BROKEN AND SCREWED 2

PROLOGUE

My brother was buried today.

I was standing in the back of the church. There was a special word for it, but we rarely went so I didn't know. I didn't care either. It was where I stood. People came and said their goodbyes. Angie and Marissa had sat beside me. They were good friends. I suppose. Angie's family came to the funeral. Her mom hugged me, patted me on the head, and then they left. Justin was there too. He was Angie's boyfriend, but he sat in the back with his friends. He took her hand now and led the way to his truck.

I watched from the church as she bent forward once they got inside his truck. Her shoulders were shaking so I knew she was crying. He moved over to comfort her. Then I looked to the left where Marissa had parked. She was watching them too, but she wasn't alone. The new boyfriend came over and kissed the back of her neck. They got into her car and drove off while Angie was still crying in Justin's car.

It struck me as odd.

Angie was crying, but she barely knew my brother. And I knew Marissa was leaving to have sex. That's all she talked about before the funeral. Angie told her to shut up, but it never worked. Marissa ignored her and did what she wanted to do.

"Hey."

Jesse stood next to me and followed my gaze. He grimaced. "Your friends suck."

I frowned. "No, they don't."

"Yeah, they do. But don't take my word for it."

"They're upset."

He snorted, rolling his eyes. "They shouldn't be. They didn't know Ethan and they should still be here for you. Where are your parents?"

I shrugged. "They're here somewhere." But I knew they weren't. They left almost immediately after the ceremony. That was normal now. Since the accident, they hadn't talked to me. I knew my mom was grieving. I could hear her crying at night. My dad was with her, but sometimes he ignored her. He spent the nights on the couch. She stayed in their room and I sat on the stairs, between them. No one went near Ethan's room. And Jesse had stopped staying over so his room sat empty. I stayed in his room that first night, but I didn't sleep. I just laid there and waited until morning.

Glancing up at him, I saw the frustration in his dark eyes. His black hair had been combed to the side earlier, but it was sticking up. He raked a hand through it and pulled at it when he was really pissed. It was a mess now. His dark eyes flashed from anger as he scowled. With high cheekbones, his fuck-off attitude, he was lethal.

I asked, "Where's your dad?"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Fuck. You think he'd come to this?"

"Yeah."

He snorted. "He wouldn't come."

But he paused. I heard the small inflection and I asked, "Did you tell him?"

"No."

I understood. Malcolm Hunt was a big deal in the Hollywood scene, but he was almost nonexistent in his son's life. Hence the reason why Jesse had been living with my family since his own mother died four years ago. Sometimes I wondered if Malcolm Hunt even knew his son never stayed in their huge mansion, but Zala probably covered for him. She was their housekeeper, but she doted on Jesse. I knew she had more so since Ethan's accident. I saw her at the hospital a few times with him. I'd never admit it, but I was jealous of Jesse. I wished Zala would hug me at times or bring me food like she did with him.

"Screw this shit. Do you want to leave?" He glanced around. The corners of his eyes were stretched tight and his frown was a fully formed scowl now. The tie he had worn had been ripped out. I saw it peeking out of his pocket.

"Go where?"

"To get drunk." He jerked a shoulder up. "I don't care. We can go to the house. No one will be there."

"What about Zala?"

"Are you hungry?"

I shook my head. "No." I didn't remember the last time I was hungry. No, I did. Before the accident. I wanted pizza when we went to Justin's party. Angie and I raided his family's kitchen and baked a homemade pizza. Lots of cheese.

"Why'd you ask about my housekeeper then?"

"I don't know." I was lying. I lied to everyone now. It was second nature, though I didn't know why I had started.

"Let's go. Everyone took off."

I glanced towards the basement. They were serving sandwiches and potato salad, but I wondered who was even going to eat it. Jesse was right. The only people who lingered were the ones who went to this church. We didn't. Some of Ethan's classmates stayed, along with this football coach. As Jesse crossed the parking lot towards his black Ferrari, there was another group that congregated around the church's picnic tables. I saw their paper plates and a part of me relaxed. At least someone stayed for the food. For some reason, that mattered. Ethan would've wanted people to enjoy a meal for him.

