“Well, before I could ask Nick again, Ashton Williams came strutting down the hall, proud as a peacock. He was always so cocky. I remember Ashton had said, ten on the pussy scale. What about you, Nick? I’m in the lead so far.”

My chest tightened, nearing a full on cramp, and I closed my eyes, lying my head back on the headrest.

Fernando continued. “Then Nick had answered, I got two. He’d knocked on Gray’s door and said, Quarter point on the pussy scale for that dirty bitch in there, but I took her to Pound Town. She’s learned her lesson.” Fernando mimicked Nick’s stoic tone and I took in a deep breath.

“You’re an idiot, Fernando,” Chance broke in, slamming his foot down on the gas pedal. “You didn’t think to mention this before now? Didn’t you think it was weird that Nick was in Gray’s room?”

Fernando pursed his lips together, deep in thought. “Now, I guess it seems weird, but Ashton had asked him where Gray was and Nick had said, verbatim, I told Peters to take a hike, so he stayed on the couch in the rec room.”

“What next?” Chance snapped, jabbing Fernando with his elbow.

Fernando smacked him back and said, “Then they both laughed, and Ashton asked, What about the other one? Nick answered, Brittany? She earns a ten.” Fernando gave me a slight nod and stared out through the windshield. “So yeah, they slept together, Peters. I thought you knew… You were the one sleeping on the rec couch.”

Drunk off my ass and now pissed as hell, I gave Chance a don’t-fuck-with-me look. “Where does Ashton drink?”

Chapter Forty-Three

Allison bought me time via her explosive diarrhea ruse, but I was stumped. I’d found zero dirt on Katharine DeSonna. I started to make a list of ways I could blackmail her, but every time I put the pen on the paper, I thought of Gray.

He’d hate Pittsburgh, right? It was probably colder there, less rain but colder. His parents lived in Portland, and from the personal stories Della Peters showered me with at the game, Gray would rather chew off his throwing arm than leave them. And what about the children? Think about those little hearts he’d be crushing at MacArthur Middle School. The children, Peters!

I slammed my head down on the desk.

Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself. Everything ached. I was sore in places I never thought could be riddled with pain. The fact that I still loved Gray made me sick to my stomach.

I realized what I felt in the fifth grade for Jacob Deris scored a two on the Sydney love scale.

Gray hit a ten.

But for me, I needed both trust and love, and Gray ruined that.

Allison had left shortly after the game to stay the night at Jack’s. I had a good laugh when she pulled on her sweats, grabbed her sleeping bag from under her bed, and snatched up some Disney movies. They were having a tween slumber party. Their happiness staved off some of the unbearable throbbing in my chest, but it was still there waiting for when I was alone.

Dropping my pen, I gave up and grabbed my shower caddy. The dorm hall was eerily quiet tonight. Everyone was out celebrating Northern’s big win, and no doubt Gray was somewhere doing keg stands at this very moment.

Hopping into the shower, I closed the blurry glass door and swung my towel over the edge. I had just started the water when I heard the door creep open.

“I’ll be done in five minutes,” I yelled through the stream of water.

Then my towel was ripped off the stall door.

“What the hell?”

“You don’t know me.” A small voice rose with the steamy air, followed by a string of mumbles.

“What?” I asked, turning off the shower and covering my lady parts. “I can’t hear you. Give me back my towel.”

I heard an aggravated sigh followed by a throat clearing. “You don’t know me,” the voice said louder. “But I know who you are, Sunday Lane.”

At first, my mind was racing and my heart was beating just as fast. I was going to get a prison-style beatdown in the dorm shower. Then I replayed the voice in my mind.

“Lily Tanaka?”

“Goddammit,” Lily said from behind the glass, and my towel was tossed back over. I quickly wrapped it around me and opened the door.

Lily waited, arms crossed over her wool blazer, leaning a hip against the sink edge. “How did you know it was me?”

“You’re in my Sexual Evolution class. You talk all the time. How could I not know it was you?”

She straightened her back and glanced warily at the door. “Shh… you don’t know me,” she reiterated, emphasizing each word and slowly nodding her head.

“Okay.”

Stepping out of the shower, I stood in a puddle of water as she circled me like a lion does its prey.

“Be quiet,” she warned. “Are you familiar with the term Panhellenic?”

“That’s a disease from the sixteenth century, right?” I tucked my towel closer around my waist.

Lily rolled her eyes. “No, Sydney, it’s not,” she snapped. Her eyes flashed red, then resumed their normal midnight black. “Panhellenic is the national council charged with monitoring the activities of fraternities and sororities.” She jabbed a thumb against her buttoned white dress shirt. “I’m the secretary of the Northern Panhellenic chapter.”

“Okay,” I uttered, not understanding where she was going with this.

“It was brought to our attention Katharine DeSonna plans to release information on you. Information that will damage your little reputation,” she said with a hint of disgust in her voice.

“Get to the point, Tanaka.” Grabbing my caddy, I headed for the door, but she whipped her back against it, blocking my exit.

“Fine,” she said, straightening her matching wool skirt. She looked like an anime schoolgirl. I half expected her eyes to bulge out of her head and a hovering rainbow surfboard to carry her out of the room. Reaching into her bag she produced a small digital recorder. “We want to help you, Sydney.”

Her uneven smile gave me chills. “We’ve known about Katharine’s ill treatment of her pledges for quite a while, and now an opportunity has arisen to rid ourselves of the Kappa Delta Dictator without tarnishing our reputation.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head. “Her asinine ideas for fundraisers make me want to grab my handgun from my glove box.” Her eyes dropped to meet mine. “Know what I mean?”

Nodding, I scanned the room for something sharp. Lily Tanaka was nuts.

“The council would like your help in putting Katharine in her place, so we’re giving you her emergency exit.”

“Emergency exit?”

She nodded, handing me the tape recorder. “Every leader has an emergency exit. Information that would shame and potentially get them kicked out of their position as chapter president. It just so happens Katharine is terrible at math.”

“Math?” I scoffed. “So Katharine’s going to leave me alone because she can’t work through the Pythagorean theorem?”

Lily leaned over and pushed my thumb over the play button:

“Katharine, we can’t keep doing this,” a husky male voice shot through the speaker. “Maybe I can find a tutor for you and then your grades would… Oh God. Oh God… Holy shit.”

“You were saying, Professor Berger?” Katharine’s seductive voice followed his moans. “I think I have the best tutor in the world between my legs right now… You gonna make me cry and beg for an A…? (Random series of disgusting sounds) Because I’ll do it.

I hit the stop button and looked down at my hand.

“Yes,” Lily whispered. “Katharine’s been sleeping with her calculus professor all semester.”

“How did yo—”

“We have our ways, Sydney. We have spies everywhere.” She opened her hands in a dramatic sweeping circle, then grabbed the recorder. “We are willing to give this to you with the understanding it’s to be used as blackmail. Everyone wins in this situation. Katharine’s under your thumb… and you’re under ours.”