Wild (The Ivy Chronicles #3)(2)

I stopped in front of the elevator and punched the button. I tapped my boot heel impatiently, eager to get in my room and in a pair of comfy yoga pants. I had the place to myself tonight. Both Pepper and Emerson were with their boyfriends and probably would be all weekend. Sadness pinched me at the thought. Then I instantly felt guilty. If two girls ever deserved happiness, they did.

Ironically, a few months ago I was the one with the boyfriend and they were single. I didn’t begrudge them their happiness, but . . . I was lonely. No Harris. My best friends busy with their own lives. I could only study so much. My grades were better than ever. I’d already finished my Econ project and it wasn’t even due until the end of the semester.

As I waited in front of the elevator, the building’s outside door beeped open and then clanged shut. Annie strolled in wearing a loose, low-cut blouse and tight cropped pants.

“Hey, G.” She stopped beside me, slurping from a ridiculously large iced coffee piled high with whipped topping. She eyed me up and down, taking in my outfit. I was dressed to go out in jeans, boots, and a light cashmere sweater. “You already go out?”

“Yeah. I had a date.”

“Must not have been a very good date. It’s not even nine and you’re headed home.”

I shrugged. Annie wasn’t my favorite person. She hung out with us a little at the beginning of the year. Until we all figured out she was one of those girls who would tell you to wear an unflattering sweater just so she could look better standing next to you.

“It’s still early. You should come out with me,” she suggested. My mind shot back to when Annie abandoned Em at a biker bar. She wasn’t the kind of girl to have your back when you went out.

The elevator doors slid open and we stepped inside. “Thanks, but I’ve got work to do.”

“On a Friday? Lame.”

“What are you up to?” I went for changing the subject back to Annie—always one of her favorite topics.

“Oh, you know . . . going to a certain club.” She lowered her voice to a whisper as she toyed with her straw, even though it was just the two of us in the elevator. “It’s going to be funnnn tonight. There are supposed to be some interesting games.”

“You mean your kink club?”

“It’s not my kink club. No one owns it.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a place to go if you want to really live and experience whatever you want, whatever you feel like without judgment. A safe place to let go and lose control.”

A safe place to lose control? For some reason, an image of my mother frowning and shaking her head rose up in my mind. “There’s no such place,” I said.

Life was judgment. We lived. We made choices. If we weren’t judging ourselves, then others were. That’s just the way the world worked. Self-control was everything. It’s what kept us civilized.

Annie chuckled. The elevator slid open and we stepped out. “God, you are repressed. You have my number. Text me if you want to join.”

I watched her for a moment as she turned and headed down the corridor in the opposite direction from my suite. Somewhere on our floor someone was playing the latest Bruno Mars at full blast.

I entered my room and closed my door. Bruno fell to a low muffle. Emerson’s side was a mess, littered with clothes. She might have fallen in love and started taking life a little more seriously now, but her indecision regarding what to wear and her inability to hang clothes back up had not changed.

I flipped on the television and changed clothes, neatly folding and putting away my sweater and jeans. After tucking my boots into the corner of the closet, I reached for my phone to call Mom back. She hated it when I didn’t call back on the same day.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I watched a cop chase a bad guy across the screen as the phone rang in my ear. On the final ring, Mom picked up. “Georgia, hi!” Her voice was full of energy. Reminiscent of how she sounded on the intercom all those mornings in high school.

Attending the school where your mom worked as a principal had been less than fun. Thankfully, she adored Harris—everyone in my hometown did—or I never would have been asked out on a date. Not too many guys wanted to date the principal’s kid. Harris had been confident enough to not let it intimidate him. I’d loved him for that. Of course, his father was a city councilman then . . . and happened to be the current mayor now. My mother loved him for those reasons, too.

“How are you? How’s school?”

“Good, I’m—”

“Did you change your password? I was trying to get online and look at your current GPA.”

“No, Mom, I haven’t.”

I might be twenty years old, but my parents were footing the bill for school and still expected full access to my life—that included online viewing of my grades at any time during the semester.

“Hmm. Maybe I hit the caps button. I’ll try again later.” She took a breath and slid into the next topic. “Have you thought more about your summer plans? I’ve been talking with Greg Berenger, and he can get you on here at the bank. It would be a great way to get your foot in the door for when you graduate.”

And there it was. The expectation that I’d come home. Eventually. I’d finish college and start my career back in the bustling metropolis of Muskogee, Alabama.

“Um. I’m not sure yet. Still looking into a few things . . .”