"Hunt!" one of the guys called out.

Jesse ignored them and gestured to the door. "Get in."

As I did and reached for my seat belt, they were still watching us. One girl had stood from the table and stared at me, looking sad. She had long blonde hair and was pretty, like a real life doll. I asked, "Who are those guys?"

"No one."

"Who, Jesse?" I could tell they weren't 'no one'.

"Jeremy Benson. Stay away from him. He's bad news, Alex."

Nothing more needed to be said. Benson and his friends were known for drugs, boozing, and getting arrested. I was glad that Jesse had ignored him now. He drove out of the parking lot and gunned the engine. Jesse had always been a speed demon, but it was worse since Ethan's death. However, no one said anything. Jesse Hunt got away with almost anything he wanted. His dad gave enough money to the local police department and who else would step in to stop him? Maybe Ethan, but his best friend was dead now.

My brother was dead now.

"What's wrong?"

I'd never get used to it. Ethan was supposed to be next to us. No, that wasn't right either. Ethan was supposed to be where I was sitting. I should've been in the back seat and my brother would've been lecturing Jesse on the laws, how he needed to follow the set speed limit. Jesse would ignore him, but he'd grin and slow to a more reasonable pace. Then the two would laugh about something, curse at each other, and we'd head back to my home. Ethan never knew it, but sometimes Jesse and I touched hands. We never held each other's hands. Jesse had a girlfriend, but not anymore.

I looked over at his clenched jaw. His knuckles gripped the wheel tight. I sighed, "Are you hoping to join him?"

His foot let up immediately on the pedal. "Sorry." He shot me a rueful look. "I don't think sometimes."

"I wish I could stop thinking."

He glanced over again. "You seem to be holding up all right."

"It's called not feeling. It's the best method for mourning. You don't."

A corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn't a grin. It wasn't even a half-grin. Jesse's eyes were empty now. "I think I'll try that tonight."

"What?"

"Stop thinking. Stop feeling."

"I want to get drunk tonight."

"It's on the agenda." His eyes flickered now. A little bit of warmth was there. "You sure your parents were still there? I didn't see their car in the lot."

I lied again. "They think I'm staying at Angie's tonight."

"Does Angie know that?"

"No."

He grinned again as he turned onto his street. Then he turned up the hill that their huge mansion had been built on. As he parked outside, a brand new Jaguar was already there. Jesse stopped and stared at it before the slightest bit of warmth faded from his eyes again. He took his keys out and dug it into the side of the car. He walked the entire length before he tucked his keys back into his pocket, taking my hand in his. "Fucking new girlfriend's here."

"Yours?"

"My dad's. Come on." He took me down the hill so we entered the house from the back door. We walked through the basement and headed up the farthest set of stairs. A feminine giggle was above us, followed by a man's moan, but Jesse ignored the sounds. He led the way through the back hallways until we got to the farthest end of the house. I knew where his room was, but it'd been so long. I might've gotten lost. As we stepped into his room, it was like a whole other house inside of their house. Jesse had his own living quarters.

The sounds had grown quieter, but when he shut the door, there were no more sounds. It was only us.

I perched on his king sized bed while he rifled through his liquor cabinet. He had his own bar. It still amazed me, even though I knew he'd had it for a while. He was a junior. No, that wasn't right anymore. Ethan had graduated. Jesse would be a senior and I was going to be a junior. We were so young, but I didn't feel young anymore. I felt old, too old. And as Jesse poured himself a glass of something dark, he didn't look young either.

Was it possible to age years in three days?

I felt it.

"Here." Jesse gestured to the second glass. "Come over here."

I did. My dress inched up my thigh, but I didn't pay it any attention. I wouldn't even feel it in a moment. I was still new to drinking. My first party had been earlier in the year, but I knew my tolerance wasn't much. This glass and another, I'd be drunk.

Jesse already finished his. He began pouring a second for himself.

