Page 37

KEENE

Y ounger and I were finishing up our new plan the next morning at the kitchen table—him actually working and me doodling on a corner of the paper we’d written our specs on as I waited.

“And… I’ve got it,” Alec announced, clicking a button on his computer to reveal the AI-generated woman he’d created from what I could remember of Legs.

“Hmm?” I glanced up, distracted and drained from waiting and waiting and waiting while he’d played with the new app he’d just purchased.

Glancing over, he cast my doodle a strange frown. “Cool W,” he said. “You getting into calligraphy or something?”

“W?” I wrinkled my nose and tapped my pen against the drawing. “Dude, this is an M. An M !”

I’d found myself drawing the logo Mystery Girl had left on her letter over and over again: during class, in the middle of studying, and apparently now, while waiting for Younger to stop fondling his new, fancy program and just show me the finished results already.

“It’s for Mistress,” I explained. “And Mystery Girl. And—and not W. Why the hell would I draw a W? Nothing starts with W.”

Tilting his head to the side, he continued to squint at my M. “Still looks like a W to me.”

Sending him a get-real glance, I assured, “Well, it’s not.” Except when I looked back at the M, I blinked because now it looked like a fucking W to me too.

Son of a bitch. This was not important. Grabbing the paper, I crumpled the whole sheet into a ball to refocus on what was important here.

“So it’s done , done?” I asked, tipping my face toward Alec’s laptop.

Vibrating with excitement, he bit his lip. “I think so.” Making a production of spinning his screen to face me, he waved a hand over the image and demanded eagerly, “What do you think?”

I paused, not sure what to think. “She doesn’t have a face.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Because you don’t remember any facial features. I didn’t want to distract from the body and outfit by faking facial features. Now focus. What about the body and clothes? Anything need to change?”

Tilting my head, I studied it a moment longer before saying, “Longer legs, smaller breasts, slimmer frame, shorter skirt.”

“Okay, good.” Nodding, he spun the screen back to himself and started to type. “This is great. Anything else?”

“Longer hair maybe,” I said. “But not by much. With a couple of blond highlights thrown in.”

“Alright.” After a few corrections, he showed me the new results. “How about this?”

I screwed my mouth thoughtfully, still skeeved by the featureless face. “Now the skirt’s too short. And the green of her shirt was darker. More Wizard of Oz , I’d say.”

Younger made a face. “You mean, emerald?”

“That’s what I said. The legs still need to be longer, too.”

“If I make her legs any longer, they won’t look natural.”

“I don’t care,” I insisted. “They were the first thing I saw, so they need to really stand out.”

He shrugged as if he didn’t agree but would comply. “Okay.” Seconds later, he showed me the revision.

“Yes.” I pointed immediately. “That’s her. Holy shit. That is her .”

He beamed, clearly proud of himself. “Yeah?”

“Yes!” I jostled his arm and hooted. “You’re a genius. That’s exactly how I remember her looking.”

“Remember who?” Hope asked as she swept open the back door and stepped inside, carrying a backpack over one arm.

“We made a composite of Keene’s mystery girl,” Alec answered excitedly as he lifted his laptop to show her. “What do you think?”

Hope looked up and immediately jarred to a halt, her mouth falling open in shock.

At her reaction, I fisted my hands and shook them victoriously. “It’s spot on, isn’t it?”

“Holy shit.” Swinging a panicked glance my way, Hope shook her head in confusion. “But how—how did you know what she was wearing? I thought you didn’t see her. But you even got the color of that top, like, perfect.”

Yes! I knew I’d been right.

“I saw a glimpse of this chick inside by the stairs right before I went out to meet Makayla,” I explained. “And I could mark off everyone else from the list except her. Ergo, by reasons of deduction, this ”—I motioned to the animated likeness of her—“has to be my mystery girl.”

“So…?” Hope kept eye contact as she tipped her face down. “You’re saying you’re not actually sure if the girl you saw inside was her at all?”

“Well, I wasn’t ,” I agreed with an accommodating nod. “Until you came in here and just confirmed it for me.” Grinning smugly, I added, “Thanks for that, by the way.”

Shoulders collapsing, Hope closed her eyes briefly. “Shit,” she muttered, realizing what she’d done. Opening her lashes, she pointed threateningly. “You tricked me.”

