Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(45)

So much laughter.

When we finally got to sleep it was with sides that hurt. Even the train ride back to school was made with a lighter heart. We needed this weekend.

Outside of Bron, Jackie, and Pen, I’d pretty much ignored my phone all weekend. Aubrey and I split up when we were back to go to our rooms, and I hit play on my messages after I grabbed a quick shower and got ready for bed.

Jonas hadn’t been in, I didn’t think, when I got back. The first three messages were from RJ. The first was an apology for the incident at the pond. I wasn’t sure why he was apologizing.

The second was just him checking in to find out if I was angry with him. He was only in town for the weekend, but he’d be back in a couple of weeks. Oops. My bad. I did not see him this weekend.

The third was a little testier.

“I just figured out you were off campus for the weekend. I supposed I shouldn’t have just assumed you were waiting around for my call. Probably arrogant of me.”

“You think?” I muttered.

“Truth is, Blue, I’ve missed you and really wanted to talk to you the other day. I left a box for you in the mailroom. Message me when you get it. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Maybe we can start over? Chat soon.” A pause then. “Missed you, Blue. A hell of a lot.”

Then the call ended.

“You didn’t ask,” Jonas said from the doorway. “But he’s a creep.”

“Well, hello to you too.”

“You can do better than him.” The flat intonation made me snort.

“Like Lachlan? I think I’ll pass.”

“You can do better than him too.” He frowned. “Or that is what I would tell you if we were friends. You said we weren’t. Still…you can do better than them.” Backing up only a step, he paused again. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks,” I said before he retreated entirely. He nodded, then pulled my door shut.

If we were friends…

Food for thought, I guessed. Wasn’t sure we’d ever be friends.

Falling backward on the bed, I stared up at the ceiling. I was too tired to try and figure all of this out right now. Tomorrow’s problem then.





Nineteen





RAMSEY


“Heads up,” Harley said as she fell into step with me. I was glad to see her return to campus. After the fire, she’d taken a few weeks off to recover. So much lost in that damn fire. The black scar of it was visible every time we left the dorm and there was no missing the lingering smoke smell.

Like KC, she’d had some smoke inhalation issues. Though, as far as I could tell, KC seemed to have bounced back. She sounded better anyway. Her singing voice clearly survived, at least based on the viral videos from their “surprise” nightclub appearance in Maryland.

“The letters are going out.” Harley’s statement yanked me right back to the conversation. I paused mid-step and glanced at her. Her expression didn’t hold an ounce of humor.

Shit.

We were in the middle of the path and the students broke around us, more than one muttering under their breath, but they avoided eye contact. When I nodded past her to where a bench was a few feet off one of the sidewalks, she turned.

“How many? Do we know?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “They haven’t let that slip since the bullshit that happened three years ago.” Back then, Harley had been a senior, and I’d been in my first year at the college-level. Blue Ivy’s prodigy. They’d had such high hopes for me to carry their reputation to the Ivy League.

I scrubbed a hand over my face as I scanned the students making their way to their next classes. I had a free period for grading. While the plan had been to get coffee, I might need to...

“I only know they’re going out because Melinda and Raquel both got tapped.” They were seniors. Melinda was her cousin. Raquel was her best friend.

“Do they know?” I kept that question deliberately vague. No one was close enough to overhear us, but it didn’t matter. Knots and Chains required no information sharing outside of the group.

“No.” Harley grimaced, then shook her head. “After the shit that went down and the ban on taps for two years, I didn’t…”

“You didn’t plan on tapping them.” Not that I could blame her.

“Nope.”

“But they were tapped, regardless.” I didn’t have to wonder why. “Legacy.”

She nodded once. “That means Jonas will likely get tapped this year, too.”

Fuck. The last thing Jonas needed was to deal with any of this. He didn’t know about the rest of it… “I’ll take care of it.”

“Ramsey,” Harley said, her voice taking on a warning note. “You can’t tell him.”

Couldn’t help him either.

Movement and blue hair pulled my attention. KC had a bag slung over her shoulder and her phone to her ear as she walked. Even with her hair pulled back into a braid, there was a wildness to it. Of course, it was the color, but it was more. Her hair was far too “alive” to be constrained.

Our gazes snagged briefly. Irritation flickered in her eyes and her lips compressed before she purposefully looked elsewhere. I wanted to try and find a way to make peace, but she had zero interest in hearing a word I said.