So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)(5)
Author: Suzanne Young

I shook my head, feeling a little annoyed. “It’s Smitten Kittens. And yes, it said SOS, but none of them were involved.”

“But the Smitten Kittens are the only ones that know how to pull off stuff like that, right? Didn’t you keep the files?”

I furrowed my brow, surprised that Aiden would mention our files. Thing was, Leona had asked to convert all of our paper forms into electronic ones last year. But since Kira had trouble figuring out how to open the documents, we’d kept both. I’d never talked about the SOS system with Aiden, so it seemed an odd thing to bring up.

“No,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “We stored the files somewhere safe.”

Aiden stared down at the wood floor of my living room. “Well, I don’t know what to say, Tess. My money would be on a rogue Kitten. But if you’re sure…”

“No,” I said. “Kira was over ninety percent sure that it wasn’t anyone on the squad. And it definitely wasn’t me. I trust the squad. They wouldn’t do this.” Aiden shrugged and I pursed my lips, looking him over. He knew about the SOS files. In fact, Aiden knew about a lot of things. “Hey, you…you didn’t mention SOS to anyone, did you?” Like maybe Chloe Ferril?

My ex-boyfriend spun to face me so quickly that I nearly choked.

“Me?” he asked, his mouth hanging open. “You think I ratted you out to the school?” He laughed. “Oh, baby,” he said, taking my hand again. “If I was going to spill your secrets, I’d make sure to blackmail you first.” He grinned wickedly.

I couldn’t help but smile as I wondered what exactly he’d want as payment. Aiden’s hand was warm on mine. I loved that feeling—that safe feeling. He looked over, but I saw his expression change as he ran his thumb over my hand. Aiden was thinking, and that was never a good sign.

“Hey,” I said, realizing that I’d just brought up the one thing that still hurt him. “I promised you that SOS would stop spying, and we did. I wouldn’t lie to you again.”

Aiden brought his fingers to my cheek, touching it softly. “I believe you,” he whispered. “I just…I don’t want you getting yourself into trouble again.” He leaned over to give me a quick kiss.

“Okay.”

He sighed, smiling a little. “Now what did this fake Kitty have to say?”

I felt better. Aiden believed me and he was looking out for me. He was my guy, even if technically he wasn’t really. “Well,” I began, “I only saw the one e-mail. No word yet if it went beyond that, but we have an emergency meeting scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Meeting?” Aiden glanced at me. “You’re not thinking of restarting SOS, are you?”

I shook my head. “No. But the squad needs to meet to discuss this. Aiden, e-mails are going out with the SOS logo on them. Someone who knows us is a total copy-Kitten! And I need to find out who it is.”

“Copy-Kitten? Oh, baby, you’re so cute.”

“This is not a time for cute!”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. What can I do to help you?” he asked, his voice getting softer, as if he knew it would turn me into pistachio pudding.

I chewed on the corner of my lip. Surely with his ties to the boys at our school, Aiden would be privy to information I couldn’t get on my own.

“I need you to call Darren and some of the other guys from the team. See if they know about any funny business going on at school. But be careful not to out us. We don’t need anyone else knowing about SOS or that we’ve been heading it for the last few years.”

Aiden sighed again. “Tess, I haven’t talked to Darren in weeks. I’m not on the team anymore. I don’t even go to your school. Don’t you think it would look weird if I called him now?”

“Not if you play it smooth.”

He grinned. “Oh, I’m always smooth.”

“Are you going to call Darren or not?” But he was right. He was always smooth.

“Fine,” he said, sounding sort of annoyed. “I’ll call and check into it. But I guarantee they don’t know anything. If they did—” He stopped. Aiden knew the ramifications of our exposure. It might involve mobs with pitchforks.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

“Anytime. I’ve got to go,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of my head. “I have to hit the gym, and I have class early in the morning.”

I frowned. “Will you call me later?” I asked, not wanting to move away from him. I knew I was being clingy, but I almost couldn’t help myself. With things so different between us, I felt like I had to fight for every second with him.

Aiden paused, making my stomach twist in pretzel knots. “I’ll try,” he said. “But I have…plans tonight.”

“Oh.” Did he have a date? I pressed my lips together, trying to remind myself that ex-boyfriends were allowed to date. Especially when their ex-girlfriends spied, lied, and cheated on them. But then I reminded myself that ex-boyfriends who slept over at my house were absolutely not allowed to date anyone. Except me. The rules of ex-dating still had me all turned around.

“Let go, Tess,” Aiden said, pulling out of my grasp. Then his eyes weakened. “It’s not anything like that,” he whispered. “I just have to get in a workout, and then I’m meeting a few friends for dinner. That’s all. Don’t look so sad. You know I can’t stand it when you’re sad.”

“I know.” I tried to sound as perky as possible. Still there was an ache in my chest, a dull one, but it was there. I tried to smile. “Call me tomorrow, okay?”

“ Course, baby,” he said, moving to kiss me deeply. When he pulled away, I felt a bit calmer. But only a bit.

I watched from my seat as he walked around gathering his stuff, never glancing at me. In fact, it seemed like he was trying not to.

Before heading for the door, Aiden moved in front of me. “You know how much I care about you, right, Tess?” he asked softly.

I nodded, reaching up to put my hands on either side of his face. I kissed him, wanting to keep him here, knowing I couldn’t. When I pulled away, his eyes were closed.

“I’ll call you soon,” he said. And then he walked away.

“I love you,” I called, but the door was already closed.

Alone, I covered my face with my palms. Deep breath. I needed to stay focused. There was a copy-Kitten out there, and they’d already inflicted serious damage.