87. Finn
Chapter 87
Finn
A fter spending the day making polite conversation and touring cultural museums, it’s finally time to let loose. I follow the guys up the ladder onto the fifty-foot yacht where we’ll be having dinner tonight. The wait staff and chef have already set out food and refreshments. I grab a handful of grapes, munching on them as I follow Caleb Moore on a tour of this majestic beauty.
We’re just finishing up when I feel the yacht pull away from the pier for the two-hour sunset dinner cruise. Holden’s found a place to sit near the helm, and I saw Pax below deck talking to a third-year prospect. I help myself to a drink, then paint a smile on my face when my companion for the evening approaches.
She’s a funny and sweet girl. Gorgeous with curves in all the right places, and we look good together, but I can only manage about ten to fifteen minutes of talking to her before things get awkward.
Jasmine gives me a flirty little smile as I pass her a glass of champagne. “Thank you.” She purrs in a sultry voice that would make a man instantaneously hard. Me. Zilch. Nothing against her, but she’s not Thea. The old me would flirt and use her interest to my benefit, but the new me would rather get castrated with a rusty blade than to give Thea any more reasons to distrust me.
There are a lot of gossipy chatterboxes on this boat. Word of my antics will be circulating around Canyon Falls before I even make it back to campus. If I want more movie nights, I can’t do anything that might undo the progress I’ve made. I need to find somewhere to sit, like Holden did. The last thing I need is for the boat to hit a rogue wave and toss a legacy daughter into my arms.
“Have you seen Sophie?” I ask, referencing Holden’s companion.
“Oh, I think she was on the upper deck with a few girls.”
“Would you mind checking?” I ask, giving her my cutest, most charming smile. “I think they’ll be serving dinner soon and she should be close by so Holden can escort her to the table.”
He’s gonna be pissed, I said that. Holden might walk in front of her or behind her. If he walks next to her, it won’t be with her soft hand tucked into the crook of his elbow or with his hand holding hers. But I need to distract my companion so I can find a good place to hide until dinner’s ready. She rushes off to comply, but my plans to escape are foiled by the stern-looking councilman that beckons me over. “Second-year Prospect Rhodes.”
Why is he using my league classification here? This is a mixed bag of guests. I hold out my hand for him to shake. “How are you, sir?”
“I’d be better if things weren’t in such a disarray on campus.”
“I don’t know what you mean. Things on campus are running as smoothly as they always have.”
“That’s not quite true, is it, given the recent upheaval in Vale Tower? Of course, these things always happen when there’s conflict between the Trium.”
“Oh. Right. Of course.” I frown in displeasure. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Yes. It’s a shame.”
“It is that,” I agree, with an exaggerated sigh. “I mean, where is the integrity?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“There are rules governing housing in Vale Tower. I feel bad for all the family members who had to be housed in other dorms, because someone was living in Vale Tower under false pretenses.” I say, pretending not to understand what he’s really insinuating. He thinks there’s a rift he can exploit with The Trium, and I’m supposed to be so heartbroken and bitter that I help him.
“That’s not-”
“The messaging we want to send to the other families. I know. I agree. I’m just hoping we can move on from this quickly.” I smile at him. “Thank you for checking in on us, and I’ll be sure to reach out if we need some guidance on how to navigate this housing situation.”
Glancing over his shoulder, I say, “If you’ll excuse me, I see Kristoff Johns, and I should go say hello.”
Tensions are high tonight as the meeting is called to order. We all suspect we’re here to get bitched out for the shit that went down at the Bachelor Party in Palm Springs over the weekend. The dinner cruise was nice. The food was delicious. Most of the company tolerable. None of us counted on there being a plethora of douche bag trust fund brats hanging around the pier when we docked, although we should have suspected it. It is Palm Springs, after all, but the level of nuisance, shit stirring, and bullshit they were piling on from their baby yacht was completely unnecessary.
We would have let it go. I would have let it go. Even when all hell broke loose, after they gave themselves permission to come aboard our yacht and started getting handsy with our entertainment.
I didn’t care about that. Strippers gonna do what strippers do. My girl wasn’t there, so I was unbothered. But then they started drinking our shit and smoking our cigars. Now that was disrespectful. You wanna drink Louis XIII and smoke Gurkha Royal Courtesans, on someone else’s dime, you wait for them to offer it to you.
When someone pointed that basic etiquette lesson out, the lead douche threw a punch, missed, and fell on his ass. That shit was fun-ny. The pussy ass baby couldn’t deal with the embarrassment of tripping over his own feet, and to save face, he started a brawl.
I was bored out of my mind until the fight began, and anyone who knows me knows I’m not backing down from a fight. My blades got a tiny bit of a workout, and I do mean tiny. I only cut three people. The wounds were all superficial. The stitches and staples will probably come out in a couple of weeks, and it’s not like they can’t afford the best plastic surgeons, so they won’t even have scars.
