Treacherous by L.L Hunter

yeah.”
    “ Oh My God! You
haven’t just kissed him, have you?”
    I blushed a deeper
shade of red, and tried to hide it with my hair and my coffee
cup.
    “ Oh My God. How was
he?”
    “ Rochelle!” I shoved
her and laughed. “He was great. He’s so wonderful. But that’s not
what’s complicated about this.”
    “ Oh, then what is
it?”
    I sighed. “There’s another guy.”
    “ Oh, that dark and
mysterious fella at your party?”
    “ That would be the
one.”
    “ What about
him?”
    “ Um…” Again, I blushed
a deep shade of rouge.
    “ Oh My God! You little
slut!”
    “ Gee, thanks!” I
kicked her under the table, but I wasn’t offended. I knew she meant
it as a weird term of endearment. “See what I mean? You can now
tell why I’m so screwed up.”
    “ Uh, huh. So, what are
you going to do?”
    “ I don’t know. That’s
the thing. I was hoping for your opinion.”
    “ Well, how do you feel
about each of them? I personally would go for Mr McHottie
lifeguard.”
    “ Lifeguard? You mean
Nathan?”
    “ Mmhmm.” She added a
head nod and a wink. Rochelle was sassy at the best of times, and
that was what I loved about her.
    “ He’s not a
lifeguard.”
    “ Well, he should be
with those muscles and that complexion. He belongs on Bondi
Beach.”
    “ Ugh! I don’t know
what to do, Rochelle. I like them both, but… I think I like Nathan
more. The problem is I think I’m dating Frankie.”
    “ Uh oh. Girl, you
can’t have both. You need to choose.”
    “ I know. I know. But…
I can’t.”
    “ Choose, before I do
it for you. You can’t sleep with both men and lead them on. You’re
not only betraying them but yourself, as well.”
    “ I know. The problem
is, Nathan hasn’t called me since. I haven’t seen him. He hasn’t
been on campus.”
    “ What did he say to
you the last time you saw him?”
    “ He said he had to go
to work.”
    “ For four days? It’s
Wednesday and you last spoke to him on Sunday, right?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ Well, that’s too
long. He’s avoiding you.”
    “ No, he was so nice to
me. It was perfect before he left.”
    “ Well, then something
else is going on. Maybe try calling him.”
    “ Okay. I will. As soon
as I get back to campus.”
     
    * * * *
     
    After Rochelle dropped me back at the
university, I had every intention of calling Nathan, but Frankie
got to me first.
    “ Hey,” I said,
answering as I stepped through the door.
    “ Hey. Where are you
and what are you doing right now?” After having sex on Sunday, our
dinner date on Monday had gone great, and we finished it off back
at my apartment with more sex.
    “ I just got home from
shopping. I bought some sexy underwear,” I hinted. I thought I’d
let him know. I loved teasing him.
    “ Great. Well, save
that for tonight. I’m stealing you away.”
    “ Stealing me away,
where?”
    “ I was going to take
you this weekend, but something’s come up and I can’t wait. It has
to be today.”
    “ Oh. Where are we
going? I have classes tomorrow.”
    “ I’m sure you’ll catch
up. I’ll help you study.”
    “ Oh, okay. Sure,” I
said, a little hesitant knowing his version of studying wasn’t a
study of books.
    “ Great. You don’t need
to pack much. Just a bikini, the sexy lingerie you were telling me
about, and a jumper. It gets cool where we’re going.”
    “ Okay. Will do.” Now I
was curious.
    “ Great. I’ll pick you
up in an hour.”
    Half way through
packing, I received a call. I dug my phone out of my jeans pocket
and picked up without looking at the caller ID.
    “ Yeah?”
    “ Charlotte, honey.
Where are you?”
    “ In my apartment.
Why?”
    “ Something’s happened
with your father, he…”
    “ Mum, is he okay?” I
switched ears so I could hold the phone better and stood up
straight.
    “ Physically, yeah. He
was questioned by the police this morning.”
    “ Why? He’s a criminal
lawyer. Isn’t that part of the job description?”
    “ Yeah, but somehow