I Bet You(61)

“Is that Ryker?” Charisma murmurs as she waggles her eyebrows at me.

“No.”

“Got any juicy bits for me? Is the package in proportion to the frame?” Her eyes gleam with curiosity. Yes, I told her about Ryker.

“All you need to know is the deed is done.”

“Dammit. Why are you so tightlipped? I need to know!” She flops down in her seat and glares at me.

“What about Blaze? What’s the scoop on him?”

She shrugs, her face flaming, which is unusual for her. “Meh. Nothing to tell.”

“Aha. See. You’re not telling me everything.”

I tap my pen against my pad and think about Ryker. We spent the last two nights together, and each day, he meets me at the student center in the morning to walk me to my first class.

“You’re beet red,” she exclaims as she pulls out a bag of chips and starts munching. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

I look pointedly at her snack. “You’re not supposed to eat in here.”

“I’m a rule-breaker.” Her eyes go past my shoulder and flare. With hurried movements, she straightens her hair over her shoulder and checks her lipstick in the reflection of her phone.

I follow the direction of her gaze and see Blaze coming in the entrance of the library.

“Oooo, here he comes,” I tease her.

She grunts. “He’s just so…rambunctious. And who names their kid Blaze? I mean, it’s bound to give him some kind of ego…” Her voice tapers off at his arrival on the staircase from the lower floor.

I watch as the brown-haired hottie takes the steps two at a time, a gleam in his eyes as he reaches our table. He gives me a nod then focuses on Charisma. “Hey babe. Whatcha doin?”

She tucks a chip in her mouth, chewing loudly. “NOT A BABE.” Her voice carries over to several tables.

“Shhh.”

She ignores me and looks at Blaze, who’s sat down next to her. “I told you last night—”

I interrupt. “You said you were helping the pledges.”

She blinks at me. “Uh, I was going to do that, but when I drove past the athletic dorm, Blaze was—”

Blaze’s eyes widen. “She texted me and asked to see me under the pretext of studying. Then she took advantage of me.” He sighs. “It wasn’t the first time.”

She throws her hands up. “You both need to back off—”

“Hello, cher,” a low voice says from behind me.

Our table goes silent, and we turn to see Archer with Sasha on his arm. Her blonde hair is swept up on either side with sparkly lion clips, the mascot for the Thetas, and her pink-tipped nails are curled around Archer’s bicep. A couple of the defensive players I don’t know linger around them, and I suppose it’s Archer’s posse.

I’m relieved Margo isn’t here yet to see Sasha.

“Hello,” I say with a brief dismissive nod, only because Southern social etiquette demands a response.

“You guys studying?” Sasha asks.

Charisma glares at her as if she’s an idiot. “We’re planning our massive homecoming party—which is going to be way better than yours.”

Sasha’s eyes harden. “Is that so?”

“I’ll be at the Theta house,” Archer says, giving me a smile, his teeth sharp, the light from the overhead florescent bulbs glinting off the diamond studs in his ears. I grimace. If he were a vampire, he’d be one of the creepy, unsexy Stephen King ones.

“Perfect,” I say sweetly. “Please carry on then. There are plenty of open tables tonight.” I wave my hand at the entire empty section in the area to our right. I don’t have time to deal with Archer and his machinations.

But the duo lingers. “Haven’t seen you around in a while,” he says to me, and I look up from my to-do list.

“Good,” I say.

He snaps his fingers. “Oh, yeah, that’s because you’re doing Ryker on the regular now. How’s that going?” He smirks at me. “You finally caved and gave it up. I really thought you hated him. Turns out, you’re just like all the rest.” His lip curls. “Come see me when he’s done with you. I’ll hook you up with something better.” He grabs his crotch.

My first reaction is horror. Awful, mind-numbing horror. Then rage makes me go white-faced. My fists curl, and before I know it, I’m standing. “Go to hell, asshole.”

Archer laughs and Sasha’s eyes widen.

Blaze jumps to his feet and stalks over to where Archer stands. “Hey now, watch yourself. Nobody wants to hear your bullshit. Leave.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Archer says.

“Come on, girls, let’s move downstairs.” Blaze’s hand is on my shoulder, but I shake him off.

“No.” Out of my peripheral vision I see indecision on his face as he gives me space. With one step, I’m in Archer’s personal space. I take in the bruise under his eye, the split lip. “Looks like someone beat the shit out of you,” I say.

His hands clench. “Your boyfriend got in a sucker punch.”

“You better run along before Ryker shows up,” Blaze says from behind me.

“I don’t give a shit about Ryker,” he mutters, narrowing his beady eyes. “But maybe she needs to know the truth.”