Better when He's Bold (Welcome to the Point #2)(77)
My hair didn’t look like the worst thing on the planet, but there were dark shadows under my eyes and hard lines next to my mouth that had never been there before. Having someone out for my blood, having a sinister shadow hunting me, getting the better of me, was starting to take its toll, and that was obvious on my face. Even with Race stepping in and handling all the other major issues life had thrown at me—my mom, finding Karsen and me a place to stay so we wouldn’t be homeless, trying to keep the two of us safe—it was still a lot to handle, and I think living through it all had me looking well over my twenty-one years.
Since I didn’t have anything at the condo aside from my purse and the small bag Karsen had thrown together for me while I was at the hospital, there weren’t even any magic tricks I could do with makeup to make myself look better. Not that I had anyone to impress. Karsen had seen me at my worst, and the brooding giant that was Booker had made it perfectly clear we were never going to be friends. He acted like getting thrown down the stairs was all my fault and I had just cracked my skull open to make him look bad in front of Race. He was even more scowly and growly than he had been before, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why the more brash he was, the more my sister wanted to fawn all over him. I didn’t like anything about that.
I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a sloppy sweatshirt and went to rain on my little sister’s inappropriate flirting parade. When I came down the stairs and rounded the corner, I was surprised to see Booker at the sink washing dishes and my sister sitting at the island with a sandwich in front of her. Her dark eyes got huge when she saw my chopped-up hair but they glimmered at me in approval.
“It’s cute, edgy, and a little punk rock. I can’t believe you did that yourself.”
My sister would never have anything bad to say about anything. She was too sweet.
“It’s a mess, but it’s better than the hack job that the hospital gave me. Did Booker make you lunch?” I hopped up onto the stool next to her and snagged the other half of her BLT.
“No. I cooked and he said he would clean up.” The big guy grunted from his position at the sink without turning around. Karsen smiled at me and indicated the modern, beautifully decorated condo. It wasn’t in the greatest part of town, but I had to admit it was leaps and bounds better than the loft in the garage. “Isn’t this place awesome? Race said we could stay here as long as we need to.”
“Race is full of surprises.” My tone was dry and I heard Booker chuckle.
“He was in a big hurry to get out of here this morning. He was asking me a million and one questions about your friend from school.”
Booker turned around from the sink and gave me a look.
I shrugged. “He’s just a friend.”
He snorted and crossed his beefy arms over his chest.
“Girls that look like you don’t have dudes as friends. Hell, even girls that don’t look like you don’t have guys as friends. Trust me, Blondie, any guy hanging around any girl for any amount of time is just waiting for his chance to get it in.”
I coughed a little on the sandwich I was chewing on and shot a look at my sister, and then glared at Booker.
“That’s not true. Not all guys are Neanderthals like you.”
He lifted the eyebrow that was bisected by the ugly scar and gave me a pointed stare.
“Yes they are. Some are just better at hiding it when they want to get laid.”
“Anyways . . .” I changed the subject and turned to Karsen. “Drew is harmless and he was never around my computer, so all of that creepy surveillance software couldn’t have come from him.”
Karsen made a strangled noise in her throat that had Booker frowning and me turning to look at her in concern. She grabbed my forearm and her brown eyes took up half of her face.
“That’s not true. Remember a few months ago when you needed to borrow my computer because you loaned yours to Adria when hers crashed for a week or so? Well, you were all mad that Drew was the one who gave it back to you, considering Adria was the one who borrowed it. He told you that she gave it to him because she was too busy to return it. You even complained it was running really slow and blamed Adria for downloading a virus or something. You were totally jealous when she got a brand-new laptop to replace the one that crashed.”
I didn’t remember that at all, but there had been a lot on my mind the last few months and Adria was selfish and needy a lot, so it wasn’t a request that would stand out in my mind or seem unusual. Though now that Karsen mentioned it, I did remember Drew giving me back my computer and seeming extra excited about being the errand boy for the task. Like a typical teenager, being separated from her computer and social media meant that Karsen probably recalled the exact events.
“Well, shit.”
Booker uncrossed his arms and his hard face looked slightly murderous.
“I need to call Race and let him know that before he heads to the school to corner the guy.”
An uneasy shiver slipped down my spine. I really didn’t think Drew had it in him to hurt anyone. He was just a preppy college guy with a little crush, but at this point the only people I knew weren’t trying to end my life were Race and Karsen—and maybe Booker, even though I was still on the fence about him.
I turned to Karsen and shared the concerned look she was giving me as Booker took his phone and wandered into the living room to make a call. She looked like she was on the verge of losing the lunch she had just been eating, so I told her in my most authoritative tone: