Black Number Four by Kandi Steiner Read Free Book Online Page A

She hasn’t ever really gone into detail with us, but it doesn’t matter – we don’t need to know.
    After trying on several outfits that were deemed not good enough for a date auction, we settle on a tight, ruched pink dress with a sweetheart neckline. It accents my long legs and slender frame and we pair it with nude heels and a chunky gold and beige necklace. They use a curling wand to give my hair some volume and I do my makeup – simple and light, as usual.
    “Damn, Big,” Cassie says, tucking her cards away. “You look hot.”
    I check myself in the mirror, turning sideways. I’m really not a fan of dresses, but I do feel pretty sexy in this one. I’m not concerned about the auction as much as I am the tournament. This outfit will definitely put me in the naïve girl category. They’ll never see me coming, which is exactly the way I like it.
    Ralph’s is packed when we arrive, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a Friday night. It’s one of the most popular college bars in the area, and we hold the date auction here the first Saturday of spring semester every year. It’s tradition – and usually I’m excited to watch my sisters get bid on and raise money for our philanthropy. But tonight, I’d rather be in a den full of hungry tigers with a steak wrapped around my neck.
    We go in through the back door to skip the line outside and run straight into Erin. She’s got a clipboard in her hand and she’s shouting orders into her headset. “Oh!” she says when she sees us. “You guys are just in time. Little, go line up over there with the other dates. J-Love, Lei, I need you to start handing out bidding paddles. G-Little, can you find Chelsea? We need to raffle off the first door prize.” I smile at the nickname for Cassie. Her being my Little makes her Erin’s “Grand Little” – kind of like a grandchild. Thus, G-Little.
    The girls all nod and scurry off to their destinations and as much as I hate my Big right now, I can’t help but stare at her in awe. She’s doing that thing again – kicking ass and taking names, making me want to be like her. She commands attention, and I envy her for it.
    As if she senses my thoughts, she turns back to me. “I love you, Little. I’ve been thinking.” She stops to shout another order into her headpiece before continuing. “If you really don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. Whether he’s the highest bidder or not, you don’t have to do my dirty work.”
    I shake my head. “We shook on it, Big. It’s a deal. We just have to see what happens now.” It’s easy to say now that I know I can’t lose.
    She smiles and leans in to hug me. “You’re seriously the best Little in the world.”
    I squeeze her tight and then she pulls back, running off to the side of the stage. I feel a little shitty for rigging the auction, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her – and now I won’t have to hurt Kip.
    Or myself.
    Erin kicks off the auction with Chelsea on stage. She’s one of my pledge sisters, a tiny little thing with long, thick black curls. They raffle off a few prizes, speak about our philanthropy, and then one by one our sisters go up to be auctioned off. It’s actually pretty fun watching the girls on stage. Some of them take the cute, girl-next-door approach, some of them go more sexy and carefree, and some of them just act ridiculous and go for the laughs. When it’s time for me to step up, I feel so awkward I want to cry, but I strut my ass up there like I’m the most confident girl in the bar. A few whistles ring out and I wink at the crowd, smiling. The highest bid so far has been three hundred and twenty dollars, which means I gave Josh plenty to win me and get this over with. It’s almost ten and I need to get on the road.
    “And now, last but the farthest thing from least, we have the beautiful Skyler Thorne!” The crowd cheers and I throw up our sorority’s hand sign in response, still smiling. Chelsea calls out above