A Field Guide for Heartbreakers by Kristen Tracy Read Free Book Online Page A

people burst through the front door. They were guys. Two brown-haired and one blond. I suspected they were drunk. They stumbled more than walked. The first brown-haired guy doubled over in laughter. “Peat bog!” he said.“Peat bog, man!” said the second brown-haired guy. His hair was considerably longer and better maintained than the first brown-haired guy’s. It appeared extremely touchable.They stood near the doorway and didn’t make any movement toward the inside of the building. I thought maybe they were too inebriated to take more than five steps in a row.“I’m wasted,” groaned the third guy, the blond.Mrs. Knox glowered at the threesome until they noticed her and lowered their voices.“Sorry,” said the second guy. “Hey, are you checking in? Do you need help with your bags?”Veronica’s smile was wide and freakish. “They’re hot,” she whispered. “It’s time to launch the plan.”I shot her a nervous look. Because I didn’t know the plan yet.Veronica stepped closer to her mother. “These three look like college students,” she said. “I wonder if they’re in your fiction workshop?” All three guys straightened and attempted to look less inebriated.“Are you Tabitha Knox?” the first brown-haired guy asked.“I am,” Mrs. Knox said.“I’m in your workshop,” he said. “I wrote the story about the goat.”Veronica batted her eyelashes and stepped forward. “I’m her daughter, Veronica. This is my friend Dessy. We’re in the workshop too. We’re from Ohio.”I waved. “Parma,” I said. “It’s near Cleveland.”“Cool,” he said. “My name is Kite.”“Nice,” Veronica answered.“Well, Kite. We’d love help finding our rooms,” Mrs. Knox said. She handed him a card with our room numbers on it.“Very cool. Welcome to Masarykova Kolej,” he said, grabbing the handle of Mrs. Knox’s bag. “We checked in this morning. Have you been here before? This building was designed by the KGB. It’s a total maze.”Mrs. Knox turned her head away from Kite’s beer breath and nodded politely.The second brown-haired guy reached for Veronica’s bag. His cheeks were flushed, and a drop of sweat was sliding off his temple toward his ear. “I’m Waller,” he said. “It’s actually a nickname. It’s short for ‘Walnut.’” He wiped away the sweat bead and ran his hand through his long hair. “I have a talent.”“I’ve seen it,” Kite said. Veronica surrendered her suitcase handle and giggled. I raised my eyebrows at this, because giggling was something I’d never seen Veronica do. I figured the blond guy would take my bag, but he didn’t. I watched him teeter and fall face-first into a very large plant.“Awesome,” Veronica said.“Is he okay?” I asked.“It’s Frank’s first time in Europe,” Waller explained, sweeping his long hair behind his ear.I nodded and made a mental note. Even though I was a first-timer in Europe too, I promised myself I would not ingest any substance that would cause me to topple like a drunken fool into a ficus tree in a dorm lobby.Mrs. Knox looked on with a pained expression. “We can’t let Frank remain in the plant,” she said. Then, as if on cue, a fourth guy, taller than the others, walked through the door. I couldn’t tell what color hair he had. He wore a baseball cap so low that it hid even his eyes and ears.“Hey, Roger, can you get him?” Waller asked.“Sure,” Roger said, giving a stoic thumbs-up sign. “I’ll drag him to the room.”I pulled my own suitcase as we followed Kite and Waller through a maze of white hallways. Kite may have made a few wrong turns, but these went unacknowledged. When we finally reached room 106, Mrs. Knox opened the door with a magnetic card. We stepped into a small galley kitchen equipped with an undersize stove and a minifridge that was way too mini. Adjacent to the kitchen was the bathroom. And beyond these rooms was a hallway that led to three more doors.“It looks like you’re