Tutoring the Player (Campus Wallflowers #1)(65)

Violet, Jane, Dahlia, and I sit in our living room after a long night of setting up for the ball. I’m exhausted, but it was worth it. The room looks so good. I have to hand it to Vi, she had a vision, and it really came together.

“How many people RSVP’d?” Dahlia asks.

“Sixty-three,” Violet says. “But we have enough seats for a few extras in case people decide at the last minute.”

“There isn’t going to be much else to do tomorrow.” Jane pulls the curtain to look out into the rainy night. Water streaks the windowpane, and flashes of lightning appear off in the distance.

I sit with my feet pulled up underneath me on one end of the couch. Jordan’s hat sits in my lap, and I run a finger along the brim.

Dahlia sits next to me and knocks her knee against mine. Her gaze darts to the hat and then up at me. “He’s coming, right? I’m excited to hang out with him. The only times I’ve met him, I couldn’t say more than ‘hi’. Now that he’s taken, I think I’ll be able to form complete sentences.”

I smile as I think about him. “He’s coming, but I’m not sure what time. It might be late.”

“He’s coming late? Why?” Vi asks from across the room in our worn, plaid chair.

“Gavin’s twenty-first birthday party is tomorrow night.”

“So?”

I look around the room at the rest of my friends. “It isn’t a big deal. He’s going to stop by for a drink and then come to the ball.”

“Figures.”

Dahlia breaks the tension by redirecting me back to the second part of her question. “What’s he like?”

“Yeah, spill all the details,” Jane adds.

“Well, he’s fun and easygoing, but also really perceptive and unexpectedly sweet.”

I think about the candy he bought me because I said I never had it. And the time I got drunk and he stayed with me, which led to the white cotton panty fiasco. Speaking of, I think he actually took those with him.

“You’re blushing,” Jane says.

I cover my face with both hands.

Dahlia pries my hands away. “You really like him. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. It sounds like he really likes you too.”

Violet is quiet. Too quiet. I look over at her. She’s staring down at her hands.

“Vi?”

I need her to say it or at least say something. Her continued disapproval is wearing on me. She barely speaks to him when he’s over and when she does, it isn’t all that nice. She plays it off like playful banter, but I know there’s real pain and worry behind it.

“I just want you to be with someone who deserves you,” she says. “You are the best person I know.”

“He does,” I say.

She smiles, but I’m not sure she truly believes me.

When it’s time for bed, I change and then go to the bathroom where Violet is brushing her teeth. I lean on the door. “I really am happy. I know that you don’t like him, but he isn’t what you think.”

She raises both brows but doesn’t speak.

“Okay, yes, he’s a total party guy. He drinks too much, and he slacks off with school assignments, and he’s hooked up with a lot of people. I don’t care about any of that. At his core, he’s a decent guy. The best, actually.”

I want to tell her about all the good I see in him—the way he’s always there for his friends, how he’ll hold a piece of Mark with him forever, and a million other things. But I think, for now, all I can hope is that Violet will give him a chance.

She rinses out her mouth and places her toothbrush in the holder. “I like him fine. I just don’t trust him yet.”

“Give him a chance?”

She nods. “Yeah, I can do that.”





The next morning, I wake to Violet’s voice shouting downstairs. I rub my eyes and get out of bed.

I pad down the stairs quietly.

“I understand,” she says in a tone that does not back up her words. “But there has to be something you can do.”

She’s silent, listening to whoever is on the other line. Her mouth pulls into a tight smile when she sees me.

I finish my descent and sit on the couch while she paces the length of the living room. Dahlia and Jane shoot me tense looks, but neither dares to say anything.

“Thank you,” Violet grits out between clenched teeth and holds the phone in one hand like she’s thinking about launching it. “The ballroom flooded.”

Jane gasps.

“How bad?” I ask tentatively.

“It’s on the dance floor, so it didn’t ruin the decorations, but we have nowhere to put them. Everything else is either rented or also filled with water.”

My brain races with possibilities. Dahlia and Jane fire out options, and one by one, Violet dismisses them. She plops down in the chair, all the fight leaving her. “Those places are all booked up.”

Jane’s phone alarm goes off.

“Our mani and pedi appointments are in twenty minutes.”

“Go.” I stand. “I have an idea.”

“What?” Vi asks with a tinge of hope in her voice.

“I don’t want to say until I know for sure it’ll work. You three go, and I’ll catch up with you before our hair appointments.”