Campus Diaries

Reading Order

Bonus Chapters

Bonus Epilogue

Gigi

Lets do this thing

"DON'T YOU DARE CRY."

I jab my finger in the air, stopping my mother in her tracks. Startled, she halts in the doorway of the suite we're using as the dressing room for the bridal party.

"Seriously, Han-Han, don't you dare." Allie Hayes echoes my warning. "We just finished touching up her makeup after the last incident."

The incident in question involved my mother getting her first glimpse of me in my wedding dress and bursting into tears. And since she's not usually a crier, her tears triggered my own, and the two of us proceeded to weep like a pair of war widows, effectively ruining my makeup. Aunt Allie banished Mom from the suite so that she and Diana could do damage control to my splotchy face.

"I'm not going to cry," Mom promises, but her bottom lip is trembling.

"Stop,"I warn.

"Not crying," she insists, but I notice she keeps her gaze averted as she enters the room and plucks the glass of champagne right out of my aunt Grace's hand.

"Hey,"Grace protests with a laugh.

Mom ignores her and chugs half the glass. "Your husband is getting antsy," she tells me, while Diana and Mya fuss with my lace veil.

They're co-maids of honor, while my cousins Alex, Blake, and Jamie are serving as bridesmaids. My little cousin Molly Fitzgerald is the flower girl; she recently turned six and she's so excited about the gig, she's been bouncing around the room like she's high on caffeine pills. Aunt Summer kept trying to force her to sit down, but Molly is too wired, so Aunt Allie recruited her own daughters, Ivy and Kate, who are thirteen and ten, to come in and try to distract our frenetic flower girl. They're currently in the corner of the room helping her count the petals in her flower pouch to make sure she has "enough."

"Is Ryder running his hands through his hair a lot?" I ask my mom.

"Big time. And he just asked Beau if he had a cigarette."

Aunt Allie laughs, then narrows her eyes. "Wait. My son better not have given him one!"

Mom grins at her. "Nah. Beau just stared at him and was like, Dude, I'm fifteen. And then Ryder said he had his first smoke at thirteen when his foster dad let him try it, at which point Dean ordered Ryder not to corrupt his son and dragged Beau out of the room."

I snort out a laugh. "Oh boy. We should probably get things started, then."

Honestly, I'm still shocked nyder agreed to my father's request that we have an official wedding. And by "request," I mean Dad basically declared he'd never find a second of peace for the rest of his life unless we indulged his girlish fantasy to walk me down the aisle.

Okay, I'm being mean. I think it's sweet that this means so much to my father. And Dad was right - there's not much Luke Ryder won't do for me. When I asked him if he was comfortable throwing a huge wedding and putting himself on display like that, he simply offered his trademark shrug and said, "I'll do anything for you."

I swear, sometimes my heart can't handle this man. He's forever making it melt.

In this case, though, "anything" involves allowing my parents to rent out the entire country club for our wedding, a guest list of about, oh, six hundred, personalized vows (my request), and having to deal with Aunt Summer as our wedding planner because when it comes to extravagant parties, she's your girl. The number of late-night emails she barraged us with this summer nearly gave Ryder an anxiety disorder. At the rehearsal dinner last night, after she spent five minutes fixing his tie, Ryder brought his mouth to my ear and hissed, "After tomorrow, you're forbidden from speaking Summer Fitzgerald's name in my presence ever again."

But then he fucked me in the bathroom later, so I don't think he was actually that angry.

Still, I'm not surprised to hear he's getting antsy. This whole wedding thing definitely isn't his style. I'm curious to see how he handles the vows part. When we were at his father's hearing this summer and he had to speak in front of the parole board, he wouldn't even meet any of their eyes. Luckily, that didn't affect the outcome - the board stamped DENIED on his father's parole file fast enough to make your head spin. Both Ryder and Owen were weak with relief, especially from knowing it'll be a long while before the man who killed their mother is up for parole again.

Ryder will power through the vows, though. I hope. As long as he blocks everyone out and focuses only on me, I think we'll be okay.

"We're ready when you are," Mom says, walking over to squeeze my hand. Her gaze meets mine in the full-length mirror, and her eyes grow misty.

"Don't you dare," Aunt Sabrina orders.

Mom blinks. "I'm good."

I glance around the room. At my mom and aunts and cousins and best friends. A wave of gratitude rushes through me, because I'm truly the luckiest girl in the world to be surrounded by so many incredible women.

"I'm ready," I tell them, giving my reflection one last check in the mirror.

