Free Trashed by Jasinda Wilder Page A

Adam,” Gareth says to me.  
    I sit down beside him, and he sets his phone on his knee. “Bad news, huh?” I glance at him. “What’s up?”
    “I just got a call from Emma.” He doesn’t look at me as he says her name. “The storm is still out of control. They ran the ferries all day yesterday despite the storm, but today they’re saying the waves are well over fifteen feet in places. They’re shutting down the ferries for a while, until the waves go down a bit.”
    I frown. “I didn’t think they ever shut the ferries down.”
    He shrugs. “I didn’t either. First time in like, twenty years or something. One of the ferries almost capsized this morning, apparently.” He taps at the screen of his phone. “Anyway, point is, Emma can’t make it for the dinner.”  
    “Well damn,” I say, my tone dry and droll. “I’m so upset.”
    Gareth rolls his eyes and grins. “I’m sure you’re heartbroken. But you still need a date for the dinner.”
    “I might be stuck going on my own. It’s not the end of the world.”  
    “Fine, whatever.” Gareth pokes me in the shoulder. “But you will show up, Adam. Alone or with a date, you have to at least make an appearance.”
    “I will, I will.”  
    He sets his tea down with a clatter, and picks up a tiny triangular sandwich with something pink on top of the bread. It’s a formal English type of tea setup that they do every afternoon, apparently, complete with weird sandwiches and bizarre pastries.  
    “Well, I’d better go make some calls,” I say, slapping my knee.
    Although, by the time I get up to my room, I already know what I’m going to do. It’s reckless, and sure to get me in trouble, and probably make a huge scene for everyone, but I don’t care. I shower and dress in my tux, fighting with the bow tie for nearly twenty minutes before getting it to look right. Fucking bow ties.  
    I ask for a private carriage and bring an umbrella, not that it’ll do much good, as it’s still raining really hard. I hop into the waiting carriage, tell the driver where I want to go, and then sit back to think about what I’m going to say. And try not to think too closely about what I’m doing, and how bad an idea it is.  
    It’s only a few minutes before the carriage is stopping outside her dorm. I jump out and jog to the entrance, which is luckily unlocked. A girl with blue-streaked blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing is exiting one of the apartment doors and locking it behind herself.
    “Excuse me,” I say, fixing my public-appearance smile on my face. “I’m looking for Des Ross.”  
    The girl starts and presses a hand to her chest, having not seen me as I approached. “Holy shit, you scared me, dude.” And then she actually sees me and her eyes go wide. “Holy shit. Holy motherfucking shit.”  
    I ignore her unblinking stare of disbelief. “Do you know where I can find Des?”
    She tilts her head to one side. “Why?”
    “I met her yesterday, and I wanted to…talk to her.” I take a step closer and let a silence hang. “Do you know where I can find her?”  
    The girl has a calculating expression on her face. “She came home last night looking like she’d been crying.”
    “Home?” I glance at the door behind the girl. “She’s your roommate?”
    “Ruth Nicholson.” She extends her hand, and I shake it, squeezing gently.  
    “Adam Trenton.”  
    “Nice to meet you, Adam.” She withdraws her hand and fixes me with an impressively hard look. “So why did she come back looking shaken up?”
    I hesitate, not knowing what to say. Finally, I decide on neutrality. “I think if she didn’t explain, neither should I. But how about you just tell her I’m here, and let her decide if she wants to see me.”
    Ruth nods. “Good enough.” Her eyes rake up and down. “Nice tux, by the way.”
    “Thanks.”
    She goes back inside, and then returns after only a moment. “You can go in.” She closes the distance between us and