Page 67 of Forever Defiant
I opened my fridge.
“I have beer or two sodas. Who wants what?” I asked.
“Beer.”
“Soda.”
I did not expect to be handing the beer to Savannah and the soda to the wide receiver. I opened a beer for myself, and then,despite my cat’s protests, I leaned against the window ledge. “So? Who starts?”
Dustin gave Savannah a pointed look. “I told you.”
She failed to hide her smile behind her beer. She watched me as she took a sip.
“Before we start, we need to make something very clear.” She spoke with confidence; she was her father’s daughter. “We were not here. We have not told you anything, and under no circumstances, at any time, can you quote us, or use either of us as a source.” She took a breath. “That includes Dante and Noah.”
I set my bottle down and reached for my notebook. “Can I take notes?”
“No.”
I ignored Dustin and watched her. She was the one with all the power in the room.
“I’d prefer you didn’t,” Savannah said. “But...” She thought for a moment. “I appreciate you may want to check dates or something, so brief notes. Not verbatim. Nothing you can use as a quote.”
Damn, she was good.
“Alright.” I smiled at her, hoping to relax her, but I got nothing. She wasn’t a novice; she’d been dealing with attention all her adult life by the looks of it. She knew how it worked and how to play.
“What’s your involvement, exactly?” I asked, not beating around the bush.
“I am a student liaison. I help with tutoring. This semester, I was assigned to an athlete.”
That was it. No detail. No elaboration. I glanced at Dustin, who was eyeing Milly, and then I realized Milly was eyeinghim. “Be careful, she’s about to—” she leaped for him — “pounce.” He caught her midair and, with a slick move, had her in the crook of his arm.
“Right.” I watched my cat curl up and purr. “Of course,” I muttered.
I turned back to Savannah. “Sorry . . .”
“It’s fine.” She smiled. “I recently discovered the grade-altering system,” she told me bluntly. She saw my look and snorted. “No, I did not know about it. You can imagine, as someone who actuallyenjoystutoring, I did not take it well.”
“You never suspected before?” I asked her skeptically.
“I’ve never tutored an athlete before,” she told me simply.
“Oh.” I looked between them, and she shook her head.
“Not Dust.”
Dust? Were they involved? Did she know I’d kissed him? Twice?
“I was assigned to tutor Dante. He picked an elective that is in my area of, well, expertise.”
The way she said his name, I scratched the idea of her and Dustin. “I didn’t know you were a thing.”
Dustin blew out a breath. “And she says she’s a reporter,” he mocked.
“I’m not a fluff-piece reporter,” I snapped at him. I winced internally. “Um, not that you are fluff,” I offered weakly to Savannah.
“It’s fine.” She waved it off. “While we were—” she glanced at Dustin — “discoveringthings, we learned there are other things that we didn’t know.”
