Chapter 29
Hadley
It had been a long time since I had sex in the back of a car.
And I hadn’t even had sex in the back of a car. I had sex in the front of the car, and I was putting the ache in my body down to that. That and the wicked bruise on my thigh from the armrest.
I bet Slater woke up feeling no pain. I bet he woke up smug.
I grinned. Okay, fine, I was feeling slightly smug myself.
I hoped I got to do that again with him.
He had skills, and I liked his cock. I knew it wouldn’t be a one-time thing.
I’d had a quick shower, not looked too closely at my hair, and tied it into a messy bun, and then with simple jeans and a sweater, I went looking for Savannah.
I checked my phone to see if she’d called me. I saw his text from last night and grinned like an idiot.
Sexy AFWR: Night, Peterson.
Asshole. All that fuss about a kiss, and then he never sent me one.
I’d laughed out loud when I got in last night, startling Milly.
Milly, who was pointedly ignoring her sole provider of food and accommodation.
I knew I’d been neglecting my cat this week, but she was seriously put out with me. I’d promised her tuna when I came home.
Her whiskers hadn’t even twitched.
My cat was pissed off.
I called Savannah. She answered on the third ring.
“Why are you awake?” she asked groggily.
I smiled in the spring morning sunshine. “Because it is nine a.m. and it’s a beautiful day. Where are you?”
I heard her groan as she sat up. “Why are you so cheery? Did you get laid this morning?”
I lost my smile. Even through the phone, she sensed the change.
“You had sex this morning?” she demanded, all signs of weariness gone. “How?”
“Um . . . you want me to tell you how? Doesn’t QB10 show you?” I teased.
“Shut up. Who, then?” I heard rustling and assumed she was out of bed. “Dustin?” She hesitated. “No, they’re at practice. He wouldn’t miss practice.”
I could hear her thinking.
“Savannah. Listen to me,” I said, lowering my voice. “I did not have sex this morning. Happy?”
“Oh. Why didn’t you just say that?” She sounded sleepy again.
“Where are you?” I asked her. “Your bed, or his?” I passed a guy as I went into the coffee shop; he gave me a curious stare. I winked at him in reply.
She was right. I was too happy. Who was I right now? Had Slater reset my inner bitch? That wouldn’t do at all.
“I’m at Dante’s.” She yawned. “I need twenty minutes. Meet you at the library?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Okay, wait until I check.” I heard her moving around, and I’m pretty sure she dropped the phone at one point. “Okay, second floor, meeting room 3-D. I booked it for an hour. You’ll need to wait for me to get access.”
I had so many questions. “I’m at the coffee shop. What can I get you?”
“Mmhmm, nothing, no drinks allowed in meeting room 3-D. It’s why they lock it. I’ll meet you outside.” She hung up.
It took me a moment to realize it must be a tutoring room she had access to.
During our brief time together, she gave me a quick explanation of her role as a tutor and how rooms were booked in blocks for student liaison needs.
I couldn’t hold back when I protested that the way the empty rooms were not used when the library was busy, especially during exams, was an abuse of power.
She’d said it wasn’t, but her protest had been weak.
I was still sure it was, but now, like a giant hypocrite, I was quite happy to be abusing that power by using the room for privacy so Savannah and I could dig.
I was on my second latte when she arrived. Her blonde hair was in a neat ponytail, and her lipstick and mascara were subtly applied, not obvious. Her jeans, shirt, and blazer were tidy and well kept. Beside her, I looked a little rough.
Savannah looked me over. “You had sex in the car with him, didn’t you?”
My eyes widened, and I grabbed her arm as I led her away from the populated coffee shop. “What is wrong with you?” I demanded.
“You look sleep deprived, you’re smiling at people willingly, and you have a love bite, right—” she pressed her finger into my neck — “there.”
“Ha ha. Nice try. I do not.”
She reached over and took my cup from me, helping herself to a swig. “You really do. You should have worn your hair down.”
My hand hovered over my neck. I vaguely remembered Dustin’s mouth on my skin as he pushed harder into me last night, the groan on his tongue as he got close to finishing, and I was already at climax. I remembered his mouth pulling at my skin.
“I have a hickey?” I whispered furiously as we reached the library.
“Yup.” She dropped my caffeine in the trash outside the library.
I gaped at her. That was a four-dollar latte.
“Oh, did you want that?” She shrugged when I said nothing and led the way inside.
I followed her, feeling very self-conscious.
Was it big? Was it noticeable? Is that why people were greeting me today?
Did I look easy? Savannah took the stairs up, punched in a code to unlock the meeting room door, and we went inside.
