As he left, he lifted his arm and hit the doorframe above his head with a thumbs up in the air.

Cord only shook his head.

I asked, “Why not Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights?”

“Caught that, huh?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know, but I was intrigued. There was a meaning behind their statements to each other.

Cord grinned as he kept typing. “Because those are the nights Tiffany’s over.”

“They don’t see each other on the weekends? Just Sunday?” I was starting to think their relationship was more screwed up than whatever I had with Jesse.

“Sometimes, but rarely. Tiffany likes to spend her time with her friends.” Cord snorted to himself. “She thinks this will be worth the pay-off later and that Jamie will get all his partying out of his system. She thinks by the end of college, he’ll only want to spend time with her and no one else.”

Judging by his sarcasm, I knew Cord wasn’t a subscriber. “I was told that she thinks he’s going to law school and in five years will run for political office. Does he really want to be a sports news anchor?”

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone.”

“Who’d I tell? Jesse?”

“I know you have some little friends. Hannah. That other girl that’s always with her.”

Oh yeah. I was friends with them. We ate every night together and as I thought of that, I glanced at the clock. I was running late. “I have to go.”

“You’re leaving too?”

“Sorry. My part is done. I wrote the first section of the paper. Remember?”

“I thought you’d stay for moral support.”

“Nope. I’m outta here.”

“Alex.”

“See ya, Cord!” Stuffing my books and papers back in my bag, I flashed him a quick grin and waved as I hurried in the direction of where Jamie had just gone. I had no plans on meeting up with him. I really did have to meet with Beth and Hannah. The daily supper date was now a tradition for us and it was highly anticipated every night for me. They didn’t ask questions about the years before or bring up names or things that happened to me. They were comfortable to be around, unlike Marissa, who had emailed me every day since her visit.

She was determined to be friends again. I had no interest. That ship had sailed. Accepting her friendship was the beginning of a slippery slope. I just knew it. Then Angie would be in contact. Justin might be with her. Even Eric might give me a phone call.

They had all ditched me.

I wasn’t signing up for a second abandonment.

Going through the doors that led to the food court, I stopped abruptly before I rounded the corner. I heard Jamie saying, “Come on. Seriously. You’re killing me, Chatsworth.”

Expecting Tiffany’s comeback, my eyes popped out when Hannah growled instead. “Lay off, Jamie. I mean it. I have a crap load of texts to show my sister if you don’t leave me alone.”

“She said I could be with other girls.”

“Not her sister. She didn’t have me in mind and you know that. She’d go ballistic if she knew you were doing this.”

“Come on,” his voice lowered to a husky soothing murmur. “Doesn’t that feel good? I can make you feel really good. You know I can. Just say the word. You can feel this all night long.”

A slapping sound came next before Hannah rasped out, out of breath, “I told you to stop touching me. I mean it.”

“Bitch!”

Gritting my teeth, I tightened my hold on my bag and threw my shoulders back. Cued my entrance and I rounded the turn. He had Hannah pressed against the mailboxes. The rest of the room was empty, not a surprise. It was Friday night. Most didn’t eat in the cafeteria on the weekend nights. Plastering a bright smile on my face, I marched up to them. “Sorry I’m late, Hannah. I got caught up with a group project.”

Jamie turned. His glare doubled from the usual one he kept for me. “You’re everywhere.”

His hand hadn’t moved from under her shirt and Hannah slapped at it now, pushing him away at the same time. “She’s my friend.”

“She’s weird.”

My back stiffened, but I couldn’t argue. I was weird.

“She’s my friend,” Hannah stressed again. “Leave me alone, Jamie, and leave her alone.”

“She’s in my group for class.” His eyes chilled. I expected frost to start growing on them. “I don’t know what you’ve got over Cord, but it’s not cool. I’m going to find out.”

Okay. The slight enjoyment I’d been having fell away. Anger replaced it. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He raked a disdainful eye up and down me. “You’re not hard on the eyes. I’ll give you that one, but I know you’re not banging Tatum. So I figure you’re blackmailing him.”

“You think the only reason he likes me is if I were blackmailing or sleeping with him?”

He wasn’t far off, but it wasn’t Cord that was sharing my bed.

“You’re not giving it up to him. You’re a damn prude if I ever saw one.” A cocky smirk came over him. “You can’t stand the sight of me, I know that too. Most girls love me. Hell, most girls put the moves on me within five minutes of meeting me.”

Hannah groaned, “Oh my god.”

He kept going, his gaze harsh as he stared me down. “Your social skills suck too. Only people I can tell that like you are Cord and this chick, plus her freak cousin too.”