We climb into the cab, Lily and I on the middle seat, and Daisy squeezing beside her sister. Rose and Connor take the front, and Ryke and Melissa are happily snug in the back.
Ryke has Melissa pinned against the back of the seat. I can barely see her behind his broad shoulders. Sitting up, her legs wrap around his waist, and his body melds into hers. His hand disappears underneath her shirt, and his lips devour hers hungrily. She can’t stifle a sharp breath as he sucks her neck.
She grips his back, lost to his hands and his tongue. Lily is going to be jealous. Fuck, I’m jealous. While Melissa has her eyes shut, Ryke’s are open, and he meets my gaze while he bites her bottom lip. And he glares at me, basically saying, I hate that I have to do this. But it’s the right thing to do. And frankly, I don’t care that he’s pissed about it. Leading Melissa on—that’s fine （all she wants is sex anyway）。 Leading Daisy on—that’s not okay.
I turn my back to him just as Daisy leans over to slide the door closed. If she notices Ryke and Melissa’s make-out session, she doesn’t say a word about it.
The cab bumps along the uneven street, the strip lit up in the darkness, club signs blinking and twinkling. Constantly calling me.
I open the to-go box and pull out a fish taco, taking a bite while Lily rests her head on my shoulder.
Connor spins around in his seat to face us. “Did you get your test score back?” he asks Lily.
She sits up immediately. And I curse him for causing her to drift from me. Even though Lily is technically the cheater here, studying old exams. “I’m doing well,” she says vaguely.
“That’s not really what I asked.”
Her cheeks redden. “Yeah, I got the test back.”
“That bad, huh?” He turns to Rose. “I told you that Sebastian isn’t that smart. He bought his way into Princeton. You should have let Joseph Kim teach her.”
“Sebastian is smart,” Rose refutes. “You don’t know him like I do.”
Connor wears a blank face, but if he’d show true emotion at all, I think he’d be upset by that.
“I actually did well,” Lily says.
Connor can’t hide his frown. “What’s well? A 75?”
I cut in, hating to beat around this bush, but Lily is too nervous to come out and say it. “She made a 95 on her Statistics exam.” Before Connor opens his mouth, I add, “She didn’t want to hurt your tutoring feelings.”
Rose beams and tilts her head at Connor. “What were you saying about Sebastian?”
“Wait…” Connor holds his hand at her face. Rose’s eyes grow, incensed by the hand. I think she’s going to bite his fingers off. “Was there a curve?”
“No,” Lily says.
Rose grabs Connor’s hand. “Why can’t you believe that Sebastian is a good tutor?” she asks.
He covers her mouth with his other palm, not done grilling Lily. “Did you take Adderall?”
Rose smacks her purse at Connor’s chest, beating him with the damn clutch until he drops his hand from her mouth. “That was unnecessary.” She points a finger at him.
And I swear, he tries not to smile. I think he’d like nothing more than to tackle her on the seat and make out with her as much as Ryke is doing to Melissa. “Rose, darling,” he whispers. “Let’s not jump to conclusions because of personal bias. I don’t know Sebastian like you do.”
“Exactly,” she says as though she won.
He ignores that and nods back to Lily. I think he may be a tad bit smarter than Rose. If I told her that, she’d probably rip out my lungs.
“Lily, did you take Adderall?” Connor asks again.
She shakes her head quickly. “Nonono,” she slurs together. “I studied, Connor. The normal, natural way like you taught me.”
“And Sebastian clearly helped,” Rose adds.
Connor shakes his head. “No…something’s not right.”
Rose pokes his arm. “You can’t admit that you’re wrong. That’s the problem.”
“I know when I’m wrong, Rose, and I don’t think I am here.”
“How many times have you even talked to Sebastian?”
“A couple,” Connor says. “He runs out the door the minute I walk in, and he barely looks me in the eye. Only liars and cheaters can’t meet my gaze.”
Lily sinks deeper into her seat.
“Lily didn’t cheat,” Rose snaps back, her glare darkening.
I chime in, afraid that we’ve suddenly fissured their relationship, “Lily isn’t as stupid as you think. Is that really so hard to believe?”