Page 65 of Ice Cold Rival

What I didn’t love was Toby’s continued vendetta against me. His play suffered after he lost the captain position to Reece, and for every bad game, he had three reasons why it was my fault which he broadcast all over social media. I even got a voicemail from my mom scolding me for the way I’d been treating him.

They’d had away games the last few weeks, so I hadn’t seen Toby’s slow implosion personally. Amanda helpfully informed me whenever I went back to the house though.

According to the TU gossip, her and Toby had gotten close over the last month, and I loved that for him. They were perfect for each other since she seemed completely accepting of his constant rotation of other women as long as he came back to her in the end.

By the time Thanksgiving break passed and we moved into December, I had too much going on to worry about petty squabbles. My group project was still in shambles, and we all needed a good grade to pass the class. I couldn’t handle any more time than necessary living at the sorority house, so I couldn’t afford to fail a required course.

Plus, I’d never gotten less than a B in my life. Failure was never an option. Part of me wondered if my group was sabotaging me thanks to my stupid reputation, but they all seemed ambivalent the few times we’d met.

The week our presentation was due, I barricaded myself in my room to bang out the rest of the project. As much as I loved staying with Reece, him and Boo were huge distractions. I figured even if no one else did any work, my presentation would be flawless. Our professor was an understanding lady. I hoped she’d give me full credit for what I’d done.

After two days of delivery and my own stench, I had to take a break. I was almost done—with one day to spare—but I needed coffee to power through. Instead of taking my chances in the kitchen, I picked a close local coffee shop. Sunshine and caffeine would do the trick.

When I got back, I was so lost in my plan for the last section I almost walked right past the two campus security officers in the living room. “Mackenzie Booth?” one of them asked.

I stopped and blinked a couple of times, trying to reorient myself to the scene in front of me. The two men moved forward, revealing Amanda behind them. My heart sank as I watched the three of them approach. Nothing good could come of this.

“Yes?”

“We’re here because we’ve had a complaint of theft, and we need to search your room.”

“No.” I may have been raised as a people pleaser, but I knew my limits. I hadn’t stolen anything, ergo, no need to disrupt me when I just wanted to get the damn project done.

Amanda blocked my path when I turned to go back to my room. “You don’t get a say. Your housing contract allows us full access to your room at any time. The sorority president approved the search.”

I frowned. “Then why are you waiting for me?”

“Courtesy,” she said sweetly.

She gestured for the security personnel to follow her and led them to my room with me trailing after. Normally, I’d be annoyed but accommodating, but with Amanda involved, I considered calling my family’s lawyer.

Campus security weren’t necessarily police, though some of them were. At Easton, the university wanted to handle any complaints in house before they got the actual authorities involved, so I assumed the same here at TU.

They opened my door, and I cringed at the mess inside. Since I hadn’t really been staying here, I hadn’t bothered cleaning much, especially in the last two days. “If something’s missing, isn’t it our house policy to ask if anyone has it or has seen it before escalating?”

Amanda lifted a wadded-up cardigan off the top of my bed with two fingers. “We discussed it at the house meeting you chose not to attend this morning.”

I vaguely remembered a note stuck to my door about the house meeting, but I’d been so focused on the project I’d forgotten it was today. The security officers started sorting through my things.

“I tracked my phone to this location,” she insisted. “And I was wearing the necklace the day my phone disappeared. Kenzie’s jealousy has been a problem all semester. I just never thought she’d resort to stealing.”

What the actual hell? Amanda thought I’d stolen her stuff because I wasjealous?The assertion was so far from reality I could hardly believe she’d said it. Kiki sidled up next to her with a pinched expression.

Amanda leaned against the doorframe as Kiki pulled out her phone and hit a button. A high-pitched tinkling sound came from my dresser. The quiet officer poked through a stack of bras I’d left there, then pulled out a phone in a pink sparkly case followed by a necklace with a gold four-leaf clover pendant.

“Are these yours?” he asked me just as the tinkling sound came again from the phone in his hand.

Amanda rushed forward and took both items from him. “Those are mine.”

I shook my head, a tight ball of anxiety forming in my stomach. “I’ve never seen the necklace before, and the phone is Amanda’s.”

“See, she admits she took them.”

“Whoa,” I held up a hand. “I admit nothing. I recognize your phone because we’ve been living together for months. I didn’t steal anything. You could have left those things in my room at any time.”

The officer who’d spoken before sighed. “Do you keep your door locked?”

“Yes,” I gritted out. “But we have extra keys to all the doors in the office for emergencies.”

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