Rocks and ripples got blurred where those two were concerned. Sure, Colton had thrown the first rock, with the whole breaking William’s heart and comingto MCU. Lots of ripples caused by that splash. Plus, a dozen other rocks in the intervening three years.
That box of fake love letters with the implied threat from William to release them to the public? Big fucking rock.
And now a Tsunami of a ripple threatened both Matt and Ava. The only way to spare her was to hand over something that didn’t exist.
“This is between you and William,” Matt said. “Negotiate with him. Threaten him. Leave me and my friend out of it.”
“I tried talking with William, if you’ll recall. No dice. The time for talking and playing nice is over. Now, hop to it. William lives in Covenant Hall. That box has to be in his room. Get it. I don’t care how. The clock is ticking.”
Matt agreed with Colton on one thing: the time for playing nice was over. Delivering a beatdown in the men’s restroom of the Bass University Center was reckless and unlikely to succeed. But there weren’t other options and time was slipping away. Colton had to be stopped before he destroyed another life.
Matt spun on his heels and hurled himself in Colton’s general direction, intending to body slam the jerk into the wall.
It didn’t work out as planned.
Colton escaped into the outside hall.
Matt landed in a tangled heap on the floor.
He scrambled to his feet, enraged, ran into the hall.
Colton was nowhere to be seen.
“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”brayed from the overhead speakers.
“Screech!”
Molly! Matt turned to face her.
“Have you seen Colton?” he asked, panting. “Where’s Ava?”
Molly appraised him. Stared at his crotch. Scowled. “You might want to put the rooster back in the chicken coop.”
Matt looked down, realized his dick was still sampling the air, like a dog poking its head out the window of a moving car. He tucked it back in place, zipped, asked Molly again if she’d seen Colton. Where was Ava?
Molly answered no to the first question. Ava, she reported, was already headed home for the holidays.
Matt slowed his breathing, tried to think where Colton could have gone. This was not over. Not by a long shot.
“Let’s get some coffee,” Molly suggested. “You look like you could use some. You can tell me what’s got you so worked up. Plus, there’s something I need to show you.”
Matt hesitated, flummoxed. Colton’s thirty-minute deadlinewas ticking away, like a time-bomb that needed to be de-fused. He needed to be doing something—anything—other than drinking coffee.
Molly must have read his mind. She said: “You need to get your head on straight and quit acting like a dumb jock. C’mon.”
Matt followed her to the cafeteria. It was a choice he would replay in his mind afterward, wondering if things might have turned out differently had he not done so.
A few minutes later, they sat at a small table overlooking the quad. The cafeteria was a ghost town. There were three other students scattered about and one employee lazily mopping up a spill. The whole campus was shutting down for its long winter’s nap.
Matt quaffed his coffee, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then told Molly about his bathroom encounter with Colton. He rushed through the story, ever-conscious of the tick, tick, ticking time bomb. How much time was left? Twenty minutes?
Molly listened while dumping more sugar into her mug. She stirred it noisily. “What exactly did Colton say that made you think he was talking about Ava?”
“Like I just told you,” Matt said, with more than a hint of frustration. “He talked about my ‘little friend.’ Said he’d seen us in the cafeteria together several times. Said he could get her ‘kicked to the curb.’ That sounds like Ava to me.”
“This is exactly what I meant with the dumb jock comment,” Molly said. “Ava’s not the only female you’ve been seen with in here. There’s me, obviously, and—”
“Who?” Matt interrupted.
