Page 52 of Notorious Man on Campus

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It’s late when I get back to BMOC House. I missed dinner, so I called a meeting in the kitchen. Sitting at the table, I’m devouring the dish of beef stew Majik warmed up for me. I don’t fail to notice that she’s made my favorite meal. Dylan, Roman, Trey and a couple of others including Dooley even though he doesn’t live here, surround me. Majik stands leaning against the sink. She got wind of trouble and stuck around. This fact warms my belly as much as the stew.

“I can’t believe she’s saying you were practically engaged last semester,” Roman says.

“She says I’m cold and emotionally abusive to all girls and made a veiled threat about a civil law suit and you’re focused on last semester?” I say. My tone and attitude are more curious than outraged. I’m saving all my outrage for Willow who’s claiming I broke her heart as if she has one, but she’s as heartless as I am.

“That’s not the worst part,” Dylan says. “She’s fucking telling the world about a miraculous reunion between you two. What the hell? Did I miss something or is she batshit crazy?”

“I’m no expert, but I’d say she could use about a century’s worth of therapy.” I pause a beat and wipe my mouth with my napkin. “On the other hand, she’s managed to capture the sympathy of at least half the campus if you read the comments.”

“The female half,” Roman says, shaking his head.

“She’s making you look crazy too, including pics of you in her vids to make them seem legit.” Dylan’s voice holds real concern.

“Those pics are all from last semester. All from one fucking lousy night and two days later when I tried humoring her.” I throw my napkin on my empty plate and shove it forward. “The question is, what do I do about it? Do I go along with her charade or figure out a way to prove she’s lying?” I’m afraid I already know the answer to this. Time and momentum isn’t on my side. The game clock is running and the crowd is cheering for her team. I meet Dylan’s eyes and see he’s come to the same conclusion. My gut revolts and my whole body tenses at the idea of giving up, as if I’m throwing the game.

“You have to date her,” he says. “Cut a deal. Tell her to lay off the social media and you’ll take her to the homecoming—”

“Fuck that.” My gut clenches at the idea even knowing he’s right.

“Why the hell not?” Majik says. She shrugs her massive shoulders. “Sounds more like it’ll be a business deal that a date. Sounds like something right up your alley. No real entanglement.” She pauses as I mull over her words. The guys are nodding in absolute agreement down to a man.

How do I tell them the idea turns my stomach because it would feel like a betrayal of Nyla? My enemy, the girl I can never have? I’m so fucking messed up.

Nyla opens the door to her room as if she’s tuned into my thoughts and my eyes train in on her. Everyone turns to look at her. She stands there in fuzzy slippers, tattered gym shorts and a faded shapeless sweatshirt—except for the unmistakable shape of her magnificent breasts showing loud and clear.

“If it means anything, I agree with Majik.” She meets my eyes.

“You were eavesdropping,” I say, keeping my voice casual when it’s the opposite of how I feel. She rolls her eyes and shuffles over to the sink to stand with Majik forming a female alliance akin to wonder woman and her sidekick the incredible hulkette. I keep the comparison to myself.

“You think you can convince me to go against my principles with an eyeroll?” I smirk. And just like that, the bottled up tension between me and Nyla is broken. So what if she baked my mother’s brownie recipe? Knowing her, she was trying to do something nice for me, same reason she bought my special brand of licorice the day of the wedding.

Dylan laughs, shaking his head, a sign that he feels the break in tension too. I wonder for a second where Allie is, but Majik speaks up again.

“You don’t need to call this chick’s bluff. She’s shallow. Humor the social-climbing bitch and take her to the party.”

“She’s threatening a law suit, man.” Roman sounds distressed, like his confidence is shaken, as if he believed no girl at SPU could ever be so dishonest.

“She would never get away with a law suit,” Nyla says matter-of-factly, talking to me as if I’m the one worried. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. She continues, “because I saw everything that night and I’ll testify against her if she tries it. I’ll show up in court and back Brick all the way.”

Shit. If Nyla had to do that, a whole line of dominos would fall. My mind jumps to the likelihood that her mother would find out she’s living here, seeing me, a Blanick. She’d go fucking batshit crazy. I don’t know her mother, but from what Jimmy told me and what Nyla said, she’s legit half-crazy now. No way would I let Nyla testify, but I don’t say so because it’s not going to come to that.

Dooley’s scrolling his phone, his eyes down and a rare frown on his face when he explodes. “Fuck. I can’t believe Willow is so confident that you’ll cave. She’s posted another vid of her shopping for her dress, talking about how Brick will love it. Oh shit. There’s more.” He tosses his phone in the air in my general direction and I snatch it before it crashes to the floor.

“Good save,” Dylan says. “Lousy throw, Dooley.”

“Take a look at the bitch’s latest video on TikTok. She’s gone viral with the Bricktok hashtag. Her followers are up to over five thousand—almost the entire campus at SPU and the latest video is going viral with over a hundred thousand views.” Dooley’s still scowling, something he never does. Fuck.

How bad could it be? I don’t ask out loud, but I slide a glance at Nyla and her face is pale. She has her phone out and she’s speechless with a worried look. Tensing, I look at the phone in my hand, at the TikTok video to see what has Dooley irate and Nyla pale.

“Fuck,” Dylan says, looking over my shoulder as I stare in disbelief, reading the message and going cold.

“She’s upped the stakes. She’s implying that I might pop the big question at Homecoming, ask her to marry me.” I look up to see Nyla’s chin raised, her eyes fierce.

“Shit,” Dylan says. “Girl’s insane. What are we going to do? This is serious shit.”

“We aren’t going to do anything. I’ll deal with it.”