Page 117 of The Friend Zone

“Who’s saying you won’t?” I say, turning to take his big hand into mine. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think Topher was lying.”

“That would be a first,” Jagger snorts.

“I’m serious, guys. He was actually caring, almost sweet. He just wanted to make sure I was ok.”

Ryker’s tone is cautious. “Not to sound callous, Cinnamon, but don’t you think he might have had an agenda? He’s been trying to get back together with you all year.”

Cole and Ryker voice their agreement, and all of a sudden it’s all too much.

“I don’t think he was,” I offer. “But it doesn’t matter. This night has been a freaking nightmare and my head is pounding.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“What can we do to make you feel better?” Cole asks, worried.

I look at my best friend’s dark blue eyes and I exhale a slow, exhausted breath. “I don’t want to think right now. I just want to get out of this dress, take two painkillers, and snuggle into bed with my boyfriends.”

“That can be arranged.” Ryker murmurs, lowering the zipper of my dress.

Cole walks to my dresser in search of a nightie, but I stop him. “Do you guys mind if rather than wearing one of my pretty nighties, I put on my favorite t-shirt? It’s one of yours, Cole.”

My best friend chuckles. “Really?”

I smile for the first time since we left the Dean’s house. “Yeah. I borrowed it last year. One of those nights I was hiding in your room after a fight with Toph. I took it with me, meaning to wash it and return it, but it was so comfortable that I ended up keeping it.”

His smile widens. “You can have all my t-shirts, if you like sleeping in them. You look hot as fuck in them, anyway.”

Ryker nods. “Yeah, mine too.”

Jagger joins in. “And mine.”

I let my dress slide off my body. “You guys are so generous, thank you. Jagger, could you try to open the top drawer in my nightstand? I keep Cole’s t-shirt in there. There should be some painkillers in there, too.”

“Fuck,” Jagger grunts, struggling to open the drawer. “We never remembered to try to fix it after we couldn’t get the lube yesterday.”

I giggle. “We got a little… distracted. And then we were all too tired to care.”

He shoves, jiggling the handle in a way that makes the entire nightstand shake. “I hate this antique furniture. Smooth opening drawers are one of those small modern inventions that make me want to torch everything old. Like this stupid nightstand.”

I can’t help but find his frustration a little funny. “I don’t disagree. Topher was obsessed with antiques. All the furniture in this room apparently belonged to his father and his grandfather when they were Gamma presidents and occupied this same suite.”

“We know.” Cole rolls his eyes. “Topher wouldn’t shut up about how much these pieces are worth. Such a fucking show off. Look baby, if that piece of shit won’t budge, I can get you a new t-shirt and painkillers from my room. I won’t be a minute.”

Jagger grunts, pulling harder on the drawer’s handle. “No. Now this is becoming personal. I’ll open this fucking drawer if it takes me all night. If it doesn’t budge, I’ll go buy a fucking axe and make some very fancyantiquefirewood.”

Cole chuckles at his teammate. “Always so stubborn. I could go downstairs and find a screwdriver or something we could jam into to pry that drawer open. It might scuff the wood a little, but it’s better than chopping it up. I don’t want to deal with Topher if we destroy his priceless heirloom.”

“Ooh, wait.Wait.” Jagger grunts, his foot pressed against the bottom drawer for leverage. “I think it’s about to give. Shit!”

The drawer opens suddenly with such violence that it flies out of Jagger’s hand.

All the items inside it, including a couple of my favorite t-shirts and panties, scatter everywhere and the drawer itself crashes on the floor.

“Oh, no.” I gasp, noticing that it broke.

The bottom of the drawer is split open. “Wait,” Cole says. “Is that some kind of secret compartment?”

Cole is right. Some stuff fell out of the bottom, but if we look inside the drawer, the bottom part of it still looks intact. The inside is a false bottom by the look of it. There’s a hole in the real bottom part and that’s where some items have fallen out from.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Ryker picks up what looks like a flash drive stick.

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