Well, maybe not. Maybe I wouldn't feel this, like I didn't feel anything else. But I drank it and I did. There was a burn. I barely flinched as I nudged the glass over for a refill.

"You sure?"

I nodded. I needed it. Tonight, I needed it. Tomorrow, I'd deal with the consequences.

After I sipped the second drink, I cringed. "Marissa told me that you broke up with Sarah. Is that true?"

He nodded as he leaned against the wall behind his counter. He moved his glass around, making the liquid swish in a circle. "I suppose."

"Why?"

"Why not?" he countered, frowning into his glass.

"Jesse."

His eyes looked up and caught mine. He was hurting. I saw the agony, but I could only see it because it was in me. No one else saw it. No one else was privy enough to be allowed past his walls. Why he let me through, I'd probably never know, but I was grateful. He was the only one who understood because he was the only one who loved Ethan as much as I did.

He relinquished, "I broke up with her because it was getting too serious."

"You weren't with Ethan that night?"

He finished his glass and poured another. As he settled back against the wall, he shook his head. "No. I was at dinner with Sarah and her parents. The fucking in-laws, or that's what they were referring to themselves as. I didn't give a shit. I didn't even want to be there."

I bit my tongue. Sarah was perfect. She was tiny. She was beautiful. She was kind. And she'd been Jesse's girlfriend for three years. She was almost opposite of me in most ways. I was normal in height and slender, but unlike her porcelain skin, mine was golden tan. Angie told me it matched well with my dark hair and dark eyes. It didn't matter how I measured up. No one else intimidated me more than her. I sighed now because I wanted to ask him so many more questions, but I recognized the angry tone to his voice. He was moving beyond his irritation. It might've been the funeral or his dad's girlfriend's car. I didn't know. Maybe it was even me, but this Jesse was ready to snap. I'd been around a few times when he had. It was never good. A guy had gotten beaten up one time. Another time Jesse had been arrested for taking a bat to someone's car. The third was when he drove a car over a cliff. I'd been in the car and he told me to get out before I knew what he was doing. He'd thrown himself out of it before it was air-born, but that'd been the scariest. It was the day his mother had died.

Ethan told me later that car had been Evelyn's, Jesse's mother's.

That same Jesse was with me right now.

Uneasiness prickled down my back, but he wouldn't hurt me. Jesse never hurt me. He'd react around me, but never at me.

"Why are you asking questions about Sarah, Alex?" He glared at me over his glass. His eyes were dark and stormy. A shiver went down my back, but not a bad one. As my lungs filled, I needed to be there. I couldn't be anywhere else. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I wanted it. I needed it.

I tipped my head back and drank the last of my alcohol in one swallow. My tolerance was still low, but I learned some skill over the last year. I pushed it towards him across the counter again.

He didn't move to refill it.

"I want another one."

"Why are you asking questions about Sarah, Alexandra?" He didn't move from the wall.

"Jesse, come on."

"You come on. Answer my question."

"Answer mine first."

"I did." But he frowned back into his glass. He hadn't. He knew I knew he hadn't.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Right, because it's getting too serious makes perfect sense," I bit out. "I'm a year younger, but I'm not an idiot. I know you, Jesse. You dumped her when we were at the hospital. She called to ask if you wanted her there and you said to get out of your life for good. Then you hung up. Real classy for a boyfriend. Three years and that's how you break up with her."

He glowered at me. "Shut up."

"No. I think she deserves an explanation. I would. I mean, really. Three years and that's all you said? I know you haven't talked to her since. You blocked her number."

He frowned.

I answered his unspoken question, "I watched you do it. I could tell what you're doing. I'm not stupid."

"You could tell?" His eyes narrowed to slits and he put his glass on the counter. Two steps from the wall and he was against the counter. "You can tell what I'm doing?"

I swallowed thickly. I had been able to tell, but this Jesse was new to me. He was predatory and scary. A second shiver went down my spine. He wasn't scary in a bad way, but in a good way, an all-together scary form of a good way. I licked my lips as he stalked around the counter.

My heart began pounding and I opened my legs a little. I knew what he was going to do before he did it. I think I had always known.