My satin gown looks perfect, the short train stretched out behind me. Every lacy detail of my veil is flawless. My makeup has been fixed. Hair loose, falling in waves over my shoulders with tiny flowers tucked at my temples.

Mya hands me my bouquet, flashing her brilliant white smile. "You look stunning," she assures me.

"Exquisite," my cousin Alex confirms.

I let out a slow exhale. "All right, let's do this thing."

My flower girl vibrates with excitement as we file out of the room. The bridesmaids walk ahead of me, while Mom hangs back to touch my arm.

"Wait here," she says. "Your dad wants to talk to you first."

I turn at the sound of footsteps, my breath catching when I see my dad. Or rather, when I see the emotion flooding his gray eyes.

"Fucking hell, Stan." He sounds choked up as he approaches us, glancing at my mother. "Are you seeing this, Wellsy?"

"We did good, huh?" She laughs, but her eyes fill with tears again.

"No,"I order.

"Sorry." She brushes a strand of hair off my forehead, then squeezes my hand. "You're brautiful, Gigi. I'll see you in there."

Then she's gone, and Dad and I are left alone in the hall. The voices of my bridal party and Ryder's groomsmen drift toward us from around the corner, but we ignore them.

"You're beyond beautiful," Dad tells me, his voice hoarse. "You're an angel."

"Nah. I'm just your daughter."

"The best daughter a father could ask for." He clears his throat.

"Thank you for letting your mom and I have this day. You have no idea how much this means to us."

My own throat tightens, and I cough a couple times to ward off a choked sob. "Please don't make me cry," I beg, blinking wildly.

His blinks are equally fast. "Okay. I'll do my best."

Dad holds out his arm, and I tuck mine into his.

Come on, let's get this official marriage thing out of the way so I can focus on winning a gold medal," I joke.

The most surprising thing that happened over the summer, after Ryder and I returned home from Italy, was a visit from none other than Brad Fairlee. There'd been an injury on his roster, and he asked me to train with the team in the fall. A starting slot isn't guaranteed, but at least it's another step closer to my goal. If all goes well, I could actually be playing on the Olympic stage next year.

"I think you'll discover that the marriage is more fun than the medal," Dad says with a smile.

He's probably right about that.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod.

"Good to go," he hollers toward the end of the hall, and laughter travels back toward us.

We join the end of the procession, and I hear the faint sound of music beyond the massive arched doorway leading toward the ballroom where the ceremony is being held. I wish I could see Molly walking down the aisle tossing those silky hite petals, but I'll be able to watch it back later on video. One by one, the pairs disappear through the doors, until finally Dad and I reach the doorway.

Once again, my breath catches, but this time it's because of Ryder. He's standing at the end of the aisle, which now appears miles long, and I find myself anxious to get to him. I don't like it when he's not near me. He fills out a suit like nobody's business, but it's the sheer love in his eyes that makes my heart pound. When our gazes lock, his lips curve in a hint of a smile, and my heartbeat becomes even more chaotic.

The string quartet begins to play a soft, understated version of "Here Comes the Bride.".I'd begged to walk down the aisle to a Horizons track, but even Ryder vetoed that one. He said hearing hippopotamus snorts and the shrieks of a hadeda ibis would scare the guests. He's no fun.

My pulse quickens when hundreds of people rise to their feet in anticipation of my walk. I'm suddenly on the spot, uneasy with so many pairs of eyes on me. I sway a little on my satin slippers, a rush of dizziness shivering through my limbs.

Dad supports me, his strong, assuring arm keeping me upright. "You got this, G,"he murmurs. "I'm here with you. Always."

I draw a calming breath and force myself to focus on Dad's sturdy grip and Ryder's steady gaze.

Then I smile and let my father guide me down the aisle toward my husband.

Bonus Scene

Beckett

NO SOONER DOES THE THOUGHT I'M KINDA HORNY SURFACE IN MY MIND than two separate text messages from two different women pop up on my phone. No fucking joke.

CAITLIN: Hey hottie, wanna chill tonight?

HAILEY: I'm lonely. Come over and keep me company? ;)

My mum says the morning she went into labor with me, she and Dad walked outside to the car and looked up to see a double rainbow shimmering in the sky. Apparently, the night before, Sydney was pummeled by one of the worst downpours the city had ever seen, so much rainfall that some streets were flooded. And then, what do ya know, Meghan Dunne felt her first contraction, and the rain miraculously stopped twenty minutes later. Then, two rainbows guided my slimy infant body out in a forty-minute labor that went smoother than cream. Mum's pet name for me is her "lucky boy."

