I was the laidback one. The easy personality with a bit of mischief mixed in, because without it, I’d be fucking boring. But not today. My anger simmered under the surface of my skin. The gym was calling my name, or better yet, the sorority house. If I didn’t get a hold on the energy building inside me, I was going to go off, and now was not the time.
A deep breath expanded my chest, pushing the energy to my limbs, then my fingers and toes. Maybe I should count down the things I loved. I’d heard that worked.
Ten wild nights, nine bloody fights, eight strong shots, seven sweet squeals, six hot rides, five drunk girls, four sexy smirks, three sex games, two dildos, one pin-up.
Nope didn’t help. In fact, that went to the other extreme, and now my pants were a little snug. How did Pin-up even get in there?
A tap on my shoulder pulled me back to the present. Anything was better than thinking about how Pin-up had put the twins in their place. It was so hot. One minute, I was ready to deliver some justice for Jules, and the next, I was shocked.
She had actually stood up for him. A stranger. Not only that, she completely didn’t care if the brothers thought they had hooked up. I had an instant boner. Even Jules’ discomfort in the moment couldn’t ruin my insta-crush on this girl.
Jules showed me his phone, not willing to sign with a handful of guys passing through.
Where do you think they are?
I bent forward, too lazy to type my response into the phone. The guys that were here were less than harmless and half a room away.
“They’ve been gone for thirty minutes.” Which was the answer. I’d be surprised if she had finished packing. Depending on where she lived, they might not have even made it there.
Jules nodded and gazed off into the room, seemingly lost in thought.
“Are you okay?” This morning had been intense. I could even appreciate how difficult this morning had been. Not only had he been stuck with Pin-up until Milo swooped in to save him, but then there had been the silent stares from the guys. The brothers knew the ladies loved him, especially since he had this young Jason Momoa thing going on. Add in the brooding and family money, he was practically irresistible. Still, it was something of a novelty for him to have a girl at the Shack. If I hadn’t been otherwise occupied myself, I might have heard the brothers gossiping like a bunch of desperate housewives.
Then the twins… My blood pressure took another hit thinking about those fuckers. They had always been cool with us. Even after we explained how it was, Jamie still took that shot. It probably increased my fury because it was after we had explained. Even if the fraternity was a joke to us, we were still brothers. You didn’t cut your brothers.
At least I made sure it wouldn’t happen again. The twins had a nice new scar to remind them that just because they weren’t maimed now, didn’t mean it couldn’t change in the blink of an eye. It was also a good lesson for them to know they were alone. Not one brother offered an excuse for their behavior. It was the little things that gave me so much pleasure. Taking care of any threat to Jules while others looked on, too scared to step in, was at the top of that list.
Derek walked by, sending a two-finger greeting our way. Jules didn’t even acknowledge him, keeping his gaze on whatever held his attention, if anything at all. Eventually, he typed in another message.
How long do you think she’ll be with us?
I chuckled. “Afraid she’ll steal your virtue?”
He scowled at me. No. We need to keep on track if we want to finish this year. How are we supposed to do that when we’re stuck babysitting?
The bastard was attracted to her. His feelings were written all over him, from the combination of fire and fear in his eyes, to the downward tilt of his lips. It sounded like a weird combination. On anyone else, no way would it say attraction, but I knew Jules better than anyone else. His expression said he was captivated, but hated it.
Damn it. All of the torrid daydreams that had been attacking my psyche for the last thirty minutes went up in flames. It wasn’t often Jules ever really liked anyone. Never even had a girlfriend, which wasn’t saying much, neither had me or Milo. Part of being the top tier of the frat meant keeping up our whoring ways. Well, my whoring ways and their permanent place on the market.
“I like her. I know this is supposed to be a temporary thing, but she has spunk.” I was the best friend ever. For Jules, I would tee this up and deliver her on a silver platter, dying a little on the inside from unrequited lust. He cut me with his gaze. “Didn’t you think it was hot how she laid out the twins?”
He huffed, typed out another message, then flashed the phone my way. I admit. I was fucking surprised. She didn’t like what they said.
There was more there, but he didn’t continue. Didn’t offer to give me any more words. “What did you think about that?” Okay, I was going into full counselor mode, and we’d all had our share of counseling as kids after the fucked up incident that took Jules’ voice. But damn, he wanted to talk about it.
He tried to play it off like he was disgruntled as hell, shifting around in his seat and grunting. He cast a quick glance around the room to see who all was watching. No one, and everyone. The brothers would never openly stare, but they were doing their best to listen to this one-sided conversation. Too bad their foosball game on one side of the room and beer pong on the other end drowned out the softer noises.
He typed for a solid minute. That was if you counted backspacing, typing, then backspacing.
I don’t care what people say about me. I haven’t for a long fucking time. It didn’t even matter that one of the twins said that shit. What was weird was that she stood up for me. Why? It was a completely illogical move on her part. For all she knows, we could kill her. Fuck. We did kidnap her in a way. That confuses me, and I don’t like to be confused.
Damn, he gave me so many words. I had the sudden urge to hug him to death. Not that he would let me. He hated public displays of affection. After his father nearly whipped the top layer of skin off his back and ass, he shied away from it. All for comforting a little girl he should never have met. He was fucking ten years old. Something like that would scar a guy.
The odd thing was, his dad paraded his whores around with no thought to who was watching. And the little girl was a daughter of his acquaintance, so what did it matter if he befriended her? Good thing Jules cut both his parents out of his life, otherwise, we might have added one more crime to our repertoire before retiring.
“I think like us, she doesn’t like to see anyone make cutting remarks in order to belittle someone. She doesn’t know how strong you are, or how devoted we are. Elise seemed angry they would do that, especially to someone they were supposed to support. You should tap that before we send her away.”
If I were trying to ice her out, I would have told Jules she was only trying to gain our trust. Trick us into letting her go. The smart thing for our future would be to foster his suspicions, but for some reason, I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I found myself coming up with a ridiculous plan that would ensure he put a little bit of faith in her, or if not her, than her desire to save herself.
Not a good idea. I don’t need to get attached in any form to someone that could disappear tomorrow.
In other words, that we would make disappear. “You know, Jules? I think I have an idea that would buy us some assurances, and maybe let her walk away without us getting too much blood on our hands or her constantly looking over her shoulder.” Milo would probably veto it. He was the conservative one of the bunch. I was the wild card, and Jules was the moderator. If Jules was on my side, Milo would be hard pressed to say no.