The Valentine's Dare (The Sycamore Serial Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

waiting.”
    Kierra blushed, hard. “I can’t do it with you staring at me like that, freak.”
    “She likes him, I can tell.” Lacy shook her head. “Mason Pryor, working his moves on the Matchmaker like always.”
    “Speaking of, who are you setting us up with? And don’t say it’s some short guy I’ll tower over the whole night.” Leila motioned to herself. “This frame does not do munchkin men.”
    “I haven’t figured that out yet. I have to actually meet all these people before I can set them all up.” Kierra sighed, thinking about all the work she had to do added on top of her homework. “Are these fourth floor apartments really worth it?”
    “Are you joking?” Lacy leaned forward, intense. “Please tell me that you’re joking.”
    “I mean, I’ve never even seen one of them. How great can they be?”
    “They’ve got a full kitchen. Private bathroom. Marble countertops.” Soon Lacy was leaning so far forward Kierra could see every speck of blue in her eyes. “I want. That fucking. Apartment.”
    “We can help you set people up,” Leila suggested, grabbing Lacy and pulling her back. “I know pretty much everyone in the building who speaks Spanish, for one thing.”
    “Yeah, and I know all the lesbians.” Leila and Kierra both stared at her, and she just shrugged. “My hair throws ‘em, but I don’t mind. Oh! Oh! You should set Mason Pryor up with this lesbian I know, her name is Jade and she’s the best -“
    “Actually,” Kierra forestalled her with an upraised hand, “Anna Banks has already pretty much blackmailed me into giving Mason to her. She says we won’t get the apartment if she doesn’t get to date him.”
    “Ohmigod, really?” Lacy’s mouth fell wide open.
    Leila shook her head. “That’s pretty ballsy of her, since they broke up because she was cheating on him.”
    “Wait, what? I never heard about that.”
    Her friends gave each other a look. “Honey,” Lacy said, “I’m not surprised you didn’t hear about it. It went down last semester, when you were kinda too wrapped up in your own drama to pay much attention to anyone else’s.”
    “She cheated on him with Frankie’s older brother,” Leila said. “It was a pretty big deal. Almost broke up his friendship with Frankie, and it wasn’t even his fault.”
    “So I guess he and Anna were pretty serious,” Kierra said, feeling her heart sink - much to her surprise and chagrin. He’s not yours, so stop that right now. She didn’t have the time or the energy for a silly, impossible crush this semester.
    “I guess they were serious.” Lacy shrugged. “I always thought she was more into him than he was into her, but she’s the one who cheated.”
    “I never saw the appeal of Anna,” Leila said.
    “You’re not a guy,” Kierra pointed out. “But enough talking about Mason Pryor. I want to talk about you two. You’re right, I was too wrapped up in my own life last semester to catch up on any drama, and that includes yours. So how’re my two besties doing in the dating world? Any crushes I can make happen in time for Valentine’s Day?”
    Leila shrugged. “Like I said, anyone tall. Lacy?”
    Hemming and hawing, Lacy looked down at her plate, cheeks pink. “Maybe… Frankie Reid? I know he’s a weirdo, but I think I kind of like weird.”
    “Done! And Leila, I’ll find you someone tall. There’s gotta be more than a few options.”

    As it turned out, Mason Pryor wasn’t just a member of French club. He was also in the book club and the scavenger hunt club, of all things.
    Kierra discovered this on the first Saturday that both clubs met, sitting across from him in the upstairs common room, the only two people early for book club. She found herself torn between hiding behind her book so he didn’t see her blush, and staring at him incessantly.
    He looked really, really good. Whatever he’s done to his hair today, I hope he keeps doing it forever. Not to mention - she tried not to sniff too