You wanted this the whole time, even back at the church. You little hussy.

I flinched at the voice in my head. Was I really going to do this? I was a virgin, but this was Jesse. And this was me. And I had wanted him for so long.

He reached me and slid his hands under my legs. They went all the way under my cheeks and he moved between my legs. He didn't even need to nudge them aside. I opened them. I was eager about it. As he bent over me, his lips came down, my heart wanted to explode out of me.

So long.

I had waited for this for so long.

I licked my lips, but he didn't press his to mine. I wanted him to, badly. As he hung there, suspended in the air, I murmured, "Jesse."

"Can you tell what I'm doing now?"

My arms lifted and I wound them around his neck. I was the one that pulled him closer against me. He fit there perfectly and I lifted my legs to lock behind his waist. One of his hands fell to my thigh. He burned a trail over my skin as he slid his hand to my core. He was slow and purposeful. He watched me the entire time, judging and measuring me.

My lips brushed against his as I said, "I knew before we came up here."

His chest lifted and he sucked in a deep breath. "Are you sure about this, Alex?"

I nodded. I couldn't talk. I needed this too much. Or I needed him. I wasn't sure, but as he lowered his lips to mine—finally—I gave him everything. I wanted to forget everything. There was no brother. There were no parents. There were no friends. There was no loss or mourning or grieving. No sadness. Only heat. That was all there was between us. Even the pain that occurred was minimal to what I'd felt for the last three days.

That night I gave myself to him. I just didn't know the extent of it until later.

CHAPTER ONE

Two years and two months later

When I went to Jesse's house, I wasn't expecting to find a naked chick on his couch. I knew it was his house. As I walked in, there was a giant portrait of him and my brother in the foyer. He must've had someone paint it from a picture at some party. Both wore easygoing grins and their affection was obvious. They were happy. Ethan was happy. It stopped me in my tracks, but I pushed it down. I couldn't handle that. Nope. Rage. Rage was my friend right now, and the girl who was straddling Jesse on the couch was going to be a recipient of my rage.

A head of black hair sat underneath her, and he moved to kiss up the girl's neck. As she leaned back with her eyes closed, his hand lifted to cup her breast. A moan slipped from her as he ran his thumb over it. As she gasped, her eyes opened a slit. It was enough. She saw me and horror flashed over her. She belted out a scream and scrambled off Jesse's lap to the couch.

"What the fuuu-?" Jesse whipped off the couch and whirled around. His face was contorted in fury, but then shock stopped him.

It stopped me as well.

That wasn't Jesse.

I clamped a hand over my eyes and turned away. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry, Cord. Oh my gawd. I'm really sorry." Muttering more curses, I tried to run from the room but smacked into a wall.

He spewed a few more curses as the girl cried out, "Who the hell is that?!"

I frowned when I heard the snippy tone. She had every right to be pissed. I couldn't fault her.

She continued, "You said we had the house to ourselves. Who is this girl?"

"It's no one." His voice faded for a second. "Here. Put this on, Chandra."

She growled at him.

"Chandra."

"You owe me for this," she snapped at him.

I waited, still against the wall with my hand over my eyes. I breathed in and out with a brief hope that maybe he'd forget I was there and go after her. This was too awkward.

"You can look now."

He hadn't.

The awkwardness lifted a notch. I could tell he was pissed.

My hands didn't move. "Are you dressed?"

"Yes." He sounded exhausted and I peeked. There were bags underneath his eyes as he sat on the couch, leaning forward on his knees. He wiped a hand over his face and regarded me with narrowed eyes. "You're looking for Jesse?"

I nodded.

His head dropped to his hands and his shoulders bunched together. He was still shirtless, but his shorts rode farther up his thigh, his very manly thigh. As he didn't say anything for a moment, my eyes roamed over him. I couldn't help it. He had filled out since the last time I saw him, around nine months ago.

"You look good," I remarked lightly as I perched on the end of the sectional.

"We've been training like crazy." His head lifted and he grimaced, rubbing a hand over his jaw. It clenched under the movement.

