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kiss and con templated the potential for more. Maybe he just needed to get laid.
    H e should invite her tonight and see if taking that kiss to its natural conclusion would loosen the hold it had on his interest. What the hell, he thought, and, locating her number in his cell, he called. She answered on the first ring.
    “Reye here.”
    “Hey, stranger, it’s Stephen. Remember me?”
    “Sure,” she said. Her voice sounded cool. “I had given up hearing from you.”
    “School has been crazy busy, but I’m taking a break tonight and I thought you might want to come over to the frat house for a party. Sorry for the short notice, but I just decided to go myself,” he said.
    “What time?”
    “We don’t really have an official start time, but most people get here by about 10:30.”
    “Okay.”
    “Do you know how to get here?”
    “I think so. Are you near all the other frat houses on College Avenue? There’s a Starbucks nearby?”
    “Yep, we are about three houses down from that Starbucks. There is a sign in the yard, Phi Beta Nu,” he said.
    “Okay, I think I can find it.”
    “I’ll be at the house, just ask for me and someone will find me. Okay?”
    “Sure. See ya.”
    * * *
     
    Surprise, surprise, she’d given up on hearing from him. She’d been kicking herself for kissing him and maybe being a little too bold. How often had Sam told her that she could be too aggressive? She’d never learned how to play the demure, coy, pretending non-interest game, refusing to relinquish the notion that she couldn’t just be herself. Honestly, it seemed deceitful somehow to hide, to pretend to be someone other than you. Although sitting home alone on Friday and Saturday nights hadn’t been her goal, either. She was excited about his call, and she refused to consider the reasons behind it, late at night, out of the blue. She really wanted to see him again. She’d been attracted to him from the start and she’d been very much afraid she’d blown it.
    * * *
     
    Around seven that evening, Stephen pulled into the driveway behind the fraternity house. He spotted his roommate and best friend. “Henri, come give me a hand,” he shouted, calling him over to help. He and Henri had been friends since elementary school. They grew up in the same neighborhood, their parents hung out together. He trusted him.
    “Dude,” Henri said by way of greeting. “You sure you’ve got enough beer? Don’t we usually get kegs?” he asked.
    “I’m just the delivery guy, I didn’t order anything.” Each grabbing a case of beer, he and Henri walked to the back porch and set the first of several cases near the back door.
    “ I’ve invited a friend over to the party tonight, and since you’ve been assigned to the door, I thought you could be on the lookout for her, point her in my direc tion when she arrives. Her name is Reye,” Stephen said, walking back to his car to grab more cases.
    “Sure, what does she look like?”
    “She’s a couple of inches shorter than me, African- American, slim, long legs, nice smile, and short hair.”
    “Oh,” Henri said, eyebrows shooting up. “Where did you meet her?”
    “On the trip back from Dallas two weekends ago, remember? We sat next to each other on the plane ride back.”
    Interesting , Henri thought, picking up another case and following Stephen back to the porch. “Sure, I’ll bring her to you.” He couldn’t remember Stephen ever inviting a girl to a party. Most women came by themselves and they plucked one from the multitude, no strings and no commitments.
    “That’s unusual for you, isn’t it?”
    “Not really. She’s just a girl I wanted to see again, nothing more.”
    “If you say so.” They made their last trip to the back porch, depositing the last of the beer.
    “I’ll see you later,” Stephen said, walking back to his car.
    “No problem,” Henri said, watching him leave.
    * * *
     
    What to wear, Reye wondered as she stood in the bedroom closet of her