Page 58 of The Wrong Bachelor

“Right.” Like I cared about that.

“We’re going to need to meet after school to discuss tonight.”

“What about it?”

Angus’ enthusiasm waned. It seemed like he was only just beginning to get that I wasn’t as happy as he was about the show’s success. “We need to come up with a game plan to keep people watching. We’ll have to be smart about who you eliminate from now on.”

“I thought I got to choose,” I replied.

“Well, you do,” Angus said. “But we should still talk about it. We don’t want you getting rid of anyone who has high entertainment value.” Angus’ eyes flicked in Laurie’s direction and I sighed. She was the last person I wanted to keep around after the stunt she had pulled on Friday night.

“I’m not keeping her,” I hissed, only loud enough for Angus to hear.

“Look, she doesn’t need to be your final choice,” Angus said. “But she’s one of the most interesting people to watch.”

“So?”

“So, I thought you were doing this to help raise money for the fire victims. The more entertaining the show, the more donations we receive.”

I scowled at Angus. We’d always gotten along fine, but right now he was pushing me close to the edge. “I’ll think about it,” I said.

Angus grinned and slapped me on the shoulder, like he’d gotten what he wanted. “You do that,” he said. He stood from his chair and looked down at me. “I’ll be at your house early tonight to discuss the ceremony and the dates for this week.”

“Whatever.” I turned from him and scanned the room to see if Madi had appeared while I’d been distracted. She still wasn’t in the cafeteria though, and the longer I went without seeing her, the angrier I became. I was going to kill whoever was behind the graffiti on her locker.

My gaze flickered to Jake. He was eating his lunch; or trying to. It looked a little tricky as Laurie threw herself at him. She was currently pawing at his arm and looking up at him like he was the only guy in the world. At least, she was until she caught me watching and sent a wink my way.

I ignored her, but Jake didn’t seem to mind her attention. He actually looked like he was enjoying it, and I was somewhat glad that Madi wasn’t around to see her ex-boyfriend behaving that way.

I watched Jake, hoping to see any hint of guilt or remorse, but he seemed completely at ease as he sat at the table. I wanted it to be him. I wanted an excuse to prove to Madi that Jake wasn’t good enough for her. I couldn’t imagine him writing those things on her locker though. He was an idiot, and Madi could do better, but he wasn’t that vindictive or cruel.

“What’s crawled up your ass?” Tanner asked, taking a seat next to me. “I haven’t seen you look this pissed since we lost that game to Westbrook last season.”

“I’m fine,” I said bluntly, not wanting to admit the reasons I was in such a bad mood. Tanner was still watching me closely though so I stuffed another forkful of food in my mouth in the hopes he’d leave me alone.

“You’re angry about Madi’s locker this morning, right?” he asked. Clearly, he didn’t get the hint that I didn’t want to talk. Although he was probably just too stubborn to care.

“Yeah,” I finally caved. “Any chance you know who did it?”

“Nah, I’ve got no idea,” Tanner said, leaning back in his chair. “Not cool, though. Not cool.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, scowling down into my bowl of spaghetti.

Tanner patted me on the back. “I’ll ask around; see if we can find the culprit.”

“Thanks, man,” I said, looking over at him. Knowing Tanner, he’d probably have it figured out by the end of the day. As I looked at him, I noticed Teagan get up from her table on the other side of the cafeteria. She looked like she was on a mission as she hurried to the exit.

“I’ll catch you later, Tanner,” I said, before pushing up from my chair and taking off after Teagan.

“Hey,” I called, catching up with her.

“Oh, hey Cole,” she replied, smiling at me. She always looked angelic, but her smile was what really knocked guys out.

“I was hoping you might know where Madi is. I didn’t see her at lunch,” I said.

She gave a small and genuine laugh. “I thought that might be why you couldn’t keep your eyes off our table today. Evan was convinced that maybe his charms were starting to work on you.”

“Ah, I might have to have a talk with Evan. I don’t want to break his heart.”

---