Faking the Play (Hot Mess Harems #2)

27. Amelia

Chapter twenty-seven

Amelia

T he guys inviting me over for pizza hadn’t surprised me. I didn’t know if we were going to have sex again tonight, but if this thing between the four of us was a relationship, having a casual night in without sex was normal. And given how strange the idea of a foursome like us was, a little bit of normal would be nice.

And normal was exactly what waited for me when I entered the apartment. We ate pizza and wings from the best place in Fort Collins while we sat on the couch and chatted about our days and what our plans were for the next few days.

I’d worried that having sex would make things awkward between us, but the only difference I found between this evening and other times we’d eaten together like this was that I didn’t feel self-conscious about leaning against Ryan or letting my hand linger on Ethan’s shoulder.

“So, there’s something else I did today that we need to talk about.”

The serious tone to Logan’s words made my stomach sink. For a brief moment, I thought he was going to tell me they’d all changed their minds. That this was their way of letting me down easy.

What he said, however, wasn’t anything I possibly could’ve imagined.

“I’ve been looking into Jason’s academic history,” Logan said. “Something he said the other day made me think about how he’d accused you of cheating, and I had a feeling that maybe he was the one taking credit for work that wasn’t his.”

My head spun. In all the time I’d been with Jason, all the times I wondered if maybe I really was smarter than him, I never dreamed that he would cheat…except now that Logan had put those words out there, all sorts of pieces fell into place.

“Did—did you find something?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“I found two people. Carl Aames and Chyou Wen,” Logan said. “I’m pretty confident there are more, but what they told me was bad enough.”

Ryan put his arm around me as Ethan reached for my hand, threading his fingers between mine, as if they both knew I’d need the support for what Logan had to say. At first, as Logan explained what happened with Carl, I didn’t think things were too bad, but then he started to tell me about Chyou, another young woman who’d foolishly trusted Jason Hunn and paid the price for it.

“He did this before,” I whispered as Logan finished. “He’s not just a cheater. He’s a fucking predator.”

Ryan’s arm tightened around me and he kissed my temple. “Say the word and we’ll dump his body in a hole so deep that he’ll never be found.”

From anyone else, I might’ve taken it as a complete joke, but from Ryan, I knew a part of him was serious. He played defensive lineman, and defending the people he cared about was something written into his very DNA.

“I just talked to Carl and Chyou earlier today,” Logan said. “And right after I got that information from them, I talked to the guys. We didn’t want to keep any of this from you.”

“And we thought you should get to decide what we do next,” Ethan said, giving my hand a squeeze. “We might hate him because of what he did to you, but you’re the one whose life got screwed up because of him.”

“What do you think our options are?” I asked.

“We can keep investigating,” Logan said. “See how many more people we can find who provided work for Jason. Maybe even covered up shit for him too. Who knows.”

“We can let him know what we found and use it to stop him from trying to blackmail us,” Ryan said. “Or wait until he approaches you again and then tell him what we have.”

“Or we can give what Logan found to someone in charge and let them take over from here,” Ethan suggested. “Or you can come up with something completely different.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll have your back,” Logan assured me.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to rest on Ryan’s shoulder. Options were good, I told myself. Ever since Jason had sent me that text, I felt like all of my options had been taken away from me. I was only able to wait and see how things played out and hope I could pick up the pieces. I’d stood up to him, but I hadn’t been able to fight back. Now I could.

I just had to decide how I wanted to do it.

But, as the solid weight against my back reminded me, I didn’t have to make that decision alone. They knew I wouldn’t want them making it for me, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t offer advice if I asked.

Just one more way they were nothing like Jason.

I opened my eyes, but stayed where I was, too comfortable to move. “What do you guys think I should do?”

Logan spoke first, probably because he’d had the most time to think about it. “With homicide off the table—sorry, Ryan—I don’t think we should just ignore it until he tries to blackmail you or us. And I don’t like the idea of him basically getting away with all this shit.”

“I know it doesn’t happen a lot, but I’m going to be practical and say that we don’t have the time to keep digging.” Ethan shrugged when we all looked surprised. “Between classes and football, any extra time I have, I’d rather spend it like this, working on making this relationship work.”

“The school needs to know,” Ryan said quietly, the rumble of his voice vibrating against my back. “Him cheating is bad enough. Some of us work our asses off just to pass. But using what someone else did to make himself look smarter isn’t right. How many people have thought they were stupid because they compared themselves to him, and it’s not even him who’s smart.”

“Ryan’s right,” I said. “This is about more than what he could say about us. Jason has scholarships he hasn’t earned. Accolades that he doesn’t deserve. Things that should have gone to other people, but he stole.” I met Logan’s gaze. “We should turn over everything you have to the school and let them deal with it.”

“And if Jason decides to spread more rumors?” Logan asked. “He’s going to be pissed.”

“I have a feeling fewer people are going to believe him once all of this comes out,” I said. “And anyone who has more of a problem with how I live my life than they do with his cheating isn’t someone whose opinion I care about.”

Logan nodded. “All right. That’s what we’ll do then. First thing tomorrow, we’ll all go with you, and we’ll hand things over to the school.”

“And then we can focus on what’s really important,” I added with a smile. “Finishing up this year. Watching the Rams kick some ass on the field. And us.”

Ryan kissed the top of my head as Ethan grinned. The pleased light in Logan’s eyes spoke just as loudly as his friends’ reactions. We were important.