Honestly, not much has changed since then. Lucky boy is now a lucky man. I think about getting laid, and women simply fall out of the ether and land in my lap.

"Hey,"I call toward the kitchen, where Will is prepping dinner. "I'm gonna invite Caitlin over tonight."

There's a slight delay before he responds with, "Cool."Then I hear the clatter of dishes again.

My gaze drifts back to the TV, where an old sci-fi movie is playing. Will and I put it on when we got home from hockey practice, but it didn't grab us and eventually he wandered off to make spaghetti.

Bored, I slide off the sofa and wander into the kitchen, where I lean against the counter and watch as Will uses a small knife to dice onions for the pasta sauce. Dude always makes our sauces from scratch. He likes to cook. He's good at it, too, way better than Lindley and Ryder combined. My former roommates, bless their hearts, made the blandest-tasting shit. It's nice to not have to do all the cooking anymore.

"She's asking if you're gonna be here," I say, chuckling as I continue texting with Caitlin. As hot as Hailey is, Caitlin was more fun when we hung out last week. I prefer a woman with a sense of humor. I could tell Hailey was only pretending to laugh at my jokes.

"Yeah. I guess. I don't have plans tonight." His tone is noncommittal, and his shoulders are visibly stiff.

Unease washes over me, because this isn't the first time I've seen this sort of reaction from Larsen. He and I are tight. We've spent enough time together this past year that I can read him like a book now. And for some reason, we're on the chapter of Will's book where each time I invite a girl over, he looks entirely unenthused.

Which is a real fuckin' one-eighty, considering how many hookups he participated in the last year. Before I left to visit my family in Sydney this summer, Will was basically a staple of my sex life. Not like that, though. The two of us don't bang each other. But he sure didn't seem to bloody mind banging with me.

"You'll like her,"I tell my roommate. "She's hilarious. You missed out last week."

He lifts his gaze from the cutting board. "Yeah?"

I nod. "She was disappointed you didn't come back with us."

That gets me a shrug. "I had plans with Di."

Right. Those big plans he suddenly remembered at the last second when he, Caitlin, and I were leaving Malone's. Like, slapping his forehead type of acting. Oh, I totally forgot I made plans with Diana! Gotta go, you guys.

I might come off as the laid-back Aussie surfer with the I-don't-care-about-much drawl, but I'm not stupid. Something's up with Larsen. Has been for a while. I was hoping he would find his balls and bring it up himself, but clearly he's determined to keep avoiding it. And since it's only September and we still have to live together until graduation, it's probably in our best interest to just face this hurdle now.

"Dude,"I say.

"What?" He dips his head, once against focusing on dinner. The knife moves deftly in his hand as he finishes chopping the onion.

"Did I do something to piss you off?"

Those brown eyes come up again, creasing at the corners as they lock with mine. "What? 'Course not. We're good."

"Are we?"I say slowly. Pensive, I slide up onto the counter, resting my forearms on either side of me. "'Cause I get the feeling you're avoiding me sometimes. Like last week, when you bailed on us."

"I didn't bail. I just went to Diana's instead." He shrugs again. "And I didn't really feel like hooking up, anyway."

I lift a brow. "Since when?"

"Since..." He sets down the knife. His teeth dig into his lip as he thinks about... what? I legit don't know what's going on in his head.

I study his face, those chiseled features that are usually so easy to decipher. It's fucking weird how a year ago I didn't even know this guy. We only met after the Eastwood hockey program merged with Briar's, bonding over our shared love of time travel movies. But the first time we hung out alone, it felt like we'd been mates forever. These days I feel like I know him even better than Shane and Ryder, my actual best friends since freshman year of college.

But maybe that's the natural consequence of seeing his dick so many times.

Sure, I've glimpsed most of my teammate's dicks in the locker room at one point or another. But there's something very different about spotting a floppy wang in the shower and watching a rock-hard cock penetrate a wet pussy or warm mouth. Knowing how your mate looks when he's coming takes your friendship to a whole other level of closeness.

Tonight, though, Will is impossible to read.

When he starts laughing under his breath, I'm even more baffled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I just..." He chuckles, shaking his head to himself. "I don't even know anymore. Can I tell you something? You gotta promise never to breathe a word of it, though. Mostly out of respect for the people involved."

"Sure. You know I'm good at keeping my mouth shut."

"I watched Lindley fuck Diana last week."

The swift admission is so unexpected I blink in surprise.

"Oh."I furrow my brow, a grin slowly forming. "Okay. Nice."

