Uncomfortable, Undone University Series, Book 1

Chapter 8

Jace

I was purposely late to the charity dinner in an effort to avoid running into Krystal, but there she was at the welcome table, right where I expected to see Nina. My sweet, unassuming, completely platonic friend, Nina. The sight of Krystal sitting there, looking so much like a dear caught in headlights, almost sends me running the other direction. Not because I don't want to be around her, but because of the immediate desire to be nearer to her that hits me at just the sight of her. The feeling is uncomfortable, to say the least.

But I steel my spine and escort her into the event room, doing my best to ignore the fresh tropical scent of her shampoo and all the images it conjures of her on the beach, in a bikini. Lust is like a fist clenched around my stomach. Or my balls, I can't tell. My attraction to Krystal is a whole-body experience, and it's sucking up all the air between us.

As soon as we step into the room, the soft sound of a slow song drifts to us from the speakers near the DJ table. It's too slow, too intimate, evoking images of slow dancing, our bodies pressed together chest to breast instead of shoulder to shoulder. I withdraw my arm from her hold and take a step away. "I should go check in with RJ, let him know I'm here."

She blinks up at me in surprise, then looks out across the room, searching. "Oh, yeah, and there's Abby over there. I should go talk to her." She doesn't wait for me to respond before skittering away toward her friend. Finally able to breathe again in her absence, I suck in a steadying breath and go in search of RJ.

I find him at the auction table consulting over a stack of clipboards with Brian and Andy. The silent auction must be over already, and they must be preparing to announce the winners.

"Hey, man. How's it going?" I greet, and he looks up at me, then down at his watch.

"'Bout time you showed up. I was beginning to think you were skipping out on us."

"You know that's not my style. I was just being fashionably late." I flash him an award-winning smile, and he rolls his eyes.

"Well, as penance, you can be the one to announce the auction winners." He thrusts a blue plastic clipboard at me. On it is a printed list of auction items, and next to each item is the name of a winner inked in RJ's handwriting. He has surprisingly pretty handwriting for a guy who's more likely to make "your mom" jokes than know what a calligraphy pen is.

"No problem," I tell him. "You don't mind if I name myself as the winner on a few of these, do you?"

RJ sighs and grabs the clipboard back. "Never mind, just go clean something." He waves his hand dismissively and takes off for the DJ table at a swift pace. He speaks to the DJ for a moment, then picks up a microphone and turns to face the guests as the music fades into silence.

"Good evening! Is everyone ready to hear who's won these great auction items?" His answer comes in the form of soft applause. "Fantastic! So, I'll start with my favorite item on the list, a day trip on a one-hundred-foot yacht, graciously donated by Reverie Yacht Tours. This tour package includes a six-hour trip for eight aboard one of Reverie's platinum yachts, a gourmet lunch prepared by Reverie's top chefs, and an open bar in the yacht's lounge." RJ pauses to allow for more applause, then says, "And the winners of this fantasy day trip are, Mr. Ethan Hardwick and Ms. Laura Stanton-Hardwick." The guests applaud again, and RJ moves on to the next item on the list. Then the next, and the next, until he's moved all the way down the list. Eventually, he says, "And finally, our last item up for action tonight, a four-day, three-night stay at a gorgeous five-bedroom lake house in the beautiful Easton Lake estates, just an hour's drive from here, donated by Mrs. Leonore Mitzis. And the winner of this getaway at a gorgeous locale is our very own, Brian Holtzman."