Free Rushed (The Rushed Series) by Gina Robinson

answer.

    Zach
    Getting out of the house and going to class was the freest time of my days. When I was on campus, I wasn't a servant. I wasn't beneath anyone. I was just me. I was looking forward to The History of Rock and Roll as a break from my science-heavy schedule of the past few years. And time away from the girls and their drama. I'd been lucky and had had only a couple of classes with any of them over the years. When I did, it was always awkward.
    I settled in the back of the classroom. When I looked up, I caught a glimpse of a Double Deltsie light blue pledge T-shirt, nicely filled out by a pair of perfect breasts. Shit. Then I lifted my gaze, saw Alexis' face, and cursed my odd combination of good and bad luck.  
    I hoped she didn't see me, afraid if she did, she would diss and ignore me. And even more worried she wouldn't.  
    I don't know why I cared what the girls thought. In high school, being the star jock had been enough to impress any girl I wanted. But being the houseboy was enough to make me beneath the Double Deltsies. As I began my third year in the house, I still had my pride. Though I didn't know how I'd managed to hang on to it. Seth, Paul, and Dillon helped.
    I didn't miss the way the other guys in the class watched Alexis as she strode to the back of the classroom and took the seat next to me. Double Deltsies stood out wherever they went. She'd already mastered their confident walk. She probably came preprogrammed with it.  
    "Is this seat taken?" She slid into it without waiting for an answer.
    "You're supposed to sit with the Double Deltsies." I wasn't about to encourage her. She made my pulse race too damn fast.
    When she smiled, her eyes danced. "I am."
    "Do I look like one of your sisters?" I said.
    Her gaze slid over me like she was taking full measure of me, letting it linger on my shoulders and chest. "In that Modest Mouse T-shirt? No." She grinned. "I like Modest Mouse."
    "Shit." I couldn't resist teasing her. I reached for the hem of my shirt.
    "What are you doing?" She laughed.
    "I can't wear this now. It's tainted. I'll to have to burn it when I get back to the house." I pulled it over my head and dropped it on my desk, waiting for her reaction.
    Her mouth fell open as she stared at my naked chest. "Why?"
    "By the time one of the girls from the house likes a band, they've gotten way too popular. They're tainted with the stench of pop and mainstream music."
    She grabbed my shirt and stuffed it in my hands, smiling appreciatively. "Stop showing off and put that back on before the prof shows up. No shoes, no shirt, no class."  
    I'd gotten the reaction I wanted. "This is the history of rock and roll. Which is notorious for shirtless guys. There's a better than fifty-fifty chance the prof shows up shirtless."
    She laughed again and made a disgusted face. "I hope not!"
    I shrugged and pulled the shirt back on.
    She shook her head at me. "You've got me all wrong, Zach. How do you know I'm one of those pop music girls? You don't even know me."
    I raised one eyebrow. "Yeah, you really look indie. You're a Double Deltsie. They don't get into the indie music scene."
    She shrugged. "Stereotyper. I guess I won't show you my signed Thermals event poster, then. I was at their August fifth concert on Capital Hill."
    "You listen to The Thermals?"  
    She'd surprised me, pleasantly. Listening to The Thermals was about as Seattle indie street cred as you could get. I had been dying to go to that concert, but I'd had to work. And I needed every penny I could earn.
    She shrugged. "Don't judge a book by its cover."
    The prof walked in, interrupting our conversation. He was a graying, aging rocker with long hair, a beard, and a love for music. And, yeah, he was wearing a shirt—a well-worn, classic Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt that looked like it had been around since the seventies.
    He turned off Led Zeppelin just as "Stairway to Heaven" got going. "Welcome to The History of Rock and Roll. This