Page 99 of The Draft

“What do you know about Cade?”

Her smile grew, and she stood a little bit taller because for the first time in this conversation, she seemed to have the upper hand. “Does the name Savannah Barnett mean anything to you?”

Savannah Barnett? I racked my brain, trying to think of anywhere I’d heard it, but I was drawing a blank. I didn’t want her to know that, though, so I played along. “What about Savannah Barnett?”

She grinned at my answer. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Hard to know what I don’t know when you’re talking to me in riddles.”

“Adley Barnett?”

I pursed my lips together because this was getting harder to lie about.

She shook her head, laughing. “Nope. You don’t know.” Her chin tipped up. “That means this story will break the internet when I publish it.”

Standing dumbfounded, I was trying to figure out if Cade had mentioned this Savannah girl before, but I couldn’t remember. I also couldn’t remember the last time I spoke to him without it involving Madison.

Sienna tapped me on the shoulder and smiled. “That’s all I needed to know,” she hummed out.

Turning on her heel, she was about to skip away from me, but I gripped her arm, stopping her. “You’re going to tell me everything you know right now.”

Glaring at my hand, Sienna’s smile dropped as she looked up at me in anger. “Or what?”

“Dash. Reporter Girl.” Cade drawled out her nickname seductively, but he was staring at me with a smirk on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows. His eyes were bloodshot now, and that keg had clearly gone to his head because he couldn’t walk straight. Well, that wasn’t exactly helping Cade’s reputation.

I took a subtle glance at her. With her brows furrowed, she looked genuinely concerned, which was odd for her. She was usually a pit bull but maybe she was softening toward us. No. That wasn’t it. She hated me, so maybe the softness was only toward Cade because of the things she found out.

She reached out her hand, holding on to Cade’s bicep. “I think you might need to sit down.”

Cade blew out his breath and laughed. “Will you sit on my lap if I do?Oh, wait, sorry. I know you’re Dash’s girl. I would never steal a girl from my main man,” he said with pride, and that guilt I was feeling earlier came straight back to the pit of my stomach. I was a dick. I already knew that, but this was making me feel worse.

Taking a step in front of Sienna because I didn’t want him doing anything he might regret, I forced him to focus on me. “C, is everything okay?”

With hazy eyes and a drunken smile, he said, “I’m fine, D. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I know you like to drink, but I think you’ve gone a little too far tonight.” I could tell he didn’t like the challenge in my voice. His blue eyes said as much as they stared into mine. Even drunk, the guy was a force that you didn’t want to mess with.

“Hey, Reporter Girl,” he said, staring at me. “Did you know the last time you were in Dash’s room, you were so loud that you woke up the team cat?”

“Team cat? We don’t have a team cat.”

Cade cackled and pointed at me. “Ha, but you didn’t deny it was Reporter Girl in there with you, did you? You’re too easy to fool.” He pushed past me so he was directly in front of Sienna. “Will you just admit you’re dating Dash because you’re looking for a story?”

“I’m not.”

Cade didn’t let her finish talking. “Because he already told me you were a mistake the first time you left his dorm, and you’ve been fucking up his game ever since you walked in here in those platform heels.” Sienna’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “You might think he’s the easiest one of us to crack because he doesn’t let many people in, but he’s not. You’ve been dating him for a few weeks now, which makes me think he cares about you, and I don’t want to have to deal with a broken-hearted Dash. Last time, he broke a guy’s nose and got suspended, and I don’t want that for my big, burly best friend.”

He was talking garbage, and as I looked at Sienna with unease from over Cade’s shoulder, he wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me close enough to kiss me on the cheek. “I love this guy. He deserves the best, and if that’s not you, then you can get the hell out.”

It was official. I was going to hell for everything I put my best friendthrough.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of hurting Dash. You’re right, he’s a pretty good, upstanding guy. I wouldn’t want to break his heart,” she said with a smile as we both tried to calm my overly affectionate drunk friend, who swooped his other arm over Sienna’s shoulder. “He’s a good guy.”

“A good guy who deserves to get his dick sucked!” Cade yelled, and I pushed him off me.

“Cade!”

He opened his arms wide and cackled. “What? I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. Maybe it would help you loosen up.”