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“That seems very far-fetched.”
“Yeah, I agree. Which means the guy is a real piece of shit.”
“Well, who on the Reign would do something like that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been subtly trying to find out, but it’s not the kind of thing guys talk about in a locker room. And how would a guilty guy act? I have no idea what I’m looking for.” He shifted to see her better. “Actually, maybe you can help. As a woman, what would set off your creep radar?”
Pushing her nearly empty plate away, she reached for her wine glass. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? I think most women would love to know which men are safe and which are dangerous. But you never know. Men don’t come with warning labels, unfortunately.”
“Fuck,” Bennett said tiredly.
“Well, screw this guy, whoever he is. He needs to be caught and put in jail.” She snorted. “That is, if the league doesn’t find out first and make all of this go away.”
“I won’t let them.”
“I hope not. I know you always try to do the right thing. You’re annoying like that.” She bumped their shoulders affectionately. “But what if it blows up your team’s season?”
He rubbed his forehead with one hand. “I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping I can handle it quietly. Keep it out of the press for as long as possible. But if Nico finds him first, it’s going to be a shitshow.”
Bennett’s phone buzzed three times in rapid succession. He didn’t pick it up.
“Speaking of Nico,” Lauren said dryly.
“Ignore it.”
“How can I when he won’t stop texting you?”
When Bennett didn’t move toward his phone, she reached across him and took it off the counter again. “Let’s see what lover boy has to say.”
“Lauren,” he warned. “Those might not be safe for your eyes.”
“You let me see your Grindr messages that time we went to Greece, remember? Nothing could be worse than that.” She opened his phone and began reading. “He typed out a list of names. These must be the guys he suspects.”
Bennett leaned over to read Nico’s thread.
NM: McPherson, Taylor, Pence, Brown, Campbell, Singh
Bennett studied the names. How had Nico acquired this list?
“Well, it’s not Brown,” Lauren said instantly, typing exactly this into the text thread. She sent it before Bennett could stop her.
“What are you doing!” He plucked the phone from her fingertips. “You can’t text him.”
“I didn’t say anything bad. And for the record, I’m probably better at sexting than you.”
“I do just fine with sexting.”
He wrote, Where did this list come from?
NM: This is not an answer
NM: How do you know it is not Brown
Bennett: Because he is a close friend of mine. He would never
NM: You are certain?
Bennett: Yes
