April 15th 2018

I always knew Charlie was trouble. We’d crash fraternity parties all the time, thinking nothing of it. Her brother Ryder is part of Pi Kappa Alpha, and we always overheard the dirty details about the next party. We'd sneak out while my parents are passed out drunk. I'd steal a couple of cigarettes from my mother's purse, twenty bucks, and snag beers from the fridge. They’ll never notice.

Apparently, tonight, partying isn’t all Charlie is thinking about. She is on the prowl to get laid. She takes a drag of a cigarette as we play strip poker in some frat boy's room. It smells like sweaty socks, spilled beer, and the cloying mix of aftershave. Charlie digs this one guy. His name is Chad or Brad. I'm not entirely sure. Strung lights shed colors across the king—sized bed we sit on. Discarded red plastic cups lay everywhere in the room.

Chills tiptoe their way down my back as I stare at the cards in my hand and fumble at the corner. I only have two of a kind, and I'm bound to lose this round. I've already lost my shoes and socks, and the thought of taking off my shirt makes my palms sweat.

I hear the roar of the party downstairs and sweat—slick skin slapping in the other room next to us. Whoever they were, made noises of pure animal pleasure. I got lost in the rattling bed against the wall and have no idea what anyone says.

"Payton!" Carter calls my name.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Lay down your hand," Carter demands, and he places a flush in front of me. His square jaw visibly tenses. Carter is rugged, somber, and a drop—dead gorgeous college freshman. Dark tendrils of hair curl around his ears, and his Artic blue eyes peer at me intently. I feel the sexual magnetism that made him so self—confident. God, did I want a piece of it. I've wanted it since we met this year.

I suck in a labored breath through my teeth and check my hand. "Well, damn." I lay down the pair of two queens. I reach for the cold beer and cup it against my palm. I take a long swig of it. If I'm going to get through this game, I need to be drunker than this.

"Oh, darling, it looks like you are taking off more clothes," Carter smirks, and other men chuckle in the room.

"Take it off!" Charlie squeals. Carter shoots me a roguish grin, and I can see the temptation all over his face.

I gulp down the tightness lodged in my throat and slither out of my tank top. "My best friend is gorgeous!" Charlie encourages me.

I might be gorgeous, but I can't play poker worth my life. I lost again and again. Charlie shrugs out of her booty shorts. Another guy whips off his shirt and is bare—chested. One by one, our garments fell to the floor with each hand we played. I'm down to my matching black bra and silk panties. I'm a sore fucking loser. My heart hammers in my ears. I have to take off my bra. I fumble at the strap and unclasp it.

Carter bites the edge of his lips as my breast spill out eagerly. Charlie even lost this round too, and she drops her bra on the floor like nothing. Her thumbs rasp against her hard nipples, and she giggles.

"You two are fucking hot!" The frat boys holler and cheer.

"Brad, I know you want to touch them." Charlie giggles at him. I really thought his name was Chad.

I'm five beers deep now, my fingers tingle, and my head swims in a haze. Charlie spreads her legs apart for the frat boys to peak at her red velvet thong. With both thumbs, she plays with the string of her panties over luscious hips. Her skin is honey gold, her body petite and playful. Charlie is stunning. There are times I catch myself with a slight tinge of jealousy towards her. Her hair is shadow black, inky in the moonlight. It's as if her hair is of a Greek goddess.

Charlie crawls over the bed toward Brad. She rubs his hard erection through his boxers and French kisses him. She pushes him into the wall while their tongues mesh together, sloppy and drunk. Brad's hands cushion and massage her breasts. He kneads them with strong hands, and she moans out.

"You’re soft," Brad groans, rubbing her nubs. Charlie isn't scared of fucking a man right in front of everyone. She's bold enough to release the beast from his boxers and go down on him. His breath grew ragged as she had her way with him.

"Holy shit, Charlie" He racks his fingers in her hair. " Can't you wait until everyone leaves?"

Without warning, the bedroom door crashes open with a sudden bang.

"Charlie, what the fuck are you doing up here?" I jump to the sound of Ryder's voice. The shock drains the blood from my face. I scramble for my clothes on the floor to cover my chest. Shit.

