be a member, but he just doesn't belong here. I already have a substitute on hand. All I needed was a reason to kick him out."

"Aw, so all this heroism was not about my honor, but about getting who you want in your frat?"

"It's both. But I would never let somebody insult you, Abs." I was touched.

"Did you pair us up so I would make him lose?"

"Yup. I didn't expect you to win the damn thing."

I laughed. "That was poor thinking. You know I don't like to lose."

"I'll make sure to remember that."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we got back to the party.

I spent the rest of my night drinking, smoking, dancing, and cannonballing into the pool. When it was finally time for me to go to sleep, I grabbed Ced by the waistband of his swim shorts and led him to his room. We fucked delightfully and fell asleep completely naked. As I drifted off, I tried not to think about how hard it would be to wake up for work in the morning.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! If you celebrate/celebrated, what did you go as? I went as Velma from Scooby-Doo and my friends went as the other characters.

Please don't forget to vote and comment on the chapter if you liked it!

Love,
Charlie.