her menses and runs out of coffee.”
She grinned and gave me a hug. She’d been over to the apartment for the past two nights to keep me company. Between Declan and the whole Mom and Karl mess, I’d needed a friend. I’d also cooked dinner for her both nights in appreciation of her getting me the jewelry interview.
I pulled her aside. “Heard anything about Colby?”
She nodded, a worried expression on her face. “Officially, the word is he left NYU because he wanted to be closer to home.” She rolled her eyes. “As if anyone would miss Petal.”
I nodded.
She held a finger up. “The gossip is he got caught sniffing coke at a party the cops busted. He got off, thanks to dear old dad, but he also got kicked out of school—and went to some fancy rehab. Looks like our perfect poster boy isn’t so clean anymore.”
She sent me a hard look. “And if he comes to your house again, you have to call the police. You can’t take any chances, especially if he’s doing drugs. Think about it, Elizabeth. He was always on the edge in high school, and I guarantee you, Colby on drugs is crazy as shit. As soon as you see him, you run straight to Declan’s or you dial 911. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Declan looked up at that moment, his gray eyes zeroing in on mine, and I lifted a hand in a wave. I shoved thoughts of Colby away.
He tucked his book in his backpack and headed our way.
“Just watching him walk is like art moving.” Shelley sighed.
He stopped in front of our crew, gave Dax a fist bump and nodded at the rest of us. We all headed inside Zoe’s, a pizza place.
Declan slowed his steps until he was walking next to me. “Hey, you. Been wanting to talk to you.”
“Hey.” I set my pace with his. “You didn’t come to class today.”
He sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. I had an appointment at a bank. We had some flooring issues come up at the gym, and I went in to see if I could adjust my loan.” He rubbed his jaw.
My lips parted. He needed more money? “I wish I could help you.”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a plan. Always. But enough of that.” He sent me a serious look, his eyes roaming over my face as if he were devouring it. “I’m sorry about Nadia showing up at the diner … and then we didn’t really get to finish talking about everything.”
“About having sex and how great it was?” I inhaled.
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Wanna meet tonight?”
“I get off work at seven.”
“Hey guys!” Nadia waved, a bright smile on her face as she said excuse me’s and cut in front of several students so she could be directly behind us. “Are you having lunch too?”
What the hell. She was like a tick you couldn’t get off a dog.
And this whole showing up everywhere we were? Not cool.
She smiled. “So happy I saw you! I wanted to tell you good luck on your jewelry interview.”
I blinked. How fake could she be? I’d just told her how annoying she was the last time I saw her.
She bobbed her blond hair. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. Declan told me all about it. Do you make rings? I’d love to see them sometime.” She flashed her right hand where a huge diamond rested. “Daddy gave me this one on my eighteenth birthday, but I’d love something more quaint.”
I looked at Declan. “You tell everything you know?” I left asshole off.
He frowned. “We were talking at the diner—after you so abruptly left—and I happened to mention why we were at Minnie’s to begin with—”
“Oh no. Did I say something wrong?” Nadia said, biting her lip and batting her lashes. “Please don’t misunderstand. It’s just Declan and I have a deep friendship. We will talk even if we don’t date anymore. I hope that doesn’t bother you. Oh, but you guys aren’t dating anyway, right?”
Oh, she didn’t fool me.
Just the thought of her with Declan made me want to pull every hair on her head out. In clumps. Hell, it made me want to pull every hair on his head out.
Maybe some chest hairs too.
But I reminded myself that Nadia was a pro at manipulating people, and I refused to be toyed with so easily. Two years ago, I’d let myself break in half when girls had trash-talked and run me into the ground, but