I have about five thousand follow-up questions, but I manage to bite them back. Still, though. Damn. Diana Dixon is a smoke show. A goddess. I'd give my left nut to have her in my bed. It'd mean facing Shane's wrath, but - well, actually, maybe it wouldn't, considering he gave Will a ticket to the show.

"Just watched?" I can't help but inquire, still grinning.

One corner of his mouth curves sheepishly. "Might've jerked off too. At Lindley's command."

My jaw falls open. "What? What the fuck, mate? Why wasn't I invited?"

"It wasn't planned or anything. Just sort of happened."

"How does something like that just sort of happen?"

"Dude, no idea. I was fast asleep. I woke up to the sight of Diana spread on the kitchen counter like a goddamn feast while Lindley fucked her." Will smiles ruefully. "I offered to leave. They wanted me to stay."

Lucky bastard. Forget what I said before - I'd give my left nut to have been there for that. That kind of kinkiness is right up my alley. I love sex. The dirtier the better. Honestly, there's not much I wouldn't do in the bedroom.

"Anyway, don't say a word,"Will warns. "I wouldn't want Diana to feel embarrassed or objectified or something."

"Taking it to my grave." I slant my head at him. "Although I'm kinda curious how this has anything to do with what we were talking about before."

Will abandons the dinner prep, twisting his tall frame to lean against the counter so we're face to face.

"I never had a threesome before I met you," he admits.

I chuckle. "So?"

"They always felt sleazy. The idea of them."

"Sex is never sleazy when everyone involved is having a good time."

He nods."I think I'm starting to see that."

I wrinkle my forehead."Wait, you didn't see that before?"

"Not really." He blows out a breath. "I'm not saying I haven't enjoyed myself. Obviously I have. But I've also been questioning why I enjoy it so much."

"Because sex is fun."

He rolls his eyes at me. "Everything is fun to you."

"Yup. Especially sex."

I can see him fighting a grin. "Well, I'm not like you, Beck. You act on every impulse. I'm usually more cautious. Restrained."

Nah He's not at all restrained when he's having sex. Will Larsen fucks with abandon. But I don't point that out, because I'm starting to realize he doesn't want to be that way. He wants to be cautious and reserved, and it's cating him up inside that he's not.

His next admission confirms where my thoughts have gone.

"I thought there was something wrong with me for liking it so much."He runs his hand over his forehead, then grimaces. Blinking wildly. "Motherfucker."

"The onions?" I say, snorting.

"Fuck. Yes."He stumbles to the sink to wash his hands, groaning over his shoulder, "I'm not crying about the thought of sharing girls with you in bed. Don't you fucking dare try to tell the boys that's what happened."

I snicker. "I don't plan on telling the boys any part of this conversation. It's none of their business."

"So, yeah." He shrugs for the millionth time. "I've sort of been obsessing over it. Wondering what the hell is wrong with my deviant ass. And then last week I find out Lindley has a voyeurism kink, and I'm, like, okay, I guess everyone has their thing."

"Everyone has their thing,"I agree. "And in the grand scheme of sexual things, threesomes are... damn, they're practically vanilla."

That makes him chuckle. "Anyway, that's why I've been bailing on you lately. Just been trying to make sense of why I'm into what I'm into. And I took one look at Caitlin at the bar last week and knew how dangerous she was." He sighs. "She was down for anything."

"Yup."I pause. "Still is."

Will bites his lip.

"That is, if you feel like playing with us tonight ... "

Now he hesitates.

"Or not."I slide off the counter and walk to the stove. "All good, mate. You can hide in your room all night if you want. But let's finish this dinner, yeah? I want to grab a shower before she gets here."

As I flick the burner on to get the water boiling, I hear Will sigh behind me.

"What?"I glance at him in amusement.

"I don't think I want to hide in my room."

My dick twitches against my zipper. Which is to be expected. It's been a while since I've seen a pretty, eager girl take Will's cock inside her while she moans around mine.

I look over with a chuckle. "Cool. Then maybe I'll let you watch."

"Wow. I'm honored."

He joins me, pulling a saucepan out of the drawer next to the stove. Curiosity tugs at me as I watch him dump a can of diced tomatoes into the pan.

"What?" he says, noticing me looking.

"Did Lindley really tell you to jerk off?"

Will groans softly. "Dude. He told me when to come."

"T'm impressed. Didn't know Shane had it in him."

"It was intense. And hot."

"Sounds like it." After a beat of hesitation, I nudge his shoulder with mine. "Are we cool, mate?"

"Yeah. Always."