“You said you might know who was doing it.”
“Yeah,” I said, wary of what was coming.
“Then tell them to stop.”
“Would you stop worrying? It’s harmless.”
“According to you, it’s harmless. I think it’s weird.”
I winced. I felt uncomfortable enough with what I was doing. Hearing Jeremy call it weird made heat rush to my face.
“It makes Benji happy,” I mumbled, more in defense of my own actions than Jeremy would ever know.
He sighed. “You’re sure it’s harmless?”
“I’m positive.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“I know.”
He grumbled a bit more but backed down as I neared the boutique where I’d be clocking in. “I’m almost to work. Try not to worry. I’ve got Benji’s back.”
“And I’ve got yours. Let me know if you change your mind about that loan.”
I rolled my eyes. Same old Jeremy. As much as I’d enjoy cutting back on work, I couldn’t continue to use him as a crutch. I’d get through my last year on my own, and then I’d start a fresh life far from that ramshackle trailer where I grew up.
Benji
Rain streaked the coffee shop window, turning the scene outside into a colorful blur. It made me think of rainbows, and I smiled.
“Who is Jonas?” Tracy asked.
I turned back to her and the list of “suspects.” At this point, pretty much everyone I knew was on the list and it still wasn’t that long. We’d both perused these names before, but when no more gifts had shown up, there hadn’t been much to go on. The appearance of the rainbow gift renewed Tracy’s determination to solve the mystery.
“Okay, Nancy Drew,” I teased. “Jonas is a guy with Ace’s frat.”
“Ace? Who’s that?” She scanned the list. “I don’t see him on here.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “I know it’s not him, so…”
“How do you know?”
I scoffed. “For one thing, I’ve seen him. Way out of my league.”
Tracy lifted an eyebrow, not letting me off the hook.
I shook my head. “He’s my brother’s best friend. He knew me when I was a little kid. There’s no way.”
“Mm-hmm.” Tracy neatly printed A-C-E at the bottom of the list.
I huffed. “Fine, then you should add your name too.”
She didn’t laugh and assure me she wasn’t the secret admirer, as I’d expected. Instead, she wrote her name beneath Ace’s. “Anyone else you know but haven’t listed?”
“My roommate, Dre. He has a girlfriend, so it wouldn’t be…” I trailed off with a sigh as she added his name too.
“Now, then, do you know any frat members besides Ace and Jonas?” she asked.
I ended up adding five more names to the list. I’d gone to the initial meet-and-greet during Rush Week to appease Jeremy, but I hadn’t pledged because frat life wasn’t for me, even if Ace was there. Jonas had been introduced to me because he was the only gay member of the frat. He’d joked that it was his job to assure me the frat brothers wouldn’t be bigoted assholes. He’d been friendly, maybe even flirty, not that I was a good judge of that. But I’d never been much of a joiner, preferring to spend my time drawing and watching anime, rather than engaging in social events that made me feel awkward and out of place.
I always struggled with how I felt about that. Should I try harder, come out of my so-called shell? Or should I just embrace who I was at heart? I was leaning toward the latter, but it was hard with Jeremy urging me to connect and make friends. He didn’t want me isolated, and I knew that wasn’t good either. I just needed to find a balance, and I knew the frat hadn’t been it.
“I really didn’t talk to any of these guys much,” I said. “But Jonas is into guys.”
Tracy put a star next to his name. “Well, that increases the odds.”
“But how would he know where my dorm was? Or get access to my bag? I haven’t seen the guy since Rush Week.”
Tracy stirred her straw through her peppermint mocha topped with whipped cream. I lifted my cup for a sip to discover I’d already drained my chai latte. Disappointed, I lowered my cup to the table. I could get a refill on my way out.
“He could have followed you.”
“That’s not creepy,” I muttered.
Tracy nodded. “Or he found out from someone who knows. Does Ace?”
“Yeah.”
Tracy added a star by Ace’s name, which made my heart skitter. “Why’d you do that? Ace might have mentioned my building to Jonas. That makes it more likely it’s Jonas, right?”
“But Ace knows where your room is. That means it’d be easy for him to do it.”
“It’s not Ace,” I insisted. Just seeing his name on the list made my palms sweat. What if he saw that? I’d be so embarrassed. I had to resist the urge to snatch Tracy’s pen and scribble it out.
“Who else knows?” she asked.
This woman was like a dog with a bone.
With a huff, I rattled off the names of the dorm mates on the list: Dre, Kristen, Hank, Fina, and Abby. “Those are the only people in the building I’ve met.”
“You’re assuming it’s someone you’ve met. What if it’s not? It could be anyone in that building.”
“Okay, but they knew my name.”
“Easy enough to ask around.”
Tracy and I went ’round and ’round about the list, but we never got anywhere. This is why we’d given it up after the first couple of days after I received the Hershey kisses. Detectives, we were not.
“This is pointless,” I said at last. “If it’s someone I’ve never met, I’ll never figure it out. And if it’s someone on this list, they haven’t done a thing to give themselves away.”
“You’re right.” Tracy slid the sheet of paper over to me as she stood, gathering her purse and cup. “You need to do some hands-on research.”
I stood as well. “What does that mean?”
“Flirting, Benji.” She smirked. “It’s time to see who flirts back.”
On second thought, maybe I wouldn’t get that refill. My stomach was churning with enough anxiety without adding caffeine to the mix.
Benji
My hands were clammy, and I paused to swipe them down my pant legs before ringing the bell at the frat house. It had taken me a full seven days to decide that Tracy was right. If I wanted to know who the secret admirer was, I had to throw out some bait and see if someone took it.
Easier said than done.
Did I even know how to flirt? Even the idea of talking to Jonas made me feel a little sick to my stomach, but I was here, and I wasn’t turning back now.
I rang the bell a second time. And a third.
Shit, don’t tell me no one’s here. I barely found the courage to come over here. I might never get up the nerve to come back.
A guy with deep blue, half-lidded eyes opened the door. I remembered him vaguely from the one frat event I attended. The guy always looked half-baked, but he made it look good. He had a classic Hollywood bad-boy vibe.