The penny finally dropped.

"So Rome is kind of a big deal around these parts?" Their huge grins showed me that sentence was massively understated.

"Romeo Prince. He's a bit intense, isn't he?" I stated quietly, remembering his uniquely addictive taste, his possessive hands on my face, and his deep growls of satisfaction.

"Intensely fuckable! You wanna see him on the football field... Christ, it's something! He loses his cool, a lot, kicks the shit outta folk when they get in his way, but girls kinda dig that moody thing and he's fuckin' sex on legs-cut, gorgeous, tan. Shit, I almost came just thinking 'bout him!" I grimaced at Cass's crudeness. She simply shook her head at me in dismissal. "But he couldn't get enough a'you, girl! I thought he was gonna rip off your clothes right there on the spot! He nearly decapitated Mac when he went to kiss you. When he shoved him to the floor, the murderous look on his face was scary as shit. I got chills!" She held out her arm and rubbed it to demonstrate.

My brows creased as I absorbed what she said. "Romeo Prince," I murmured in reverie. He'd kissed me with such desperation, such raw need, stirred something unknown from deep within me.

"Yep, and Molly Shakespeare-hey! Romeo and Shakespeare! How hilarious is that?" Cass said, getting excited, causing her toga to nearly drop and flash more than I was eager to see.

"Good Lord! It's meant to be!" Lexi laughed, putting her small hand over her mouth.

Shelly chose that moment to get in my face, her tight blue eyes boring into mine. "Leave this house immediately, you... you... slut!" she snapped, spraying my face with her spit as she did so.

I removed my glasses and wiped away the offending liquid with the bottom of my toga. "With pleasure. I don't need this anyway. Coming here was one huge mistake. Cass, Lexi, I'm sorry, but this let's all be sisters love-fest is so not for me. I'll see you guys at home."

I needed to distance myself from this horrid girl and stop trying to be something I wasn't. I'd tried for my friend and that's all that mattered. I just needed to put this entire day behind me. By tomorrow, all would be back to normal.

Cass whistled using her fingers pulling everyone's attention. "She's in, Shelly. She kissed a guy and guessed what he'd eaten. Don't test me on this; everyone witnessed it. Christ, Molls was blindfolded for fuck's sake! It wasn't like she went after him." With that, she folded her arms across her chest with a threatening look on her face.

Shelly's harsh facade dropped for a moment. I couldn't blame her; I'd quiver if I were on the end of Cass's wrath, too.

"She's not meant to kiss him! He's meant to be mine!" Shelly screamed to her fellow sorority sisters, who just regarded her with varied looks of indifference.

"I think you'll find that he kissed her... twice," announced a gorgeous brunette who winked at me as she headed in my direction from the back of room.

She placed her hand on my shoulder. "She's in. Don't contest it or you'll lose, Shelly," she said with a gratified smirk on her lovely face. "It's your own fault for making pledges do this shit every year, just so you and your lackeys can get your kicks. Only this time it backfired on you. Too bad, I say."

Shelly stormed past me, but not before she prodded her finger against my chest. "Stay away from him or there'll be trouble, you hear? You've no idea who you're messin' with, no damn idea!" She slammed the door as she exited the room.

A deathly silence ensued.

The brunette addressed the pledges. "Congratulations! You're all now part of this fantastic sisterhood-lucky you! Kegs are in the yard. Go enjoy."

The pledges filed out of the room with happy grins, leaving Lexi, Cass, and me with the leggy beauty. She wore a short red summer dress and had tanned olive skin, long, dark hair to the middle of her back, and dark-brown eyes. She was stunning. Like supermodel stunning.

She walked to me and introduced herself with a megawatt smile. "Sorry about Shelly. She always gets on a power trip at events like this and she's totally reelin' about your very heated PDA with my cousin."

"Cousin?" I squeaked.

She laughed. "Yeah, Rome's my cousin, more like a brother really. I'm Ally Prince. Shelly's wanted to be his girlfriend since we were, like, ten. Just ignore her. I do."

"She did seem a bit overly possessive of him."

Ally guffawed. "I don't know why. They've never been together officially. They just sometimes hooked up in the past, though Shelly never tends to get the memo that they're done. Rome's not exactly the monogamous type-he only gives her attention 'cause her daddy and Rome's daddy are business partners. She's exactly who his parents have picked out for his future wife. Ol' money types stick together 'round here. Their folks already act as though they're all engaged."

