Read Baumgartner Generations: Henry for Free Online

just when Henry thought his
estimation of the girl couldn’t have improved.
    “Cool! So
what’s this girl’s name?” Dean asked. “My man Henry wants to know who he’s
going out with, am I right?”
    “Um…” Libby
froze, her gaze shifting between the two of them. She felt as trapped as he
did, Henry realized. What were they supposed to do now? Libby’s mouth turned
down in resignation as she gave Dean what he wanted. “Elaine.”
    “Oh that’s
right.” Dean leaned forward, fingers tented between his knees. “You room with
Elaine Litman, don’t you?” He looked at his roommate. “She’s hot, dude.
Seriously. She’s got great—” He stopped when Libby gave him a sharp look. “A
great personality,” he finished.
    “Well,
listen, it’s late…” Libby stood stiffly, reaching over Henry for her coat and
he froze when the soft swell of her sweatered breast brushed his arm.
    “You’re not
going?” Dean frowned, standing too.
    “I’ve got to
get up early tomorrow.” Libby smiled a thank-you when Henry handed over her mittens,
scarf and hat. “Great game, Dean.”
    “Thanks.” He
reached for his coat. “I’ll just walk you back to your dorm.”
    “No, that’s
okay.” Libby pulled on her hat and mittens. “I have to stop by the library to
pick up something anyway. I’ll take the bus. I’ll be fine.”
    “When do you
want to go to the movies?” Henry asked, still sitting on his bed, too aware of
the cooling space next to him where her warm body had been. He figured he might
as well take advantage of every chance he could get to see her, even if he was
playing second fiddle to his roommate.
    She visibly
brightened, wrapping her scarf around her neck. “How about next Friday?”
    “I’ll call
you.” Dean opened the door for her and Henry couldn’t help smiling when Libby
took the opportunity to pull her scarf up to cover her mouth when Dean leaned
in to try and kiss her goodbye.
    *
* * *
    “All my clothes?” Henry frowned over at Dean, who was already nearly stripped down
to his skivvies.
    There were
maybe thirty of the pledges left now at the end of Greek Week. Those were the
only ones who had managed to stick it out to the end, and while Henry was proud
he was one of them, he also knew it was mostly because Dean was his roommate.
He never would have made it through some of the stuff they’d been forced to do that
week without him. He certainly would never have received an invitation
otherwise.
    “Trust me.”
    How many
times had Dean said that to him this week? But still, he went along. It was
hard to say “no” to Dean Mosher, and not only was it difficult, but you got the
feeling it just wasn’t a good idea.
    Henry pulled
his t-shirt off, shivering. The room was cold. Did they even have the heat on? The
other guys were stripping too. They’d gotten used to taking orders this week,
he supposed. They’d pretty much done everything that was asked of them, from
the simplest things, like learning the history and traditions of the
organization and then passing tests (oral exams, mostly, rousted out of bed at
two in the morning and answering questions while blindfolded and tied to
chairs) to the campus-wide scavenger hunt, where they had to find everything
from a fifth of Jack Daniels to used condoms.
    It hadn’t
been as bad as Henry thought it would be, actually, but that probably had something
to do with being Dean’s roommate. He wasn’t one of the pledges who’d had to go
to class wearing pink hair bows or diapers. The scariest thing he’d done all
week, so far anyway, had been placing a mandatory hundred-dollar bet on an NFL
game they had watched together as a group. Thankfully, he’d picked the right
team and won. Dean hadn’t been so lucky.
    “All right,
brothers.” The door behind them opened and Henry slipped his boxers quickly
off, wanting to be in compliance before the older members saw him.
    The pledges
all took an involuntarily step back when the door swung