boils in the pit of my stomach at what she’s called Zorro. “He isn’t a boy toy.”
“Really? You’re always off doing things with him and you’ve barely seen me at all. How long have you been here, in this club, surrounded by him? Oh yeah, months.”
When she puts it like that maybe I have been neglecting her a bit. Portia did come all the way here. “Sorry, I should’ve made more time to . . . to talk to you. The last few days have been a lot.”
“Fuck, you can say that again.” Portia finishes off her clear liquid and sets it down on the counter behind her.
“Zorro’s going to be away for a few days on some club business, if you wanna hangout. I don’t know how long you plan on staying, but—”
“Um, I’m staying until school starts back up and I’m required to go back. You’re my best friend, Rub’, why the fuck would I be going back?” School starts back up around the end of January at Stonewall, so we have another few days. Good. Maybe we’ll be able to repair our snappiness and turn a new page.
Her reaction causes me to laugh. “Good point. I should’ve figured as much. I’m going on a walk with Grim, but want to spend the whole day together tomorrow?”
Portia smiles brightly. “Hell yeah, especially if it means getting drunk tomorrow night.”
“Obviously.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
And in the end, it’s you against you, fighting for yourself
~ Anjali Chaturvedi
Zorro
“We diving straight into things, or what?” Frost asks from the dining room.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, cocking a brow.
“Ugh, you men who always need to answer a question with a question. I’m talking about the plan.”
“Plan?”
“You do have a plan, right?” Her tone is aggravated, yet scared.
Releasing a held in chuckle, I answer her. “Of course, I have a plan. I just enjoy fuckin’ with you a little bit.”
Frost rolls her eyes and puts a hand through her cherry red hair. “Alright, so what’s the plan then?”
“We’ll meet up with that Ian guy in our disguises and then we’ll go around campus a bit with him. He’s taking us to places like the library and around some of the dorms, the park, stuff like that. My plan is for us to act like normal, upstanding citizens, the typical graduate students and then I’ll make it a point to break off while we’re in one of the public places. I’m hoping he’ll introduce us to some other students. Even though their winter semester hasn’t started yet, I fully intend on getting as much information as I can. With any luck, someone will warn me if there’s been some sort of sexual assaults on campus. Especially after I tell them about her history, that tragic day in California at her alma mater.”
It’s a lie, but it’s a damn good one and women should find sympathy. I’ll play the part of an overprotective brother, wanting to make sure we’re both going to a school where we’re both safe, not just me.
“Okay, Mr. Innocent, if we’re playing that game, you’d better get your ass over here so I can cover up both of our facial tattoos.”
“You’re going to enjoy this too much.”
“Damn straight. Never did I think I’d be doing your makeup,” she cackles lightly, opening up a small makeup bag. She pulls out a tube with a cap, about the size of my thumb. “Come on, I need to prime your face.”
“What my face?”
“P-r-i-m-e. It means the makeup won’t come off if you have super oily skin or sweat like a pig on a hot summer day. Now get over here.” I get up from the couch and go over to the dining area and take a seat in the chair beside her.
Frost leans my head back and completely covers my face with this shit. “Whoa! Hold up. You’re just putting makeup over my tats, right?”
She blinks at me blankly and narrows her eyes slightly. “So, do you want to look like a fucked up clown, or do you want to look like you have no makeup on at all?”
“If any dude sees me with makeup on, I’ll lose my man card,” I tell her, though my tone is a warning.
“Then let me do what I do best, mkay?” She smiles with the most sass I’ve ever seen from her and rubs this prime into me, though as she brings the tube closer to me I see it’s called ‘primer’, not ‘prime’.
Frost goes through her bags,