Free A Betty's Pledge: Volume One by Emma Husher Page B

most alluring bedroom eyes I’d ever seen.
     They made me go weak inside, and if Mina hadn’t been holding onto me, I might have
     just melted into a puddle on the ground.
    Mina laughed, having seen where my gaze was pulled. “Don’t worry. You’ll see plenty
     of him later.” Her words were drawn out and laced with hidden meaning, and I felt
     my inner whore gleam in approval at her innuendo.
    Having Mina at my side gave me a sense of familiarity and confidence that I’d been
     lacking ever since I set foot in the limousine earlier that evening. We’d met freshman
     year at UCLA. She was my partner for an entry level biology course and we became fast
     friends. She was there for me through homesickness, my first heartbreak, and my extreme
     sexual frustration stage. She never hinted to be from a family with a large estate;
     she’d always acted as if she was like me: on a full-ride academic scholarship and
     struggling to make ends meet with the bare income I had. In fact, it was only when
     she’d offered to sponsor me for this program that I found out she was loaded.
    Now, sitting here in the middle of it all, with sexuality oozing from every orifice,
     I couldn’t be more thankful for my little friend. I loved her so much that I was willing
     to go with her as she dragged me away from my wet dream.
    Of course, I had known she’d be there; she was the one who hadn’t known I’d been accepted
     into the program because I’d never had the chance to tell her before the party. Now
     that I thought about it, however, I realized that she hadn’t seemed as surprised to
     see me as she should have been. Perhaps she’d known more about my admittance status
     than she’d let on, and I’d resolved to ask her about it once we were alone again.
    In any case, we’d agreed not to acknowledge each other at the party until later in
     the evening when all the formalities had been addressed, whatever that meant. I was
     glad I hadn’t seen her up until that point because it would have been really hard
     to act casual around my bestie. She’d told me she’d let me know when that point had
     arrived. I guessed it had, for she led me arm in arm across the party, casually pointing
     out the different Alums of recent classes and mated couples.
    “Have you met Diane yet?” Mina asked casually, waving at the woman in question from
     across the yard. She had Nate wrapped around her as she waved back, his lips playing
     a sensuous dance across the skin of her bare shoulders.
    “Yes, I have,” I answered her shyly. “She seems a little . . . abrupt.”
    Mina laughed. “Diane just knows what she wants. As you can see, she trained Nate well.”
    “She trained Nate?” I asked, shocked. Was he the Betty, then? What did they call him? A Bobby?
    “He wasn’t the Pledge, Mady.” Mina chuckled, reading my confused thoughts correctly.
     “The Grants don’t take male pledges.”
    “Then where do the Consorts come from?” I asked. “Don’t they apply to the program
     just like the women?”
    Mina stopped in mid-step, turning to face me directly as she placed her tiny hands
     on my shoulders. Her heels were taller than mine were, almost bringing us eye to eye.
    “Listen, Mady. There are certain questions that only the Dame is supposed to address
     with you. I’m sure you’ve set a meeting with Diane to go over the details of the move-in,
     yes?” I nodded. “Good. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but Diane and I have
     talked. She agrees that when it comes to our friendship, there are certain things
     I will not keep from you if asked.”
    She was being so cryptic that I was starting to become concerned. She could only tell
     me what Diane allowed? That sounded a little cultish to me.
    “O-kaaay . . .” I replied slowly. Mina could tell that I wasn’t exactly thrilled with
     what she was telling me, so she rushed to explain before undue panic set in.
    “It’s not like we have anything to hide,