Page 7 of The Jack*ss in Class

There was no way I was going to hide a donkey in a sorority house.

It only needed to be until the barn was fixed. But I hadno idea how long that was going to be. I popped onto the sanctuary’s website and made a quick, but big, donation. My shiny new accountant said I could write it off.

I could take him...home. We had the space. My sisters would freak, except Freddie, of course. Until she had to scoop donkey poo. It wasn’t like I wanted to move back to Casa Navarro, even for a few weeks. Not even for an adorably cute baby donkey. I loved my family, but they were a lot. Especially when I was the odd middle sister out all the time.

Abuela wouldn’t mind watching baby donkey. Despite her glamorous telenovela star facade, she was the one who I inherited my love of animals from. But she wasn’t back for another few weeks.

Donkey stuck his nose between the front seats, his wings rustling.

The sorority house was totally not a good idea, but I’d have to figure out how to make it work.

“Don’t look so smug,” I told him, but I was already mentally calculating how many bales of hay I could fit in my room without our house mother noticing. “This is just temporary. And we’re taking those wings off before anyone sees you.”

He brayed again, softer this time, like he knew he’d won. Reminded me of a certain cocky football player I knew. Maybe I should drop baby donkey off with him and they could strut their stuff together.

I texted Parker from the parking lot behind the Kappa house.

Me: Need help. Don’t ask questions.

Parker: I’ve got the shovel and I know where we can stop to get columbines to plant over the body.

Me: Actually, do ask questions. Many questions. Like how much trouble we’d get in if we temporarily housed farm animals in our room.

Parker: ...

Parker: Is this about the FlipFlop donkey?

Parker: OMG IT’S ABOUT THE FLIPFLOP DONKEY

Parker: I’M COMING DOWN

One minute later, she stuck her head out our second-floor balcony instead. “Please tell me you have him.”

“Shh.” I glanced around the dark parking lot. “Yes. But we have a problem.”

“Only one?”

I popped open the back of my Lexus. Baby donkey looked up from where he was curled on the bed of towels, his wings now definitely crooked from the day’s adventures.

Parker’s eyes went wide. “He’s so much cuter in person. But also... bigger than I expected.”

“Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair. “So about that...”

“Ladies?” A voice called from the front of the house. “Is someone out here?”

Mrs. Henderson. Our house mother. The womanwho’d once written someone up for having one of those pretty blue Beta fishes and had developed a love of random room checks.

“Quick.” Parker tossed down a bright red rope. “Like we practiced.”

“We’ve never practiced this,” I whisper shouted back.

“Yeah, but I’ve been reading a lot of heist novels lately. Same principle.”

The donkey chose that moment to let out a tiny bray.

“Was that...” Mrs. Henderson’s voice got closer. “Is there an animal out here?”

I grabbed the rope and started tying it around the donkey’s middle, thanking every deity I could think of that I’d done that shibari class for research on my second book. “Parker, if you let him fall on me...”

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