"Tell me once again why the hell I'm parading around with a bed sheet loosely wrapped around my almost-exposed tits and arse?" I asked a bit louder than necessary as my friends and I headed for the dreaded initiation night at our chosen sorority.

Lexi stopped on the spot and pulled me by my arm around to face her. "Because, I will finally become a cheerleader, goddamn it, and this is the easiest way in! Head cheer-bitch runs this whole sorority, and I intend to rub shoulders with her and use it to my own advantage. I've tried for three years without being in a sisterhood and nada. This is my last year to try, so quit that mouth and let's get to it!"

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again. We're too old for this shit! We're all senior age-upperclassmen-why the hell do they want us to join their chapter?"

"Because," she said with an exasperated tone. "They're down on their quotas for upperclassmen and transfers-that's us!" A scowl set on her impressively white face.

Lexi was a five-foot-nothing Goth-complete with overly svelte figure, black pixie-cut hair, pure-white makeup and black kohl liner on her eyes and lips. She was the absolute antithesis of a stereotypical cheerleader, but she had this crazy dream that she would one day top the pyramid at a football game.

I, her roommate, had been drafted in to be a support. Well, me and Cass, the larger-than-life near three hundred-pound blond Texan, who was trailing behind, scoping out which boys she'd like to devour tonight. As always, Cass was wearing her staple white Stetson and black leather cowboy boots, along with her sorority-required tight toga-that looked like a pillowcase-that she'd been catapulted into.

As I looked at the three of us together, I couldn't help but think that we were not exactly going to fit in with the athletically beautiful southern belles waiting for us on the other side of the large white door.

On the first week of my stay here (rush week), we had been pinned-in the badge-wearing sense-by an overeager brunette, weeks of selections had passed, and we were told to attend tonight for official initiation.

Lexi saw this as a divine message from her cheerleading-loving almighty God.

I saw it as cruel and unusual punishment.

Cass stood before us and asked, "What's up, bitches? Are we headin' to this jig or what? I wanna see what prime beef is on offer. Mamma's taco needs a good ol' fillin'." And she slapped her crotch to exaggerate her point.

When I arrived a month ago, I was immediately housed in a university apartment on campus, and the only room available was with these two girls. I instantly loved them-no airs, graces, and completely proud of their identities. They took me under their southern wings and we immediately bonded. However-on introduction to these fine ladies-I did not realise that this 'all for one, one for all' motto we'd adopted would land me in Wal-Mart value zero-count cotton, all to help my emo pageant queen friend achieve her pom-pom fantasy.

I'd gone from a life of solitude, eighteen-hour library sessions, and snooty silver service dinners at Oxford, to being dressed in a sheet that was meant to resemble the fashions of ancient Rome.

It didn't.

Not even close.

Cass pulled a hip flask of moonshine from some hidden crevice in her snug-fitting toga and took a long swig. "Woo! Feel the burn, honey!" she sang, dipping back and slapping her chunky thigh. She ran her tongue over her teeth, licking off any last drops, and passed the flask first to Lexi, who, after she swallowed, danced around on the spot, squealing and shaking her arms, and then handed it to me. I took a tentative, tiny sip and felt my eyes fall out of their sockets.

"Ohmigosh, Cass! How can you drink that?" I spat while running my hands along my throat, trying to soothe the burn. Cass had transformed a section of her bathroom into a moonshine distillery. She loved the stuff.

"Are you kidding me? It's like drinking Momma's milk, and I love the buzzzzzz..." She elongated the word and acted as though electricity were zapping across her skin, then took her chewing tobacco from her hidden purse and stuffed it in her bottom lip.

I rolled my eyes at her antics and handed back the flask. With linked arms, we headed into the fiery pits of hell.

The foyer of the Delta Epsilon Nu Omega... Beta... Pi... Kappa-who gives a shit?-was massive. A large oak staircase dominated the entrance of the imposing redbrick mansion and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling looked as though they belonged in the palace of Versailles.

We were immediately ushered like cattle into a sprawling back room by the sorority sisters. The pledges were buzzing with excitement on hearing that we would soon meet the elusive president. It amazed me how one person could cause such a frenzy.

The sorority sisters told us to be quiet, and with a dramatic drum roll, courtesy of a sister tapping her hands on a table, the president swept through a set of double doors with serious dramatic flair to set the night in motion.

I instantly tensed. It was Shelly, massively dolled up and sporting a very tight, short yellow dress.

"Welcome pledges. You're all here tonight to attend the final initiation of this respected and first-class sorority. All in this room will find yourself part of a tight sisterhood and a family while you are here at college and for the rest of your life." She began pacing in front of the crowd. "Tonight is about having fun. But before the party starts, we've decided to give you one little task... to prove just how much you wanna be here."

Foreboding filled my stomach at the smug grin on her face.

"The task is really quick and easy," she stated as she drew to a stop beside a table covered in a black sheet. With a giggle, she tossed the sheet back, revealing the surprise underneath-lines and lines of blindfolds.

