Free Hero Complex by Margaux Froley

“So?”
    “Hell, no. I made a point to eat before I got back. How about I just keep you company while you eat?”
    Devon made a beeline toward a table in a back corner of the dining hall. Although the dinner rush seemed to have died out, a corner table away from eavesdropping ears was still a minor coup.
    “Is this about snooping around my room?” Cleo asked, a twinkle in her eye. “I saw your note when I got back. Come on,
dis-moi
, how much did you enjoy going through my stuff?”
    Devon took a bite of her burger. It tasted like foamy filler. Maybe the whole thing wasn’t as big a deal as she thought. “I didn’t see anything that belongs to me, let’s just say that.”
    Cleo sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “So? What’s the deal? Is this business or social? With you, I never know.”
    Devon put her food down. “I just wanted to check with you. About you and Bodhi.”
    “He kissed you, didn’t he?” Cleo asked point-blank.
    Devon’s face flushed.
    “He did, he did, he did!” Cleo slapped her palms on their table, taunting Devon with a wicked, delighted laugh.
    “I really wasn’t expecting it, I swear,” Devon gasped, relief flooding through her. “But it happened, and I guess I was, I mean, I am happy it did. So it’s okay with you? Please say it’s okay withyou.” She took another bite of her hamburger, just to give herself something to do.
    Cleo smiled. “You’re sweet, Dev. Bodhi and me … it was just a few hookups, and I felt as guilty as you do now, if you want to know the truth. I always knew something was lurking there between you two. Of course you should go for it.” She shook salt over Devon’s French fries before picking at a few. “And trust me, Bodhi never does anything he doesn’t want to do. He and Raven have been calling their own shots for a while now. If he kissed you, it wasn’t an accident. The guy likes you. My advice? Try to enjoy it. You do know how to enjoy things, yes?”
    Devon managed another smirk and dropped her hamburger, resisting the temptation to reach across the table and hug Cleo. “Okay, so here’s the other thing. Remember your waiter crush on New Year’s? Dimples? Eli, or that’s at least what he told me his name was?”
    Cleo nodded, intrigued now.
    “Get this—he was using someone else’s ID that night.”
    “Wait, are you saying my crush was your attacker?” Cleo leaned back. Her boot tapped the wooden floor. “Just my luck. Why do I always fall for the dark and disturbed ones?”
    Devon blinked. Did Cleo think she was joking?
    Cleo’s face fell. “Oh, Dev, I’m sorry.” She leaned over the table. “I’m totally not belittling your attack. But you get it, right? We have got to find normal, non-betraying boyfriends. And it sounds like you have …” Cleo dropped off in mid-sentence. Her snarky grin returned, and she tilted her head at the table behind them.
    Devon twisted around to see Grant sitting down.
    He caught their eyes. Devon quickly looked away. What she wouldn’t give to forget that whole Grant debacle of last semester. Her cheeks burned redder than they had last night at check-in, remembering how much she had trusted him.
Lying jerk
, she thought for the hundredth time. Luckily Grant had stayed clear ofher this semester. She secretly hoped he was too ashamed to come near. Living with that kind of shame only seemed fair.
    “So I’m going to go into the city next weekend,” Devon whispered, back squarely turned on Grant. “Try to find this Eli guy. You want in?”
    Cleo finished Devon’s French fries. “Don’t know. Bodhi going to be there?”
    “Yeah, probably. Is that weird?”
    “How about this? My mom’s got some spa thing in Switzerland the rest of the month. Why don’t we get signed out next weekend to my parents’ penthouse near the marina? We have a fun getaway weekend, and if the Dreadlocked Duo want to make an appearance and find our waiter, then we’re
all
in?”
    Devon had to laugh.