CHAPTER TWO
I CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THE DOUBLE DOORS OF the gymnasium were shut before crossing the wood floor to pause in front of my squad.
“Kitten call to order,” I said, clapping. The Smitten Kittens were gathered on the front wooden bleacher, packing up their cheer gear. We’d just finished practice, and I was sweaty and exhausted. But we had business to attend to.
“I need the double scoop. What’s the status report?” I asked Kira, readjusting my ponytail.
“There’s over two hundred numbers on the sim card,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Who would have thought Michael Garnett had so many friends? He’s such a tool.”
“Kira,” I scolded. “Be objective.”
“Sorry.” She shrugged apologetically and then reached into her backpack to pull out a manila folder, setting it on her lap. “I’ve printed out the names, and I’m doing a run-through now. I’ll need another day.”
“Great job, K. I’m totally impressed.”
Leona groaned from the end of the bleacher, and Kira glanced over at her, beaming. Leona rolled her eyes.
“Be nice,” I mouthed to Leona. “Now, what about the webcam?” She adjusted her glasses and looked down, checking her phone for the feed. “Nada. But that’s to be expected, Tess. He seems like a night perv.”
I tsked. The squad had been very judgmental lately. I blamed the fact that we’d caught several of their boyfriends cheating on them in the past three months. Poor things. It was tragic, really.
“I have something,” Izzie announced, twisting a red strand of her hair around a pen.
I nodded to her, wondering if she’d found a crucial piece of evidence in Michael’s MySpace account. We would need at least two forms of cheater tracks to confirm the crime.
Izzie pulled her ruby red lips into a smile and stood up. “Okay, so I was at the mall yesterday, and I saw this totally cute maroon warm-up suit that would be perfect for non-game days!” She bounced on her heels with excitement, eagerly waiting for our response.
I stared at her. The other girls on the squad stopped what they were doing to turn to her. She stayed standing for a minute and then widened her eyes before sitting down on the bleacher. She shrugged and mumbled, “And I found dirty MySpace messages that were placed to Lisa Belgium. She and Michael have been sleeping together for, like, two months.”
“Nice!” Leona called, clapping. “Now we just need the sim card info or the webcam images, and he’s busted! Get me all the files so I can draft the report and submit it for Tessa’s approval.”
The girls started congratulating each other, happy to have uncovered another cheater, but I felt my face drain of color. Even though I’d known from the beginning that we’d probably catch Michael doing something, I’d still hoped that the accusation wasn’t true. I always did.
But nothing ever changed. One hundred percent guilty. Just like always.
I wrapped my arms around myself and walked over to the bleachers to pick up my cheerleading gear. My school spirit was compromised.
“Meeting adjourned,” I said quietly, and headed for the double doors of the gymnasium. I needed Aiden. He always knew how to cheer me up.
I pushed back into my soft, pink pillows, staring at the lean muscles of Aiden’s arm as he held my leg. “You should have been there,” I said, reaching down to run my fingers over his skin. “Izzie caught me in the hall and was like—”
“Tessa,” Aiden said, getting a better position on the edge of my bed. “Will you stop wiggling?”
“Oh, sorry. But I just think—”
“I know, baby. You’re always thinking. Can I please finish?” He smiled, his green eyes sparkling deviously.
“Okay.”
He exhaled and picked my foot back up, using the brush of the pink passion nail polish to go over my pinky toe. It might seem odd that my boyfriend loved to paint my toenails, but I thought it was sweet. After two years, he’d actually gotten really good at it. Way better than I was. And why pay some stranger to torture me with a pedicure every few weeks when Aiden liked to do it as foreplay? He was so cute like that.
“Finished,” he said, blowing on my foot before laying it in his lap. He closed the bottle and set it on my rosewood side table. Then he leaned over to kiss my ankle. When his warm mouth touched my skin, a shiver ran up my leg.
“Thanks.” I licked my lips. He was absolutely, mind-blowingly adorable.
His eyes narrowed as he kissed lightly at my shin, then my knee. Even in the gloomy November weather, his skin was tan. Set that against his green eyes and tousled blond hair, and the boy was pure eye candy. But he never noticed when other girls checked him out. He never noticed anyone but me.
When we’d started dating, he was already super-tall and sort of awkward. Some of the older girls on the squad even thought he was beneath me, totally average. But I knew, even back before his increasingly sexy biceps, that Aiden would be more than the star of the basketball team. He was perfect for me. We were, well, partners. Neither one of us ruled the other. It was a give-and-take. We—
“Mm …” I loved when he caressed my leg like that. I closed my eyes, adjusting my position and staring at my ceiling fan as it swirled. My nail polish would undoubtedly be ruined in a few minutes. It always got ruined. Luckily, I wore sneakers 95 percent of the time.
