Betrayal Codes

Chapter 6: Cole

"Hello?"

It's the next morning and we all woke to Tucker's phone ringing non-stop. I check the clock: 5:47 AM. "What the fuck? I need to sleep," I grumble, shifting around, trying to get comfortable again.

Tucker pulls the phone away so the person on the other end can't hear. "It's Peter." Ugh. This early? "Yes, sir. All is well. The girls cracked your first code and we've struck up a deal. We're working together just so we can get close to the enemy before destroying them," Tucker explains, getting a little too excited about "destroying them."

He pauses to listen to what Peter is saying, probably praising him for his smart thinking. "Uh-huh... thanks... alright... yes, okay, goodbye," he hangs up, dropping the phone and falling back onto the bed. "He says 'good job. You boys are doing so well already. I knew you were the ones for this job' blah blah blah. He also says he'll send off another code soon."

"And he had to call to tell us this at 5 AM?" I complain.

"Oh!" Tucker ignores me. "He wants us all to fake-date someone. So pick your poison. I choose Shay." Duh.

It feels weird claiming one of these girls to fool. I know I've done it in the past and probably done worse, but these girls feel different. I feel like this won't be the last we'll see of them, so what I do will come back to haunt me. "Um... Libby. Since I have to choose someone."

"Hey, Aiden!" Tucker calls to where Aiden is sleeping in the suite room. "Wanna fake-date Taylor or Cleo?"

"No one!"

"Hey! Why do we have to choose someone and you don't?" I'd rather not choose anyone too.

I hear shuffling and then he's emerging from his cave. "Because I'm your boss." Behind my back, I flip him the finger.

Then we all get up and get ready before heading down in search of the girls' room: 7002. Cleo opens the door when we get there. "Morning. Give us five minutes," she announces before slamming the door in Aiden's face.

"Bitch," he mutters before stalking down the hallway. I guess his morning doom hasn't worn off.

He's on his third lap of the floor when the door opens and all four girls come spilling out. There's a chorus of "morning!"s and then we all board the elevator and take it down to the first floor. I'm not sure what the plan is for today, but I don't have anything else to do so I follow everyone to the bakery. I volunteer to reserve our table while everyone orders and whispers to Tucker to send Libby over as soon as possible. She seemed annoyed at me since the moment we met, so I want to try and get rid of that annoyance.

"Hey," I say as she claims a seat two chairs away from me.

"Hey." Wow, she was really offering me tons of things to work with here.

I examine her: oversized hoodie, loose jeans, high ponytail like Taylor had yesterday. Her whole look is doing something to me. "Do you wear glasses?" I ask, out of the blue.

She blinks, taken aback. "Yes?"

I smirk. "Is that a question?"

She shakes her head quickly, trying to get her head in the game. "No. I do wear glasses, but only when I forget my contacts or at night."

Libby in glasses is a curious image. I imagine she looks amazing in them. "I'm sure they look really good on you."

She lets out a whispered ha. "Do you wear glasses?" It's not lost on me that she changed the subject after my compliment.

"No, sadly. I have 20/20 vision."

"Lucky."

"You can borrow my eyes sometime," I offered jokingly before realizing how odd that sounded. "Wait, no, nevermind. That was creepy, sorry." I cringe. Off to a great start, Cole.