Page 145 of Out of Bounds

"Holy shit." Adam whistled. "It’s like the universe wants us to beat this guy’s ass."

King frowned. "Are you sure it’s his room?"

I rapped my knuckles against the wood, unsure if he was even inside.

"Come on in!" a voice bellowed. "Just leave the food on the desk!"

Without any hesitation, I pushed it open. On the desk next to the door, was a couple of scattered posters with the huge, colorful birds on them, the hornbills that Kassie drew all the time.Bird Pants. This was definitely Henry Miller’s room.

King and Adam tried to step inside with me but I shook my head.

"Just wait out there," I muttered.

Inside, the room was humid with steam. Henry was in the middle of the shower and I could hear him turn the water off, probably excited about his breakfast that wasn’t coming yet. This needed to be quick before the delivery guy showed up. I gently pressed the door back to its place and stood by the desk. His phone was charging on the outlet.

Footsteps followed from the bathroom and he walked out in a t-shirt and shorts, covered in dark stains from barely drying off. He stopped halfway in the room, finally connecting the dots that I stood right in front of him, and his eyes bulged from his head.

"What the…?"

"Hello." I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I—what—”

"You didn’t treat my girlfriend correctly and I want to see that fixed."

Purple splotches spread across his face as he struggled to regain composure. His eyes shot between me and the door and back to me again. He cleared his throat. "Whoever the hell you think I am, you’ve got the wrong man. You’ve got the wrong room."

"You’re Henry Miller."

He paled and pulled a one-eighty.

"Whatever she said, I said—I—sometimes, people drink. I have a beer. I forget my place, it happens, okay? It happens. There’s no reason to—there’s no—" He wet his lips and his eyes darted back to the door. "I’m sorry, okay? I’m—"

"She’s not here right now. And she’s the one that needs an apology."

"Anapology?"

"You’ll have to email it."

"Email?" Henry started hyperventilating. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"You’re going to write an apology."

"So someone couldscreenshot it?"

"I don’t know what that is," I said.

"How do you not know what a fucking screenshot is?!Shit—and what happens if I call the police?! Huh?! What fucking happens then?!"

I held up his phone from the charger and the blood completely drained out of his face.

"Just tell Bailey I’m sorry!"

I frowned. "I’m not here for Bailey."

"Who—Melissa? Laura?" The man did a double-take and his eyes lit up in brief recognition. "I know you—you’re the football player—the Romans—it’s that girl! That college girl! The high school jailbait!" Whatever look I had on my face made him suck in a hard breath. "Can’t we come to an understanding here? She wasn’t even upset!"

"And you’ll make sure she’s not upset when you write thatapology."

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