“The girls here?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“They’re leaving any minute to pick up the others,” he whispers.
I take a deep breath and step into the apartment prepared for the potential lashing I might get, unsure of what, if anything, Tatum has told the girls about my impromptu visit to Michigan State. The small apartment smells faintly of Chinese takeout, and I find the rest of my friends sprawled across the furniture. Chris and West are arguing about some play from last week’s game while Damon leans into Avery, talking softly into her ear like a lovesick puppy. On the couch, Charlotte is curled up next to Chris, talking animatedly to Brynn, and when I pause in front of the coffee table, all eyes focus on me.
The room falls quiet, bringing with it a heaviness in my chest that has nothing to do with physical exhaustion and everything to do with missing Tatum.
She should be here.
With me.
Exhaling, I tip my chin in greeting, somewhat relieved when Charlotte offers me a smile. “Brandon, hey. I’m glad you’re joining the guys tonight and not staying at your place alone.”
I glance over at Chris, eyes narrowed because that doesn’t sound like the plan we discussed. On the bright side, it seems Tatum hasn’t trash-talked me, which I take as a good sign. Maybe she’s not as angry as I feared.
Then why is she ghosting you, dumbass?
“Yeah. It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks,” I say, scratching the side of my head. The truth is, I’ve been like a zombie ever since I returned from popping Ethan in the nose and received a text from Tate that said:Are you kidding me right now? Ethan said you broke his nose!
“I’m sure time with the boys will help,” Avery chimes in.
Brynn rises to her feet. “Speaking of, we have a girls’ night to get to, so we’ll leave you to it.”
My gaze jerks to Chris, who pulls Charlotte in for a kiss while I burn holes through the side of his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back later,” she murmurs into his lips, and my hands curl into fists.
Once he’s done sucking face, Charlotte makes her way to the door as I mouth,What the hell are we doing?
I thought the whole point of tonight was to convince the girls to let us crash their ladies’ night?
I stand there, fuming as they say goodbye, but the second the women disappear, I whirl on him. “Um,hello?” I say, two seconds away from losing my shit. “Aren’t we supposed to go with them?”
“Shhhh!” Chris hisses, placing a finger over his lips, ear cocked like a fucking bird dog. “They might hear you,” he whispers, holding up a finger for me to wait.
I grind my teeth together, counting every second that passes for three whole minutes before he breathes out a sigh of relief and says, “Okay, it’s safe.”
“Safe?” I shout. “I thought the plan was for you two boneheads to convince Charlotte and Brynn to let us tag along, so I could confront Tate and get her to talk to me.”
“Yeah, I tried that.” Chris shrugs.
“And?” I say with the sweep of a hand.
“And she wasn’t having it,” he says, lifting the Gatorade in his hand to his lips with a shake of his head.
“And you?” I spin on my heels, eyes narrowed on Jace. “What’s your excuse?”
“Brynn was really tight-lipped about the whole night.” My scowl deepens. “I’m telling you,” he continues, “it was like trying to pry information from a corpse.”
I glance at Damon for help, but he just shrugs and says, “They’re locked down like Fort Knox.”
I growl and rake a hand through my hair. “You guys couldn’t coerce them somehow? Maybe, you know, withhold sexual favors or something.”
“Ha! You’re funny,” Chris says, wagging his finger.
“You think we hold the power in our relationships?” Jace snorts.
“That’s cute.” Damon laughs.
I glance at West who holds up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m single.”