I rumbled out a laugh. “Yes, I did. I tricked you so fucking hard,” I agreed, totally rubbing it in her face. “You didn’t even see it coming.” Throwing up my arms, I roared, “Keene is the best!” Doing a little chair dance, I nodded my head and asked, “Who’s the best? Keene !”

“Oh my God, stop,” she demanded, scowling at me dryly.

But I was too busy to heed her suggestion, coming out of my chair to do a little hip swinging and arm circling.

“Lord, do I even want to know what he’s celebrating?” Oaklynn asked as she entered the kitchen; the pantsuit she wore signifying she was going to air another segment on the campus news today.

“No,” Hope muttered. “You really don’t.”

“Gotcha.” Chuckling, Oaklynn headed to the Keurig machine and started to brew herself a mug of cappuccino before leaning against the counters and turning back to greet the non-roommate. “So what brings you by this morning?”

Alec and I exchanged an insulted glance as if we both felt slighted for not getting an acknowledgment from her.

Hope answered, “I’m taking Alec out for breakfast before class this morning.”

“Oh shit.” Flying up from his seat, Alec cried, “I forgot all about that. I need to change.”

As he sprinted from the kitchen, Hope smiled after him fondly and plopped her book bag on the table. “Which is why I brought some homework inside to work on while I waited for him.”

This was her first semester as a transfer student at Haverick. She’d doubled up on courses, hoping to graduate on time, because she’d had to skip last semester to get a liver transplant and not die.

So while she pulled a notepad from her backpack to study, I took control of Alec’s computer to swivel it more fully toward me and have another look at my mystery girl, tapping my chin in the hopes I’d recognize her. Because there did seem to be something vaguely familiar here.

For the life of me, though, I couldn’t quite put a finger on that face. Possibly because she didn’t have one.

But I was glad she’d ended up being Legs after all because from what I’d seen, Legs had been hot as hell. And also, I loved being right.

“Oh, hey,” Oaklynn said, coming up behind me to peer over my shoulder. She took a sip from her steaming mug and pointed to the screen. “That’s really accurate. But why did you make a picture of?—”

“No!” Hope screeched suddenly, lurching from her chair and diving toward Oaklynn to slap a hand over her mouth.

As Oaklynn gaped at her from wide brown eyes, I sprang to my feet as well.

“Holy shit,” I realized. “You know who this is.”

Oaklynn looked my way before sending a questioning glance toward Hope who shook her head and slowly lowered her hand.

“ Do I know who this is?” she asked Hope carefully.

“No,” Hope answered for her. “No, you don’t.”

“Hey, shh.” I pointed threateningly at Alec’s sister. “No more influence from you.” I spun back to Oaklynn. “It’s okay, Vargas,” I assured her with what I hoped looked like an encouraging smile and gentle, trusting eyes. “You can tell me. What’s her name?”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Why don’t you already know her name?”

“I don’t know,” I countered, trying to remain calm. “ Do I already know her name?” Slicing a surprised glance at Hope, I demanded, “Shit, do I already know her? How well do I know her?”

With a snort, Hope said more under her breath than to anyone directly, “Apparently more than anyone else in this room.”

“I’m so confused right now,” Oaklynn admitted, lifting a hand. “Just who is this supposed to be?”

I groaned in frustration and bit out, “It’s Mystery Girl.”

Oaklynn frowned harder at me, letting me know she still didn’t understand. She glanced back at the screen and snorted out a disbelieving sound. “No,” she said. And looking at me with assurance, she claimed, “There’s no way.”

I merely lifted my eyebrows to prove I knew better.

Uncertainty filtered through her gaze before she whipped her attention to Hope who cringed and nodded.

Mouth falling open, Oaklynn gasped, “No fucking way! Are you serious? She…?” She pointed to the laptop. “And Keene ?”

When Hope nodded slowly, her eyebrows lifted with the silent answer of, Yep. Crazy, huh?

Oaklynn pressed a hand to her chest as if she couldn’t find the air to breathe. “Oh my God. I—I—” She shook her head. “I can’t even?—”

Before she could formulate a full sentence, Xander breezed into the kitchen, dressed and ready for the day. “Morning.”

“Girl Union!” I pounced, snatching up the laptop and sending both Oaklynn and Hope a killer glare. “You two, shut it.”