I searched for where the girl might've gone. "Who was that?"

"No one."

From the soft tone of regret, I grimaced again. "That wasn't 'no one'. That was someone. Is the infamous Cord Tatum off the market?" I teased, "I know someone who goes to school an hour away that'll be disappointed."

"Who?"

"Marissa." I frowned. He didn't know that?

"Oh. Her."

And judging by how he said "her," I knew Cord Tatum had definitely moved on. I took notice. This was a new guy in front of me.

"Jesse's not here."

"I gathered."

"Yeah." His head turned away. He continued to rub at his jaw, as if mulling over some problem in his head.

I glanced at my lap, unsure what to say. I didn't know this was how it would go down. When Zala gave me Jesse's address, I had every intention of marching in and giving him an earful. He knew secrets about Ethan's death and hadn't returned any of my calls. I just got a letter that gave me the 'fuck off' sentiments from my parents. I had no intention of taking another one from Jesse. I was primed and ready to tell him how it would be since I was going to be attending the same university.

All of that vanished when I saw the naked chick. A whole different form of rage had balled in my stomach, but it shriveled up. I swallowed it down and bit my lip as I contemplated how many other forms of apology I could utter to Cord.

"Look," I began, smoothing my hand down my pants. "It's obvious that I interrupted something special—"

"No, you didn't." He stood abruptly.

I froze from the sudden movement, but he left the room and hollered, "Come on."

Sliding off the couch, I trailed behind him and he led the way into one of the biggest kitchens I would ever see in my life. It was half the size of a banquet hall, but then I had to roll my eyes. Should I have expected otherwise? Zala told me that his father bought this house for Jesse. Of course, it would be grandiose. His dad was a movie producer and a jerk.

Cord opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. "You want some?"

I hesitated. Maybe, but I still needed to move into my dorm room.

He flashed me a grin.

My shoulders loosened. There was the cocky son-of-a-bitch Cord Tatum. I reached for one of the glasses that hung from a cupboard and slid it across the counter. "Fill her up."

He chuckled as he did. Then he topped off his own glass. "Instead of talking about the chickadee that was just here, why don't we talk about you?" He took up his glass and moved towards the large table that could've sat thirty people. He plopped down in a chair and motioned to another. As I sat, he asked, "You were here to see Jesse?"

Oh goodness.

As I sat, I needed to remember who this guy was. He charmed his way into Marissa's pants—who was I kidding? She charmed her way into his after trying to charm her way into Jesse's pants. With a scowl on my face, I took a big gulp of the wine. I set the glass back down, roughly, as I scowled at him. "Why'd you sleep with Marissa?"

His eyebrows shot up, but he schooled his face. I had to give him points for that. Not too much shock got through before he contained himself and asked, in a soft murmur, "What do you mean?"

I scoffed, drinking more of my wine. "Don't act like I'm stupid. I know she was calling Jesse and you took up the cause." The whole thing settled on the bottom of my gut in a bad way. A pang seared through me. She'd been my friend and she had been hoping to get Jesse while she knew of our history. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

He leaned forward with his arms resting on the table. His tone was gentle, "Look, Marissa was stupid, okay? I don't know how you two are right now, but take it from me. She was a stupid girl. She was selfish."

I swallowed over a knot in my throat. It hurt. It hurt so fucking much.

He continued, so soft and gentle, "And if you think Jesse wanted anything to do with her, you're completely wrong. The dude's barely looked at another girl since you took up your walking papers and marched last November."

Relief hit me like a ton of bricks. I sat there, stunned, with my head down. It felt good to hear that. It felt really good to hear that, but he never returned my calls. Why hadn't he if he cared that much?

"Look." Cord sighed and stood from the table. He tossed the rest of his wine in the sink, then did the same with mine. "Have you moved into the dorms yet?"

I shook my head.

"And I bet you have a whole car loaded to the top with stuff, huh?"

I nodded this time.

"All right. Mind's made up. Come on."

He bent to slip on his shoes, pulled a Grant West University shirt on, and grabbed his keys. He dangled them at me from the door. "You coming or not?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'll help you move in."

