“I know where Mark's room is,” Church says casually, cutting her off midsentence and staring at her with those honey-amber eyes of his. “Do you want us to show you?”
The tone of his voice says that’s not a request.
Selena glances around at the group of us, narrowing her eyes slightly with an understandable amount of suspicion.
“Maybe. Why were you guys on my ass like that?” she asks, looking back at me again, the only other girl in a circle of dick. “The Adamson Student Council, and the headmaster's daught—”
“Son,” I choke out, just in case anyone can overhear us. Selena cocks a brow and sighs, but she doesn't contradict me. “And we weren't on your ass, we just …”
“Chuck and I were about to get hot and heavy, and you interrupted us,” Church finishes before I can stop him. My cheeks flame as the other four boys in the Student Council glance my direction. Uh-oh. “We don't particularly like being watched.”
“She said killers,” Selena hedges, but I am beyond done with this conversation. I step forward and grab her arm, plastering on a fake smile.
“Come with me, and we'll find Mark, okay?” I say, and although I'm pretty sure Selena thinks we're full of shit, she lets me guide her down the walkway in the direction of her boyfriend's room. When we get there, she wastes no time in wrenching the shoji screen door open.
The room is empty.
Mark isn't in it, and neither is Aster.
Selena's face heats up as I step back and bump back to front into Ranger, reminding me that not all that long ago, we were nude but for our aprons, and in a position much more compromising than this. He puts his hands on my hips in an almost possessive sort of way, and I find myself shivering.
“You're sure this is his room?” Selena asks, her voice dark and thick with suspicion as she glances back at me. Church steps forward to take control of the situation like he always does though.
“I'm sure,” he says, and Selena frowns. I wonder where she's staying? Or how she got into the resort after-hours. Then again, when you have money, pretty much anything is possible, isn't it? She could've bribed any number of people to let her in.
“Thank you,” she quips, tossing her hair and stepping into the room. “I'll take it from here.”
Without another word, she turns and slides the screen door shut.
Ranger's big, hot hands are still sitting heavy on my hips, and when I turn around, thinking he'll step back, he doesn't move. Instead, it's just his sapphire eyes glaring into mine.
“Next time, an explanation would be nice when you kick me awake in the middle of the night,” he grumbles, his voice gruff but oh-so-sexy. I swallow hard, but I nod anyway, and he grabs me by the hand, dragging me back toward the room I share with Church. The rest of the boys follow, and we reconvene in the dim light of the gas lantern.
“I can't be the only one who's suspicious as fuck,” Spencer whispers, sitting cross-legged on a tatami mat and leaning back on his palms. The way he looks at me and Church though, I'm sure he's thinking about more than just Selena, Mark, and the dead body I'm positive we didn't hallucinate. “She came all the way down to Butt-fuck, Nowhere, North Carolina to see if her boyfriend was cheating on her?”
“People have done stranger things in regard to possible affairs,” Micah says, his voice strained. Tobias scoffs, crosses his arms over his chest, and looks away. We're still on about the candles and lighter apparently.
I sigh and rub at my forehead with the heel of my hand. My other is still captured in one of Ranger's, and he doesn't seem at all ready to let go. Church takes his seat on the pillow next to the low-set table and picks up his discarded teacup, sipping it and clearly wishing it were coffee instead.
“So, you buy her story then?” Spencer asks, cocking a dark brow. Sometimes, when I look at him, I get all giddy and weird on the inside. Like, he was my first time, and I'll never be able to forget that. Scratch it: I wouldn't want to forget that. But I'm also aware that dating five guys isn't a super realistic life choice. At some point, I'm going to have to choose between them, huh? The thought flitters through my mind like a moth, and I brush it away to the dark recesses of my brain.
“Not exactly,” Micah replies, carefully glancing over at his brother. I'm already missing their twin thing, and they've only been 'fighting' for all of half a day. “I'm just saying that maybe she isn't the suspicious one. Like, where the fuck is Mark? And who the hell is this Aster chick?”
“Aster was at the dance,” I say, feeling my palm sweat against Ranger's. His is dry and warm, and I can only hope he isn't squicked out by my moistness. I mean, the moistness in my palm that is. Like, I'm sure he wouldn't mind moistness elsewhere … I bet he'd mind the word moist though. He seems like the type to get peeved over a word. “She danced with me and Ross …” I trail off, because that's not particularly helpful information. No offense to her or anything, she was a nice enough girl, but our interactions were fairly forgettable.
“Aster, huh?” Ranger says, narrowing his eyes to slits. He squeezes my hand in his and then finally lets go, glancing my way. “You said you were sure one of the attackers was female?”
“Positive,” I reply, letting my mind follow his train of thought. “You think Aster could be one of the murderers? Or even Selena?”
“Either one would make sense, considering how suspicious Mark is,” Spencer adds as Church sits in quiet, contemplative thought. I can see the wheels in his head turning.
“Mark is guilty; we’ve known that since forever ago,” Micah says with a scoff, sitting down near Spencer and giving his twin some space. That particular sentence, I think it was meant to come out in unison. Glancing over at Tobias though, it’s quite obvious that he has no intention of playing along. “But seriously, what sort of guy could string his best friend up in a tree like that?”
“Mark is a serious cum wad,” I point out, and all five boys give their agreement in murmurs, nods, or shrugs. Also, note to self: don’t say cum around all five of your boyfriends, Chuck. It takes on a less gross and more, um, sensual sort of tone. Luckily, nobody notices my embarrassment in the dim light. “Honestly, finding out that he murdered his bestie would be less surprising than learning he has”—dramatic eye twitch—“groupies. Total vom moment.”
“But why?” Church says, breaking his silence as he looks up. “We're missing a motive here. Do I believe Mark could be dark, broken, and stupid enough to kill his best friend? Sure. But why? Why would Aster or Selena come after our Chuck?”
Our Chuck? I think, licking my lips as I take a seat near the table. Glancing around the room, I realize I kind of like that idea, of being their Chuck. Weird, huh? I mean, they used to crack eggs down my shirt and dump jars of spiders on me, give me swirlies and lock me out of the dining room at Culinary Club. And now, these Student Council Boys feel like they could be my forever crew.
“Maybe we should set up some sort of surveillance, see when Mark comes back and who with?” Tobias suggests. “I could take the first watch.”
“I'll go with you,” Micah adds, standing up, but Tobias gives him a tight smile.