Chapter 1
Cleo
Unknown number: You left your bra here.
Cleo’s best friend, Molly, snorted over her shoulder. Cleo clutched the phone against her chest, cheeks on fire.
“Too late, I saw it. But I know for sure that message wasn’t meant for you.” Molly snapped the bra strap on her shoulder. “You’re wearing your regular Tuesday bra. And even if by some miracle youwerepossessed by a demon long enough to let your hair down for a hook-up, there’s no way you’d be careless enough to leave your bra behind. You’d break out in hives at the idea of being seen with your girls hanging free. Not to mention, you were here watching Pitch Perfect with Ben and Jerry last night.”
“I don’t have a regular Tuesday bra.” Cleo reached for the spaghetti strap of her tank, as though it would somehow cover the bra strap in question. Why she was embarrassed by it was anyone’s guess.
“Wanna go open your underwear drawer and do a headcount? Ten bucks says I’d know whether whoever that is on your phone actually has one of yours or not. In under five seconds.”
Cleo groaned and hung her head. She and Molly had been besties since the first day of Cleo’s freshman year over a year ago. They’d met in the library, throwing dirty looks and shushing the same obnoxious group of jocks. Despite Molly being a year older, a beautiful friendship had been born over a mutual respect for the rules, a shared love of the smell of musty old books, and grilled cheese.
Cleo placed her phone screen-down on the desk. “It’s a wrong number. I’m just going to ignore it. I have to finish this assignment for tomorrow anyway.”
“Uh huh. It’s not even the third week of term and you’re already charging ahead. Youcanhave a little fun sometimes, you know? That’s kinda the whole point of college.”
“The whole point of college is to graduate with honors and get a good job. Now, shush. I got shit to do.” Cleo shifted her glasses up her nose and slid the end of her pen between her teeth. Her phone chimed again and her fingers twitched, itching to flip it over. Was there another installment to be had of the mysterious #BraGate she’d found herself in the middle of? Maybe if she stared at it long enough, it would turn over by itself.
“Maybe he’s got her panties, too.”
“What makes you think it’s a he?”
“Oh sweet, summer child. Let’s go with ‘intuition’. Go on. I can tell you’re bursting to see if that’s him again. I’m giving you permission to take a look.”
Cleo picked up the phone.
Unknown number: I’d drop it off but I dunno where you live. Are you in the dorms? I know these things are expensive as shit or I wouldn’t have messaged, I know last night was a one-time deal.
Unknown number: Why do women pay so much money for such a flimsy piece of fabric?
Cleo wrinkled her nose. She’d never been a one-night-stand kinda girl. In truth, she’d never really been a dating-of-any-kind sort of girl. Her parents had kept a tight rein on her social life throughout high school. Her two previous boyfriends had never understood her academic drive.
Molly elbowed her. “One-time deal? Huh. You’re a changed woman, Cleo Martinez. I had no idea you’d gotten into the do ‘em and dump ‘em game. Next you’ll be telling me you bat for my bi-team. You should reply at least, tell the poor guy he’s written the love of his life’s number down wrong. You think he’s talking about this campus?”
Shrugging, Cleo placed the phone back on the table and turned the page of her book. Try as she might to deny it, or squash it down, a small part of her yearned to have a ‘normal’ college experience. But her mom would kill her if she got anything less than exemplary scores in all her classes.
Unknown number: Uh… Melissa? You know it says ‘read’ next to your messages, right? Wait. Is this your calling card? Like you leave your bra behind so I come running? A sneaky way to make it more than a one-time thing?
“Woman! Answer the man, jeez. Hold up – you don’t think he means Melissa Ross, do you?”
Cleo must have had a blank face because Molly continued. “Cheer squad? Still not ringing any bells?”
Cleo shook her head.
“You might actually get to know people if you stepped outside of the library sometimes, you know. You should answerThe Boy. He seems to want to get rid of that bra as a matter of some urgency.”
Cleo pinched her lip between her teeth. She needed to concentrate on her assignment, and the persistence of Mr. One Night Stand was not conducive to a quiet work environment.
Cleo: Sorry, this isn’t Melissa. I hope you find your Cinderella soon, though. I can confirm the bra is not mine.
See? She could be fun. Bantering with a stranger over text was fun, right?
Unknown number: My apologies. This was the number she gave me. The search for the owner of the over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder continues. Have a good one.
Her stomach sank at the closed nature of his reply. It surprised her. Did she want an excuse to talk to a complete stranger? A stranger who’d had a one night stand the night before, no less. No, she had no time for distractions. She would never become Summa Cum Laude if she let some asshole player take up space in her brain. Focus. That’s what she needed.
