Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Although, the guys who’d wanted to pummel my stepbrother in the past were usually boyfriends from other schools. Kevin must’ve had some sense of self-preservation because he’d steered clear of the girls with the big boyfriends at our high school. And now that I was thinking about it, he’d always made sure he had friends bigger than he was. There’d been a few close calls, but once his friends had showed up, the fight suddenly dwindled. The guy had backed down, or Kevin got away.
“Huh.”
“Huh what?” the asshole asked.
“What?” I glanced over and saw that he was watching me again.
Then I saw the rest. We were at my dorm. He’d parked right in front of the main entrance.
“Never mind. Thank you for the ride.” I grabbed for the seatbelt, but he caught my hand, stalling me.
“Wait a minute.”
Good Lord. I gulped. The touch of his hand sent tingles through me. That snake tattoo was right there, so close to me. I pulled away hastily. What was that? But then he was talking, so I tried to focus. All the other sensations and emotions that he’d unleashed should be shoved down. Way down. Way, way down.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head, exasperation showing across his face. He held his hands up, like he was surrendering, and he leaned back in an exaggerated manner. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk about your stepbrother.”
I flushed. He’d given me a ride back, and he knew I was lying about Kevin. So hearing him out was the least I could do. I sat back, releasing the door handle. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.” My eyes cut to the side as I said, “I know you weren’t going to hurt me.”
He waited, studying me. I almost flushed again. I wasn’t looking at him anymore, but I could feel his scrutiny. He was acting like I was a feral animal, just waiting for the right opening to scurry away. I wasn’t. I had some decency, even though I was acting like an idiot. But that was him. He made me act like a nervous, rabid bat. I wasn’t like this with other people. I was normal, sane. Fuck, I was almost boring.
Not with Asshole Caden, who I was starting to think maybe wasn’t that much of an asshole. He wasn’t acting like one anymore, and maybe he hadn’t been when I’d first labeled him as such. I had been acting weird, and he’d really only just asked me if something was wrong.
If a girl asked me that question, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But it had been him, and that question coming from a male someone who was obviously strong, muscular, gorgeous, and self-assured—holy shit, Asshole Caden was confident with an extra layer of authority too. It rolled off him in waves, very sexy and alluring waves, and I couldn’t believe I was having these thoughts.
My gaze jerked to his. “What were you going to say?” A traitorous blush warmed its way up my neck. I prayed it didn’t spread over my face.
He gentled his tone. “Why are you covering for your stepbrother?”
“You mean for your fraternity brother?”
He didn’t reply, only clenched his jaw.
“I can’t say anything.” I can’t say what you want me to say. “Call it family loyalty?”
“So you are covering for him?”
I held my breath. “What?”
He leaned forward a tiny bit. “Was he with Maggie?”
He was testing me. He didn’t know for sure. Realizing that, I kept my mouth shut. I would not incriminate myself.
I started to open the door again. “Uh, thanks for the ride. That was nice of you.”
“Wait.”
I opened the door enough to clamber down. I shut it and had to walk around the front to go into my dorm.
He opened his window and called out, “He’s not worth it.”
I was close to ten feet away from him, but I stopped and looked back.
His eyes bore into mine. “Whatever reasons you have for being loyal to him, he doesn’t share the sentiment.” There were no doubts. No questions. Nothing in Caden’s statement besides dead-set resolve.
The wind picked up, sending shivers through me. “What are you talking about?”
He put the Land Rover into drive. “He wouldn’t have your back. Guys like him never do.”
Claudia was coming out of Avery’s room when I got upstairs.
Her eyes skimmed over me. “You’re back.”
She didn’t smile. I took note of that. I didn’t smile either. “Yeah.”
“Listen,” she said as she started toward me, sliding her hands into her back pockets. “Avery was your buddy, and, well, she was upset. She and Marcus dated last year. They broke up, and two months later he was with Maggie.” Her disdain came through loud and clear when she added, “I don’t understand why Avery won’t stop saying she’s Maggie’s friend. The girl’s a bitch.”
I frowned. What was I supposed to do with that? “I feel bad for Avery, but I was told you guys don’t leave your friends behind. You left me behind.”