Shelly strutted before each and every one of us, her beady eyes assessing each of her victims, and they tightened somewhat when they landed on me. "My, Molly. What's this? I thought you didn't find this kinda thing fun? Hmm? Maybe you think joining a sorority helps you better understand the human condition, huh?"

I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly through my nose, ignoring the questioning looks from Cass and Lexi.

I seriously disliked that girl.

With a smug smile and a chimed laugh, Shelly continued. "For the initiation task, we will be using brothers from our linked fraternity. You will be blindfolded and will have to kiss-with tongues-a fellow Greek brother and guess the food they've just eaten. It's not a lot to show your commitment, and we will all get a great laugh from it." She tossed her shampoo advert-worthy hair to the rest of the sorority sisters, who all giggled in response.

Bugger.

I didn't like the sound of this.

I grabbed Lexi's arm and leaned in close. "I thought you said hazing wasn't allowed anymore due to some recent scandal or something? Look at those blindfolds. This is going cause us all to be completely humiliated-that certifies as friggin' hazing! I can't do this, Lexi. I'm way out of my depth here."

Lexi hit me with her black-rimmed puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Molls. For me? It's not exactly bad hazing; it's just a kiss with a guy, for God's sake!"

I dropped my head and groaned. There was no use fighting her. She'd only cry on me again, giving me a guilt trip. "You totally owe me one!"

"Walk to the table and take a blindfold. We'll put you in a line and the guys will be brought in," Shelly sang, thoroughly enjoying herself at our expense.

We did as commanded, and after a few minutes, I heard the door click open and several pairs of feet shuffle into the room. I sensed someone stand before me and nearly puked at the stench. He had liquor and strong, putrid body odour humming out of his pores.

Disgusting.

"When I tap y'all on the shoulder, make out, guess the food correctly, and you'll be in-simple," Shelly informed with a gleeful lilt.

I could tell I was at the end of the line because when I waved a hand out beside me, all I felt was thin air.

I would be the last pledge last to go.

The distinct sound of slurping tongues and girls making guesses filled the room, and a chorus of sorority sisters emitting bitchy laughs mid-process came from every direction.

I could feel my pulse racing in nervous apprehension and my hands fidgeted, betraying my burgeoning panic.

Time seemed to still as my turn approached. The frat guy smelled... bad. But I'd do it for Lexi.

A light tap on my back signalled that it was my turn. I braced myself and leaned forward, only to feel a rush of air pass my head and a loud crash come from the side, male laughter echoing around me.

"Move, Macmillan. I think you're in my spot," a voice drawled.

"Ah n-no... B-b-bullet! Shelly said... said..." Macmillan slurred from the direction of the floor, semi-coherently.

"I don't give a shit what she said. Go and get a fuckin' drink, or pass out, or somethin'. You get me?" The menace in this 'Bullet' guy's voice was unmistakable.

"I-I get you. I get you, man."

I had no clue what was going on or who would be fighting over kissing me. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"Wait! Mac has to-" Shelly shouted.

"Shut the fuck up, Shel." His tone left no room for argument, and Shelly fell silent.

I was busy chewing on my thumbnail-a nervous habit I adopt in uncomfortable situations-when the new frat guy moved before me, smelling deliciously better than the previous person-summer, soap, and mint. It was familiar. Comforting. Enticing.

A large, calloused hand pulled my thumb from my mouth and placed it on a hard waist. My fingers crept along the cotton-like fabric covering his torso, identifying the ridges of hard muscle and defined abdominals underneath. Blindfolding was definitely a sensory awakening; you smelled, felt, and heard so much more.

Hands grasped both sides of my face and I could feel the moment he began to move in towards me, only to suddenly caress my lips, teasingly, softly with his own.

Without warning, my captor expelled a frustrated groan, dropping any gentleness, and his eager, wet tongue invaded my mouth, duelling against mine, fighting for control. I gave it over gladly. There was no other choice.

I'd never felt anything like it.

With every passing second, the kiss grew more frenzied, more intense, and I could clearly taste the cool flavour of mint-the food or flavour I had to identify was mint. I could taste it all over his mouth, in every corner, and along the surface of his full lips.

I suddenly broke from my lust and remembered where I was-in a room full of people-and before I lost myself completely to his touch, I pulled my thoughts back in check and reluctantly went to break the connection.

I withdrew my tongue first, holding onto his wrists, and his hands remained fixed on each side of my face. My lips slid from his, but I licked along the seam to relish in the last of his taste, earning me a satisfied grunt.

I tried to catch my breath and noticed that for the first time the room was absolutely silent.

My captor's hands tightened on my cheeks in an unyielding, dominating vise, and his hot, sweet breath fanned across my cheek in rapid, shallow pants.

I cleared my throat and announced quietly, "It's mint. The flavour in his mouth is-"

My answer was interrupted with a low groan and the frat guy's lips smashed back onto mine with a lot more enthusiasm than before, his tongue immediately darting back in my mouth.

