Quinn would be networking; it’s what she did best. And even if she said she wasn’t helping me, she would be. It’s what wedid. Plus, it would be easy for her; she looked like a goddamn supermodel. Everyone spoke to her, even if she was as hostile to people as I was.
Well, I wasn’t hostile to everyone.
I did well with women. I needed to find the girl from Friday. What better place to start than my femalefriends? Most girls wanted back in my bed, which meant most girls, even though they disliked me or themselves, either way, they still spoke to me. I needed to use that to my advantage.
Checking my phone, I headed to the campus coffee shop. Hot afternoons and free periods meant one thing: iced drinks. Whether they be coffee or tea, they were the welcome distraction and sustenance most people wanted. I was looking for one particular girl, and I was pretty confident I would find her at the tables outside the coffee shop.
As I walked, I thought more about last night and the video we found. Were they connected? The girl from Friday? My steps slowed, no. No one knew what Gray, Ash and I were doing or we’d be in jail. No amount of money orlegacywould prevent that from happening.
Looking up, I realized I had taken the longer route, passing by Uptight’s dorm. I could hear the steady hum of the AC, and I felt slightly smug as I walked by. Maybe she would be nice to the next guy who offered to help her out of the goodness of his heart.
I hesitated. Fuck. Whoever that guy was, it sure as hell wasn’t me. Looking over my shoulder, I eyed the AC unit. I had half a mind to go over and pull the wires. But then, did the next guy actually deserve the sharpness of her tongue?
No. I wasn’t too sure they did.
I still wasn’t sure thatIdid. With a smile as I thought about her getting knocked over earlier, I was whistling when I approached the coffee shop, and the girl I was looking for,rightnow, was holding court in the center of the tables, as I knew she would be.
Elise sat at the table, her two best friends beside her. They all looked the same. They looked similar in middle school, and in high school, they had morphed into clones. Which is why Ash had managed to sleep with all three of them and think they were the same girl. Which was fucking hysterical when he found out, not that he had laughed. Gray and he just called them Elise One, Two, and Three, and I had started doing the same.
I knew them apart. I just didn’t like them enough to call them by their names . . . until I wanted something, and then I knew One would drop and suck at the mere hint of boasting about being in my bed. Two would lay back and spread them. Anything to get one over on what One may do better. And Three wasn’t at all fussy which hole you aimed at.
“Elise,” I greeted as I sat down opposite them.
“Hey, baby,” she said with a sly smile.
I fucking hated being calledbaby. “Heard there was a party on Friday that you weren’t at?”
“No, I was attheparty. There was another lame party over at Cedar, and you know us classy girls don’t mix down there.”
Say nothing.
Cedar Avenue was literally three rows of student housing over from where she lived on campus. However, with one sentence, she told me more than I knew before sitting down. That’s why no one I knew outside of my football circle was talking about the party I was at. They were all somewhere else.
“We were at Chip’s. Hardly any of the fun people were there,” Two pouted. I think she thought it was cute, but to me, she looked like a blowfish.
“Game day’s Saturday,” I said as I looked around, pretending to check for eavesdroppers. “Elise, I need a favor, but I would prefer to keep it quiet.”
The three of them leaned forward as one. Honestly, they were more in sync than Gray and I were. It was creepy.
“Anything,” Elise whispered with wide eyes.
“I was on Cedar on Friday, briefly,” I added when I saw three identical expressions of horror. “Had one, then left. But . . .” I looked around again. “Some bitch took something from me.” Not technically a lie.
“You slept with someone else?” Three looked distraught.
“I went home,” I said to her, making sure my smile held promise.
The things I fucking did for my football career.
“Oh.” Two looked happier.
Elise glared at them both before her hand reached across the table and stroked over my arm. Nails perfectly manicured and as long as talons stroked over my fingers. “Poor baby, what do you need?”
“I don’t know who she was. All I know is she was blonde and at Cedar on Friday. Can you find out who she was? I want to keep it discreet.” There was absolutely no chance of that happening, which is why I told her. If I couldn’t find the blonde myself, I would flush the bitch out.
Elise’s smile was eager. “Consider it done.”
Standing, I gave her a quick once-over. “Let me know when you have something.” I left them tittering behind me and knew without looking that either she, Two, or Three . . . hell, maybe all of them, had just sent the text message offering sex. Pulling out my phone, I shook my head when I saw I was right.
