Page 7 of The Trophy

“Yeah, no problem. I’m all caught up with my homework, so I just want to hang out with you. Maybe order some food and take it easy. I love my sisters but sometimes it’s nice to be out of the constant activity in the Zeta house.”

I totally understand that.

It’s one of the reasons why I decided not to pledge Zeta Theta Beta like Bay wanted.

I’m glad Tasha and I decided to move off campus this year too. The dorms at Star Cove College are better than at most standard schools, but the change of pace and environment is nice. Living on campus sometimes felt like there was no real divide between academic life and downtime.

“Lake, stop!”

Bay places a hand on my chest once I take the key out of my purse.

“Look,” she says. “Did you leave your front door unlocked when we left yesterday?”

It’s then that I notice that the door to my apartment is slightly ajar.

LAKYN

“Take your phone out,” Bay whispers, trying to peer inside my apartment from the small gap in the door jamb. “Call 911, but keep your voice low. If whoever broke in is still inside, we don’t want to alert them that we’re here.”

She looks around, ducking as if that could hide her slender frame out in the open.

“There’s no one out here,” she groans. “If someone comes out with the intention of hurting us, we’re fucked.”

What did I say earlier? Bay is so dramatic.

“I don’t think there’s a home invasion under way, Bay,” I reassure her. “Look, there are no signs of a break in. There’s no damage on or around the door, no broken windows, not so much of a leaf out of place.” I point out the tidy bushes that border the outside of the building.

Bay isn’t persuaded. “But then how do you explain that the door is open? Did you forget to lock it when you left yesterday?”

I think about it for a second. I was preoccupied about the game and nervous about talking to the guys about our situation, but could have I been so distracted to leave the door open?

“No,” I conclude. “I’m sure I locked it. But it could be Tasha back from her dance competition. Her team parties even harder than the hockey team and last year she was so tired the morning after a competition, that she fell asleep with her face in her oatmeal. I bet it’s her and we’ll probably find her asleep at the kitchen table or on the couch.”

I grab the door handle, ignoring my sister’s soft cussing from behind me.

“For the record Lake,” she hisses following me inside the apartment. “This is such a bad idea. We should call the cops and wait outside. If we both get murdered today, I’m totally going to blame it on you.”

I turn to look at her over my shoulder. “Noted. But I’m not too worried about you being mad at me. If we both get murdered, we’re going to be dead, so you can’t really nag me then.”

I feel smug about my smart ass answer but it’s short lived. I should know by now that there’s no way to have the last word with Bay. She’s definitely the smart ass twin.

“Oh believe me,” she whisper-yells. “I’ll nag you for eternity. I’m gonna haunt you and you know I can bear a grudge for-fucking-ever.”

I open my mouth to tell her that I’d have to be alive for her to haunt me, because I doubt a ghost can haunt another ghost. However the only sound that comes out of my mouth as we cross the empty living room is a surprised shriek as my foot loses traction.

If it wasn’t for Bay’s strong grip, my ass would have met the hardwood floor of my apartment.

“What the fuck—?” I bite out. “There’s something on the floor.”

Bay picks up a red rose petal, holding it between two fingers. “Hmm,” she shows me the petal that almost killed me. “We either have a very romantic burglar, or you’re right that this isn’t a break in.”

I roll my eyes. “I told you so,” but then my curiosity is peaked. “Look, there’s a whole trail of rose petals. And before you ask, I’m absolutely sure there weren’t any rose petals on the floor yesterday when I left.”

Bay bounces on her feet, unable to hide her excitement. “Who could have done this? I LOVE this kind of thing. That’s what made me fall for Topher, he used to do romantic stuff like this for me all the time when we first started dating.”

I bite my tongue.

It’s no mystery that I won’t be joining Topher’s fan club any time soon, but even when the asshole was doing all this shit to win Bay’s heart freshman year, I wasn’t very impressed.

---