"You will?" This visit had gone in a different direction than what I intended. "I didn't come here for that."

He shrugged, grinning at me. "I know, but Jesse would want me to do this. He'd do it, if he were here."

I stood and frowned. "Yeah, where is he?"

Barking out a laugh, he shook his head. "Nope. Not going to touch that one."

Touch that one? I was even more confused as he put his hand between my shoulder blades and urged me out of the house. Following behind me, he locked the door and then asked, "What dorm are you in?"

"Frasier Hall."

A glimmer of a frown appeared but was gone in a second. "What floor?"

"Sixth."

His eyebrows shot up now.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why?"

Jerking a shoulder up, he shrugged but turned for his car. "Nothing. I'll follow you?"

"Suurree…" Something was up. That was obvious, but when Cord climbed into his Jaguar, I shook my head. I'd need to admit defeat on this one.

"Let's go, Connors." He reversed out of the driveway. Pounding the top of his car, he gestured for me to hurry up. His car was idling in the road as he waited so I got into my car and pulled out. He followed behind and when we pulled up to the back door of my new dorm, the reaction to his Jaguar was comical.

There were girls everywhere, along with their parents, little siblings, and friends galore. Most of the dads seemed to halt whatever they were doing. Their heads craned for a better view so they could see his Jaguar. The girls snapped to attention as well, but their eyes were on Cord himself as he rounded his car and sauntered to mine. Even though his head was down and he only looked at me and talked to me, he still emanated a subtle cockiness. It was as if everyone knew he was an elite athlete among their mix.

I could only shake my head. If people reacted like this to Cord, how would they handle Jesse?

"Any order?" Cord asked as he opened my back door and bent to scoop up a box.

"No order."

"What room?" He straightened from the car.

"613."

"Got it." His head clipped up and down in a brisk nod before he headed for the opened stairway. It was like he knew where he was going, exactly where he was going.

"Was that Cord Tatum?"

I had expected the question from a girl. When it was a deep masculine voice instead, I was thrown off balance for a second. He looked in his mid-forties with a beer belly. Sweat soaked most of his shirt and he wiped a hand over his glistening forehead, but his eyes were lit up. "Was it?"

Then I remembered.

Cord and Jesse were on the basketball team. They helped take their team to the NCAA Championships. Of course, they would get this reaction. They were Grant West gods, already basketball legends.

I had a feeling I'd be getting this question a lot from the other dads.

"Uh," I wasn't sure what to say.

"Yo, Connors." Cord was already back.

I almost did a double take. He must've sprinted up the stairs and jogged down, but he looked like he could do that twenty more times. He grinned from the corner of his mouth at me as he bent to picked up another box. "You got no roommate. Nice."

The dad moved in his way. "Are you Cord Tatum?"

"Nah, man." Cord gave him a polite smile and jogged back to the stairway. "I just look like him."

The guy's shoulders dropped down. "Oh. I thought—well—he looks a lot like him."

He was still looking at me, but I shrugged and grabbed a box of my own. Locking the door, I went inside and up the stairs. Cord passed me on the third floor. He rolled his eyes as he held his hand out for my keys. "That guy still down there?"

I nodded. "Does that happen a lot?"

"Usually only when we head to a bar. I didn't expect that here, but makes sense. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Is that…" I hesitated. I wanted to know how it was for Jesse. Should I ask that?

Cord flashed me another grin. "Don't sweat it, Connors. Jesse comes off as a Grade A bastard so he's usually not approached for autographs." He laughed to himself, shaking his head. "And he gets away with it. No one's going to think anything less of Malcolm Hunt's son."

I nodded. I wasn't sure what to think of that.

"Oh, hey."

I turned back on the stairs.

He winked at me. "Jesse will like knowing that your room is right next to the stairs."

"Cord!" I hissed, horrified, excited, and embarrassed at the same time. I didn't want to dwell on any of those emotions, they were too threatening, so I ignored all of them and went the rest of the way to my room. When I stepped onto the sixth floor, I realized he was right. 613 was right next to it. It was in its own hallway since the exit sectioned off from the main hallway and my room was the last, tucked away in a corner.

