Page 6 of Tutor With Benefits

“Ever since that prank you pulled on my sister at that party last year, I don’t give a damn how professional I am to you. Besides, my supervisor isn’t here today, so if I hurt your macho feelings, it’s your word against mine.”

“God, you are such a sweet thing, you know that?” Zach asks, biting the inside of his cheek. “You know, I really am sorry about that prank, I have been trying to find the words to express that.”

“But today, we were wondering if you could help us,” I cut in, seeing that this isn’t going anywhere.

“With?”

“We’re looking for Tori Singer,” I say. “Do you know where we can find her?”

“Yeah.”

The three of us wait, and Haley continues to stare at us with her wide eyes.

“Well,” I continue after a moment of silence, “would you please tell us where she is?”

“Why?”

“We need to ask her a favor,” Taylor says.

“What?”

“Does it matter?” Zach asks, but I now elbow him in the ribs to keep him quiet. The last thing we need is for him to pop off at the one person who has come the closest to being able to help us so far.

“It’s something to do with a project we’re working on together,” I lie. “We didn’t get her number or anything earlier, and now we have to talk to her about it before it’s due. I’m sure even with how much you hate Zach, you don’t want Tori to get a shit grade because we weren’t able to reach her, do you?”

Haley debates for a moment, then she asks, “What’s in it for me?”

“For the love of God,” Zach mutters.

Taylor doesn’t hesitate. He slaps a fifty dollar bill on the table.

“You can have that whole thing if you just tell us where we can find her,” he says. “That’s all we need.”

“She’s Anna Baker’s roommate,” Haley says.

She picks up the bill and puts it in her back pocket, then stares at us.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Zach mutters, clearly loud enough for Haley to hear.

I’m surprised she’s Anna’s roommate, however.

Anna tends to be the life of the party whenever she’s around, and she’s a lot of fun. She’s pretty much the exact opposite of her roommate. But, that also doesn’t help us very much. I know Anna and I know a lot of places to find her, but I don’t know where she lives.

With a deadline looming, I don’t want to have to go hunting for her now.

“Where do they live?” I ask. “Never have gotten to know Anna well enough to find that out.”

“Not even with the way your tongue was down her throat at that last party?” Haley asks.

“We didn’t leave together,” I say.

Zach slaps another fifty on the table. “There! Address, please!”

Haley smirks as she picks up that bill, too, and spouts off the address we need.

“Don’t know if she’s going to be there, and I don’t have her number,” she added. “But that’s where she lives.”

“Thank you,” Zach spits. “Jesus Christ.”

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