Aiden’s hands slid up, pausing on my hips. I nestled back into my fluffy white comforter. My parents wouldn’t be home for hours. One of the perks of having musical parents was that their nights were spent in lounges, leaving tons of free time for Aiden … or SOS. Either way, it was still way better than having a mom that worked for H&R Block—poor Aiden.
“Can you leave this on?” he mumbled into my thigh, touching the hem of my skirt.
I laughed, reaching down to push his hands away. “I’m not wearing my uniform so you can act out some boyhood fantasy yet again.”
“Please? It’s so f*cking hot.”
“Aiden, don’t talk like that.”
“Sorry, baby. It’s so freaking hot.”
He knew I’d agree. I always did. I mean, there was a reason I kept three extra maroon and gray skirts in my closet, even if this one was my favorite. My boyfriend could be very persuasive.
“Afterward, I get to talk about whatever I want,” I said. Aiden usually preferred a nap to listening to my latest cheerleading drama, but this was important! Izzie had a new cheer!
The bed shifted as Aiden crawled up and stretched his long body next to mine, leaning over to kiss my neck. “Mm-hm.”
“And then you have to repaint my nails.”
“Okay.”
“And—”
He pressed his mouth to mine. He knew how to shut me up.
“Aiden,” I whispered, twisting his hair with my finger.
“What?” he mumbled. He’d been lying facedown on the bed, totally passed out.
“You have to go home. Your mom’s going to freak.” I leaned down and kissed his earlobe. It was close to ten, and he’d been at my house since I’d gotten home from practice.
“Can’t I stay here?”
He knew he couldn’t, but it didn’t stop him from asking every time—not that my parents would care. They adored him. In fact, my father called him “son.” My parents even decorated signs to hold up at the games. Signs that said things like, “The Wildcats Can’t Be Caged” or “Growl Till It Hurts.” Yes. They were those people.
“Your mother is going to call here in, like, five minutes.” I really didn’t want him to go. I lifted his arm and snuggled up next to him, breathing his natural, athletic scent. Even though the physicality of our relationship was a recent development, it was quickly becoming my favorite part. Especially when we got to do this afterward. I held him a little tighter.
“Mm,” he said sleepily, turning to wrap his other arm around me. “But I like it better at your house.”
I stared at him. He was so handsome. His eyes were closed as his face rested on the pillow, but there was the hint of a smile on his lips. He knew I was watching him.
“What?” he whispered, his eyes still shut.
“I just love you.”
“I know you do, baby.” He opened one eye to look at me. “Give me a kiss.”
Leaning over, I pecked his lips.
“And another,” he breathed. I giggled.
The phone rang and we paused, still connected at the mouth.
“Told you,” I mumbled into his lips.
He groaned, reaching up to rest his palm on my cheek. Aiden adored me. He absolutely worshipped me. But he still had to go home. I was pretty sure his mother couldn’t stand me. She might have been suffering from a case of cheerleader envy.
I kissed him again quickly and sat up. He rolled onto his back, grabbing his T-shirt from the side table. He slid it over his head as the phone rang its third warning call. I raised one eyebrow at him.
“Tell her I left five minutes ago?” he asked, tilting his head.
I nodded and scooted down the bed. She wouldn’t believe me; I always told her the five-minute story. Walking into the hallway, I grabbed the cordless off the wall and pressed it to my ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden streak by, dashing to the door. Even though he pretended not to be, I knew he was terrified of his mother. I would be too.
“Hello?” I asked in my sweetest voice.
“Tessa?”
It was Kira, and she sounded awful—totally choked up.
I jetted my glance toward the direction Aiden ran, but I heard the front door close, signaling his hasty exit. He’d be away at college next year, but we’d still be strawberry smoothie. Washington State University wasn’t all that far, and with a dorm room in his immediate future, there would be sleepovers. My senior year was going to rock.
“Are you there?” Kira whimpered.
Oh, right. “What’s wrong, K? And why are you calling on my house phone?”
“Because I’m a mess! He cheated!”
My stomach flipped. “Who?”
“Darren cheated.”
“Cheated, like how? At Scrabble?”
“No!” She sniffled back some thick-sounding snot. I cringed. “Tessa, my boyfriend cheated on me! And we didn’t know about it!”
My eyes widened. Wait, that wasn’t possible. We knew about every cheater. The SOS team was constantly updating the possible cheater roster (or as I liked to call it, the Naughty List), and Darren was definitely not on it. No one got by the Society of Smitten Kittens. Especially not one of our boyfriends!
“Who’s the girl?” I asked, tapping my bare foot on the carpet.
“Charlie Meyers.”
