“Yeah.” Jesse didn’t sound riveted.
The rollercoaster stalled, coming down a slope and it waited before it would swoop back up.
Tiffany sighed from exasperation. “I’m just so sick of how she sleeps around. I get it. She’s heartbroken. Dylan f**ked her over, but she has to stop spreading her legs for any guy. It’s so hard to sit and watch her do this to herself. And my cousin doesn’t help. She lets Hannah go off and do whatever. What if my sister gets sick? What if she gets AIDS?”
He yawned as he replied, “I’m sure she uses protection.”
“Yeah, if she’s sober enough. They go to Robbie Haskill’s house, you know. All three of them. You know what kind of a crowd he runs with. And I know Hannah sleeps with him. I’ve gotten threatening texts from his girlfriend. She’s always warning me to rein my sister in and keep her away. I think they even got into a physical fight.”
“Wait. What?”
My stomach lurched. The rollercoaster went back at the interest in Jesse’s voice now. He was more alert now as he repeated, “What’d you say?”
“About Robbie Haskill’s girlfriend?”
“No, all three of them go to his parties?”
“Yeah.” A thick moment of silence before she asked, “Why?”
“Who’s the three of them?”
“My sister. My cousin. And that weirdo girl that’s always hanging around them. Do not tell me you have a thing for her? She’s been hooking up with Cord. She’s why he dumped Chandra.”
I shook my head. All of that was news to me.
“I didn’t think Chandra and Cord were dating.”
“Hooking up. It’s the same thing.”
“Not for Cord.” I could hear the amusement in Jesse’s tone. “Chandra knew that.”
“It was exclusive for her. She wasn’t seeing anyone else—”
“She should’ve been. Cord doesn’t date. Chandra knew that.”
“What’s your problem? Why are you harping on Chandra’s heartache? She really loved him.”
Jesse snorted, yawning again. “And that’s the problem. Cord’s not been quiet about who he is. Chandra knew that going in and she decided she could change him. She couldn’t. No big shocker there. What is it with you girls? Why do you always think you’re going to change the guy you’re with? He’ll only change if he wants to. You can’t do a thing about it.”
She grew quiet again, but asked a moment later, in a timid voice, “Are you talking about Jamie?”
“What? No.”
“You are, aren’t you?” She grew more insistent. “Are you trying to tell me something about him? Is there something I should know?”
“Tiffany, stop.”
Her voice grew muffled. A sob hiccupped from her. “I know he texts my sister, you know. I pay for his phone and I see the records. I’ve tried to search in it, but he’s got it password protected. Are they hooking up? You can tell me. I won’t say anything. I just need to know.”
He groaned. “Come on. We’re supposed to be studying.”
“Are they?” Her tone rose again, sharp now. “I don’t know if I could take that, my sister and my boyfriend.”
“Your whole thing is messed up. If you want to keep Jamie, an open relationship is not helping you.”
“It’s not open on my end.” She paused again. She said now, a husky laden promise, “But it could be.”
My eyes snapped open. The rollercoaster went flying again and I waited, my heart pounding, for his answer. I knew a proposition when I heard one.
“Stop, Tiffany. I didn’t agree to study with you for this.”
And this hadn’t been the first proposition. Judging by Jesse’s wariness, this wasn’t even the second or third. He sighed again. Books were closed. A chair was pushed back. His voice sounded again, more authoritative, “You’ve been a great study buddy, but our friendship needs to cool off.”
Another chair was shoved back. “That’s not what you said this summer.”
A knife went into my chest. My insides were gaping out now. They’d hooked up.
“And that was a mistake. Trust me.”
“How about last fall? That was another mistake?” She lowered her voice so it was a seductive whisper now, “Jesse, it was good with us. You’re the only guy that I’d leave Jamie for. You know that. You know how I feel about you.”
“Stop. I mean it.”
A harsh intake of breath and then she demanded, “Are you seeing someone? Jamie thinks you are. I thought he was being an idiot, but are you? Who’s the girl?”
“I’m not talking about this anymore.”
“So there is. Who?! I’ll find out. You know I will.”
“Tiffany.”
“You know I can find out and you know what I’ll do to that girl when I find out. It’ll be better if you just tell me right now. I’ll even promise to leave her alone. Just tell me, Jesse. Come on.”
“I’m not seeing anyone. You’re officially crazy.”
I heard something being shoved into his bag and I stood from behind my bookshelf. He hadn’t told her. He hadn’t said a word, but her threats stung. It was worse than I thought. I knew if we went public, it wouldn’t be good for me. Girls were obsessed with Jesse Hunt. I’d heard the giggles in the bathroom, from rooms with opened doors, behind girls in line at the food court. Basketball star that everyone already figured would go pro and the son to movie producer Malcolm Hunt. There was a reason Jesse kept a low profile around campus, but hearing the lethalness from Tiffany made my hair stick up.