Soft hair, smelling of wood and forest, tickled my nose as his face pressed against mine almost to the point of pain. He moaned with each strike of his tongue and delved deep like he was devouring the best dessert in the world-I couldn't do anything but reciprocate.

My hands lifted to wrap in his hair-long, soft hair-and I tangled it into my fists, earning a wicked, hard growl as we grappled with each other to get even closer.

I had no idea how long we kissed, but I thought my heart would leap out of my chest the longer it went on.

He controlled, I obeyed, and we both basked in each other's embrace.

The moment I felt one of his hands move to ghost down my neck, somebody yanked on my shoulder and the hand cradling my face slackened.

"Enough! What the hell, Rome? Get off her, now!" Shelly trilled, her voice sounding remarkably like nails scratched down a chalkboard.

My blindfold was tugged from my eyes and when the cover of darkness dropped, Rome was before me-as in right before me, the tips of our noses almost touching. He was dressed in the same clothes as earlier, ignoring Shelly pitching a fit beside us, and staring at me with an expression of blatant want.

"Hey, Mol," he rasped, all the time glancing from my eyes to my swollen lips and back again.

"Hey, you..." I whispered back, unable to find any other words in my frazzled brain.

Rome leaned in once more, like gravity pulled us in, and my chin instinctively tilted in response. Shelly reached for Rome's arm, jerking him back several feet, but still, he did not break our strange little staring contest.

"Hey!" she screamed sharply and slapped his cheek with considerable force. That got his attention and earned reactive gasps of shock from everyone in the room.

Dropping his repositioned hands from my face, Rome grabbed her wrist, gently but firmly, and spoke through gritted teeth, a terrifying sneer on his face. "Don't fuckin' hit me. Ever. Again."

Shelly's eyes widened at his harsh and threatening warning while others in the room stared at me like I was a science experiment gone wrong.

"It was mint," I blurted out, Shelly whipping her neck to face me. "Rome tasted of mint. That's what you wanted, right, for this ridiculous initiation task?" Even to my ears, my words sounded ice cold as I stared Shelly down, trying to dissipate the crackling atmosphere that had descended over the room.

Rome's hard, angry gaze focused on mine, and I momentarily lost my breath. No one had ever made me feel like this before and I began to panic at my unfamiliar attraction towards him.

His mouth tightened into a hard line and his nostrils flared as if he could smell my intense attraction. "She's right. I'd just chewed gum."

Ripping his arm from Shelly's hard grip, Rome pushed her back, swiftly turned, and left the room with a hard slam of the door.

After several tense seconds, the rest of the frat guys followed suit and that only left the gawking pledges and sorority sisters regarding me with a cocktail of impressed smirks and astonished expressions.

Lexi and Cass came barrelling over, excitement radiating from their wide smiles. Lexi held my hand and squeaked, "Molly, do you know who that was?"

"Yeah, it was Rome. I met him earlier today-he's in my Ethics and Philosophy class."

Cass snorted. "Hell yeah, it's Rome, but he's more than just a student, Molls."

"Okay?" I replied, confused.

Lexi leaned in. "Molly, he's a senior and, just so you know, completely unattainable. He's standoffish, all moody and dark, but more importantly, he's the friggin' starting QB for the Tide!"

"Official statistics-six foot three, two-hundred and thirty-five pounds of solid muscle!" Cass added excitedly.

"He's a what? For who?"

Cass recoiled and placed her hands on her bulging chest like I'd just cursed out the pope. "He's the star quarterback for the Crimson Tide."

"Oh, I noticed that was written on his shirt. It's an American football team, right?"

"Right? RIGHT? Ain't they got football in England?"

"Yeah, but it's the kind we play with a round ball. Soccer, you guys call it. That and rugby, cricket, tennis. We don't play American football, at least not professionally."

"Sweet baby Jesus... I can't imagine life without football. No tailgates, BBQs, or hot dog stands. Life would be unbearable."

"I was brought up by my grandma in a small mining town in the north of England. Her idea of fun was knitting scarves and playing chess. Then I went to Oxford where I studied twenty-four-seven for my bachelor's degree. Excuse me if football didn't play a huge part of my life!" I tried to joke but felt the familiar anxiety start to rise in me at just the mention of my old life. I choked it down before it overwhelmed me.

Lexi waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, we'll clue you in. Romeo Prince is the starting QB for the Tide-the football team here at UA-and he's definitely heading to the NFL at the end of the year. He was expected to go for the draft twice already, but for some reason decided to stay on and finish college before hitting the big time. You, Molly Shakespeare, have just publicly made out with the most desirable guy on campus. A guy that never commits to anyone. A guy that other guys are shit scared of and girls would gladly give up a lung for."

"Yeah, you lucky bitch!" added Cass, with a gentle punch to my arm.

My blank face must have hinted that I still didn't understand the true impact of what'd just happened.

Cass dramatically rolled her eyes. "Let me put this in a way that you can understand. You, Kate Middleton, have just kissed the Prince William of The University of Alabama and possibly all of American collegiate football."