Page 55 of Zero Chance

“Yeah,” Xander agreed with a wrinkle of her nose.“I know what you mean.He’s like a sweet and charming…sleaze bucket.”

I laughed.“Exactly.”

Xander laughed with me before groaning.“Oh my God.”She wiped a hand over her face.“You did stuff withKeenetonight.My entire world has stopped making any sense at all, I swear.But seriously…” Dropping her hands, she leaned toward me in earnest.“What exactly did y’all do together?And was he actually any good at it?”

I stared at her for a moment in silence as my face grew hot.

Reading my expression, she fell back on the bed, crying, “No!This is awful.He’s not supposed to have the actual moves to back up all that bragging he does.He’s supposed to absolutely suck at everything sexual.Waverly!This isn’t even fair.”

“Sorry, but he was really,reallygood at it,” I admitted with an apologetic cringe.“It was the best night of my life,” I swore before shrugging.“Until he found out I wasn’t the girl hethoughtI was.”

“Wait.”Xander sat upright in alarm.“He figured it out?Heknowsit was really you?”

I shook my head.“No.I mean, not who I am,” I said.“Just that I’m not…Makayla, or whatever her name was.She interrupted us, which kind of clued him into the fact that I wasn’t her.”

“Holy shit.”She shook her head.“But wait.How does he still not know whoyouare?Didn’t he try to turn on a light or?—”

“I kicked him between the legs and ran before he could see me.”

Xander gaped badly before she clapped her hands and blurted out a hearty laugh.“Oh my God.That is priceless.I love it.You’re amazing, Frankie.So freaking amazing.”

“I’m awful,” I muttered.

Keeping her hands clasped together, she pressed them to her chin and said, “No.This is awesome.It might’ve been totally different if it weren’t Keene.But itwasKeene, so…” She shrugged.“I know he’d be okay with it.He’d be…” Voice dying, she blinked at me and grew solemn.“He just helped you get over a big step in your healing process, didn’t he?”she realized.

A lump formed in my throat as I nodded.

“Wow,” she whispered.“And you’re—you’re okay?You’re seriously okay?I mean, he didn’t do anything that—he didn’t trigger anything?”

I shook my head slowly.“No.He really didn’t.It was—it was nice,” I said.“It was better than nice.”

Sudden tears glittered in her eyes.“That’s wonderful,” she murmured.“Oh.I suddenly want to hug him right now.”

Flushing, I admitted, “I want to do a lotmorethan hug him right now.”

Snickering, she nudged my arm.“Look at you.You dirty-minded girl.I love it.Now tell me everything.I want all the details.”

When I bit my lip hesitantly, she lifted her eyebrows.“You do realize he’s going to be blabbing about this toeveryonetomorrow, don’t you?”When I groaned, she nodded.“Keene isallabout the kiss and tell.Either you tell me now or I’m going to hear about it throughout the entire weekend from him.”

Deflating, I said, “Okay.”And I proceeded to spill everything.

12

KEENE

Isearched for my mystery girl for the rest of the night, but she managed to evade me.

After losing her trail outside, I returned to Archer House, and I swear I checked the wrist of every girl at the party, but none of them had a feather tattoo on the side.She must not have returned to the scene of the crime after our merry chase down the sidewalk.

I wasn’t really surprised.

Frustrated and exhausted, I helped Damien, Oaklynn, and Alec shuffle the last die-hard stragglers out the door at nearly three in the morning.We did a quick sweep-through, picking up trash and empty bottles before calling it a night.

Xander returned home, walking in the front door just as we were finishing.

“Where the hell haveyoubeen, young lady?”I asked, my gaze going to the side of her wrist out of habit now, even though I knew there was no way it was Xander.She was too tall, her breasts were too big, and her curves were too curvy to be my mystery girl.

“Because if you went off and hooked up with someone,” I went on, “I hope you made sure to use protection.I know it’s been a while for you, and you’ve probably forgotten all the mechanics of—what the hell?”

---