Best Served Cold by Tawdra Kandle Read Free Book Online Page A

Trust us.”
    I glanced from one face to the next and threw up my hands. “Fine. Whatever. What time should I be there?”
    Giff jumped up and hugged me. “Perfect. You won’t be sorry. Ava will get you there by eight. You need to be walking out the door with Jack by ten. He knows the drill. Oh, and wear what Ava tells you to put on. She knows the game plan.”
    He dropped a kiss onto my cheek and put on his coat as he opened the door. “See you later, ladies.”
    I turned to look at my roommate. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
    Ava raised her hands, palms up. “Me? This was your idea. I’m just helping you run with it.”
    “Well, I think I’m running with it a little more than I’d planned. What do you know about blogs?”
    She tilted her head. “Fashion, make-up, book blogs...I follow a few. Why?”
    “I’m starting a blog for my social media class.”
    “Cool.” Ava stepped out of her shoes and began to change into sweats. “About what?”
    “Guys behaving badly. Girls telling their stories.”
    “Seriously?” She pulled a green Birch hoodie over her head and shook dark hair out of her eyes.
    “Yep. I’m calling it ‘Best Served Cold’, like the Chinese proverb, you know? Because the girls telling their stories is like getting their revenge.”
    “Yeah, I got that.” Ava considered for a moment and then nodded. “I like it. But how are you going to do it, exactly?”
    “We’re going to use social media to ask people to share their stories. Anonymously, of course. Then I’m hoping word of mouth will get around.”
    “What made you decide to start a blog?” She unrolled socks and pulled them on.
    I told her about my assignment and meeting Kristen, hearing about her freshman year angst.
    “What a jerk.” Ava shook her head. “I hear something like that, and I realize why I don’t date.”
    “I thought it was because you had to be single-mindedly focused on academics and then your career until you’re established and ready to really have a life.”
    She flipped me a rude gesture. “You have to admit, boy drama takes up a lot of time and energy.”
    “It does. Speaking of which, do you seriously think a frat party is a good idea?”
    “Yes. This is part of Giff’s plan. We go with it. But first, it’s your turn to make a run to the dining hall tonight.” She stuck her feet beneath the blankets on her bed. “Take an umbrella. It’s raining.”
     

     
    It was not only raining, it was a cold, biting downpour. I shivered into my coat and tried to tilt the umbrella so that it kept out the worst of the wet.
    The weather matched my mood. I knew Giff wanted to help, and that he was going so far out of his way made me love him even more. But I still wasn’t sure I could handle the idea of faking a date with someone I’d never even met, even for Giff.
    He’d always been in my corner, I remembered. He kept Liam honest most of the time—even when Liam would rather he kept quiet.
    We were all three in their suite. Liam sat at his desk, his nose in a thick textbook, and I was curled up in his bed, reading. Giff sprawled across his own bed, his back against the wall, nursing a beer. It wasn’t his first of the evening, and I could hear the slur in his voice, although he wasn’t saying much.
    I turned over and craned my neck to see my boyfriend. He frowned into his work, and I sighed, wondering why I had bothered to come over at all.
    The book I was reading was a love story. I traced a finger over the spine, thinking.
    “Liam, why did you ask me out?”
    He didn’t even look up. “What?”
    “When we first started dating. Why did you ask me? You didn’t know me at all. What made you do it?”
    He finally glanced up, just the faintest annoyance in his eyes. “I don’t know, I’d seen you around. I thought you were cute. Why?”
    “Just wondering.”
    “Bullshit.”
    Giff took a long pull of his beer and repeated the word. “Bullshit. Tell her the truth, Liam. You needed