Page 100 of No One Else

“I-” He shakes his head. “I have to go.”

“Don’t give up on me,” I call out after him as he walks away. I let him go, not dwelling on any of the last ten minutes, focusing instead on my next plan of attack. Otherwise, I’ll fall to pieces right here outside of the math building.

It’s time to pay Carter a visit.

***

“IDON’T LIKE THIS,Natalie,” Eden whispers, parking her car in front of the Kappa Delta Phi fraternity house.

“You have nothing to worry about. You’re just the getaway driver.”

“Getaway driver?” she hisses. “Are you robbing them?”

“No. I’m taking back what’s mine.”Evan.

“What if someone sees me out here? What if they question me? What do I say?” She starts wheezing, working herself up, and I calmly turn to face her from the passenger seat, settling my hands on her shoulders.

“Nothing will happen to you. If it makes you feel better, drive down to the end of the block and park there. Or just keep driving for a while and I’ll call you when I need you. I really appreciate you helping me out.” Sure, I could have walked, but I want to be able to escape fast in case Carter’s angry, and it’s a good twenty minute jog back to my dorm.

“Yeah,” she nods distractedly, staring out the window like some frat boy thug will pop out of the bushes and beat us off with a stick.

I take a moment to grin at her. “Have you ever done anything like this before?”

She finally glances at me. “Um, no.”

“Think of it as an adventure.”

“Adventure. Yes, I’ll do that,” she whispers to herself, repositioning her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

“Keep hanging around me and Samantha and you’ll be involved in your own shenanigans soon enough.”

She weakly chuckles and I unbuckle my seatbelt, opening the door. “See you in a little bit.”

Talking Eden down off the ledge oddly calms me down too. This is just an adventure. My entire future with Evan doesn’t completely ride on what I’m about to do next. Everything important to me isn’t at stake right now.

I’ve compartmentalized the scene from earlier with him until it’s a tiny box in my mind. I need to pay full attention to this showdown with Carter. If I think about the pain in Evan’s eyes as he told me how hard it was trying to get over me, the sorrow emanating from him when he said he didn’t trust me anymore... no. Nope. Not thinking about that right now. It’s locked away, there for me to wallow in later if this next part doesn’t go to plan.

I walk right into the house, knowing they never lock the front door and confidently march up the stairs, avoiding notice from the two guys hanging out in the living room, Cory and Daniel. They’re the goons that usually distracted me whenever I showed up early or unannounced.

I always just assumed they were friendly, but once my eyes were opened, I realized they were really keeping me occupied until whatever girl in Carter’s room could sneak out. I caught girls more than once coming down the stairs half dressed but never thought much of it. There were a lot of playboys that lived here. I wonder if the girls ever felt ashamed at being kicked out his room, if they even cared he had a girlfriend.

It’s only early evening, so I don’t expect a girl to actually be in Carter’s room right now, but how satisfying it would be to catch him in the act. I slowly turn his doorknob, surprised to find it unlocked, and quietly slip in, catching him unaware, reading a book on his bed.

How very unsinister of him.

His eyebrows barely raise, the aloof expression he usually sports in full force. “Here for a quickie?” he asks, setting the book aside on his nightstand.

Yeah, he wishes. “Oh, Olivia isn’t doing it for you then?”

“I told you, I’m not seeing her anymore.”

“Then why do I have a picture here of her grinding on your lap, her mouth hoovered to your neck?” I hold up my phone with the image on the screen, waving it at him. “You appear to be enjoying it pretty well.”

His eyebrows furrow down, no longer disinterested. “What are you talking about?”

“You mean you don’t recognize the party at Sigma Chi a few weeks ago?”

He springs off the bed in a quick motion, grabbing the phone out of my hand and stares at it. “When did... how did... who took this?”

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