Page 31 of Claimed and Shamed

Yeah, I'm sure. Have fun with your family.

Thanks, I will. Talk to you soon.

Chapter Fourteen

Hudson

I sit across from my parents at the dinner table, trying to maintain a calm exterior despite the mounting frustration inside me. Dinner with them is a nightmare, as always. They're pushing me to join my dad's law firm after graduation, but I don't want to.

“I don't want to join the firm, Dad,” I say for the third time, hoping this time he'll actually hear me.

“Well, have you thought about the benefits?” he responds, ignoring my answer completely. “You'll have a secure future and a steady income.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I've thought about it, Dad, and it's just not for me.”

What about Tricia Mars? We heard she's doing so well. Her parents have been singing her praise to us all week,” my mother jumps in.

I groan inwardly. Of course they would start asking me about Tricia. She seems to be the topic of everyone's conversation lately.

Let’s just make matters worse, why don’t we?

“I don't have time for her,” I say dismissively.

“Oh, but you have time for your silly little fights, don't you? So why not her?” My mother's response is quick and biting. I clench my jaw, feeling the anger bubbling up inside me.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on you since your little pregnancy mishap. We have someone at the school watching you,” my dad admits, not even looking at me.

“What? That's a breach of privacy,” I say, my voice rising. I’m furious at this point.

“We have to be prepared for any negative attention that might come our way or leak out to the public because of your silly little escapades,” my father says, trying to justify their intrusion.

“Yes, like your penchant for public sex with that girl,” my mother rolls her eyes and I know she is talking about Stevie.

I feel my skin getting hot and I really don’t want to fight with my parents, so I stand up abruptly, pushing my chair back with a loud scrape against the hardwood floor.

“I'm done with this,” I say, storming out of the room.

Before I can blow up on my parents, Sawyer comes out of the bathroom and sees me in the living room pacing back and forth. He doesn’t seem to have heard anything, but he recognizes that I’m pissed the fuck off.

“Come on, man. Let’s go outside. I have to tell you about some frat business,” he winks at me and I know he’s just trying to get me out of the house without my parents following us.

“What the hell happened with Tricia at the Elite’s party, man? I know I was fucking up Henrik, but I’ve been hearing some shit,” he says to me when he pulls me outside.

I come clean about what happened with Tricia.

“Why didn't you tell me about this?” Sawyer is clearly stunned.

“I didn't want to involve anyone else. It's a mess. Her parents are connected to mine and The Elites. If this gets out, it could cause a lot of problems.”

“Shit. This is worse than I thought. We need to do something.”

“Like what? We can’t tell the dean what we know, because I can't let Tricia get into trouble and I can't risk our connection to The Elites being exposed either. If my parents find out drugs are involved, they’ll lose their shit, especially if it’s linked to Tricia, because of how close our families are. Besides, as much as I hate the idea of my parents pushing us to get married, I know all Tricia’s problems are Henrik’s fault. She doesn’t deserve to have her reputation ruined like that because of him.”

“Fine then, we have to stop Stevie and Melissa from joining Zeta Tau. We need to tell them the truth about what's going on and convince them not to get involved.” Sawyer seems even more worried about Stevie and her friend wanting to join Zeta Tau, now that he knows the rumors and our suspicions were true all this time. We knew the sorority and fraternity were linked, but we didn’t imagine it was like this.

“Can you try talking to her one more time? Without getting too angry. I know that’s hard for you, but she’s clearly not receptive to that. Just be honest and I know she’ll hear you out,” he asks.

“I'll try to talk to Stevie, but I can't make any promises. She's been acting strange lately.”