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Alexis steps aside for me to enter. The apartment is dim and sparsely furnished. Dishes are piled in the sink, and there’s a rancid smell in the air. The blue couch is stained, the coffee table looks like it’s on the verge of collapse, and my eye goes to a framed picture of Alexis and some dude on the mantel. I almost want to point out that this dude isn’t Trip, until I catch myself.
“Drink?” Alexis asks from the kitchen, a dingy little galley that looks infested with bugs. She unscrews the cap of a large jug of vodka and glugs some into two glasses. As she passes me one, she rolls her eyes. “Don’t look so miserable. So I caught you.” She flops down in the chair opposite me. “Ishould be the miserable one. You were supposed to be my meal ticket.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I say bitterly, knocking back the vodka. It tastes like rubbing alcohol.
I want to leave. Alexis is no longer the only person who knows what I did. I recall the fresh fear that went through me when Willa Manning cornered me on the street yesterday. Willa kneweverythingabout me,down to the amount Greg had given me, down to where Dr. Rosen used to live. She’d even spoken to my mother. The fear shot straight to my bones. Everything I worked so hard for, everything I thought I could still achieve—was it about to be taken away? Willa held all the cards. It would be so easy for her to ruin me.
But Willa was questioning me because she thought I killed Greg. The thought astounded me, but seeing it from her perspective, it isn’t so crazy. There was nothing I could do but tell her the arrangement Greg and I had. I didn’t want to be on her suspect list—having the police question me would blow my secrets wide open. And I came up with a good bargain to ensure Willa would keep quiet, too—I hated using Sienna’s whereabouts as bait, but after seeing my friend the day after Greg’s death and at that party where she was guzzling wine into oblivion, I had a feeling she was keeping secrets. By the way Willa snapped to attention, I assume she thought so, too. But the idea of Willa telling Sienna the truth hurts. I value Sienna’s friendship more than I realized.
But I have no advantage with Alexis. Nothing to ensure she keepshermouth shut. I’ve racked my brain all morning, but besides the wine we stole from that mansion on Tuesday, I don’t know anything about her.
Alexis places her hands on her knees. “We’ll find a guy withmoney. We’ll seduce him. He’ll pay us off, and we’ll both get what we want—you’ll get to go to Aldrich, don’t worry.” She assesses me over her tumbler. “You’re good at this. You got Strasser to pay your tuition. I found out about your little deal with that doctor up north, too.”
I bite my lip. “I’m guessing this isn’t your first rodeo, either?”
Alexis shrugs noncommittally, her gaze returning to the laptop.
“Are you going to tell meanythingtrue about yourself?” I ask. “It’s only fair.”
“Fair how?” She watches me, her long, slender fingers hovering over her keys. And then she laughs. “What, you’re trying to tell me you were your real self with me? Come on. You’re full of shit, too.”
I pretend to study an ugly landscape painting hanging on the far wall. The thing is, Iwashonest with Alexis—about some things, anyway. Like what I told her about Aldrich. What I told her about how she and I should do everything together. And that kiss was sure as hell honest, unfortunately.
The screen on Alexis’s laptop lights up, and she types something into Google. After a moment, a website appears. I figure it’s going to be the hack site—we could probably easily find out someone’s net worth and sexual proclivities through their e-mails—but instead, it’s a meet-up page.Naughty Pittsburghreads a red, sexy font at the top. There’s an image of three women shot from the neck down in bondage gear, and a description talks about how the page is for people interested in BDSM and other naughty behavior to connect.
“Okay...” I say, wrinkling my nose.
“Oh, don’t be a prude.” Alexis clicks through to a login site. After keying in her user name and password, she’s into the group, and the page directs to a message board with post titles likeDom looking for a SubandPet looking for a Master. “This place is a gold mine to find people who are up to no good but don’t want anyone to know about it—they all use stupid code names. And I think I’ve found the perfect mark.” She clicks a message thread and scrolls down to ascreen name: BigDaddy23. Some guy has written a post asking if there’s anyone near Aldrich College looking for “unusual role-play.”
“There’s no way we can tell this guy has money just based on his post,” I point out. “For all we know, he lives in this building.”
Alexis doesn’t seem amused. Then she looks back to the screen. “Lucky for you, I’ve already done some research. Last weekend, I went to a munch.”
I inch away from her on the couch. “What is that, a disease?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a casual get-together for people into this stuff. The organizer of the meet-up reserved a back room at Ali Baba’s, and people dropped in to hang. It’s for people who are curious. To make the whole thing less scary. I didn’t talk to anyone, but I did a lot of watching. And I found someone. I looked him up, and he has a lot to lose—his reputation at his job, his wife, family...”
“Do you have a picture?”
She scoffs. “Uh, no, he wasn’t really up for a photo at a secret sex role-play get-together. You’ll just have to trust me on this one. He’s the real deal. Plus, he’s cute.”
“So what are we going to do?” I ask warily.
She clicks back to the meet-up page. “I’ve already put a post saying that there are two hot girls up for anything, ready to meet. A lot of people have replied, but I’m waiting forhimto bite.It’s just a matter of when.”
“So you and I are going to have to do something... together?” I say slowly.
Alexis gives me a sly look. Slowly, her hand encircles my wrist. “That kiss we shared the other day? I know you want to do it again.”
Heat rushes through me. I want to push her away. But she’s right. I push a lock of hair over my shoulder. “And you’re sure he’ll pay up?”
“Positive.” Alexis leans back, but she’s still watching me. “You can’t chicken out.”
I think of the papers I still need to write, the commitments I stillhave, even the intimidating questioning from Willa Manning this morning. I shouldn’t be getting into more trouble. Yet at the same time, how else will I get to stay at Aldrich? Without Greg, there’s no money coming in. My bank account is almost at zero.
And if I can’t stay at Aldrich, that means... what? The answer is clear: If I don’t do this, how else can I work toward what I promised Greg I’d become—a different person?
“Fine,” I say, standing up, ready to go. “Just tell me when.”
