Buying a surfboard? Check. Riding a motorcycle? Check. Kissing a hot surfer boy? Double freaking check. As long as I wasn’t crazy and didn’t get caught on camera naked or something, there wouldn’t be any backlash. Surely Dad drank in college, right? Oh, but that was different. He was a man, and I was his baby girl.

Rolling my eyes, I sent a mental eff you out in the universe. I made quick work of shedding my froggie pajamas and slid in to the short dress. Spinning in front of the mirror, I cringed. The thing barely covered my butt. Wait. Maybe it didn’t even cover it at all.

“I’m coming in,” Marie called. As she opened the door and barged through, she paused. “Wow. You look amazing. All you need is makeup and we’ll be ready to go.”

“I don’t really—”

“Wear makeup? I know.” Marie pulled out an eyeshadow brush. “But tonight you’re different, remember?”

Different. That sounded nice. I closed my eyes and let Marie work her magic. But when I closed my eyes, I remembered that amazing kiss Finn had given me. And then I remembered our fight afterward. He was always acting so…contradictory. It didn’t make any sense. Marie started applying the eyeshadow, and I belatedly said, “Not too dark.”

“I know, I know.” Marie set to work, and I tried to relax. This was supposed to be fun. “Your dad called. I told him you were studying at the library.”

I swallowed. “Why did you do that?”

“He calls every hour. He needs to back off. He a cop or something?”

I laughed. “No. Just overprotective.”

“Ah.” I felt Marie’s shrug, even though my eyes were shut. “My dad was like that before he died.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. Dad was annoying, sure, but I couldn’t picture life without him. “How long ago?”

“Two years.” Marie closed the mascara, and seemed to close the topic. “Open your eyes now.”

I refused to look at myself yet. I was scared I would look more hooker than sexy. “Done?”

“Not yet.”

I fidgeted. “Are you sure it’s not too short?”

“Positive.” Marie applied a layer of lip gloss, grabbed a piece of toilet paper, and said, “Blot.” I pressed my lips down on the toilet paper. “There. Now you’re ready to go.”

I peeked in the mirror. Smoky gray eyes and black eyeliner stared back at me, making my eyes seem brighter than usual. And the red lip gloss actually looked…good. “Wow.”

“Right?” Marie put the rest of the makeup away, fluffed her blonde hair, and grinned. “We’ll be the prettiest girls there. Now let’s go.”

We linked arms and walked out of the dorm. As we passed, boys gaped at us, making me smile. Okay, maybe Marie was right. Maybe I needed this. After Finn kissed me and practically wiped his mouth to remove my taste from his lips, my self-esteem had been lagging. It might be fun to go out and drink. Flirt a little bit too much.

And then Finn could kiss my un-kissable ass.

Marie dropped my arm when we reached the crowded frat house. Girls in dresses even shorter than mine filled the room, as well as guys in plaid shorts and solid-colored shirts. From a distance, they all looked the same. Marie tugged me toward the “bar” area, which was really just a bunch of wine coolers and beer cans on a folding table. “Which one do you want?”

I eyed the choices skeptically, then reached for a pink drink with a picture of the beach on the label. “This one, I guess.”

“Good choice.” Marie opened it for me and grabbed a beer from the table. After opening her own drink, she nodded to the room. “Next assignment is for you to find a cute guy and start talking to him. Think of this like a class. A class at how to party properly.”

I rolled my eyes. “But—”

I turned around and Marie was gone, already chatting up a guy I vaguely recognized. Great. Just freaking great. Now what? Everywhere I looked, people were already engrossed in conversations. I wasn’t the type of girl who just barged in and invaded other people’s conversations. Giving up on finding someone who wasn’t already busy, I scanned the room, looking for somewhere to sit. As I searched, I tilted my drink to my lips. It tasted sweet and a little bit like pink lemonade.

Whoever came up with this type of alcohol was brilliant.

Spying an empty spot by the door, I carefully made my way across the room in my heels and sat down on the step leading outside. I hadn’t left, but it gave me room to breathe. It was a win-win. No sooner had I sat down than a man was next to me, a beer in his hand and a sloppy grin on his face.

“Hey, there,” he said, his voice slurred. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”

How many drinks had he had? I got nervous around drunk people. They were too unpredictable. Dad had thrown a dinner party once and a man had gotten drunk and punched another guy for looking at his wife too long. He’d been perfectly fine, and even polite, before the drinking.

Though my urge to run was strong, I forced myself to take a sip of my drink. I’d been running away enough. It was time to stand still. “Yeah, I’m new here.”

“Freshman?”

“Yep.” I took another sip. The drink was delicious. “You?”

He scooted closer to me, pressing his body against mine. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, overwhelming and sickening. “I’m a junior.”

I stiffened. Though Finn had done the same thing earlier, his body pressed to mine hadn’t made me want to gag. It hadn’t made me feel like a thousand worms squiggled under my skin. I scooted away from him. “Nice.”

He reached out and played with my hair, leaning so close that his beer breath washed over me. “I like this color. Is it real?”

“Uh, yeah.” I pulled my hair free and slid into the corner of the banister. “What’s your major?”

“You are,” he said, following me.

That had to be the corniest line I had ever heard or read. And I’d read a heck of a lot of books. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Okay, that was funny.”

“It’s only the beginning.”

Without warning, his lips closed over mine. Instead of the electric whir I had felt when Finn kissed me, the itchy need to get closer to him…I couldn’t breathe. I tore free of this man’s smothering mouth, but he moved on to my neck without a second’s hesitation.

“Get off me.” Shoving at his shoulders, I stood up and took a calming breath. After setting my half empty bottle on the step, I said, “I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you tell me before you kissed me?” Beer Breath asked. He stumbled to his feet and adjusted his junk.

So freaking attractive.

“I didn’t—”

“Get lost,” a hard voice that I recognized said from the shadows. “You’ll go back to your stupid little party and find another drunk girl to hit on.”

“Says who?” Beer Breath asked, a cocky grin on his face.

“Says me,” Finn said, stepping out of the shadows. He flexed his fists and stepped closer to me. “Go ahead. Give me a reason to punch your fucking face in, and I’ll gladly oblige.”

Beer Breath paled and shuffled backward. “Dude. She kissed me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“We wouldn’t expect you to know the difference, now would we?” Finn asked, his voice mocking. He was practically begging for a fight. And all because of what? Because some dude kissed me? Why did he even care? “You have five seconds to be gone.”

Beer Breath turned red. “You know what? Run off with your little boyfriend and don’t ever come back to this frat again.”

Beer Breath stormed off, leaving Finn and me alone on the porch. I pivoted and gave him what I hoped was an annoyed look. “You do realize I can handle a grabby-hands boy by myself, right? I dealt with you, after all.”

He stepped closer, towering over me. “Ginger, you have no idea how to deal with me.”

I stiffened. “I know that if I kissed you now, you wouldn’t push me away.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. Look at you.” His gaze dipped over my body, and when he met my eyes again his own were blazing and hot. “Any man would kiss you back.”