Page 60 of Zero Chance

“Yeah.”I shrugged.“So?”

“So?”she countered in outrage.“SoIwas planning to be the one to break it in with Damien.I was just waiting until it was finished.And you just—you snuck in and stole its first booty rights from me, you—you bastard.”

“Geesh, sorry,” I mumbled.“I guess you should’ve jumped him in it sooner.”

Crying out a sound of indignation, she shoved her way to her feet.“You are unbelievable.”And she stormed from the kitchen, muttering obscenities about me as she went.

“And Keene’s pissed off his first female of the day,” Hope announced dryly from where she was slapping a bandage onto my back.“Order has been restored to the universe.”

“Who will be next?”Alec asked with a scandalized sound as if he were commentating a movie.

When he glanced toward Xander and lifted his eyebrows in question, she nodded.“Yeah.Probably me.”

I snorted and sent the whole table of people a short frown before snagging Oaklynn’s abandoned drink and drawing it to my mouth.“Whatever.Like I was supposed to know she wanted to get freaky in the gazebo before I did.”

As I gulped at least half of her cappuccino in one long draw, Alec stated, “I have a feeling she never wanted you to get freaky in her gazeboat all.”

I made a face because that sounded like no fun.

“So how do you plan on finding this mystery girl of yours?”Hope asked as she put the first aid kit back where she’d found it.

“Yeah, did she leave a glass slipper behind for you to go around and try on every fair maiden on campus?”Alec teased, making Xander snort and nearly spit out the drinkshe’djust taken.

“Very funny,” I muttered dryly.

“So she didn’t leave any clue behind at all?”Hope wondered as she returned to the table to slip into the chair Oaklynn had vacated.

“I mean…” Making a face, I tilted my head and answered, “I do have her panties sitting on my desk in my bedroom right now.Should I go around tryingthemon everyone?”

“Eww.No.”Hope grimaced, while Xander pretended to gag.

“Not cool,” Alec agreed with the girls, striking out that idea with a slash of his hands.

“If she wants to be found, I have a feeling she’ll come to you,” Xander predicted.

But I was too impatient to wait for that kind of bullshit.“And if she doesn’t?”

“Because let’s be honest, whywouldshe?”Hope teased with a laughing snort.

“Hey!”I scowled.“Rude.”

“There’s always the tattoo,” Alec spoke up, reminding me of that.

“Oh yeah,” I remembered, lifting my arm to motion to the side of my wrist.“Right here.I saw it when the real Makayla showed up and turned on her phone light.Mystery Girl lifted her hand to block me from seeing her face, and I spotted the tat then.”

“She has a tattoo on her wrist?”Xander croaked, looking almost horrified.

I squinted at her, wondering what that expression was about, even as I answered, “Yeah.It’s an all-black feather.About an inch or two long.”As her eyes grew wider the more I described the tattoo, my own narrowed with suspicion.“Why?Have you seen it on someone?”

“What?”Xander snapped her gaze to me guiltily, only to shake her head with too much vigor.“No.Nope.I can honestly say I’ve never noticed a tattoo like that on anyone before.”

“Then why are you acting like you have?”I asked, grabbing her hand to make a production out of checking either side of her left wrist.

“Oh my God,really?”she asked, lifting her right arm to show me it was free of ink as well.“You think it was me?”

“Well, I don’t know,” I said, even though I actuallydidknow it wasn’t her.“You’re acting weird.”

Alec leaned in her direction to quietly admit, “You are kind of acting weird.”

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