“This is your favorite place on campus?” I ask as Jane walks into the campus bookstore. I keep my distance but decide to walk in and get a closer look at what she’s up to.
“I like shopping and this place is so festive. And they have lots of fun stuff. Books, magazines, clothes, computers . . .” She trails off as she stops in front of an end cap with Valley U hats. She grabs one and puts it on. “What do you think?”
“Looks good.”
She snorts like she knows my response is bullshit. It is. I mean, she does look good, but that’s like saying a Lamborghini looks good. Good doesn’t scratch the surface.
“How’s that iced blond vanilla latte treating you?” she asks, setting the hat back on the shelf.
“Sweet,” I say as I take another sip of the awful drink. “Really sweet.”
Her light laughter has a smile pulling at my lips.
“What made you think I was a vanilla latte kind of guy?”
“Just testing a theory,” she quips.
“And what kind of theory is that?”
“That if you drink something sweet, you’ll be less grumpy.”
I shake my head but take another drink.
“Oooh, they got new hoodies. That pink one is cute!” She holds it up in front of her. I take the chance to look around. I don’t expect someone to follow her into the bookstore and jump her, but I’m constantly on the watch for paparazzi. That bastard Roger Brayson is lucky I haven’t seen him lurking around. I’d still like to kick his ass for scaring Jane the way he did.
“Oh, hi,” Jane says, snapping my attention back to where she’s looking at hoodies.
Cameron Payton approaches her wearing a cocky smile. His gaze roams over her body in a way that makes me want to move in and make my presence known.
“Hey, beautiful.” He goes right in for a hug. “Must be my lucky day running into you.”
I must make some noise that shows my displeasure because she quickly moves a hand to her ear. Except she hits it one too many times and it only goes quiet for a second. I miss whatever she said back to him, but catch his next words.
“I was just thinking about you.”
“You were?” she asks, surprise in her tone.
“Yeah, I haven’t seen you out lately and you didn’t reply to my text. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, uh, I’ve just been busy. I’m sorry.”
I fight a smile that she’s been ignoring his text, but it’s gone at his next words.
“You’re forgiven. What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet.” She sets the pink sweatshirt down and shifts uncomfortably in front of him. I catch her glancing around, looking for me, but she doesn’t see me.
I’m probably an asshole for being glad that she doesn’t sound excited to hang out with this idiot, but then again, he did have her up on a bar like she was some sort of show pony the last time she went out with him.
He leans in closer to her. “We’re having a party at the house. You should stop by.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She smiles at him a little too much, even if she still isn’t exactly falling all over him. She’s way too fucking good for this dude.
“Cool, cool. I’ll see you tonight then.” He backs away from her and then turns to walk out of the store with his buddies.
She hits the earpiece a couple times. “You there?”
“Yep.” I tap my thumb against the side of my drink. “Only about fifteen minutes until your next class. We should get going.”
“Thanks, Dad. I can keep track of the time.” She sighs and folds the pink sweatshirt she’d been looking at before Cameron showed up. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I wait for her outside, then step in next to her. She smiles hesitantly until she’s sure I’m going to stay at her side.
“Any plans for tonight?” she asks me.
“Flynn has a basketball game.”
Her smile widens, but she doesn’t say anything. That’s a first for her.
“What?”
“I’m just picturing you and all your brothers sitting on high school bleachers together.”
“Because?”
“I don’t know. You’re all so hot.”
I take another sip, then grimace. “You think my brothers are hot?”
“They look like you.”
I wish I could let the compliment land like she wants, but I promised myself I would not fuck this up again. She needs me. Even if she doesn’t realize how badly. Besides, I turned down the job Logan booked me with the old man Waverly and told him not to schedule anything for at least the next month. Protecting Jane and figuring out how to fix things with my brothers is all I have going on right now. And looking out for her seems like the far easier task if I’m honest.
“Is Flynn any good?” she asks, casting me a sideways glance. “At basketball.”
“Yeah, he is actually, but his first love is baseball.” I take another sip and then grimace.
“You don’t have to keep drinking it if it’s that terrible.”