Grabbing her Green Machine drink from the fridge, Xander turned back curiously as she unscrewed the cap. “What’s going on?” she asked uneasily as I approached her with Alec’s computer.

“Do you know who this is?” I asked before anyone else in the room could influence her.

Xander looked at the screen and blinked once. “No,” she said, looking me dead in the eyes.

I might’ve actually believed her if Oaklynn hadn’t gasped from behind me and charged, “Oh my God, you know !” She threw up a disgusted hand and muttered, “Of course, you already know.”

Not sure what that meant, I frowned between the two of them before focusing on Xander. “So… You know who Mystery Girl is?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. Clutching her juice bottle to her chest, she mumbled, “I plead the fifth.”

My mouth fell open. “Seriously? How long have you known?”

Shoulders deflating, she confessed, “Since that night.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed, growing more and more shocked by the moment. But I hadn’t been expecting this twist. I’d been searching all over campus for some clue, and I should’ve turned to my own fucking roommates.

“And it really chafes,” Xander went on conversationally. “To learn you can actually back up all that bragging and swaggering you do. With the lewd way you talk, you deserve to suck in bed. But no… You just had to go and be the best experience she ever had with a guy.”

I grinned smugly because of course I had been.

Meanwhile, Xander sent the other two women in the room an irritated scowl. “Life just really isn’t fair sometimes.”

“So, wait,” Hope demanded with interest. “She gave you details ?”

Xander lifted her eyebrows at Alec’s sister. “Oh, honey. I got all the tea.”

Oaklynn swayed on her feet, looking a little faint. “I think I need to sit down,” she announced. “This is just—I can’t even picture the two of them doing—you know— anything together.”

“Back up,” I cut in, stepping into Xander’s face. “When I asked yesterday if anyone had been in our house, you lied to me? You lied to my fucking face and let her into my room?”

Xander straightened her back. “No,” she hissed self-righteously. “She didn’t come anywhere near the house yesterday.” Preening, she did a hair flip and added, “I snuck down to your room and took back the underwear for her, replacing it with her note, per her request.”

Wow.

And the hits just kept coming.

Unable to believe her duplicity, I stuttered, “You—you—you traitor .”

“Hey, I’m not one of the seven,” she announced. “I don’t owe you any loyalty.”

“Yes, you do. You’re my roommate,” I argued aghast that every fucking person in this room knew what I didn’t. And they were refusing to tell me.

“Why won’t you just tell me who she is?” I demanded.

“Because,” Xander said simply. “She needs to be the one to tell you herself. When she’s ready.”

I stared at her, kind of wanting to strangle her for doing this to me. But I blew out a long, steadying breath and tried to take a mental step back to see everything from a broader perspective.

Only to realize, nope. Still not happy with this situation.

“All three of you are dead to me,” I stated, totally not meaning it, but also kind of meaning it.

“Oh, come on now, Sneezy,” Hope tried to cajole. “It’s going to be all that much sweeter when you figure it out for yourself.”

I lifted a finger in her direction, not even daring to look at her because I just might blow a gasket if I did.

But then Damien entered the kitchen.

Thank God.

I pounced on him before anyone else could warn him of anything.

“Archer!” I cried, leaping into his face and making him stumble a surprised step back and gape at me as if I’d finally lost the last crayon in my box.

“Does this girl remind you of anyone from campus that we know?” When I shoved the computer in his face, he blinked at it, totally not noticing the three traitorous women behind me trying to get his attention, and he frowned at the screen.

“No,” he said. “Should it?”

I groaned in defeat and slapped the screen shut. “Motherfucker.”

Behind me, Oaklynn squealed happily and leaped forward, throwing her arms around Archer’s neck.

“Oh, thank God you’re totally oblivious to every other woman out there but me.

” Lifting onto her toes, she kissed him all over the face, only to pull back and smile dreamily.

“I don’t think I’ve ever loved you as much as I do right now. ”

He growled possessively and wrapped a proprietary arm around her waist. “Why the hell would I look at other women when you’re all I ever want to see?”

As she whimpered in adoration, he lowered his mouth to hers, making both Hope and Xander sigh.

I, on the other hand, grimaced. “Gag me.”

Sidling up next to me, Hope patted my back sympathetically. “Better luck next time, bud.”