I wanted to ask him why he just didn't quit if he was so worried about finding a job after he finished his JD program but I didn't. Maybe another day. I saw his point though, and it made a lot of sense why he'd go to such extremes to keep his identity a secret. I looked up at Tristan, and saw him looking down the street with a furrowed brow. "The only people who know my real name and know Robby are Calum, Walter, and you. Everyone else just knows me as Tristan."

"Nikki and my other friends won't say anything." I promised him.

He looked down at me and smiled. "I trust you. As long as my parents never find out, then it's fine. I think my dad might give me a high-five, but my mom would probably cry and blame herself for raising me wrong," he said and we both started laughing. I could easily remember Zoey coming out to her mom; Mrs. Quinn sat there on her living room couch quietly.

I spotted Josh's Subaru less than ten feet away before pointing at it. "Are you parked nearby?"

"Yeah, I'm a block down," he gestured down the direction we were walking in. He shuffled his feet again on the sidewalk, like he'd done earlier. "Can I see your phone?"

"Yeah." I handed him my phone and watched him press numbers on the screen, after a moment, his robot ringtone started ringing within his pocket.

"I saved my name under Magellan in your contacts," he told me, handing me back my phone. "I may or may not have saved you as Little Gold Digger," he chuckled.

"Oh God," I groaned. A girl in a white strapless dress was getting out of a cab across the street when it hit me. I'd said bye to Zoey, Ryan, and Josh, but— "When did Nikki and Calum leave?"

Chapter 15

"Have you heard from Nicole today?" I asked.

Josh was looking down at the screen in front of him, typing in names for our monthly round of competitive bowling. In reality, our "competitive bowling" was an excuse for the winners to talk shit to the losers for three weeks. "No, and I bet we don't hear from her until tomorrow."

I snickered and kept tying my damp bowling shoes, silently praying that they were wet from disinfectant spray and not sweaty feet. "You're right. She'll probably be walking funny for a week."

According to Tristan, he'd seen Nicole and Calum sneak out of the club about an hour after they'd gotten to Breeze. He also thought that he might have seen Nikki stick her hands down Calum's pants, and I, unfortunately, had to assure him that he probably did see that happen. I'd tried calling and texting her, but the call went straight to voicemail. If it were any other person missing, I'd be worried, but this was Nikki. If anyone could take care of themselves— it was her.

I also had a feeling that if she were ever kidnapped, they'd give her back after a couple of hours.

A big figure settled down onto the seat next to mine, and I knew without looking up that it was Tristan. When Zoey had called with news that she was nursing “a hangover worse than kidney stones," and couldn't come bowling, I texted the only other person I'd want to go bowling with— Tristan. Friends went bowling with each and he was all too excited to tag along. Josh enlisted his buddy from the night before, Leo, and we were set.

I looked over to see Tristan tying his laces with a big grimace on his face. "Are your shoes wet, too?" I asked.

He nodded, tying the other shoe before sitting back against the chair. Josh was busy finally putting on his shoes, and Leo was ready and waiting across from us, looking at the screens where our scores would show up. Tristan snorted while squinting as he looked at the monitor above our lane. "Does that say Escalade and Anaconda up there?"