My heart fell a little at that bit of information. He was meant to get engaged to her?

Ally reached out to touch my shoulder, amusement exaggerating her features. "I've never seen him act like that before, girl. Nor has Shelly. Hence the fact she's having a cow. Even I thought it looked hot, and I'm his cousin and totally not into incest, FYI!" she teased.

Ally linked my arm with hers. "Let's go grab a beer. I can tell you and me are gonna become good friends, Miss Molly, even if it's just so I can watch you torture Shelly. Plus, I'm nominating you for one of the rooms here at the house, your friends too. We only have a few rooms left, but if you move in, Shelly will be constantly pissed, and my year will get a lot more exciting."

3.

Two hours later, I found myself sat at a picnic table on the lushly landscaped lawn with Cass, Lexi, and Ally. Lexi was sucking up to Ally as much as possible, knowing full well that Ally had been a firm fixture on the varsity cheer squad, grilling her about the tryouts and what they were looking for in the new additions. Cass was busy making googly eyes at the huge Tide player (so she informed me) that stood just to the right in full-on cowboy attire, while sipping on her contraband Moonshine.

The lack of conversation involving my input allowed my head to drift to one topic only: Rome. He hadn't returned after the kiss. At least, I hadn't seen him at the party, so I assumed he'd gone home. I unfortunately had to admit to myself that I was kind of disappointed by his absence. He'd gotten under my skin with his strange treatment towards me, and I couldn't shake off that kiss. It made me think things that were not part of my usual modus operandi-things involving nakedness, beds, and a hell of a lot of sweat.

Refocusing on the conversation, I was dismayed to hear the girls switch topics from cheerleading to their family backgrounds. I decided that this was the perfect moment to take a quick breather.

"Hey, Ally, where is the bathroom in this place?" I asked abruptly.

"You can use mine, darlin'. It's on the top floor, third on your right." She fished a key from her purse and placed it in my hand. "I keep it locked so folks can't use it to bang at parties like this."

"Good thinking. Thanks. I'll be back in a jiffy."

I walked through the patio doors and headed to the main set of stairs, climbing quickly up the three flights, trying to ignore the moans and groans emanating from behind closed doors. Ally was right to keep her door locked. It sounded like there was a pack of rutting wolves on every level.

I made it to the correct door and turned the key in the lock, shutting it behind me and locking it again for safe measure. I did not want to come out to a live sex show of some eager college freshmen on her bed.

The room was beautiful. The walls were crisp white, red linens covered a huge king-sized bed, and there was a large antique desk in one corner. The real winner, however, was her personal balcony. Red gauze curtains flowed in the gentle summer breeze over the open doors and starlight glittered against the strands of silver thread subtly woven into the fabric.

I shook my head at the fact that she had all this and she was still in college. Some people never experienced this level of luxury in an entire lifetime-my father and grandma lived in four small rooms their whole lives. I imagined it cost a lot to live here too. That thought snapped me out of my daze, and I began searching for the bathroom as intended.

I reached the far side of the room when a dismembered voice from the balcony called out, "Al, that you?"

I jumped and held my chest, my heart thundering at the fright. I leaned against the bedpost when the owner of the voice entered the dark room.

Rome.

I glanced up to see him staring at me, obviously taken aback by my presence.

"This room is off limits, Mol," he said rather curtly as he took a gulp of beer from his brown bottle.

Mol. I loved how his tongue rolled around my name. No one had ever called me Mol, but one utterance from his lips had me petitioning to change my name.

I straightened nervously, his gruff voice stunting my breath, and dangled the key in the glow of the moonlight. "Yeah, I know. Ally gave me her key to use her bathroom."

With a lick of his lips and without another word, he stalked back onto the secluded balcony terrace on his bare feet. I watched him go and scurried to the bathroom. I quickly took care of my needs and stared into the mirror, willing myself to pull it together.

I borrowed Ally's brush from the vanity and ran it through my frizzy hair and resecured the knot at the top of my head to contain the mass of brown curls. I spotted her toothpaste and put some on my finger, running it over my teeth, and finally, I straightened my rumpled toga, tightening it over my C-cup breasts and around my curvy behind. The tattoo on my hip wasn't visible, much to my satisfaction, and with a final smoothing of my eyebrows and a plumping of my cheeks with my fingers, I left the safety of the bathroom.

