Page 34 of Learning Curve

“Name.”

“Ace Kelly,” my charismatic roommate says cheerfully, like this isn’t the start of at least ten horror movies.

“Everyone else?” the big, scary dude asks then, his eyes narrowing.

“My friends.”

Baldy’s eyebrows draw together, and then the door slams shut, right in Ace’s face. Blake starts laughing, and Scottie looks at me, her eyes wide in question. I don’t have an answer, so I just shrug.

As Ace turns around to look at us, he appears nervous for the first time. “Nothing to worry about. I’m sure this is just part of the process.”

I nod. “Right.”

Scottie pulls her hand from mine and rubs her hands up and down her bare arms, looking over her shoulder and back up the staircase, our moment gone. “Jules, I think I’m gonna—”

The door slams open again, and the burly dude waves us all in with a frown on his face. Blake, shocked, pats Ace on the shoulder as he follows him in.

I gesture for Scottie to go ahead of me to give her some security now that we’re not holding hands anymore, and she accepts shyly. I work hard not to watch her ass as she walks and, instead, settle for watching the sway of her dark locks as her ponytail moves side to side.

The hallway is dark as we pass the man at the door and proceed inside, and a dingy, metallic smell settles inside my nose. There’s a dull roar of noise up ahead, but no light whatsoever that I can see.

Ace turns the knob to open the solitary door at the end of the hall, and a room full of paint and supplies illuminates. A single bulb is hanging from the ceiling on a small chain, and the sound of something even louder comes through the door on the other side. Ace tries the knob for that door but finds it locked. After a small shrug of anticipation, he does the special knock again, and the door swings open.

Scottie navigates through the piles of paint cans, and I follow behind to bring up the rear.

A girl with long blond hair and startlingly pretty blue eyes stands just inside, a clipboard in her hand and a scowl on her face. She looks a few years older than us and carries the kind of confidence that makes you feel like she’s in charge.

“You’re on my shit list, Ace,” she says in greeting, and immediately, Blake smiles back at me with wild eyes.

“Hey, Lex. Good to see you,” Ace replies, his posture relaxed now that we’ve successfully made it inside.

Her eyes are hard but beautiful as she glances behind Ace and Julia to Blake, Scottie, and me. “I see you took it upon yourself to just…invite people.”

“They’re trustworthy. I swear. Signed a blood contract and everything before I brought them.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fucking hell, you’re always a thorn in my side.” She turns to Julia. “And, you. You should know better than this.”

“Sorry, Lex.” Julia is sheepish but not actually scared. It’s obvious both Ace and Julia know “Lex” in some other capacity than whatever tonight is.

She grabs her clipboard and unlocks the pen from the top of it. “What are their names? I need them.”

Ace points back at me. “Finn Hayes. And in front of him, Scottie Bardeaux.”

Blake takes it upon himself to step up and hold out a hand toward Lex like a true gentleman. “I’m Blake Boden.”

She glances down at his hand and then back up at his face before averting her attention away from him entirely and speaking to everyone. “You have to sign an NDA. Give fingerprints. And if any of you talk about Double C to anyone, I’ll make sure they never find your bodies.”

“You gonna murder us, Lex? Won’t that make the family cookouts a little awkward?” Ace teases, and she glares at him. He holds up both hands. “Got it. First rule of Double C is don’t talk about Double C.”

She pulls out a cell phone and opens an app, flipping over Ace’s hand and scanning his fucking fingerprint. His eyes go wide as she shows it to him.

“I can put this anywhere I want if I need to. Understand me?”

Holy shit, who is this girl?

Ace nods, a dutiful puppy on the leash of his owner. Still, he’s also him, so he has a comment.

“Did you rob the FBI or some shit? How the hell do you have a thing that scans fingerprints, Lexi?”

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