A foreboding sense started building in me. “Oh, no…”
“‘Oh, no,’ is right. His car was stolen. Everything he had was gone. We ended up wiring more money to him once he did a report and got to his dorm room. I had the airplane tickets booked, and we were packing to fly to him when he called last night. The cops found his car, and some of his stuff was still there. As soon as we’re back from the Bahamas, we’re going right to his place and making sure he has everything he needs. That boy is going to be the death of me, I swear.” A wistful sigh left her. “But I’ll be damned if I couldn’t love him any more than I do. I feel like I’m bursting with pride with the two of you, even with Mark’s mishap.”
I grinned. Some of that happiness I heard from her was contagious. I made a mental note to let Logan know about Mark’s adventure. Mark would wish the next family holiday wouldn’t happen because of all the teasing he’d endure.
“Okay. Your father is motioning for me. If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the horseback riding on the trail.” She whispered into the phone, “And your father wants to miss that, but no way, honey, I won’t let that happen. I need to get that stud on another stud just so I can take a picture and Instagram that back to Fallen Crest. You know how much ribbing he’s going to get about that one?” She ended with a hurried, “I’m so excited! Bye, Sammy. I love you!”
Sammy.
I was slightly stunned as she hung up, and the dial tone started in my ear. I didn’t remember if I’d said good-bye back or not, but she’d called me Sammy.
I was still sitting there, hearing that name on repeat, when Summer cleared her throat.
Her head poked around the door. “Uh, sorry.” She winced, and her eyes fell on the receiver now blaring in my hand. “Oh, good. You’re done. Uh…I have to warn you about something.”
“What?”
She slipped in and shut the door with a soft click behind her. Her hands remained behind her back, still on the door handle. “Kitty and Nina are camped out at the end of the hallway. They’ve asked me four times when I think you might be heading for class. After last night, they’re in love with Logan Kade, and it’s sad to say, but that made them your personal stalkers.” She rolled her eyes. “I told them you don’t have class until lunch, but they don’t believe me. I think they’re going to wait you out and do the thing where you have to walk with them to your class—you know, where they’re super friendly, so friendly that you’d be completely rude to even try to ditch them.” She shuddered, one corner of her lip curving up. “Such beginners. If only I could school them better, they’d be proper stalkers.”
She laughed. “Just kidding. For real, but, uh…” She cleared her throat. “We need to come up with a plan so those two are distracted while you slip down the back hallway door. They really should have one positioned in the lobby and the other by the back door. It only locks from the outside, and the alarm’s not turned on during the day.”
“What?”
She clapped her hands together. “Exactly. Operation Distract and Dash needs to commence…” She looked at my pajamas. “Whenever you’re dressed, that is.”
Summer went past the two girls, who really were camped out by the doorway. Nina was holding her backpack in her lap while Kitty had a strand of hair pulled over her face. She was furiously picking at it. Summer strolled past them and pretended to trip over Nina’s feet. Kitty didn’t seem impressed, so Summer spied the water bottle next to her and somehow lunged for it, knocking that to the ground, too.
I waited as both girls got up. Nina helped Summer while Kitty grabbed her water bottle before it fell down the rest of the stairs.
It was my time.
Both were distracted, and I slipped down the back stairs. I went all the way down and through the back door. Summer was right. A girl soared through the door two seconds before I hit the last set of stairs. No alarm sounded, so I went outside.
I was waiting by the bike rack as Summer came out, laughing. She was barely holding on to her coffee cup, which she’d told me she was going to refill in Ruby’s room right before activating Operation Distract and Dash.
She had a second cup for me and shook her head, tsking under her breath. “Logan was not enough of a dick to put those two off. I think he only cemented that they both want to marry him. What will Nate think? Kitty loved him first.”
“I think Nate will sleep just fine at night.”
“You never know. She could’ve been the love of his life.” Summer sped forward as we began walking toward the classroom buildings and turned around so she was walking backward. She wiggled her eyebrows. “What if Kitty actually is the girl he’s meant to be with? I mean, who knows? He could end up going down the completely wrong lane in life. Do you believe in stuff like that?”