Out on Good Behavior (Radleigh University Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

certain piercing over the summer, while I maintain you were kidding. So, which is it?”
    Next to me, Samara’s cheeks turn pink, and I have to bite my lips hard to keep from smiling. “Only one way to find out,” I say, plucking Lizzie’s artfully painted shot glass from her hand and tossing it back.
    If possible, Sam’s cheeks get even redder.
    I wonder how far down her body that blush goes.
    Cait coughs, and I guess I’ve been caught staring at the neckline of Sam’s lilac sweater. Whoops. “Really, it’s not too late to switch games,” I suggest. “Perk of being in college—we don’t need to use a closet for Seven Minutes; my bedroom’s right there.”
    “Or perhaps it’s time for us to finally toast the host of honor,” says Lizzie. She takes the shot glass back—one of a set she bought in the Philippines last summer when meeting her grandparents for the first time—and dings it with Abe’s beer bottle until the entire room turns to look at us. “Hey, everyone! You were invited here for a reason!”
    “Free booze?” someone calls from the crowd.
    “That too,” Cait says with a grin. “But we’re here to celebrate our little Frankie growing up and getting a job and a solo exhibit at an art show during Parents’ Weekend.” She lifts her own beer. “To Frankie!”
    The room choruses “To Frankie!” even though I’ve barely met some of them, and now it’s my turn to blush. Especially when Samara turns to me and says, “I didn’t know about the exhibit. That’s fantastic! Congratulations.”
    “Thanks,” I murmur, wishing I could sink into the floor. “It’s really not a big deal.”
    “It sounds like a big deal. I’d love to see it. Are your parents coming that weekend?”
    “That’s the plan.” I’m actually pretty excited. Each one of the series I’m having displayed is inspired by one of them, and though my dad’s already seen plenty of pictures of last semester’s work—a set of biblically inspired paintings—I know he’s looking forward to seeing them in person. As for my mom…that’s a little more nerve-racking, since I’ve woven in some of her anxiety and depression, but she’s always been open about that stuff, and we’re close enough that I know she’ll appreciate it. “Yours?”
    She purses her lips just long enough for me to remember that she and her parents aren’t really on the best terms. “Nope. Mayor Kazarian needs to remain with his constituents that weekend. Something something fund-raising something.”
    When she tosses back her water for a long drink, I could swear she wishes it were something stronger.
    “Mayor. God, that’s still so funny to me. So are you, like, first daughter of your town?”
    “First Daughter of Meridian. Has a ring to it, I suppose.” Even with the smile playing at her lips, though, there’s a sadness in her eyes that makes me wish Cait had never mentioned Parents’ Weekend. They’ll all be solo that weekend for different reasons, but it isn’t nearly as sore a subject for Cait as it is for Lizzie or, apparently, Samara.
    Which of course makes me feel the need to offer her a distraction. “Well, as long as you’ll be on your own that weekend, if you wanna come check out the exhibit, it’s open to everyone. I don’t know if it’s your kind of thing, but—”
    “It sounds great,” she says, and fuuuuuck, her smile. She has this one slightly crooked incisor, the tiniest rebellion against her perfection, and it fucking melts me. “I’ll definitely be there.”
    Even though I made the offer, the idea of her coming to check out my stuff makes me want to crawl out of my skin. But I just say, “Cool.” Cait’s walking over, anyway, undoubtedly to break up whatever flirting I might be doing. And for once, I let her save me from myself.
    Truly, I cannot be trusted.

 
    I spend the rest of the weekend sleeping off the party and lazing around with Lizzie, but come Monday morning, I have no choice but to haul