Page 123 of Sin Bin

“I always check out guys’ social media pages before I start dating them,” Jess declared. “You never know what might pop up, and you don’t wanna be blindsided.”

“Mmm-hmm. Very true. Let’s see if the good professor is on Instagram.” Bianca whipped out her phone, pulled up the app and searched Ephraim’s name. “Oh, good, he has a public profile. Let’s have a looksie.”

Everyone crowded around her to look at her phone screen.

“He’s cute,” Bianca said.

“Meh. He aight.” Jess was unimpressed. “He’s about a five out of ten.”

Scarlett winced. “Harsh.”

“I’m just saying,” Jess laughed. “You guys know how picky I am. Plus I’m not a fan of glasses.”

Nadia gave her a wry look. “Nelson wears glasses and you think he’s hot.”

“He is hot. He could totally get it if he wasn’t madly in love with Bianca.” Jess grinned at Bianca, who gave her a look that warned her not to get any ideas.

“Anyway, glasses do nothing for this Ephraim guy,” Jess said with a dismissive wave at the phone. “He’s just average. Nothing special.”

Meadow took umbrage. “What’s wrong with average? Most people are average.”

“Not me. Anyway, I think you can do better. I mean, why are you even considering other guys when you have that fine ass Logan giving you postgame shout-outs? Did you not see him looking all delicious as he winked into the camera and said your name in that sexy voice? Girl, my ass woulda rushed back to Denver that same night to get some of that good dick!”

The others cackled and nodded vigorously in agreement.

Meadow sighed. “For the last time, we’re—”

“Just friends. We know.” Jess smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Hmm.” Bianca frowned as she resumed scrolling through Ephraim’s Instagram photos. “Are you sure he even dates black women? Because, uh, I see nothing but pictures of him with white chicks.”

“I noticed that,” Nadia murmured.

Scarlett chuckled. “I wasn’t gonna say anything.”

Meadow pursed her lips, reserving judgment as she studied the pictures.

Bianca tapped the screen. “Here he is skiing in Aspen with a Becky. Her name is literally Becky,” she chortled. “And here’s another photo taken in China with a white woman. Oh, and here he is in Africa, where he went on safari with—you guessed it—a white woman.” Bianca laughed and shook her head at Meadow. “I swear I’m not being a hater. I just think it’s worth noting that he seems to have a type.”

“And you’re not it,” Jess said bluntly.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Nadia objected. “He approached her at the cocktail reception, so obviously he liked what he saw.”

“And why wouldn’t he? Meadow’s beautiful. He’d be lucky to have her.” Bianca winked at Meadow and then sighed. “Honestly, I’m leery of men who never date the women of their own race. Having a preference is fine, but to completely exclude women who share your ethnicity?” She twisted her lips to one side. “C’mon now.”

“Seriously,” Jess agreed. “My dad is black and my mom is white, and even I give major side eye to black guys who don’t date black women. Sorry, but that’s a red flag to me.”

“Exactly,” Bianca said.

Meadow forced a shrug. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, Ephraim lives in a state with a majority white population, and he works in a STEM profession that’s dominated by white men. He probably doesn’t encounter too many black women—”

“Then he needs to start hanging out with Logan,” Jess advised with a laugh, “because that white boy manages to hook up with all races of women! White, black, Latina, Asian, Native American. Dude does not discriminate.”

“He sure doesn’t,” Scarlett laughingly confirmed. “Logan’s an equal opportunity manwhore.”

“Seriously! You can find tons of pictures of him with all sorts of different women. Granted, most of them look like lingerie models, but at least they’re racially diverse.”

“I know, right?” Bianca grinned. “Remember those pictures that went viral last year? The ones with Logan and Mr. Tavárez vacationing at their beach house in the Dominican Republic? They threw one of their famous beach parties. In the photos, all you saw were these gorgeous Afro-Latinas dancing and strutting around in bikinis. The picture that got the most attention was the one of Logan with those dark-skinned twins who looked just like Amara La Negra. They were sitting on his lap, one on each leg. And he was grinning from ear to ear, looking as happy as the cream filling in an Oreo cookie!”

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