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I push the door open and step inside. For a moment, I feel cowardly relief—the room is dark, no sign of the guys anywhere.
Then arms wrap around me from behind and I feel a weight on my shoulders. I cry out in surprise, but not before a voice greets me.
“Guess who!”
My mouth drops open and I freeze in place, confused. I know that voice, of course. But how could…?
“Nita?” I ask, s
pinning around to take in my best friend’s inexplicable presence.
“How’s it going?” she asks, beaming.
“What are you doing here?” My head still swims. Last I knew she was on the West Coast.
“I had to come back home for some stuff, figured I’d take an extra Friday off and drop by.” She punches my arm, grinning. “Besides, I was worried about you.”
“Cassidy?”
At the sound of my name, my stomach does another flip, and I turn to find Anthony in the doorway. He’s smiling, polite, but there’s clearly a question in his eyes.
“Hey Anthony,” I say, trying to warn him without speaking to hold his tongue. “This is my friend—”
“Nita,” he supplies with a grin. “We’ve met. How do you think she got into our room?”
Oh. Right. Duh.
“Thanks for that, by the way,” she says, batting her eyes. Then she spins back to me and flashes a wink, hopefully too quickly for Anthony to catch. “Anyway. I wanted to see how you’re doing in person. You know, after that grim text last week. Then I didn’t hear from you all week…”
Over her shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Anthony raising his eyebrows in question. Meanwhile, my mind races, trying to figure out what I last told her.
Oh. Crap. The night after Vin left me in the woods, and I assumed it was because of what I told him. About my virginity…
Anthony is still watching me closely, and I don’t want to get into the full conversation with Nita, not yet. It’s too much to explain. I just shake my head and force a wide, bright smile. “I’m doing good. Sorry, got caught up in school stuff.” Inadvertently, I glance down at the phone in my hand, still open to the page where my exam results show. Unfortunately, Nita follows my gaze, and her eyes widen.
“You’re doing good, really?” she asks, snatching the phone before I can shut it off. She squints at the grade, frowning. “This isn’t like you, Cass. Are you really okay?”
“What’s not like her?” Anthony asks, leaning in, and Nita turns the phone around to show him the grade.
My cheeks flare red-hot, and I snatch it back. Not fast enough to hide the C- on the screen, though. “It’s just one test,” I mumble. “I can make up for it with some extra credit work.”
“Just one test, in your favorite class,” Nita counters, shaking her head. “You definitely need some friend love. I’ll stick around for a while.” She nudges me with a hip, grinning. “Study session tonight? You’re invited too if you want,” she adds to Anthony with a wink, and my cheeks flare for a completely different reason.
He smiles at her, and there’s an unpleasant curl of jealousy in my stomach. But is that even fair? What am I to the guys, just a hook-up? I’m not their girlfriend, am I? So could I be jealous if they wanted to flirt with someone else?
Nita catches my expression and frowns, and I shake my head with a sigh. “Sure. Study session later. But I’ve got to shower real quick, can I meet you downstairs?”
The moment she leaves, Anthony frowns at me. “What’s going on?” he asks gently. “Your friend is worried about you?”
“It’s just school stuff—”
“She didn’t see your grades until just now,” he points out. The door opens again and we both freeze, thinking it’s Nita returning. But it’s only Vin. He crosses the room to kiss my cheek, but I flinch, and now he’s frowning at me too.
“What’s up?” he asks, looking between Anthony and me, picking up on the tension in the room.
“Nita doesn’t know about us, does she?” Anthony asks. But the way he says it, it sounds like he’s upset, almost offended.
Vin tilts his head, eyebrows knitting together. “Nita, the one you mentioned before?” he says, eyes boring into mine. “Your best friend?”
