The Seduction Game novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Envelope

I did not touch the envelope.

My mother raised me to believe that if you touch a thing, it becomes yours.

I did not want to own that envelope.

I took my phone out of my clutch and photographed it from three sides.

The wax seal, the stamp, the lacrosse jacket's number sewn inside the collar, the sagging pocket.

I added the tag from the hook above it, which said PRESCOTT in a mother's careful ink.

The camera clicked, soft and clear.

Then somebody behind me said, "Looking for your coat?"

My blood went to ice water.

Teddy Prescott stood in the doorway with a glass of something amber in one hand.

He wore the same grin from the dining hall.

I did not turn around fast.

I slid the phone into my clutch and snapped the clasp.

"I have a headache," I said. "I wanted my wrap. It's the gray one."

"The gray one's on the other rack." He strolled in. "This is mine."

He took the jacket off its hook, and my eyes went to the pocket.

The envelope was still in it.

I made myself look at his face, only his face.

"I didn't mean to bother your things," I said.

"You aren't bothering anything." He leaned his shoulder against the wall, too close.

"I saw you and Reuter dancing. It's cute. I thought he wouldn't have the nerve."

"Nerve?"

"To be nice to a girl like you." He winked. "He's good at it, right?"

I have been angry many times in my life.

It was never as quiet as that.

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