Page 64 of Riot Rules
Mara snorts at the look on Pres’ face. Her eyes are twice their normal size, and her lips are scrunched up into a tight knot. She shakes her head, refusing to down the jalapeño vodka that Mara just free-poured into her mouth.
I stand a step back from my friends, still trying to figure out what thefuckis going on. Fitz leans against the counter, elbows on the marble, perfectly at home. “The longer you keep it in there, the longer it’s gonna burn.” He offers this sage piece of advice like he isn’t breaking a whole handful of state laws right now. He is, right? Hemustbe.
Presley whimpers, then gulps, squealing as she finally takes the damn shot. “Fuck! Who—” She swallows again, forcing down a retch, eyes watering like crazy. “Who brings jalapeño vodka to a party? That’s just…fffucking…cruel.”
She’s already had five shots of various other types of vodka and she’s starting to slur her words. I tried to cut her off before the jalapeño vodka was even an option, but Mara shooed me off, cheering her on.
I’m two seconds away from grabbing Pres and making a run for the exit when Mercy Jacobi saunters over to the kitchen island, wearing skyscraper heels and a loose black silk shift that barely scrapes the tops of her thighs. Oh. fuck. Definitely no bra, either. Her nipples are very visible through the sheer material of her dress. I have to admit, I’m a little impressed when Fitz’s jawdoesn’thit the floor.
He still maintains his cool when she leans forward, giving him a clear view down her dress, and slaps a little baggie full of blue powder down on the marble in front of him. “I suspect Wren was joking, but…y’know. Just in case you need it.” She winks suggestively.
Fitz stares at the baggie, then picks it up, opens it, and empties the contents into his mouth.
What thefuck?!
The English professor winces, scraping his tongue with his teeth.
“Well? What do you think? You gonna be sporting timber in twenty minutes?” Mercy purrs.
“Guess I’ll find out.”
Mercy pouts prettily, her bottom lip sticking out. “For your sake, I hope it was a dud. Everyone knows you fool around with girls at Wolf Hall, but fucking one of us here?” She tuts, running her hand down his arm. “Your career would be over quicker than you can sayimproper relationships with a student.”
He carefully takes her hand and places it down on the counter. “You have me confused with someone else. If you’re implying that I’m having any kind of relationship withMara—”
“God, no!” Mercy laughs. “No, Mara’s currently my brother’s little side piece, aren’t you, babe?”
Mara glares at Wren’s sister.
Presley lets out a startled hiccup.
The color drains from Fitz’s face. “Wren, huh?” He turns his attention to Mara. “I thought I’d heard something about that.”
Mara’s cheeks turn splotchy. “What? I never claimed to be exclusive withanyone. No one’s ever claimed to be exclusive withme, either,” she adds. “Until a conversation’s had and the rules are discussed, Ican’t be blamed for keeping my options open.”
Fitz’s moment of surprise is well behind him. He’s doing a great job of acting cool, but his energy’s all off. He can smile and jostle her all he likes, but the man is pissed. I’d go so far as to say that he’sraging. “Of course,” he says. “You’re a young woman. You can sleep with whoever you want. I knew he was sleeping with someone. I suspected it was you. Now the whole thing’s been confirmed. Big deal. Let’s just get on with the evening and have some fun, huh?” Each statement comes out clipped. Too short. Too hard.
I know for a fact that Mara hasn’t slept with Wren. If she’d even come close to sleeping with him, she would have told me immediately—the girl can’t keep a secret to save her life—so why, then, is she letting Mercy put this seed of ugliness into Fitz’s head? She should be defending herself, not letting him think she’s even remotely interested in Jacobi.
“I’ve gotta hit the restroom. I’ll be back.” Fitz downs the shot of whiskey he’s been nursing and slams the glass down onto the island. He storms off, shoving his way through the crowd without another word.
And that’s when I receive the answer to my question.
Mara grabs my arm and squeals like an excited eight-year-old. “Oh my god. Did you see that? He was so jealous!”
“What?” Mercy and I say it at the same time.
“Youwanthim to be jealous?” Mercy adds.
I can’t believe it, either. Mara’s played some stupid games in the past, but this is just nuts.
“Try to judge less,” Mara snipes. “What are you doing, spilling that shit in front of Fitz, anyway? You’retryingto cause trouble between us?”
Uh-oh. The claws are coming out. I do not want to be here for this. “Pres, why don’t we go have a look outside. See what stars are visible tonight?” I do my best to steer her away from this clusterfuck of a conversation in the making, but Mara grabs me and holds on tight.
“Oh no. No, no, no,” she says. “You guys need to witness this. Mercy Jacobi is about to apologize for being an asshole.”
“Hah!” Mercy’s eyes glitter like sharpened daggers. “I don’t apologize, Bancroft. Especially when I don’t have anything to apologizefor. You told me you wanted to date my brother. He’s been acting super weird lately. I put two and two together and figured out your dumb little secret. Sue me.”