“Whoa. His ex-girlfriend?” This was a disturbing development. It should have been obvious because guys always cheated with their exes. It was practically a given.
“That’s the one.” Her voice became little more than a high-pitched dog whistle. I closed one eye and clenched my teeth as I listened.
She tried to regain her composure. “Kara’s cousin’s girlfriend saw them in the parking lot of the Windmill hotel—”
“Ew. The one where you pay by the hour?” My mouth flooded with a familiar metallic taste: adrenaline.
“I know!” Her sounds came out in a guttural moan. “And it wasn’t even a Sheraton! I totally thought Darren had better taste than that!”
Now I was seriously PO’d. Darren was Aiden’s best friend and the power forward of the Wildcats. Next to Aiden, he was our leading scorer. Well, next to Aiden, he was our only scorer. That deserved R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
“What are we going to do?” she whined. “Every guy we’ve investigated has been guilty. Every one! And look at us. None of us even have boyfriends anymore.” She sniffled. “We’ve become a squad of widows.”
“Widows are the spouses of people who have died, K.”
She gasped. “My word! That is so sad!”
Even though I felt awful for Kira, she was wrong. One of us did still have a boyfriend. Me.
“Wait.” She sighed. “Never mind, you have Aiden. You’re the only Smitten Kitten that hasn’t been cheated on.”
Somehow that thought made me uncomfortable.
“Oh, no!” she said loud enough to make me jump. “I won’t be able to go to prom!”
Kira dissolved into hysterical sobs. As I tried to soothe her, I spun around, still clad in a slightly wrinkled cheerleading skirt. The heater kicked on, and when I felt the warm breeze on my legs, I looked down.
Smeared nail polish. Aiden. Cheaters. Fudge ripple! Something was wrong.
“I’ll call you back,” I said, clicking off the phone. Darren was a Wildcat, and my boyfriend was his captain. That made him Aiden’s responsibility. He needed to rein in this mess or I would get cheeredieval on his rear.
I set the phone back on the wall and marched to my room. Aiden’s mom would be less than thrilled to see me tonight, so I’d have to climb up the latticework to his room. Again.
I sighed. Why was everything getting so complicated? Couldn’t I just cheer, come home, hook up with my boyfriend, and go to sleep?
Searching through my closet, I looked past the rows of mission-specific attire-one-piece bodysuits, spandex running pants, utility belts with climbing gear, and tons of hats and scarves.
Aha! There, near the back, was the only clean black shirt I had that wasn’t for SOS. My mother had gotten it for me when she was in her bohemian rhapsody phase. It was seriously drab. It took most of my willpower to not pair it with the cute metallic leggings I’d just bought and instead choose dark jeans. I wouldn’t want Aiden’s mom to spot me sneaking in. That certainly wouldn’t help her negative attitude.
I glanced in my full-length mirror. Great. I looked like a ninja. What I wouldn’t do for my squad, for girls everywhere.
I tied my dark strands into a still-cute, yet casual high knot and contemplated using black eyeliner to ring my eyes. Never mind, there was no need to go overboard. I grabbed my oversized purse, tossing its strap onto my shoulder as I headed to the doorway.
Aiden would be excited to see me, at least. And I did still need him to fix my toenails, even though I had a feeling we’d just get carried away again. I glanced in my purse quickly and smiled when I spied my extra bottle of ruby red polish.
A Smitten Kitten was always prepared.
I paused under Aiden’s window, looking from the large porch in the front to his darkened pane, charting my usual course. There was latticework with interwoven vines attached to the white siding, and amazingly enough, it wouldn’t be the first lattice I’d climbed this week.
When we’d investigated Peter Corning on Tuesday, I’d had to shimmy across his cedar roof to get a picture of him cheating. He and his female accomplice were totally getting it on in his parents’ room! Gross.
His girlfriend, Marissa, was so ticked when she found out, she’d given him a bloody lip in the middle of homeroom! It was quite a scene—swearing, punching, and groin kicking.
Sheesh. Peter would freak if he knew how Marissa had found out about his cheating. So far, none of the guys knew SOS existed—our clients were great at keeping the secret. Even better, nobody outside of the Smitten Kittens knew our true identities. And we planned to keep it that way.
My sneaker fit perfectly in between the slots of the wooden grid as I climbed. My pulse was racing. Heights weren’t my thing. Well, not unless I had a good solid base beneath me, and this latticework was nowhere near as dependable as my girls. They would never drop me.
Aiden’s window was half open, and I smiled. I figured it would be, since I snuck in to see him about twice per week. It would have been quite an inconvenience if I had to pick the lock every time. I pushed the cold glass up all the way before crawling in.
