9. Tristan
9
TRISTAN
“ C an we do something else? I hate computer games.” Kristen wiggled in my lap, and while the friction and her body would normally be enough to get my dick perking up in interest, tonight, I was preoccupied. It was games night in the Epi common room, and everyone was there. Everyone except for the people I needed to be. Two of them were here—Gracelyn and Samira—but the other two were nowhere to be seen.
“You don’t have to play, babe,” I murmured, running my fingers up her thigh on autopilot while I typed out a surreptitious text to Roman with my free hand.
Kristen said something I didn’t catch, too intent on what I was doing.
Me:
Can you do me a favour? I’ll owe you. Get Quinn and Aria in here and don’t let them leave
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roman’s brows rise. With an exaggerated sigh, he climbed to his feet and disappeared through the common room door, hopefully in the direction of Aria’s room.
“Are you listening?”
I blinked, realising Kristen had been talking to me. “Yeah. No.” Fuck. I rubbed my brow. “I need to do something. Be back in a minute.”
I lifted her off my lap, shifting across the sofa so she could slide into the empty space next to Freya. She frowned, but when I kissed her cheek, she instantly forgave me, batting her lashes and giving me a look that was impossible to misinterpret.
“We’ll have some fun on our own later,” I said, squeezing her thigh.
As Roman re-entered the common room along with Quinn and Aria, I grinned, hiding my face in Kristen’s hair in case Aria noticed me and got suspicious. As I’d expected, her gaze shot straight to mine, her eyes narrowing when she realised I was already looking at her. I deliberately turned to Kristen, pressing a quick kiss to her lips, and then stood. Lucky for me, Aria had already turned away, and as I walked out of the door, I sawQuinn pull her down onto the free sofa.
My phone buzzed.
Roman:
What are you up to? Should I be worried?
Me:
No. Just make sure the girls stay there. And their other roommates
Roman:
Got you. You wanna snoop in their room. Stay away from Quinn’s shit
Me:
Obviously
Roman:
I want details after
Me:
Maybe. Just keep them busy. I owe you
Roman:
You can repay me by giving me and Quinn alone time when you’re back from your little secret mission
Me:
Fuck off
OK I’ll give you an hour
Roman:
2 or the deal’s off
Me:
Fine. Deal
I shook my head. Banished from my own bedroom. Still, it would be worth it if I could find out what Aria was hiding, and it wasn’t like Roman and Quinn had many other places to go. Me, on the other hand…I’d resigned from my head boy position, but I’d kept my key card that let me into areas of the school most students weren’t privy to. And believe me, I’d made the most of it and would continue to do so for the remainder of my time at Hatherley Hall.
Glancing both ways to make sure no one was around, I headed into the corridor where Aria’s dorm room was. Once I was inside, I instantly dismissed three of the beds. It was easy to see which one was Aria’s. For a start, my little scorpion seemed to favour black clothing, and it appeared that extended to bedding, too. None of the other three would have a duvet cover in black with tiny skulls embroidered all over it. I grinned, shaking my head. Oh, Aria. Always trying to be so edgy.
I didn’t want to go through all her private shit, but I had a good idea of the size of the box, so I shouldn’t need to be too intrusive to find it. First, I examined her wardrobe, with no luck. I opened her drawers and sucked in a breath when I caught a glimpse of rows of silky material in blacks and reds and deep purples.
Slamming the drawer shut, I straightened up, rubbing my hand over my mouth. Fuck. Now my imagination was going to be conjuring up all kinds of unwanted images of her wearing that…
The box. That was what I was here for.
Aria’s desk was the next place I tried, but there was no sign of the box. It had to be here somewhere, unless she’d hidden it elsewhere in the school or on the grounds. If that was the case, I’d have to resort to stalking her, which wasn’t my favourite pastime. People stalked me, if anything. Girls getting me alone in dark corners…yeah, I enjoyed that version of stalking a lot. Although…stalking Aria could be fun. Another way to fuck with her.
I made a mental note to explore that thought later as I crouched down to search under her bed. Hitting the torch button on my phone, I swung the light around, my gaze catching on a shoebox in the far corner of the dark space.
Two minutes later, the shoebox lay discarded next to me, and I was examining the contents of the metal box.
When I lifted out the leather journal, examining the symbol and lettering on the front, I frowned. I’d seen this somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where. And that ring…I’d definitely seen that somewhere.
Then I opened the journal, and I remembered.