Charlie stops sucking Brad's dick and tumbles to the floor. Ryder storms his way over toward Brad and lands an awful punch to his jaw. It's a loud crash and the blistering sound of punches and growls. They are blurs, and feet pound on the floorboard.

"Ryder, stop!" I scream out.

"Payton?" Ryder's pupils dilate around his bold ashen eyes. "Why are you here?" He stops beating the shit out of Brad and takes a quick glimpse at me. Ryder clamps his eyes shut before turning away. Ryder is Charlie's brother, but he has always been like an older brother towards me. I've known him since kindergarten.

Charlie's voice rose in a shrill of surprise and squeals, "Ryder? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Brad slithers his boxer briefs up, and he wipes the edge of a bloody lip.

A cocked smile appears on Carters' lips, and he jokes, "We are playing a game, chill out. Why don't you go play beer pong or something?"

"While my sister is naked sucking someone's dick in front of a bunch of hungry ass dudes? Fuck, no!" He snatches Charlie by the arm and drags her up to her feet.

"She’s still in high school!"

"Dude, are you serious?" Brad hollers over to Charlie and throws up his hands in frustration. "You told me you were eighteen!"

"I am eighteen!" Charlie argues, putting her bra back on. She scampers around the room, picking up her clothes. I remain frozen on the bed, holding my clothes like a crutch. “My brother is just being a control freak!” She yanks her arm out of Ryder’s grip.

“And you’re in here crashing every god damn party, and I told you to lay off!” Ryder shoots back.

"Charlie, let's get out of here," I attempt to intervene, but Ryder and Charlie are at each other’s necks. There is never a good way to break them up from a fight brewing. They are the perfect rivals, and they hate on each other with a passion.

"Get the fuck out of my room!" Brad points towards the door with his bloody knuckles.

"Both of you are coming with me!" Ryder snarls between his straight teeth. “Mom has been hounding me since she noticed you both left.” He snags Charlie’s wrist.

"It's just a fucking game. Get off me!" Charlie yanks her arm away from him. She slides into her shirt and storms out into the crowded hallway. I toss on my shirt and underwear and follow. I'm shoved and jostled in the crowd. We squeeze down a tightly packed stairway.

Ryder drags us both out of the fraternity house and leads us down the dirt road towards his car. The headlights beam at us. Partygoers stumble out the front door laughing. I bet they wonder what the commotion is all about. Other people from the college glare toward us with beers in their hands as they lean over the porch railing. Charlie and I slip into the back seats with the car door slamming behind us.

"What is wrong with you two?" Ryder's husky voice growls as he leans over the driver's seat. His silver eyes are angry and burning. The vein in his neck bulges out. His knuckles are swollen and scarlet red. I've never seen him this mad before. "This is how guys get the wrong impression of you."

"You don't always have to protect me!" Charlie retorts.

"You don't know any of those guys up there. You are going to end up getting yourself hurt, and you're dragging Payton into your mess." Ryder puts his car in gear and backs out of the driveway.

"I'm eighteen, Ryder. I can sleep and hang out with whoever the fuck I want!"

“Is that what you said when Darian forced himself onto you at sixteen and took your virginity?”

“Shut the fuck up, Ryder! You don’t know what happened that night!” Charlie’s eyes brew with tears as I know she claimed she was raped that night. The guy locked them in a bathroom and ripped everything off her as she begged for him to stop.

"He sexually assaulted you, and if I didn’t show up, no one would have stopped him. Ever since that incident, you’ve acted like a whore! Throwing yourself at guys and getting drunk isn’t going to fix what happened or fulfill you in any way."

“Shut up, Ryder!”

"Would you two stop fighting!" I intervene, but they are so angry with each other they can't hear a word I'm saying. I’m invisible.

Charlie opens the door of the car while Ryder is backing out and hops out. Ryder slams on the breaks, places the car in park, and gets out in an angry fit. "Get in the car, Charlie."

"No, Ryder!" Charlie storms away and heads back into the crowded house. Ryder racks his hands into his tousled hair and punches a fist against the metal of the car. Ryder is right. Charlie dragged me into a fucking mess. One big fucking mess.