My room wasn't anything special. There were two beds, two desks, two closets, and two dressers. I had paid for a single after I received the screw-off letter from my parents. I hadn't known my grandfather was wealthy, but I capitalized on it. I had the money so I was going to use it. I'd heard enough horror stories about freshman roommates.

I was stepping out from the room and heading back downstairs for another load when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hi, there!" A girl waved at me with a friendly smile. She had bright blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. Dressed in white khaki shorts and a white polo, she could've stepped out of a golfing magazine for the rich and preppy. Then I noticed the GW logo on the top right corner of her shirt in purple lettering.

This girl was my resident advisor.

"Hi."

She held her hand out, tanned like the rest of her with a diamond-encrusted watch wrapped around her wrist. "I'm Kara."

I shook her hand and tried not to grimace at how my hand contrasted next to hers. She was golden and beautiful. I was pale and grotesque, but I drew in a breath. This girl was stunningly beautiful. I would always pale in comparison to her. I wasn't a slouch. I knew I was slender and my dark hair had grown longer over the summer from the shoulder length, but I wasn't in her league. Or at least, that's how I felt.

"Alex."

"Yeah." Her smile doubled. "Alexandra Connors, right?" She lifted a clipboard and wrote something on it. A strand of her hair slipped forward to the board, but she didn't notice. She compressed her lips together before she was done and looked back at me. The smile slipped a second and her eyes widened as they shot past me. "Cord?"

"Oh, hey, Kara." He breezed into my room with two boxes. Setting them down, he came back out and leaned a hand against the doorframe behind me. He was sheltering me. I didn't know if he did it on purpose, but for some reason I was grateful. His hand came down to my shoulder in the next moment. "You've met Alex, huh?"

"Uh…"

He squeezed my shoulder. "Treat her right. She's like family."

I was? I sent him a furtive look over my shoulder. His smirk deepened and he jogged back down the stairs.

"You…" She blinked rapidly. "You know Cord?"

"You know Cord?"

"Yeah, he's roommates with my boyfriend."

The slight enjoyment I was having hurdled down my stomach. I felt it grinding into the ground now as I swallowed over a sudden knot in my throat. Roommates? Cord lived with Jesse. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I had to ask. "Oh. Uh. Who is that?"

"Derek Williams."

My knees buckled underneath me. The relief was overwhelming. I grabbed onto the doorframe Cord had rested against and struggled to keep myself upright. For a moment, I thought a nightmare had occurred in front of me. This girl wasn't dating Jesse. Thank god.

Then it clicked with me. My RA's boyfriend was roommates with Jesse. No wonder she seemed surprised that I knew Cord.

"How do you know Cord so well?"

When my gaze shot to hers, I was startled from the sudden fierceness in them. And then I had a conundrum. Did I tell her the truth? That Cord was just playing with her because I wasn't really like family to him? Or did I tell the other truth, that he was only looking out for me because of my connection to Jesse. My gut was telling me that she'd have an even bigger reaction if she knew that last part.

So I lied.

"I don't. We went to the same high school and I looked him up. I had a friend who wanted me to keep tabs on him."

"Oh." Her shoulders loosened and she looked back down to her clipboard. She lifted her head again. "So he was just teasing me? Because I know Cord does that sort of thing. He's roommates with Derek, after all. I'm good friends with him."

My head lifted up and down in a long, drawn-out motion. I was getting what she was giving. She wanted me to know how well she knew Cord, and I was struck again by how small I felt next to this girl. She was important. I was not. I got her message.

Then she frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry. That was a really bitchy thing for me to say."

"Um." No idea what to say, but I knew I wasn't going to say anything about Jesse.

"Kara?" An annoyed tone came around the corner and then I heard, "Oh, fuck me. Really?!"

I turned and gulped.

It was the girl who'd been straddling Cord an hour ago.

The corners of my mouth lifted, and I said the first thing that came to mind. "At least you're wearing clothes this time."

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