“You just have to bite that forked tongue of yours. Don’t try to one-up a man or prove your smarter than him, at least not right away.”
Liam considered my advice, took a sip of his drink, then turned to me.
“I have a friend who went to Brown. I asked him about your friend Arden. He told me an interesting story.”
I sat back against the railing and let the cool breeze mellow my mood.
“I don’t care what it is. It’s in the past.”
“Don’t you think it may have some relevance to his character. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”
“What was he, eighteen? Nineteen? We all do stupid shit at that age. Jesus, you and Franco are so far up my ass about him.”
“What did Franco say?”
Now I’d done it.
“Nothing. Go on, tell me your story. Get it out of your system.”
“Well, my friend said that while he was a T.A., there was a terrible scandal that broke about a student trading sexual favors with a professor in exchange for a passing grade. There were pictures that circulated. And a video. The professor got fired. The student was put on probation.”
“And the student was Arden?” I asked.
“None other.”
“I thought Brown didn’t have grades.”
“You still have to pass the class.”
“What was the subject?”
“What do you mean?”
“What was the subject the professor taught?”
“Oh, something introductory. Economics?”
“He told me he was bad at math.”
Liam snickered, then stared at me. “You’re serious.”
“He spent several years on a boat without any formal education until high school. He’s self-taught.”
“How did he get into Brown in the first place?”
“He said he wrote an essay.”
“Their admissions requirements have been backsliding for a while.”
“He’s smart, okay? Just because he…” I didn’t want to complete that sentence. It felt disloyal. And Arden wasn’t even there to defend himself.
“Just because he traded sex for a grade?” Liam offered.
“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. It happened years ago. I’m not going to hold that against him.”
“Haven’t you wondered why a man as attractive as him is dating you in the first place?”
“We’re not dating.”
