Page 86 of Allure

"I told you," Dawn huffs. "He's off-limits."

“Hey, I’m not trying to steal him away from Brooke. I just want to know if they were grappling a little extra.” Kaylie winks at me.

“Guys, this is really sweet. You didn’t have to do all of this.”

“She’s changing the subject,” Kaylie says in a loud whisper. “You know what that means. Either they did sleep together, or else she wishes they had and they didn’t.”

“Or maybe you shouldn’t worry so much about who is sleeping with who,” Eliza says.

“Fine.” Kaylie huffs a sigh.

Dawn points out the food options. They’re all healthier versions, like cookies high in protein, stuff like that. I dutifully have a cookie, wishing I could be more appreciative, but I’m so damn exhausted. I’m drained. The high I felt after teaching the class has fled, leaving me entirely drained.

Dawn and Eliza start to talk, and Kaylie saddles up to me. Great, she probably wants more details, and I don’t want to talk about Declan. Maybe another time, but not tonight.

“So… did you know that I used to train at Rumble Dojo?” she asks.

“You did? Why did you stop?”

“To focus on my senior year of high school and now to concentrate on my first semester, maybe first year of college. If I can handle everything and get good grades, I’ll return.”

“What belt level are you?”

“Purple.”

“Oh, wow. Why didn’t you say anything before?” I make a face. “Seriously, I could’ve used you as my dummy to help with figuring out techniques to teach for the class!”

“I’m no dummy,” she says dryly, “and besides, you clearly had things covered with Declan’s help.”

“Yes, well…” My head is spinning.

“He must think you’re really special,” Kaylie says. “I never thought he would date another student.”

“Another student?” My heart pounds in my chest. “He dated another student before? What happened?”

Kaylie grimaces. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything, and since he saw me there tonight, he’ll know it came from me if you go to him with specifics, but… you should talk to him, okay? But hear him out. He is a good guy, and from the way he was staring at you, he thinks you’re the jelly to his peanut butter.”

“More like he’s the jelly,” I mumble.

She giggles, her hand on her chest. “Oh, that’s a riot! Declan’s jelly. Yeah, I bet you turn him all jelly inside.”

“Do you ever stop?” I ask her.

“Not unless I have to.” She winks before turning serious. “You did a great job. You should be proud of yourself. Does your mom know?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Some of the news coverage about it mentioned I was a victim of the mugger, and I would really rather her never find out about that.”

“Good luck with that,” she mutters. “If your mom is anything like mine, she’ll find out because she has a way of finding out everything.”

I smile wanly. That’s the last thing I need.

Eliza’s the one to pick up on how quiet and tired I am, and she practically drags Kaylie through the bathroom to their room. Dawn tells me not to worry about cleaning up, that she would get it in the morning.

“Are you okay?” she asks me as we climb into our beds.

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