Linden: Rocking Pleasure: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 3) by Drucie Anne Taylor Page B

weekend. You know, that’s when they set up the real party,” he explains in a conspiratorial whisper, “and I’m supposed to make you come here without you knowing what you’re in for.”
    I smile to myself. “I have no plans for the weekend, but please tell me this party is going to be better than the last.”
    “ I sure hope so. Cami and Dale are in charge of the planning. Delsin rented The Heat on behalf of your dad, since you’re now officially allowed in a club. And they also already invited a bunch of guests.”
    “ Friday or Saturday?”
    “ Saturday. Some of us have lectures until late afternoon on Friday, including myself.”
    “ That sounds promising.” I’m happy they’re throwing a second party for me, but I don’t understand why. Everyone else got their one surprise party, so why would I get two? I ask Ave that very thing.
    “ I don’t know,” he says. “Cami didn’t manage to get enough people together last weekend, she said. She didn’t want you to remember your twenty-first birthday like that, because it was lame.”
    “ Sounds a little fishy,” I voice my thoughts.
    “ Honestly, I have no idea what’s behind this,” he says earnestly.
    “ Okay, I won’t probe any further. One more thing though. It’s supposed to be a surprise?”
    “ Yes, it is, so please pretend to be surprised when you enter the house,” Ave pleads.
    “ OH MY GOD, YOU’RE TOTALLY INSANE !” I squeal loudly into the phone. “Like that?” I then ask in my normal voice.
    Ave lets out a gasp. “Perfect, because my ears are ringing. Where did you learn such acting skills?”
    “ My dear friends in Austin were never any good at hiding stuff from me either, but I learned not to disappoint them by pretending I didn’t expect their surprises AT ALL !” At the end of my sentence, I break into that high-pitched enthusiasm again.
    “ Wonderful, but also awful,” Ave says.
    “ I know. I also don’t want to wake the slumbering monster in Cami.” I giggle. “The way she’s acting right now, you’d think she’s suffering from permanent PMS, don’t you think?”
    “ I said something similar the other day, but don’t let her hear that.” Ave laughs.
    “ Anything else you wanted to talk about besides the surprise party?”
    “ Nope. That’s all for today. Wednesday morning by the palm tree?” he asks.
    “ Yep. It’s your turn to bring muffins,” I remind him.
    We all take turns bringing coffee and breakfast because most of us like to sleep in and don’t have enough time to have breakfast at home. I’m one of the late sleepers, and so are Hailey, Ave, and Dahlia. Only, recently, my reasons for sleeping in have had nothing to do with late-night sex.
    “ All right. See you on Wednesday,” Ave says.
    “ See you.”
    Ave hangs up as I reach my apartment, and I park, close the top, and take my phone from the dashboard holder. It starts ringing again. A glance at the display tells me that this time it’s Colton.
    My cheerful mood, restored by Avery’s call just a minute ago, is immediately shattered and crushed.
    I ignore Colton’s call the way he ignored me last weekend at my party and pray to God that Cami hasn’t invited him to the second one. I swear I won’t stay if he’s there again. My phone keeps blasting its ringtone while I fetch the bag of my new clothes from the trunk. Then I lock the car and climb the stairs to my apartment.
    “ I’m back!” I yell, closing the door behind me.
    No answer.
    “ The birds have flown the coop again,” I inform the empty hallway, and then I carry the bag into my room, where I throw myself across the bed and stare at the ceiling for a minute. But then my phone rings yet again. “Jesus!” I snap, answering the call with a bark. “ WHAT ?”
    “ Wow. Did someone kill your cat?”
    “ Who is this?” I ask, not in the mood for games of any kind.
    “ Alexis Kingston. I’m calling on Linden’s behalf.”
    “ Wow. Are you his secretary, too?” I