Page 20 of Secrets and Lies
I’m just adjusting the zoom when the doorknob wiggles, and I hit record about a second before the door swings open and Xave carefully slips out of the room.
Just as quickly as he popped the lock with his multi-tool, he uses it to lock it back up. Then he tucks the tool away and strides back toward the party like nothing happened.
I wait until he’s out of the shot, but just as I’m about to stop the recording, a couple stumbles into the frame, their arms wrapped around each other as they exchange loud kisses.
Normally I’d just stop recording and walk out from my hiding place without a second thought, but my instincts are telling me to wait, so I keep my camera trained on them and stay hidden.
They keep stumbling and kissing as they make their way down the hall, but are forced to break apart when the girl nearly trips on one of her jeweled heels.
She lets out a little shriek of surprise, but her kissing partner catches her around the waist and steadies her before she can do more than wobble on her feet.
When she’s stable again, he glances around, then nods toward an alcove on the other side of the hall. “In there.”
She takes his offered hand and follows him into it.
Either their alcove doesn’t have a recessed area on the side that they can hide in like mine does, or they just don’t care enough about getting caught to use it since they immediately start making out again.
They’re not being quiet, either, and I zoom my video in as she hikes her leg up around his hip and he eagerly slides his hand over her exposed thigh and up the back of her skirt.
I take a few more seconds of video, then end the recording and tuck my phone away.
It looks like tonight is turning out to be an interesting night after all. Not only did I catch Xave breaking the rules, but I also got video proof of McKenna cheating on West with some random who’s not even important enough to be on my radar.
What’s that saying about two birds and one stone?
Chuckling softly to myself, I leave my alcove and head back to the party.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Yeah?”
My door swings open, and Hazen steps into the room looking like he just rolled out of bed.
“Someone had a good night,” I comment as he leans against the wall next to the door.
“More like a long one.” He scrubs one hand through his hair sleepily. “But my morning got exponentially better when I overheard Rhys and Christian gossiping about the leadership elections.”
That catches my attention. Rhys and Christian are two of our house leaders. Rhys is responsible for the physical and ground security of the frat, and Christian is in charge of discipline and keeping the brothers in line. Hazen has been working with Rhys as his number two for the past year, and this wouldn’t be the first time he overheard something interesting.
“When was this?” I ask.
“About twenty minutes ago. I went to check something in the security office, and they were sitting at the desk yapping away with the door open.” He huffs out a derisive grunt. “How did we end up in a timeline where the people in charge of keeping us safe from threats can’t even remember to close the damn door before they start spilling their secrets to each other?”
“Nepotism and corruption,” I deadpan. “Just not the good kind.”
He snickers. “It’s funny you mention corruption because that’s exactly what’s going on with the elections.”
“What do you mean?”
“I overheard Rhys say that they closed the nominations this morning.”
I tilt my head in confusion. “I thought they closed them last week?”
“They were supposed to.” He crosses his arms over his broad chest. “But they kept them open for an extra five days and didn’t tell anyone.”
“Did they say why?”
The rules for the house elections are strict and are all laid out in the charter, and the consequences for breaking the rules range from fines and punishment to losing your membership. They’d have to have a damn good reason to break protocol, considering what could happen if they got caught.