I gently clicked the door open and tiptoed towards the exit. I was almost at the door when Rome shouted flatly, "Mol?"

I froze on the spot. "Yeah?"

"You wanna hang here for a while... with me?" His voice sounded strained, as though he fought his better judgment by asking me. That made two of us. I wasn't sure I trusted myself with him... at all.

"Mol?"

"Yeah... okay."

When I stepped out onto the open terrace, I located Rome sitting on a white chair around a patio table, staring through the rails, looking down onto the back lawn of the sorority house with a bored expression on his face.

I pulled out a chair opposite and slinked down, trying to see what had him so enthralled. Rome didn't acknowledge my presence until he slid a bottle of Bud in my direction and sipped on his own, slouched low in the chair, his thoughts occupied.

I surveyed the balcony behind me, taking in its beautiful decoration of potted bright plants, and when I turned back towards Rome, I was met with the undivided attention of his intense dark-brown gaze, and he hooked a small smile on his full lips for the first time since I agreed to keep him company.

I took a sip of my drink just to do something with my hands. He remained quiet and leaned his head on his hand that was perched on the arm of the chair.

"How long have you worn glasses?" he asked, clearly just to start a conversation.

"Since I was about three, I think. Around then, anyway. My eyesight has always been shite," I answered, and he turned, staring blankly once more at the crowd below.

A bottle smashed on the lower floor and he peeked through railings to check it out. "It's getting loud down there," he mumbled mundanely.

"Yeah. Well, you should try walking down the corridors. It sounds like a brothel. I didn't realise college life could be quite so... active."

He chuckled quietly and held his bottle up in a mock toast. "Welcome to Greek life."

I smiled and held up my bottle too, then downed half of it in one drawn-out swig to enable me to survive the guerrilla attack of nerves that were accosting my body.

I placed the bottle on the table as Romeo raised an eyebrow.

"I like beer," I explained weakly.

"I can tell," he answered with that same amused smirk.

I blushed and laid my chin on my cupped hand. "So why are you up here hiding out?"

Rome hunched his broad shoulders. "Don't feel it tonight."

I mock-gasped. "Mr. All-star Quarterback doesn't want to mix with his adoring fans?"

His demeanour changed from amused to pissed off in an instant, and he proceeded to rip the label from his Bud bottle in frustration. "Well, that didn't take long. Who told you who I am?"

"Lexi and Cass."

"Who?"

"My roommates, they told me after we... erm, after we... you know..."

"Kissed?" he said bluntly, without embarrassment.

I fixed my eyes to the red-tiled floor. "Erm... yeah."

"So what did they say 'bout me?"

"That you were the Romeo Prince, quarterback extraordinaire for the Crimson Wave and that you were the Prince William of college football, yada, yada, yada..."

He stopped in his label destruction and put the back of his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.

I pursed my lips in annoyance. "What?"

"The Tide."

"Huh?"

"It's the Crimson Tide. Not Wave."

I shrugged and waved his correction away dismissively. "Whatever. Tomayto tomarto."

"Well, we'd better keep that between us. It's not tomayto tomarto 'round here. It's... everythin'. It's life and death." He sighed and went back to picking the label.

I took a few more sips and announced, "So, Romeo, eh?"

Cocoa eyes frosted ice cold. "It's Rome."

I shook my head, my eyebrows dancing. "Ah-ah! It's Romeo. I've been reliably informed."

He scowled at me, his face rigid. "No one calls me that, Mol."

"Just like no one calls me 'Mol,'" I retorted, and my eyes widened at my uncharacteristic boldness.

It earned me a surprised glare. "Touche, Molly...?" He trailed off, waiting for me to say my last name with an expectant smirk.

"Molly Shakespeare."

Rome drifted closer, mouth tight. "What?"

"Shakespeare. Molly Shakespeare."

The annoyance was evident in his intimidating expression. "Are you tryin' to be funny?"

"Nope. Romeo, I'm a Shakespeare-born and bred."

He stilled for a moment before he rolled his head back and held his stomach while he boomed out a laugh. His red shirt lifted slightly, showing a line of his tanned, hard stomach.

"That's not the only weird thing about our names," I announced nervously.