Page 68 of Her Devil

TWENTY-ONE

NICK

Iwas expecting it to be laughter that alerted us to them getting back, not the irritated slamming of doors and the loud thundering of feet on the stairs.

“What the…” Taylor says, pausing the episode as the three of us head to the doorway to find out what the hell all the commotion is about.

“Wyatt, you’re a techie, right?” Jasper asks from halfway up the stairs. “Any good at hacking?”

“Depends on what you need, when, and why?” he replies cryptically.

“Someone messed with Olly’s girl. He’s got a plan, but we need a list of the male-only apartments on campus. Do you reckon you’re up to the task?”

“Who the fuck is Olly’s girl?” I ask quietly, clearly having missed something important.

“What kind of messed with?” Taylor asks, ignoring me completely.

“The kind that’s going to end up messy,” he replies. “Are you up to this or not?” he repeats, looking at Wyatt.

“Of course.” He steps out, following Jasper up the stairs as Taylor and I loiter awkwardly in the doorway, watching the rest of the guys come and go busily.

“I guess we’d better go find out what the fuck is going on,” I grumble, the two of us heading up the stairs as I search out my brother. No doubt he’ll have the info.

I knock twice as Taylor looks down the corridor, waiting for Jacob’s reply before letting myself in.

“What the hell did we miss?” I ask, shoving him over and dropping onto the bed beside him. “You go for one fucking meal and it’s all-out war or some shit.”

“To be fair, the war talk started before dinner, we just didn’t want to do anything until we had the cover of darkness,” Jacob explains as Taylor pulls out a chair, flipping it around and dropping his arms over the back. “Some guy cornered Stephanie and made her uncomfortable, Oliver’s lost it and is out for blood. He’s down in the gym, attempting to take some of the edge off before we go do this.”

“Who the hell is Stephanie?” I ask.

“She was their Angel at the party,” Taylor says.

“Yeah, and they’ve been texting or whatever since,” Jacob explains. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, and it could have been a lot worse, but it’s upset her and he’s in full-on big, bad protector mode.”

“To be fair, I was really fucking clear about it,” Taylor comments. “If anyone went near Tamsin… heaven fucking help them. And you’d be the damned same if it was Ivy, don’t even try and deny it.”

The rumble that comes from my chest is all the confirmation they need as they look at each other and laugh.

“I didn’t realise so many of you were coupling up,” I muse, wondering what else I’ve been missing, Wyatt’s words from the other day coming back to bite me on the ass. “George and Charlotte, Oliver and Stephanie, you and Tamsin.” I reel them off, looking at Taylor, attempting to work out who and what else I’m missing.

I don’t add that Wyatt thinks he’s going to attempt some kind of claim on Ivy, but the numbers are stacking up and Jacob doesn’t have anyone yet.

“Is Leo still sniffing around my girl?” I ask Jacob. “Do you have your eye on anyone?”

“You’re not going to like the answer to that.” Taylor whistles, raising his eyebrows.

“Look, we’re in this to win it, and I’m not leaving him behind,” I reply, gesturing to Jacob before turning and giving him my complete attention. “You don’t want a girl, fine. Who else is there?”

His eyebrows raise, and I begin to wonder if being so straightforward about it has upset him in some way, until he answers, “Emmerson, Jasper, Leo and Wyatt.”

“Well, Wyatt’s not gay,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “And Leo’s whatever he said the other day, interested in the person, not the package.”

“Oh, he’s interested in someone’s package all right.” Taylor sniggers.

“Fuck off,” Jacob replies with a small smile, amusement flickering over his face. “Emmerson and Penelope looked to be getting on well at the pool this afternoon, and I’m reasonably sure Jasper was quite happy consoling Charlotte whilst entertaining Aimee so… could be struggling.” He grimaces.

Someone knocks on the door twice before it opens, the only remaining anomaly sticking his head around the doorway.

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