Page 16 of Replay
FALCON: Maybe this is the sign that you aren’t meant to be with her.
RIGGS: They’re meant to be. We just need an angle to work against this guy.
FALCON: Good luck. He’s a superstar hockey player.
ME: He’s the exact opposite of me.
FALCON: Exactly. Which means you aren’t what she’s looking for.
RIGGS: No, it means she’s trying her hardest to get over him.
ME: Rig gets it.
FALCON: You both are nuts.
ME: I need dirt. I told her she has a week to dump him or else.
FALCON: Or else what? You sound like an obsessive ex.
RIGGS: Obsessed and possessive. You need a counter attack instead of forcing her hand.
ME: I sound in love. And I already have a plan. I need that dirt though, Fal.
FALCON: I am a thousand miles away. I have very limited resources, but I’ll scour his socials one more time.
RIGGS: I’ll hit up my girl. She's on the hockey team with your girl so she probably has an inside scoop.
ME: I thought it was your friend’s cousin?
RIGGS: Tomato, Potato.
FALCON: That doesn’t even make sense.
FALCON: Just keep your stalker energy to a minimum for now.
ME: …
Throwing my phone on the bed, I ignore the few more texts that come in. I have a plan for today and at least I can startputting things into action while I wait for Riggs to get ahold of his friend. Falcon is right about only being able to do so much, but I trust his dive into social media. He’s like a private detective sometimes. Plus, I let him run my social pages and rarely if ever do I touch my own accounts. The fan accounts became too much after my freshman year in Texas and I let Falcon take over as soon as he could.
Feeling restless and needing to burn some energy, I throw on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt before grabbing my running shoes and air pods. The campus is just coming to life by the time I’m done with my three miles and I make it back to the apartment right as Riggs is heading out for class.
“Hey, I’m meeting with Isla before class. She said she could help us,” he tells me as he grabs his bag.
My brow lifts. “She's just willing to help?”
His shoulders shrug. “She went to high school with your girl’s bestie. And she plays hockey with her now. Plus, she knows a few of the other players on the men’s team from high school.”
I nod, hoping he isn’t putting too much trust in this girl. I know he talks to her because he’s close to her cousin, but I’ve never met her. As if sensing my thoughts, Riggs closes the front door so no one can hear us.
“Remember at prom and the friend I called to get that Carter kid to get the jet ready?”
“Yeah.” I nod and my mind goes back to the morning after Emmarys's prom when I barely escaped before my grandfather found out.
“Isla was that friend. She knows Carter and was able to get him to help. She’s good people. And she has the knowledge about your girl,” he assures me, and I feel some of the tension leave my shoulders.
“I trust you,” I acknowledge, and Riggs reaches over to bump my fist before he heads out the door.
After a quick glance at my phone, I jump in the shower and wash away my run before dressing for class. I never take the eight in the morning classes, deciding not to set myself up for failure, so I have time to grab breakfast before my first class. Conveniently, the room is across the quad where a few of the guys from the hockey team are hanging out. I keep my eye on them for the majority of the class and whenheshows up and sits down next to them, the next part of my plan just became so much easier.
