“Do I want to know why?” I ask.
“No,” CT says.
I turn to Rover, who is wearing a shit-eating grin. I know they served together, so I’m pretty sure he knows the story.
“A group of us were drinking one night. Everything was fine until CT here had too much, and we had to go.”
“I still think someone spiked my drinks,” CT grumbles.
“No, you’re a lightweight. Anyway, it was a short walk back to the barracks, but dumbass here decides to take a detour which included climbing over a fence.”
I glance at CT. He shrugs and continues to eat.
“He climbed up the fence,” Rover goes on, “but when he tried to get over it and back down the other side…” He laughs so hard, tears come to his eyes. “He got stuck. He… he…” He can’t breathe, he’s laughing so hard.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. My underwear got stuck up on the fence, and when I went over, it held me up there.”
“He had the biggest wedgie.” Rover wipes his eyes with a napkin.
“So why aren’t you called Wedgie, then?”
“Because one of the guys immediately said,‘Let’s help Camel Toe down,’and it stuck.” Rover dabs his eyes one more time. “Best call sign ever.”
“Can’t say I agree,” CT glowers.
I can’t help but laugh. These guys are exactly what I needed.
“Thank you for stopping by. I thought after getting arrested Stormy would fire my ass and you guys wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”
Rover puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, we know you were framed. So does Stormy. We’re all good.” Rover then pats my back then shares a couple more embarrassing stories about CT.
By the time they leave, I feel a lot better. They declined to help me clean up before they went, but I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t help either.
After a shower and a quick scouring of the place, I head out to see Sam Morrey, the coach of the hockey team. I told Carter I’d find information about Lawrence and Sam’s my only option right now.
But my good mood falters as I step onto the campus of Havenwood University. Being this close to Lucy and not being able to be with her is torture.
I hope it’s only temporary, but I really don’t know. If I help take Lawrence Gardiner down, I don’t know how that will go over when all is said and done. Of course, I hope once her father is out of the way, Lucy won’t fear him so much and we can be together. But I worry she might hate me for it too.
Before I make my way to the athletic building, I take a detour toward Lucy’s office because I can’t stay away from her. But I run right into someone.
I grab his arms to keep him from falling over. “I’m sorry, that was my bad, I wasn’t… Ted?”
I recognize the man immediately, despite his injuries. He has two black eyes and a cut on his cheek.
He holds his hands up. “Hey, I said I would stay away from Lucy. You don’t need to harass me too.”
Before I can respond, he runs off toward another building. Harass him too? Wait. Stay away from Lucy? What is that about?Did my Lucy do that to him?
My Lucy. Fuck. I’ll always think of her like that. I have to figure out how to convince her of that.
I pick up my pace until I’m at her office. Thankfully, her door is open, and she’s sitting at her desk. Alone. My lucky day, no students. I knock on the door and step in as she glances up.
“No. You can’t come here.” She stands up and walks toward me.
“We need to talk.”
“I told you no.” Her hand goes to my chest to push me.