The ceremony master is currently regaling the room with my exploits. It wasn’t my first time drawing blood in a public place, but it was my first time getting arrested for it. Everyone’s sweating because the cops are still going over the crime scene looking for weapons. Someone mumbles, “The Trium’s lucky streak is over.”
His buddy says, “It’s about time. They’re always walking around here doing whatever they want without consequences, like they weren’t first-year prospects like the rest of us.”
The hell with what he’s saying. The consequences were that I lost two knives. I have to live with knowing that the high council is gonna put this fuck up on my permanent record, and… we were first years, but we’re not anymore.
The guy up front waxes on. “What you don’t know is that while you were toasting Cooper’s good fortune on finding a bride, our amnesty group was given another challenge. They were tasked with presenting us with an item of their choosing that they think proves they deserve a spot in our ranks.”
The side doors open, and the group walks in. They fall in at the front of the room, but I have no problem spotting Thea.
“Prospects present your challenge items.”
One by one, they walk to the podium, setting their offerings down. A recorder walks around with a tablet, calls out the prospect’s name, the item presented, and asks whose item it was, before cataloguing each thing.
I’m noticing a theme. They’ve all presented something that belongs to a second year prospect. First-year prospect pins. A pair of dress shoes that are still in a box. The owner of those shoes lets out a curse. I’m guessing he hasn’t worn them yet. Silk ties. Jewelry. Someone mutters that one of the items up front is a watch that went missing in Palm Springs. A few more people quietly acknowledge the same. It’s ballsy, targeting second-year prospects and stealing from their hotel room in Palm Springs. But it was also smart, taking advantage of our distraction.
“Prospect Theona LaReaux.”
Thea steps up to the dais, placing a large duffle bag on it. She reaches in, pulling out item after item, like it’s Santa Claus’s magic sack. The more things she pulls out, the antsier the people standing around the room get. With each item, I move closer to the front of the group to get a better look. They tried to count my girl out, because they’re all fucking idiots.
Thea didn’t just take stuff from second year prospects. She’s got something from four prospect years and…
There’s no controlling the shit-eating grin on my face. My eyes snap to the upper levels where the councilmen stand, watching the reveals. All eyes are on my girl, and rightly so.
The last thing Thea presents are the knives I lost on the yacht.
Thea
I step outside after my class to find the Coxsuckers waiting for me. I stroll by them without speaking, heading to The Circle where LJ is waiting for me. “Hey, LJ.” I greet. Her face lights up when she sees me, then loses some of the shine, spotting the guys behind me. “Ignore them.” I say, falling into step beside her.
“It’s kinda hard to do.”
“I know, but just remember they throw all that little dick energy around to compensate for what they lack in personality.”
That makes her laugh. Then we launch into planning our weekend. We’ll be staying at my folks’ place. Moira has a whole girls’ thing planned. We get our food and are still chatting as we settle at our table. LJ tenses slightly as Connor and Austin take their seats. Her attention going to Damon’s cousin across the room.
“Would you like to invite her to join us?” I ask, hoping that will help put her at ease.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
Hell yeah, I’d mind. I don’t like new people, but I’ll make an effort for my friend. I nod and give her what I hope is an encouraging smile. “I should get to know her, don’t you think?”
“I’ll go ask if she wants to.”
While she’s gone, I text Sasha.
Thea
Any updates on that project?
Sasha
‘The sweep was clean.
How clean?
He’s a Boy Scout. I’m in the middle of a job, but I’ll keep digging.
I should tell her she doesn’t have to. She says he’s clean. Maybe I’m just projecting my distrust of the male species on him. LJ comes back to the table with the girl in tow. She offers a bubbly greeting to everyone and shoves into the space between LJ and Connor.
“What is that?” Austin asks, dragging my attention to the red concoction in the jello shot cup she places in front of LJ.
The newcomer says, “It’s beet juice powder. I can’t say enough about the health benefits of a wellness shot.”
Connor adds, “We know all about wellness shots. Our nutritionist has us blend them from the vegetable. A powder form would be way more convenient, but he says the additives offset the health benefits. What brand are you using?”
“Oh. It’s a proprietary blend from an up-and-coming nutrition and wellness company that my family is partnering with. It’s not available in stores yet.”
Austin asks, “So it’s still in the testing phases?”
“That’s right. We’re very fortunate to be some of the first people to get access to it.”
Connor nods. “That’s great. Things like that take off so quickly. Austin, this might be a good opportunity for that player on your dad’s team. He’s still looking to partner with a nutrition brand, right?.” To LJ’s friend he says, “Maybe you could give us the info?”
She smiles and shrugs. “I can mention it and get back to you.” Her smile gets even brighter when Finn takes his seat across from me. I feel a hand on my knee, and there’s a knowing smirk on his face as he tries to extract my fork from my hand.
My phone rings. I check the caller ID and abandon our under the table tussle to answer it. “Hello? Yes, this is she. Okay, thank you. I’ll see you then.”
“Everything okay?” LJ asks as I get to my feet.
“Yes.” I give her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ve been waiting to get an appointment, and they just called with an opening.”