“It’s growing on me.” It’s definitely not.
“Cam plays baseball.” She jabs a thumb over her shoulder. “The guy I ran into at the bookstore.”
“I remember him.” Unfortunately. “Are you going to the party tonight?”
Her jaw drops slowly. “You heard?”
“You pressed twice instead of once.”
She lifts a hand to her ear, then shakes her head. “I’m gonna have to take the thing out before I pee.”
I chuckle softly.
“So, are you?” I ask a few seconds later.
“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t really felt like partying lately.”
That seems so contradictory I can’t help but ask, “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” Her tone is soft and conflicted. “The thing at our party happened.”
“Your room being vandalized?”
She nods. “Then Grady was with me so that felt weird. It would have been like going to a party with my dad.” She makes a face that has me chuckling again. “So, I’ve just been keeping it low-key.”
As her bodyguard, I’m glad to hear that she’s keeping a low profile, but the more I get to know her, the more I see just how much the drama of the past month has changed her and stopped her from doing the things she loves.
I walk her all the way to the door of her sociology class. “Have fun.”
“Fun?” She quirks a brow, but still smiles up at me in a way that has me reciprocating.
“Learn something, I don’t know. See you after.”
Her gaze drops to my mouth and then she looks up at me with those gorgeous green eyes. “See you after.”
Knox stands and raises both hands over his head. “’Atta boy, Flynn.” He caps it off by putting his fingers in his mouth and whistling.
When he sits back down next to me on the bleacher, he nudges my arm. “Did you see that or were you watching your phone?”
“I saw it. He scored a three from the right wing.”
“He’s on fire tonight,” Brogan says, turning around from where he and Archer sit in front of us. “And did you see that hair flip while he held the follow through?”
Brogan does his best impression of my youngest brother shooting the ball, holding the pose and flicking his head to the left. It’s a pretty damn good impression.
“I wonder where he got that cocky shit from?” I mutter.
“Don’t look at me.” He nudges Archer. “Arch is the king of hair flips. He does that shit all the time.”
“What? I do not,” Archer insists.
“Oh, you definitely do.” Brogan shakes his head adamantly. “During weightlifting, playing beer pong, and sometimes just walking around campus.”
Brogan gives a more dramatic re-enactment this time that has me and Knox chuckling.
“I’m just getting my hair out of my eyes!” Archer’s voice climbs in defense, which just makes us all laugh harder.
He finally smiles. “Don’t get me started on all your guys’ cocky bullshit. Have you seen Knox on his motorcycle? The way he pulls his helmet off when a girl is around, all slow and sensual for a dramatic reveal? Or Brogan’s touchdown dance?”
“That dance is awesome,” Brogan says.
Archer looks at me like he’s about to call me out on something but hesitates. I cock a brow, silently giving him the go-ahead.
A slow smile spreads across his face. “You do this look.”
“A look?”
“Yeah, it’s . . .” His face morphs into a serious, scrutinizing gaze as he tilts his head and purses his lips.
My brothers crack up.
“I don’t look like that . . . ever.”
“You totally do, Hen.” Brogan covers his mouth with a laugh.
“It’s more like this,” Knox says and then offers his best impression of me.
“That’s just my face!” Now I’m the one getting defensive. I laugh, something easing in my chest. I missed this. Sitting around, giving each other shit.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and I quickly look down to the screen. I frown at the text from Logan. I asked him to look into Roger Brayson, but it looks like he’s clean. He’s fairly new to the paparazzi scene. He worked for a small online magazine for a few years before it closed. His parents live in Phoenix, which explains why he’s been covering Jane for so long. There’s nothing on him except a couple parking tickets.
I still want to pummel the guy, but I’m relieved that he doesn’t have a violent history if he’s following Jane around.
The buzzer sounds indicating halftime and Brogan stands. “I’m starving. Anyone wanna hit the concessions?”
Arch and I shake our heads, but Knox gets to his feet. “I’ll go with you.”
Once they leave us, Archer moves up to sit next to me. He glances at the phone still clutched in my hands. “Everything okay with Jane?”
