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“A soon-to-be dead student,” he growls. “Give me his name, Angel.”
I roll my eyes, and thankfully Kai comes to my rescue, preventing me from having to either piss off Wilder by not giving him Jacob’s name or be responsible for whatever torment he planned on unleashing on the cocky quarterback. “Head home,” Kai says. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Feeling defeated, I schedule a taxi using an app on my phone and gather my things before exiting the classroom. I’m lost in my thoughts as I walk across campus. If this didn’t work, then what will? What is it that Mel wants? How does she expect me to communicate with her? Does she need me to hold up a sign in the middle of campus declaring my love for her before she shows her face?
The entire journey to the parking lot, I scan the surrounding area, staring into students’ faces and peering around trees, wondering if she’s watching from afar. I’m so busy looking around me I don’t even notice the student I’m barreling toward until we collide.
“Oh, I'm sorry,” I say, apologizing.
“Don’t sweat it. It’s my fault,” he says with an amiable smile before moving around me. He continues on his way, and so do I, spotting my cab already waiting for me.
“What was that?” Kai asks as I close in on the cab.
“No one. I accidentally walked into a passing student. It was nothing.”
In the car, I subtly pop out the earpiece so I don’t make the mistake of responding to anything the guys might say and appear like a crazy person to the cab driver.
As the cab pulls out of the university gates, I lean my head against the window and watch the city flash by without really seeing it, too lost in my own thoughts.
Now that Wilder has come to his senses and stopped fighting the chemistry between us, Mel is the last hurdle we need to overcome. I’m confident that once she’s eliminated as a threat, Kai will come back to me, too.
When the taxi turns onto Hawk and Wilder’s street, I dig in my pocket for my house keys, only my fingers brush over a piece of paper that wasn’t there earlier alongside my keys. Confused, I pull the crumpled note out of my pocket and frown as I unfold the edges.
Air stalls in my lungs as I’m confronted by familiar messy handwriting:Bitter & Twisted. Now.
"Here you are," the cab driver says through the divider. His voice breaks through the trance I was in, and I snap my head up to look out the window and realize we’re parked outside the brownstone.
“Uhhh…” I bite on my bottom lip, trying to decide what to do before making a split-second decision. “Change of plans. Do you know a place calledBitter & Twisted?”
“Sure do. It’s on the other side of town, though.”
“Take me there, please.”
He nods before pulling back onto the road, and forgoing the Bluetooth earpiece, I pull my phone out and dial Kai's number with my stomach twisted in knots.
He answers on the first ring, as though he was expecting a call from me. I guess after we spent the day baiting a psychopath, he was probably expecting something like this.
“Em? Where are you? Why aren’t you using the earpieces?” he immediately asks, his tone low and deadly.
Overlooking his questions, I explain, “I found a note in my pocket.” My statement is followed by a round of murmured curses that sound like they belong to Hawk and Wilder. “It says to go to some place calledBitter & Twisted.”
“No,” Kai interjects. “Absolutely not. You must be nearly home by now. Stay there. We’re leaving campus now.”
I wince, bracing myself for a reprimand. "Ehhh, yeah, about that… I’m on my way there now."
“Fucking hell, Em. Go home!”
“I have to go, Kai,” I try to reason. “It will only make her suspicious if I don’t.”
Silence follows my words, letting me know that he is at least taking in what I'm saying. I can hear the three of them whispering on the other end of the line.
"Fuck," Kai snarls before speaking to me again. "Fine. We’re on our way. Hawk is maneuvering the team into position as we speak.Do notgo into that bar until we’re in place."
“She’s going to know I tipped you off if you go storming in there,” I argue. “She must have known you were staking out the campus, which is why she waited until I was leaving to send me a message.”
“That won’t matter if we catch her,” he growls.
“And if you don’t?” I counter. “What then? Then she’ll know I’m not on her side, and we’ll be completely screwed.”