As she locked the door, I was already using my phone as a mirror.
“He gave me a hickey?” I asked the room as I stared at it. It was small, dark, and unmistakably a bite from a passionate embrace.
“His car doesn’t look like there was enough room in the back seat,” Savannah commented dubiously as she sat down. “Was it cramped?”
“We were in the front seat.” I saw her look. “Just . . .” I sighed. “It worked, okay. I had no complaints.” I glared at my screen again. “Until now.”
“You couldn’t wait until you got home?” she asked, a small smile playing around her mouth as she pulled out her laptop and notebook.
“He’s persuasive.” I sat down. “Okay, so, where do you want to start?”
Savannah blinked. “With Dust? Um . . . I don’t need details.”
I stared at her. “Ew, no. I’m not telling you that. I’m almost twenty-one years old, not sixteen. I am not telling you how big his dick is.”
Savannah’s head dropped into her hands. “Why would you think I wanted to know that?”
“Oh.” I opened my laptop. “Miscommunication. My bad. So last night, Dustin and I think she was holding back.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “You too?” She shook her head. “Dante’s the same, I say you’re wrong.”
“Why?”
Savannah sat back in her seat. “That girl was open, charming, and completely genuine. You saw her. She had no shade for anyone in that room, even though Dante and her boyfriend both looked ready to throw down and kick the shit out of each other.”
“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement. “They’re not fans of each other. Why?”
Savannah shrugged. “No idea. Dante just says he doesn’t like him.”
“Who’d win?” I thought about it. “My money’s on him. He looked like he could fight.”
Savannah slapped my arm. “Dante would win. Obviously.”
I arched a brow. “I wouldn’t put money on it, Savannah. I don’t think hot and fiery are in Dante’s DNA. That guy? Now him I could see punching someone just because his day was going badly.”
“You know, you can call me Savvy if you want,” she said instead of advocating for the level of violence her boyfriend was capable of.
“I can call you Savvy?” I didn’t hide the pleased smile. “Um, okay, I will.”
She looked happy, leaning forward to see my screen. “So, where do you want to start?”
“With Tiffany. What do you know about Tennessee? How did you know that’s where he came from?”
Savannah tapped her pen on her notebook. “Because it’s where Tiffany’s from too.”
My eyes were wide as I turned to her. “Are you freaking serious? They know each other?”
Neither of us said anything for a moment.
“If they were from the same town, they didn’t just know each other, they could have grown up together. Mason Sterling wasn’t a random target. He was probably someone Tiffany knew.” I looked at Savvy. “And whoever buried this, they’d have known that. Right?”
Savannah looked perplexed. “I don’t know, but they’re both from the same town, they both drop out or get removed or something, and there’s no record of his death.” She saw my look. “C’mon, Hadley, like you didn’t look.”
I hadn’t. Why hadn’t I checked?
“I didn’t check obituaries. When did you?”
“Last night on the car ride home.” She gave me a sly look. “Of course, I wasn’t up to no good in my front seat.”
“It was definitely better than good,” I mumbled. “I thought you were driving?”
“Dante took over.”
Of course he did. I didn’t comment.
The two of us looked at her screen. Then at each other.
“Road trip this Saturday?” I asked her.
“They have a full day of training on Saturday,” Savannah said. “We can’t miss it.”
She couldn’t . . . I could.
Savannah took one look at me and narrowed her eyes. “Hadley, you’re not going without me.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I don’t have anything else to do,” I told her reasonably. “Plus, I don’t think I’m allowed in the stadium.” I saw her flat stare. “For real. I think Head Coach Dickhead told me I wasn’t allowed anywhere near it. Or his players.”
Savannah sniffed. “Well, you were under Dust last night, so you can’t just pick and choose to follow Coach Sutherland’s ridiculous demands when it suits you.”
“How do you know I wasn’t on top?” I asked her playfully.
Savannah laughed, her cheeks flushing. “I know why you’re attracted to each other. You’re both huge flirts.”
“I may flirt, he follows through.” I pinched her arm when she went to protest. “The very first night I met him, he kissed me before he said a word.” That wasn’t entirely true. “Okay, he said hey or something, then he kissed me, and then asked me if I wanted to leave with him.”
Savannah was frowning. “How did you get into that situation?”
I looked away a little guiltily. “I knew who he was, I wanted an in for the story, I followed him out back of the bar, and I guess I gave him the ‘come hither’ signal or something.”
“And he just kissed you?”
“Yes.” I nodded once. “The guy has moves.” After last night, I wasn’t objecting to them being used on me anymore.