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“And he’s been the nicest, young man.” Sam glowed at him before glancing toward me and winking. “You picked yourself a good one, Prescott.”
I could only blink, because…what? What was happening here? Beck knew Sam. He’d been talking to Sam? And she already knew we were a couple?
This was so bizarre.
“So, what’s the situation?” Sam asked, taking off her coat and rubbing her hands together as if ready to get down to business. Then she plopped down onto the loveseat next to Paige and squeezed her knee affectionately, joining the group discussion with ease.
“They’re going after Bailey,” Beck said. “The rumors about her are getting worse. And it’s not like she can really stand up for herself with proof that she’s not lying.”
“Right,” Samantha murmured. “Because of the video. If they don’t label her a liar, then she’ll be that dirty little peeping tom.” After crossing her arms, she tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I see the dilemma.”
Oh my God. I whirled to Beck, feeling my face drain of color. “She knows about the video?”
He finally sat next to me, grasping my shoulder and pulling me back against his side to kiss my temple. “Don’t worry,” he said into my ear before lifting his face to Sam. “And Melody’s been harassing her. She went to Bailey’s boss with some lie that got her fired. Now Bailey’s trying to drop out of school and leave Granton for good.”
Hey, I wasn’t trying to drop out.
I had dropped out.
“It’s one thing for them to ruin my reputation and send me packing,” Beck added. “But I’m not going to just stand around and do nothing while they turn on Bailey too. No one fucks Bailey.”
My heart thudded hard inside my chest as I tipped my chin up and gazed at the man so adamantly defending me. No one had ever done anything like that for me before. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. My eyes and throat began to burn as emotion, overwhelmed me.
Next to me, Tess fanned her face and leaned more fully against Jonah before saying, “That was so romantic.”
Beck tightened his arms around me as if he knew I was about to burst. But how could I not? He loved me. He really, freaking loved me.
I turned into him abruptly and buried my face in his chest to hide the flow of tears. He kissed my forehead and smoothed my hair, and I knew that no matter what happened, everything was going to be okay.
Beck loved me. There could be no doubt about it now.
“That really burns my ass,” Sam growled, startling me from my mini meltdown. “I can’t handle people who lie to save their own butt, especially when that lie hurts others. I wish there was some way to…” Her words faded off as this strange expression filled her face.
“What…?” Frowning, I glanced to everyone else, since they seemed to know her better than I did. “What’s she doing? What does that look mean?”
Jonah grinned. “It means she has a plan.”
“An evil genius, probably not fully on the up-and-up plan,” Logan added.
“Oh, no.” Sam held up a single finger. “It’s not my plan. It would be totally wrong and unethical for me to come up with such a plan as this.”
“It’ll be my plan, then,” Beck immediately claimed responsibility as he shifted her way, eager to hear more. “What’s the plan?”
“Well…” Sam paused a dramatic moment to gather her thoughts. “I can’t have any part of it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Paige assured. “We’ll take care of the dirty work.”
Sam winced. “But none of you should have a part in it, either. If any of you are caught tampering with school equipment—”
“This is for Bailey,” Tess cut in. “It’s worth it.”
Sam cringed, still hesitant. But then she sighed and said, “Melody works for the university’s Admissions office as a campus tour guide, right?”
“Uh…” Beck shook his head, his expression completely blank. “I have no idea.”
“The answer is yes, yes, she does.” Sam gave a satisfied grin. “After you told me about her, I looked her up. And it just so happens one of her stops on the tour is the human health department, where…” She cleared her throat and pressed her hand to her chest, “I just happen to volunteer as a counselor over their grief group. So I know for a fact that Deb, who gives the health department’s presentation to new student recruit tours, only talks for a couple minutes before she pops in a video and leaves the room. Meaning, if someone—a person’s who’s totally not me, because this isn’t my idea at all and probably shouldn’t be any of you either since it could get all of you into trouble—were to replace that video with something else…” She glanced meaningfully in my direction, it’s possible the truth about Melody could get out without anyone accusing our Bailey here of, you know, peeping tom things.”
My eyes widened. “Oh my God,” I whispered, gaping at Sam in awe. “You are so diabolically brilliant; I think I just fell in love with you.”