“Yeah,” I answer automatically. “Why?”
“Maybe because you’ve been checking your phone every two seconds.”
“I have not.”
“You have. I’m deaf, not blind. And normally it’d be forgivable to be glued to your phone at a high school basketball game, but Flynn is having the game of his life, and I know you wouldn’t want to miss that unless something else is going on.”
He’s right, dammit. And now I feel like an ass to boot.
“Nothing is going on. I mean, she’s fine. I guess I’m just on edge after this week.”
He nods slowly. “How’s she handling everything?”
“She plays it off like she’s good, but I can tell she’s still freaked out.”
“I saw her in passing today on campus. She seemed all right to me. She was smiling and friendly, as usual.”
“It’s not anything like that.” I hesitate for a moment, remembering her interaction with Cameron. “She got invited to a party tonight and when I asked her about it, she said she wasn’t going.”
“Maybe she’s not in the mood to party tonight.” He shrugs it off, then smiles. “Even Brogan and I take a Friday night off from partying every once in a while.”
“Not that I’ve seen,” I say, and he laughs. “When I pressed her on it, though, she said she hasn’t been out in a month.”
Understanding dawns in my brother’s eyes and his brows scrunch together. “Now that you say that I can’t remember the last time I saw her out. Actually, that’s a lie. I do remember. It was the night of her party.”
We fall quiet for a beat, then Archer adds, “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing.”
“By nothing you mean continue obsessively checking your phone.” He catches me doing just that. “Just text her and check in. That seems perfectly logical for a bodyguard.”
“Yeah,” I say, but I slide my phone into my pocket.
Flynn continues having an epic game in the second half and I enjoy it instead of staring at my phone waiting for something bad to happen. She’s home with her friends for the night. She’s safe. That’s the job, not meddling in her social life.
Archer and Brogan head out right after, but Knox and I wait for Flynn. He comes out of the locker room, hair wet and clothes wrinkly, wearing a shy smile. He might be confident and cocky on the court, but he’s back to his usual timid and quiet self now.
“What a fucking game.” Knox hugs him and pats his back. “Thirty-three points and if coach hadn’t subbed you out in the fourth period, I think you would have hit fifty.”
When Knox steps back, I move forward. “Congrats. That was impressive.”
“Thanks, Hen.” He shuffles uncomfortably and his cheeks, still ruddy from the game, take on a brighter pink hue.
“Do you guys want to grab something to eat?” I ask.
“Ooooh, pizza sounds good,” Knox says. “Or Mexican.”
Some of Flynn’s friends and teammates come out behind him. One guy yells, “Flynn, are you coming to Pete’s?”
A girl with long brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail plays with the ends as she smiles at my brother and hangs back slightly from the group waiting for his answer. He looks from his friends to her, then quickly away. “Uhh, maybe.”
“Go,” Knox tells him.
Flynn looks at me. I hold back a laugh at how hopeful his gaze is, silently asking me not to ruin his night by making him have dinner with us. “It’s cool. Have fun with your friends. Text me if you need a ride later.”
“I’ll get a ride home with Glenn,” he says, already heading after his friends.
I’m about to ask Knox if he wants to go out to dinner anyway, but my phone vibrates in my jeans pocket, and I eagerly slide my hand in to retrieve it as my heart beats faster.
JANE
Are you still at the game?
Before I can reply, she sends another.
JANE
If you don’t have plans after, can we talk?
“I gotta go too,” I tell Knox. “Jane texted.”
“I get it. The Hollywood star beckons,” he teases. “I’d be running off too. Tell her I said hey.”
“I definitely will not.”
I can hear him chuckling as I rush toward my truck. Once I get in and start it up, I text her back.
ME
Just leaving the game now. What’s up?
I give it a few minutes, but when she doesn’t reply, my impatient ass decides to call her. It goes straight to voicemail, so I hang up and try again. After the fourth try, my pulse is racing and fear laces through me. I read her texts again. Was that supposed to be some sort of cryptic message to let me know she was in danger? Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I start the engine and peel out of the high school parking lot.