“Hey,” I whispered as I slid my legs over the sill. Aiden’s bedroom was lined with trophies and ribbons dating back to elementary school. My sweetie had even earned a merit badge from Boy Scouts for knot tying. But what I loved most was that his room smelled like him: athletic, sexy, and comforting. His sheets rustled as he shifted in the bed.
“Baby?” He sounded sleepy. Aiden sat up and clicked on his side table lamp, lighting up the room. I noticed that the tracksuit he’d been wearing earlier was tossed on the wood floor. It made me wonder what exactly he was wearing under his sheets. I licked my lips.
Aiden rubbed at his face and grinned at me. “What are you doing here?” His question brought me back to my Kitten senses.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Sit with me,” he said, moving over and holding open his plaid comforter for me. He was wearing the boxers I’d given him for Christmas, the ones with little reindeers on them. He’d been thinking of me! That was awfully sweet of him.
I walked over and sat down, almost ready to forget everything, but then Kira’s sobbing voice popped in my head, sniffles and all.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked. “I don’t like to see you frown.” He used his finger to trace my downturned mouth. He really didn’t like to see me sad. Luckily, I rarely was—it wasn’t the Smitten Kitten way.
“It’s Darren,” I said. “He cheated on Kira.”
“What?” Aiden furrowed his brow and glanced around the room, then looked back at me. “Are you f*cking serious?”
I glared at him. He rolled his eyes. “Sorry. Are you effing serious?” Aiden raked his fingers through his hair, looking confused.
“I’m seriously serious.”
He paused, shaking his head. Then he straightened up. “Wait. Was it with Charlie?”
My stomach flipped. “You knew?”
“No! Of course not. It’s just … I saw him talking to her after school. I thought it was weird, but it wasn’t anything to call him on.”
“Maybe you should have.”
“Tessa.”
“Now you have to, Aiden! Your boys have been out of control lately. Do you realize that every member of the starting five, except you, has cheated on their girlfriend? Do you think that’s okay?” I felt shaky. I didn’t like having to point out something he should have already known. And besides, it was so negative.
“No, I don’t. But—”
“Well, then, you need to tell them that. You should be leading them.”
Aiden chuckled. He moved over, wrapping me up and putting his chin on my shoulder. “Baby,” he said. “They’re my friends. And I lead them in basketball, not in life.”
“Maybe a life coach is exactly what they need.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I lead the Smitten Kittens! They listen to me. You don’t see any of us running around behind our boyfriends’ backs.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true. But at least we weren’t cheating.
Oh, butterscotch. I was starting to get choked up. Poor Kira. She’d really liked Darren. They’d been together for close to a month. It was her longest relationship.
“Besides,” I said, sniffling. “I should have known.”
“Tessa.” Aiden pulled back and turned me to him, holding my face in his palms. “There’s no way you could have known. It’s not your responsibility. You’re a Sex Kitten, not the morality police.”
I closed my eyes. “It’s Smitten.” Aiden didn’t know about SOS. He had no idea that on the side, the Smitten Kittens were more than the morality police. We were full-on double agents. Like in a James Bond movie—only with twice the sex.
“Lie down with me?” he asked.
I nodded, letting him pull me in between the flannel sheets as disappointment washed over me. I’d let Kira down, and I continued to do something I despised: lie.
Aiden deserved to know what I did with the Smitten Kittens; he’d understand. But I couldn’t tell him because then he’d know I’d kept something from him for the last two years. I twitched my nose and snuggled closer to him, feeling his heat and trying to block out the negativity.
“I love you, baby,” Aiden breathed into my hair as he hugged me.
“I love you too.” I closed my eyes.
SOS CHEATER INCIDENT REPORT
CASE: 043
CLIENT: Caitlyn March
SUBJECT: Michael Garnett
FINDINGS: At approximately 1:00 a.m. on January 30, Mr. Garnett was observed talking online with an unnamed female accomplice. The conversation was not recorded, but judging by Mr. Garnett’s actions, we can safely say it was of a sexual nature.
After a thorough phone record search, it was also discovered that Mr. Garnett had been texting obscene messages to a Lisa Belgium. He’d also set up a false MySpace account in order to schedule their meetings. Once retrieved, all the correspondence was sorted. You’ll find the transcripts included with this letter.
Note the encounter scheduled on page four. At that meeting, Mr. Garnett and Ms. Belgium were photographed kissing in front of the Seattle’s Best coffeehouse. Those photos are included, as well as pictures of Mr. Garnett in front of his computer. Some with boxers, some without.
We trust that this report will remain confidential as some of the information contained within could compromise our top-secret status.
SOS is sorry for your loss, and we offer our deepest sympathies. We hope that we will not have to assist you again in the future, but please keep us in mind for referrals.