His eyes danced with unabashed merriment. “I’m kidding!”
“I’m going to get my best friend to kick your ass for leading me on like this,” I told him, scrambling out of his arms and standing next to the bed.
“Well then I’m going to get my girlfriend to kick your ass. And she’s on the dance team so she’ll kick the shit out of you.”
I burst out laughing. “What?” I put my hands on my hips. “Complete honesty… you don’t think I can fight?”
“I’ve never seen you fight, but I think you could handle yourself.”
I made a face. “So, what was that kick comment about?”
“I don’t know if you have hands, but I know you have kicks.”
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. I dropped back on the bed and placed my hands on my belly. It felt like I did a thousand sit-ups. “I hate you.”
He kissed all over my face. “Do you still hate me?”
I peeked at him through my lashes. “Maybe.” I puckered my lips and waited until I felt his meet mine. “No.” He kissed me again. “I love you.”
“Mmm…” He rolled me on top of him and kissed me again. “I love hearing you say that.”
“I know what you’re trying to do, and I need to go wash my hair,” I giggled as I felt his dick pressing against me.
“I’ll let you go under one condition,” he bargained with me.
“And what’s that?”
“I want you to be my girl—”
I recoiled, rolling off him. “Your girl? You’re moving a little fast, aren’t you?”
“What can I say?” He smirked. “When you know, you know.”
I wanted to say something smart, but as I looked in his eyes, I knew there was nothing but forever for us. My cheeks heated.
“Since we’re together now, you know that means what’s mine is yours?” I pointed out. I gave him one final kiss before getting out of the bed.
“Don’t touch my strawberry milkshake, Brook,” he chuckled. “I’m not playing with you.”
I walked out the room. “It’s like both of ours.”
“I’m not playing with you!”
I went to the bathroom to shower and wash my hair. As I was doing a hot oil treatment, I called Kim. She didn’t answer but she called me back a few minutes later.
“Hey, I’m sorry I missed your call last night,” I said as soon as I answered. “Are you okay?”
“There’s a lot of stuff going on,” Kim whispered.
Her tone made my hair stand on end. “What’s going on? Kim, what’s wrong?”
“Olive is missing.”
I gasped. “What do you mean Olive is missing?”
“I talked to her on the way to your place. I called her on the way to the police station and she didn’t answer. I’ve been calling her since Monday, and she hasn’t answered or called me back.”
I started pacing. “Have you been to the house?”
“I dropped by and no one answered the door. All the cars were there though.”
I stopped in my tracks and squeezed my eyes shut. “Shit.”
“Yeah. I’m thinking they either know about Trevor or they know I went to the police.”
“Have you talked to Trevor?”
“Not since I broke things off with him on Monday. I figured his dad was going to find out about my statement and I didn’t want any contact with Trevor after he found out about it,” she explained.
“That makes sense.” I started pacing again. “Thank you for going to the police.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that. It was the right thing to do. And besides, even if budget cuts dissolved the UFIT Dancing Divas, we still have to stick together.”
I smiled. “You’re right about that.” I paused. “I feel like none of this would’ve ever happened if they didn’t dissolve the Divas. We wouldn’t be involved with any of this… or any of them.”
“I was thinking about that, too!” she exclaimed. “This whole thing is too much. And now that Olive is gone…”
“Do you think something happened to her?” I speculated uneasily.
“Yes. The PROs are the stereotypical arrogant, entitled assholes that everyone knows them to be. But the cheerleader set you up for arson and then lied to the police. I think they are the dangerous ones. And all it would take was for Olive to corroborate what we told the police for their entire lie to fall apart. I was worried about her staying there with them. She was worried about still staying there! And now… I don’t know,” she sighed. “I told her to be careful and to watch her back and now she isn’t picking up her phone or returning any messages. She hasn’t posted on social media either.”
“What was her last post?”
“A picture of her the night of the party.”
We were both quiet.
“I know you got the email. We still need to discuss that,” Kim said.
“Yeah.” I suddenly heard people in the background. “Are you heading to class?”
“Yeah, just got out of my car. Are you going to the meeting today?”
“Yes.” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Do you want to talk before or after the meeting?”
“Before. Definitely before.”
“Do you want to come here?” I wondered.
“We can do that,” she agreed. “I’ll be there at eleven.”
We said our goodbyes.
I found Jay sitting in the living room, finishing up homework. He looked up as soon as I sat down on the couch beside him.
“What’s up?” he asked, tapping his pen against his notebook.
“Kim is coming by at eleven.”
“Okay.” He glanced at his work and then back at me. “Cool.”
“I don’t want to disrupt your homework, but I had to tell you this before I finish my hair,” I started.
He
