Beyond What is Given(27)

“Holy shit, did you just make a joke?” Jagger looked at his watch, which cost more than my car, not that he’d flaunt it. “Let’s mark the moment in time where it was discovered that Grayson Masters has a sense of humor.”

I shook my head at him. “The stick buddy thing is good. You’ll push me.”

“You mean pull your ass.”

“You’re a cocky prick for someone who landed ninth in the class.” The line shifted forward.

“Yeah, well, Paisley’s heart is in tip-top shape, so I think we’ll avoid that situation in the future.”

“Oh, you have excuses.” Only two guys in front of us and we’d be to the desk. “But seriously. I need to nail this, Jagger. I can’t afford to fail anything, or to be distracted. Just studying, flying, and gym time.”

“What about lasagna? You wouldn’t take that away, would you?”

A corner of my mouth lifted. “Food is life.”

“And Sam?” He lowered his voice.

My head swung around to look at him. All the joking was gone from his eyes, leaving a serious big-brother face I recognized only because of Mia and Parker.

“What about Sam?” My muscles tensed even though my heart jumped. Damn, I reacted to her name like a prissy rom-com movie. I checked my stomach. Thank God those weren’t butterflies. Just hunger pangs.

He snorted. “Don’t think I don’t recognize the way you guys look at each other. You two could probably power the f*cking house from the electrical vibe you put out the minute you’re in the same room.”

“Next?” Mr. Wolfton called, sparing me from responding to a question that I didn’t have the answer to.

“Second Lieutenants Grayson Masters and Jagger Bateman.”

“So much better than Carter,” Jagger whispered behind me.

He scribbled our names down on the running list and then looked up with a smile. “Ah, Lieutenant Masters. I have here that you graduated from the Citadel.”

My forehead puckered. “Yes, sir. I did.” In the top one percent of my class, thank you.

“Good. I’ve been informed that you’re the class leader.”

No. No. No. Hell, no. “Sir?”

He handed me a manila folder. “Here’s the class roster. Split them into platoons and get me back the phone roster by tomorrow.”

My hand froze on the folder.

“Is there a problem?” he asked, his eyebrows raised in question. Jagger elbowed me in the back.

Hell, yes, there’s a problem. I didn’t have time for this. “No, sir. No problem. Thank you for the opportunity.”

I took the folder and met Jagger outside. The heat blasted us in the face as we put our covers on and headed for my truck. “What are you thinking?” Jagger asked, climbing into the passenger side as I cranked the ignition and then the air.

“Now I miss Carter.”

He laughed. “Yeah, well, the guy has his uses.”

I put the truck into drive and headed for home, my mind fumbling to grasp the concept of taking on the extra duties of class leader and still keep my grades up.

“Don’t stress. You’re not going to fail.”

“Am I that transparent?” My grip tightened on the wheel.

“You’re stressed.”

We turned into Enterprise. “Yeah, well, this isn’t as easy for me. That doesn’t mean I won’t work twice as hard to get it.”

“We’ll study, starting tonight. Whenever I’m free, I’ll help.” He laid out a detailed study plan as we pulled into our neighborhood, still going on about the merits of taping flash cards to the cabinets as I parked in the driveway next to Sam’s cabriolet. “We’ll minimize your distractions and get you into second place.”

“Second place, my ass,” I joked with him. If Jagger was on his A game, I’d be lucky to come in second.

I opened the door, and before I could close it, I caught the scent of vanilla…home. “Come here.” Sam raced up behind me, her eyes wide as she grabbed my hand in her tiny one and pulled me into the kitchen.

“What the hell?” I asked. “Are you okay? Is your mom okay? Do you need me to kill someone?” The questions fired out of my mouth as I thought them, my filter dropped with my bag in the entry hall.

“What? I’m fine, it’s not me.”

“Then what?” I cupped her face in my hands to steady her and so I could feel her racing pulse beneath my fingers.

“She got here like an hour ago and just started inspecting things, and going through your room, and kind of put me through the Spanish Inquisition. I really don’t think my sex life should be up for discussion.” She talked so quickly that I had to concentrate to make out the words. “And not that I mind sharing my clothes, but—”

“Who did?”

“Your sister!” she whispered loudly.

“My…” Holy shit. “Which one?”

“How many do you have?” Sam’s eyebrows shot toward the ceiling.

“Four. Now which one, Sam?” Not that they weren’t all pains in my ass, but if it was—

“Gray! I love what you’ve done with your room! I dropped my bag there, I hope you don’t mind, and oh, my heavens, aren’t you just the tastiest thing I’ve ever seen?”