Knowing the stubborn friend I had, I knew he wouldn't change his mind. I was still kind of indignant about the invasion of my privacy, but in a kind of disturbed way it was also... cute.
Thoughtful, on his part.
Still, as a matter of principle, I shoot him a look of disapproval, which he completely ignores.
"Why aren't you tracking Charlie's steps too?"
That makes him hesitate for a second.
"She hasn't shown signs of being in danger of getting lost, or losing her phone so far."
"Translation, you haven't figured out her password yet," I shoot back, and he has the nerve to look outraged.
"I didn't try!" he claims, looking at Charlie with his hands up. "I swear!"
She stares at him with a closed-off expression for a whole minute, like she's analyzing whether he's telling the truth, or whether she's going to yell at him for even thinking of such nerve.
To my surprise, what she does is burst out laughing.
"Here, you controlling boy, you can activate both of yours. I don't mind. I share my location with Maddie and my mom too," she states, handing him her phone. "The password is my birthday."
The little challenging pout she throws him tells me she's hoping he doesn't know that piece of information. Ethan smiles back and types the sequence of digits without even blinking.
"You know my birthday by heart?" she exclaims, surprised, and he nods, focused on his task on the girl's phone. "Since when?"
"Since the first time we went out. I asked your cousin by message the next day when I couldn't find the information on your social media. What if the date was the next day and I'd get caught off guard, without even a gift to give you?" His justification makes her melt immediately.
"Damn, you're sweet. A control freak, but sweet," she replies, like she'd read my mind minutes earlier.
When Ethan turns off the screen of her iPhone, I steal the device out of his hand before she can take it back.
I type her password and watch the girl's jaw drop.
"You know it too?"
"Of course, I asked him when you moved in. I like parties, I can't go around not knowing people's birthdays, much less my beautiful roommates'," I explain with what I hope is a charming smile. The way her look goes from surprise to affection tells me it worked.
"I really am surrounded by cute idiots, apparently. Turn your location on there already. I'm going to be stalking you two as well, just out of spite," she assures, and the two of us laugh. I make the connection and hand the phone back. "And I'm going to figure out your birthdays too. Don't tell me!"
I wink an eye at her, mischievous.
"Then let it be your dare, princess. Let us know when you find out."
Chapter 29
Charlotte
Because of the fire and the week we spent without classes, the university administration decided that the way to make up for it would be by sacrificing the Thanksgiving break.
I don't even need to say how pissed off everyone was, even the families.
Well, maybe not everyone, because the whole Royals team was still on cloud nine. They'd won the last match and were officially qualified for the Bowl game in December. According to Logan and Ethan, their campaign had truly been perfect, with nine wins and only three losses over the whole regular season, finishing in third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I didn't really understand the importance of all this, but they told me so excitedly and fulfilled that I listened to everything and gave them lots of congratulatory kisses.
Among other rewards.
However, when it came to the holiday, our only day off would be Thursday itself, and as a form of consolation, Maddie and I had convinced the guys at the house to throw a celebration dinner. I even would have preferred it here at the guys' apartment, but it wasn't big enough to fit everyone seated.
Because of that, that day I woke up early and put the turkey in to roast. A turkey that Logan, Ethan, and I made a huge mess seasoning the day before, since each of our moms had sent a recipe and we fought to decide which was the best. In the end, we ended up making a hodgepodge of all of them, and prayed it would come out tasty.
