The Fire We Started | Wildfire Series Book 2

FORTY-FOUR

"Is that your real name?"

Grayson, with his dimpled grin and dark-blue chinos, strode toward us, walking from the direction of his dorm room.

"No," Nessa said pointedly while at the same time I smiled and said, "Yes."

She was glaring at the side of my head. I just knew she was. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.

A grin grew on Grayson's face as he pulled up a chair next to us. He sat down in such a bro way, dramatically whipping the chair out, twirling it around, and straddling the seat before leaning on the backrest.

"Wednesday." He mused over the word. "I love that." How he said it was earnest and soft, and if Nessa didn't get butterflies by the way he was staring at her right now, there was no hope for her. She didn't need someone's life to live through or a spicy book.

She had her spicy piano man.

I stifled a snicker at the thought.

"So," Grayson said, clearing his throat and looking down at the textbook between Nessa and me. "Are you working on the paper for Western Civ?"

"No," Nessa said pointedly while at the same time I smiled and said, "Yes."

Again.

Grayson's smile slipped into a smirk. He was secretly in love with Nessa's begrudging attitude. Okay, maybe it wasn't a secret. "I'm gonna believe Madie, I think," he said. "Can I join you? I wanted to talk to you about something anyway."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you," Nessa mumbled, staring at her laptop. Refusing to look at Grayson. It only made me that much more curious about what went down at the gala.

A soft chuckle.

"I was talking to Madie."

A rare flush worked its way up Nessa's neck, but she didn't say anything.

Grayson stared at her for a moment, a look simmering with amusement on his face. He wasn't put off in the slightest by her refusal to acknowledge him.

Eventually he turned to me, and I couldn't help but be curious about what he would say.

I'd never have guessed that it would be about Bren.

"Did you know that your boyfriend knocked Brodie down a few pegs?" Grayson questioned, leaning forward.

My stomach clenched.

"I knew he talked to him."

"Yeah," Grayson said, rubbing his jawline. A rueful half-smile momentarily graced his lips. "I suppose that's one way to say it."

The implication behind his words did not sit well with me.

"Did he not just talk to him? Bren said it was just a talk."

Grayson made a face. It was a I-don't-know-how-to-answer-that face.

"Did they fight?" I pressed.

My words were coming breathy and quick. As much as I enjoyed the idea of Bren breaking Brodie's nose, I hated the possibility of another potential assault charge following him.

"No, no, they didn't fight," Grayson quickly reassured me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "But Brodie has been acting weird ever since their...talk."

Cocking my head to the side, I silently encouraged Grayson to go on.

"Brodie and I go way back, you know. Like...played Mario Kart in his basement until two o'clock in the morning on his 14th birthday kind of back. He wasn't always like this. He was never the jock with a stick up his ass. In fact, he was always the more mild-mannered one between us."