Best Served Cold by Tawdra Kandle Page A

can’t hear myself, let alone you or anyone else. I’m taking my drink outside. Just for a minute.”
    “All right. Go in the back, looks like they have a deck with space heaters.” Ava pointed to a windowed door. “I see someone from my psychology of Shakespeare class. I’m going over to say hello.” She picked up a bottle of beer and disappeared into the adjacent dining room.
    I found some soda and filled a plastic cup about half way up, leaving out the ice. The amber liquor in a bottle with a pirate picture on the front looked promising, so I added a healthy splash and swished it around. A cautious sip sent delicious warmth down my center, and I smiled. That would do the trick.
    I wasn’t the only one with the idea to duck outside. Five tall heaters were scattered around the wide wooden deck, and people huddled near them, holding drinks. A few were smoking, but they stood closer to the porch railings.
    I made my way to the only unoccupied heater space and concentrated on enjoying the relative silence.
    “Julia?”
    I turned, startled, as a guy standing at a neighboring heater stepped closer to me. He wore a brown canvas jacket over a green hoodie and carried a cup that matched mine.
    “Hey, Jesse.” I managed a smile, even though my heart was pounding. What was he doing here?
    “I was wondering if I might see you tonight.” He slugged back his drink and set the empty cup on a nearby chair.
    “Yeah, well...” I glanced around. “I don’t do fraternity parties, but my roommate dragged me out to this one.” I pointed at the door. “She’s inside, but it was too loud for me.”
    Jesse nodded, holding his hands up to the heat. I closed my eyes, cursing inside. Could I sound any more anti-social?
    “I was an Alpha Delt at SUNY, and my roommate’s brother is the fraternity president here at Birch. He asked me to come over tonight. I figured why not, but then I got here. I’d forgotten how much I hated the parties.”
    I laughed. “Sorry. Why were you in a fraternity if you hate parties?”
    “Hey, there’s more about frats than parties. I joined because I thought it would look good on my resume, and I wanted to be part of something...” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head. “Okay. Truth is, I joined to meet girls.”
    “Aha!” I sipped my rum and cola. “And how did that work out for you?”
    He shrugged. “I met my share, I guess. I had some fun. But then after a while parties weren’t really my thing. I’m more of a talking-and-getting-to-know-you guy than a getting-drunk-and-hooking-up-with-skanks kind of guy.”
    “Does that imply that I’m a skank, since here I am at a frat party?”
    Jesse’s eyes widened a bit, and his mouth dropped open. I burst into laughter.
    “Kidding. I’m just kidding. I know what you mean. I’m not a hooking-up-drunk girl. I like to hang out with my friends, but this is a little too much, you know?” I circled my hand to encompass the house.
    “So why are you here?” He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans.
    “I told you. My roommate made me come with her. I’m a good friend.”
    “Yeah.” He made an elaborate show of looking all around us. “But where is this alleged roommate? And why did she drag you along and then ditch you?”
    “Inside, like I said. Ava didn’t ditch me, she just didn’t want to come outside in the cold.”
    “Hmm.” Jesse nodded. “Does she date an Alpha Delt? Or does she want to?”
    I shook my head. “No. She doesn’t date. She’s very focused on academics.”
    He frowned. “So she decided to make you come with her to a fraternity party? Sorry, I don’t mean to sound stupid, but I’m confused.”
    I shifted my weight. I didn’t do deception well, and trying to come up with a cover story made me uncomfortable. Jesse was a virtual stranger, but still.
    “I don’t know. I guess...a friend of ours, well, someone we both know—he invited us. Ava’s an RA, and so is he. Anyway, here we are.