I hold up my hands in surrender. Reed’s already made it clear he’s only tolerating my presence here until I screw up somehow. “No worries. Not interested.” I am, but if she’s Reed’s sister, I’m not interested enough to lose my job.
“Good.”
The student at Tina’s table leaves and Tina scoots her chair next to mine. She’s made it clear she’s interested in getting to know me better and I’ve made it as clear as possible that I’d prefer a raging case of herpes. The girl doesn’t take a hint.
“Personal space, Tina,” I growl.
“Easy there, Virgin Ben. I’m not going to rape you.”
I cringe at her word choice. So far no one in the math lab has shown any sign they know about my arrest last fall and I hope to keep it that way.
“Wasn’t that Reed’s sister in here?” Tina curls a hand around my arm. “You should hook up with her. She’s virginal too.”
Scarlett shoots her a glare. “That’s enough, Tina.” It’s obvious that she cares about this girl more than she would about someone who was just her boss’s sister.
“God, Scarlett. You need to loosen up. I told Virgin Mary that Friday night when I took her home. Imagine my surprise when she busted out with the piece of intel that she’s not a virgin after all.” She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms under her breasts. “I bet fifty bucks Reed doesn’t know that.”
“And you’re going to keep it that way,” Scarlett says, her tone harsh. Scarlett is a mild-mannered girl, but I can tell she’ll bear her claws if Tina keeps pushing. “And what do you mean you took her home Friday night? Caroline said she was supposed to be out with her friend on the committee.”
Tina shrugs and gives a smart-ass grin. “Hell if I know. All I know is that I was leaving the Voodoo Club with my friends when Curly Sue comes running up, asking if I can give her a ride back to her car.”
“Stay away from her, Tina.”
“Ben can’t play with her. I can’t play with her. What’s the fucking deal?”
“I mean it, Tina. Stay. Away.”
“Damn, Scarlett. No need to be such a bitch. It’s not like the two of us were going to become besties anyway. I took her to her car and dropped her off. I even offered to help her open a match-making business, but she flat-out turned me down.”
God help me, this conversation is making me even more intrigued with the girl. Despite my better judgment, I find myself asking, “Why would she start a match-making service?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Tina asks.
“Would I ask if I had?”
Tina releases a throaty, sexy laugh. “I like you, Masterson. I think we should keep you around.” She leans forward on the table, looking into Scarlett’s face. “We’re a bit incestuous around here.” She lingers on the word. “You see, Scarlett used to be roommates with Caroline Hunter until she moved in with Tucker last summer.”
“After he quit the Chicago Fire.”
“Don’t encourage her, Ben,” Scarlett grunts.
I know I shouldn’t, yet I’m curious.
“Yep,” Tina says. “That’s right. So Caroline was left without a roommate and Scarlett and I were friends.” The way she says the word makes me question it. “Anyway, I wanted out of the dorms, so Scarlett suggested I move in with her bestie.”
“Okay…” I say, wondering where she was going with this.
“Here’s where it gets interesting.” She sits up and turns to face me. “Reed moved here last August with his baby sister. They came to the party Tucker threw Scarlett for her high GRE scores and Caroline was there. The sparks that flew between Caroline and Reed were strong enough to start a raging inferno, only Caroline was too busy looking for a rich boyfriend and Reed was too busy being a stuck-up prick. Baby sis decided to take matters into her own hands and got the Monroe Foundation to sponsor the fashion department’s fall fashion show because she knew Caroline would be working on it. And she got Reed to be the head of the committee.” She grins. “You would have thought getting laid regularly would mellow the guy, and it did until a couple of weeks ago.”
“So Caroline and Reed hooked up?”
“Keep up, Masterson. I didn’t think you were slow-witted. Yes, they hooked up, and those two…” she releases a low whistle. “Let’s just say that the walls in our apartment are thin and I heard things most people don’t want to hear.” A slow, evil grin spreads across her face. “Good thing I’m not most people.”
Scarlett rolls her eyes in disgust.
“Reed Pendergraft is a dirty, dirty boy,” she drawls.
“Enough, Tina.” Scarlett looks close to blowing up.
I hold up my hands. “Yeah, I have no desire to hear about his exploits in the bedroom.”
She lifts an eyebrow coyly. “They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I bet Virgin Mary is a freak in the bedroom too. Maybe you want to find out.”
“That analogy refers to offspring, not siblings,” Scarlett says.
Tina shrugs her indifference.
“Yeah, no thanks,” I say. Yes, I’m interested, but I need to keep Reed on my good side. “I’ve had enough freaks to last a lifetime.”
She leans forward and curls her fingers around my thigh. “I want to hear more about your freaks.”