Beyond What is Given(28)

Oh, hell no.

I turned slowly, keeping Sam protected behind my back as my sister raked her eyes up and down Jagger.

Josh walked through the front door. “God, I want off this detail. Why the hell can’t I start my classes the same time you guys do?” He rounded the corner to the kitchen, holding his uniform top in his hand, and my sister’s eyes bugged out. “Well, hello there…” He looked at the rest of us for an introduction.

“Oh my God, are all the army guys this hot? You could seriously sell tickets to this show.”

“Tell me about it,” Sam muttered, stepping around me.

“Grayson?” Jagger asked, thoroughly enjoying himself.

My jaw ticked a few times as I fought for control. My life was about to crash on all fronts. There was no controlling this one. Parker, Constance, hell, even Joey, I could have handled. But not her. “Josh, Jagger. Meet Mia, my baby sister. Hands off, or I kill you while you sleep.”

Jagger started laughing hysterically. “Well, so much for no distractions.”





Chapter Ten


Grayson


“What are you doing here, Mia?” I cornered her in the kitchen while Jagger fired up the grill.

“I wanted to see you,” she pouted.

“I just saw you less than a week ago. Now cut the crap.”

She bounced back on her heels to sneak a look out the window. “Why didn’t you say that your roommates are gorgeous?”

“Because I’m a guy, Mia. Now stay on topic. Why—how are you here?” She might only have been five foot two, but she could destroy the small amount of peace I’d managed to attain here.

“I took a flight? I told Mom I wanted to see you, and she thought it was good that someone was finally checking up on you.” She picked up Sam’s coffee mug, which still wore her shade of sparkly lip gloss. “Plus, I wanted to meet her.”

“Meet who? Sam?” I took the mug out of her hand and put it back on the counter. It was empty, which told me Sam would be back soon.

“The girl who made you smile.” She grinned like she’d caught on to some elusive secret.

“Mia… This is my life. Not some kind of matchmaking game. I wasn’t lying at home; Sam is just a roommate.”

“I know you better than that.”

“You can’t say anything about home, Mia. Or Grace, because—”

“Relax, Gray. I’m not here to dish out your secrets. Why you keep it secret is beyond me, but if you need to compartmentalize, I get it.”

Sam waltzed into the room and came to an abrupt halt, her gaze flickering between me and Mia. “Oh, I can come back.”

I lifted up the empty coffee cup. “No, you can’t. You’ll drop dead on the floor or something if you don’t get a fix. You’re not bothering us, I promise.”

Sam bit her lower lip, and damn, I wanted to suck it out, then caress the little indentation from her teeth with my tongue. Shit. “If you’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” About both.

She gave Mia, who was unabashedly taking in every detail of Sam, a shy smile and loaded a K-cup. While it was brewing, she passed me on the way to the fridge. “Ugh. I forgot I was out of creamer.”

“Look behind the milk,” I suggested.

Her squeal was well worth the extra effort it had taken. “How the hell?” She turned with wide eyes, presenting her bottle of peppermint-mocha creamer. “Did you do this?”

Her eyes were lit up like a kid at Christmas, and her smile could have sailed a thousand ships, easy. “It was nothing.” Just a matter of checking a suitcase full of gel packs and praying TSA didn’t think I was out of my mind.

She jumped at me, and I swung my arm around her back as she noisily kissed my cheek. “Thank you! I will ration it, I swear.”

I scoffed. “That bottle will last you about three days at the rate you inhale your coffee.”

She landed back on her feet and grinned. “Well, it will be a glorious three days.”

A corner of my mouth twitched upward, disobeying my order to keep a straight face. “A glorious eighteen days.”

Her eyebrows shot up as the Kuerig hissed at completion. “Huh?”

“Check the freezer.” I gripped the counter behind me, ignoring Mia’s eyes boring holes into me. “Behind the second bottle of tequila.”

Sam’s mouth dropped for a millisecond before she opened the freezer door to see the five other bottles I’d stored there yesterday. “No way!” She jumped, bouncing on her tiptoes. She shut the freezer door and spun, this time directing her smile at Mia. “Your brother”—she pointed at me, like there was any other guy who could have been mistaken for Mia’s brother—“is a god among men.”

“So I’ve heard,” Mia answered, her smile nearly consuming her little face.

Sam passed me on the way back to her coffee and squeezed my bicep. “Thank you,” she whispered, sneaking a look up at me before she turned her attention to her coffee.

“Sam, will you bring me a clean plate?” Jagger called out as he slid the glass door open a fraction.

“Right on it!” she answered, and took her coffee and a plate back outside.

Mia started laughing, snorting in between gasps.