Never Have You Ever (The Love Game #1)- Elizabeth Hayley Page 0,15

Xander,” I said. I clapped my hands together and asked, “Has anyone looked through the cases yet?”

Toby didn’t disappoint. “I have. And I did a little preliminary research to see which might yield the most information.”

“And which would that be?” I asked.

“The Polaski Mine. It’s a gold and copper mine that would bring in a lot of jobs and could financially rejuvenate an area. But it’s within the limits of a city, so it would necessitate the relocation of houses, schools, and businesses. Not to mention it’d be a freaking mine in the middle of a city. There’s a lot to consider, and I think it would be interesting to dissect.”

“Any objections?” I asked.

“Nah, that would’ve been my first choice too,” Xander said. “Though the Chiquita Banana case also looked cool.”

Aniyah’s eyes widened as she looked at Xander like he was an alien. She clearly hadn’t expected that he’d have looked into the cases already. But that had been something I’d been banking on. He presented as a slacker, but I bet Xander had some serious brainpower under that beanie. The kind that didn’t require note taking.

I had a great feeling about this group.

Chapter Six

D R E W

Sophia and I had been living together for over a week, and it was different from anything I’d ever experienced. I would’ve thought growing up with three sisters would’ve prepared me for all the makeup and lotions and body sprays and perfumes and hair—so much hair!—in the bathroom, but I’d either forgotten about how…female everything was, or I’d blocked it out like some sort of estrogen-fueled PTSD. I was suddenly getting flashbacks of disposable razors and leave-in conditioner.

Every time I went into our bathroom to shave or take a shower, more of Sophia’s beauty products seemed to have appeared on the sink, which was already struggling for space in the tiny bathroom. Though I guess I was partially to blame for her things ending up on the sink because I only kept two of my own items out—deodorant and my toothpaste. Even my toothbrush was put away in the medicine cabinet. No way I’d risk getting a long dark hair stuck to it.

I slid some of the bottles toward the back of the sink against the wall like I’d done the past few days, knowing damn well they’d return to some other random spot. They were like drunk college kids who slept wherever they happened to land.

“Why do you have charcoal in the bathroom?” I called.

“Huh?”

Sophia had been in the kitchen, but she suddenly materialized in the bathroom doorway.

“This.” I held up a gray tube. “It says it has charcoal in it.”

“It’s a charcoal mask,” she said, like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You put this on your face?”

“Yeah, it cleans out your pores and gets all the gook out.”

“That’s disgusting.” I noticed a hair stuck under the lid. “Have you tried not putting gook on your face? Maybe you wouldn’t have to get it all out.”

She’d already grabbed the container and was opening it. “That’s not how it works. And don’t knock it till you try it. It’s so satisfying when you peel it off. You’ll see.”

If she thought I was putting that black shit on my face, she had another thing coming. “I’m not putting that on my face.”

“You’ll feel like a new man,” she said, already dabbing a little on her finger. “You can thank me later.”

Before I could make a move to stop her, her hands were on my face.

“What the hell? I didn’t consent to this!”

“Stop being a baby,” she said, still applying the cold paste to my skin. At least I had some facial hair that Sophia had to work around as she applied it.

“Fine, but while it…does whatever this does, can we move some of this stuff off the counter? Like whatever you don’t use every day or something?”

She looked confused. “I use all of it.”

“You put this shit on your face every day?” I pointed to the gray plaster of paris she was smoothing over my flesh.

“Well, not every day, but enough that I don’t want to put it away.”

I was tempted to point out that my toothbrush, which I used multiple times a day, was never left out, but it was a pointless argument and I knew it. “So how long do I need to keep this on?”

“Twenty minutes. I’ve got class in a half hour, so I’m leaving in a few minutes, but just wash it off with warm