Page 9 of Smolder

I’d question why she didn’t have a car, but from the looks of her house, I assumed she couldn’t afford it. Another thing Dancastle Junior could have given her easily.

When she turned onto the Howison College campus, I was surprised. There were no records about her attending any college, much less an elite private one. This was an expensive college. The Vespa was out of place with the luxury vehicles packing the parking lots.

I hadn’t gone over all Merce’s information like I should have. Maybe this was where he attended.

When she parked, I did the same but several rows over from her. She seemed oblivious to anything else happening around her. Someone should talk to her about paying attention to her surroundings. I began trailing her as she made her way toward a science building.

Instead of going inside, she stopped by a large oak tree and leaned back against it before digging into the worn crossbody bag she was wearing. I tried not to focus too much on the way the strap pushed her tits up, revealing a distracting cleavage. I wasn’t here to lust, even if her ass looked fantastic in those jeans.

A guy slowed down close to her, and she pulled out some papers, then held them out for him. He snatched them quickly to tuck into his backpack. The grin on his face as he spoke to her was annoying. His gaze dropped to her tits as he reached out his hand toward her again. The money that he tried to slyly slide into her palm before pulling his hand away and tucking it into his front pocket made this even more interesting.

Had he just paid her for the papers she’d handed him? There wasn’t any other reason for the transaction.

Puzzled, I tried to move in closer.

Two more guys stopped by after that one left, and the exact same process played out. She handed over papers, and they slipped her cash. I couldn’t see what was on those papers, but we were on a college campus, which led me to believe that she was either selling them answers to tests or doing their actual assignments.

It seemed pool wasn’t her only hustle. She could very easily be writing their papers or essays. I’d seen her high school GPA, which had gotten her full-ride offers to several universities.

When the last guy walked away, she started back to the sidewalk and headed down to another building. I stayed where I was until she slowed and turned. Keeping my eyes on her, I followed until I saw her go inside a history building.

What was she doing in there? She didn’t go to school here. I was positive she wasn’t enrolled. That wasn’t something that Wilder would have missed. I assumed she was just here to hand out papers and get paid.

I waited several minutes, and she didn’t emerge, so I debated on going inside to check on her. I had been planning on following her to the pool hall to “run into” her again.

Was she going into classes? Possibly sitting in on them? But why would she go sit in a class she got no credit for? Just to write papers for others? That seemed like a living hell. There were better ways to make money. From what I knew of her, it seemed more likely that she was hacking into the system and getting test answers to sell.

Before I reached the door, I decided going inside was too risky. I didn’t want her to know I was stalking her. That would mess things up. Instead, I went over to find a spot to sit in the shade, keeping me partially hidden from view.

Double-check that Royal isn’t enrolled at Howison College.

I sent the text to Wilder. He’d probably be insulted that I was questioning, him but I had to know.

She’s not. But give me a minute, and I’ll break into their system and check the records.

He was never wrong. And I knew that, but if she was going into college classes, then, well, it was gonna fucking change the way I was trying to look at her. I’d tried to focus on her being several things. A con artist, a liar, drug dealer, but not someone who wanted to learn even if they didn’t get credit for it. That required something more, and I didn’t want her to have it. Not if she was going to let me down in the end.

She is not in their enrollment, but the boyfriend is. I’ve already given you that information though. If she’s on campus, it’s to see him. You need to stay on that. See what they are doing.

No shit. That was why I was here. But he was right, I had to go inside.

I am.

Sticking my phone back in my pocket, I headed for the entrance to the history building. If she was in there with Merce, then it would make sense. I had been letting my hidden hopes that she wasn’t what we thought she was start to take over. Maybe Dad should have sent Wells. I clearly couldn’t look past her looks to keep focused on her actions.

The inside of the old building smelled like pine and lemon. I looked around, and the halls were empty, but there were several closed doors. This was just the first floor. I was going to have to check every fucking room until I found her. I should have followed her inside. Luckily, most doors had a window to see inside. I started with those.

When I reached the end of the hall, I hadn’t found Royal, but I did find a lecture hall. There were hundreds of people inside, and it went up to the second floor with an entry up there as well. I stepped back and headed for the stairs I’d passed earlier. She’d been in the building for almost thirty minutes at this point, and I knew I had at least forty-five minutes left before classes started to let go. The second floor was similar to the first, but had fewer doors with viewing windows.

I slowly opened the door to the lecture hall and slipped inside, staying against the back wall to scan the place without being noticed. It didn’t take me long to spot the familiar blonde head, as she sat near the back on the opposite side, writing in a notebook with a serious expression as the professor continued to speak.

Every few minutes, she’d pause and glance up, appearing to be entranced by whatever the man was saying about Colonial America before going back to her note-taking. She looked like a student. One who was diligently trying to get all the information she could. There was no sign of Merce. She wasn’t sitting near any guy at all for that matter.

Taking a seat where I had a direct view of her, I decided to stay and watch.

One hour and thirty minutes later, she walked out of the door closest to her. She didn’t speak to anyone, nor did she notice the heads that turned to watch her when she passed. I followed her to the mass communications building, and I let a few people go in behind her before I, too, went inside. She was entering a class when I spotted her, and I decided to stay back and wait out here this time. I paid close attention to everyone else who also went inside the room, but none of them were Merce. Once the hallway emptied out, I headed back outside and found a less obvious location so that I could watch the door.

Dancastle has a Political Theory class in two hours.

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