Jodie heaves a heavy sigh. “I guess we have nothing to lose. But Gen, pull one of your little mean girl moves, and so help me God.”
“Ditto,” Talia says with a glare, but she doesn’t look scary at all. Tucker’s sister is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to join us?” Gen says to me.
I hug my shower caddie closer to my body. “Positive, but thanks for the offer. I need to shower and change. I have no time to go back to my room or I’ll be late for my date.”
Silence descends in the locker room as everyone stops what they’re doing to look at me.
“A date?” Jodie is the first one who reacts. “How is this the first I heard about this?”
Sam joins in. “Who are you going out with and why are we finding out just now? I thought we were friends, Taryn.”
“If you’re going on a date with Mack, I’m gonna lose my shit.” Gen looks at me as if she were ready to attack. If a look could kill, I would be dead.
But I don’t let her intimidate me. “No, I’m not going out with Mack. You have to get this absurd idea that I’m into your ex outof your mind, Gen. I like Mack. He’s a great guy, but it’s not like that. When I say that we’re just friends, I mean it. And Jo-Jo, you haven’t heard about it because Tucker texted me to ask right when we were finishing lunch and we were going back to the studio. There was no time to talk.”
My announcement causes different reactions in the locker room.
“What are you wearing?” Jodie asks me.
But a few of the other girls are giggling and whispering.
“What?” I say to no one in particular.
“Oh, nothing.” Madison, one of Gen’s besties, giggles.
Olivia beams at me, elbowing her friend. “You really don’t know?”
Fiona and Hillary, two of the Zeta girls, have been giggling and whispering between each other, too.
“Is it your first date with Tucker?” Hillary’s eyes are shining with something I don’t quite understand.
“Technically, yes.” I offer. “We hung out at the pier last weekend after we signed up for the tryouts. But then there was an accident with one of the shooting games, and Tucker ended up at the ER. So we’re having a do over tonight. Why?”
Carissa, another Zeta, gives me a once over before asking. “Where is Tucker taking you?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Originally we were going to meet in the parking garage, and we’d go out to grab dinner in town. But I just found a text from him and now he wants me to meet him at his place instead.”
That tidbit of information causes another onslaught of giggles and whispers.
“Girls,” I raise my voice to be heard over the laughter and chatter in the locker room. “Is something the matter? I get that we all like to gossip every now and then, but why is everyone so interested in my date with Tucker?”
“She doesn’t know.” Hillary giggles at Fiona.
Carissa’s lips curl into a knowing smile. “Oh, but she’ll find out.”
This is starting to piss me off now. “Seriously, can someone tell me what’s going on? Is Tucker secretly a serial killer or something?”
My question causes another burst of laughter.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Not again.” Talia rolls her eyes. “Every time someone goes out with my brother, I have to listen to all this icky stuff. I wish you idiots would shut the fuck up.”
I feel genuinely lost, and surprisingly, it’s Gen who puts me out of my misery. “So I guess you haven’t heard about Tucker’s reputation.”
“No?” I brace myself for whatever is gonna come out of her mouth. I really like Tucker, so I hope it isn’t something so bad. “What reputation?”
“In the Zeta house, Tucker is known as Mr. O,” Carissa giggles.
