Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(14)

Music whispered in my ear as I watched her circle to the truck where it was open and a couple of movers came to talk to her. She was about to climb into the truck when a guy picked her up by her hips and put her behind him.

The music cut off abruptly with a record scratch. She had her hands on her hips and I could almost imagine her glare as the guy wagged a finger at her then pointed to the trail.

She paced in a circle, then flipped him off and he just laughed at her. Tucking her earbuds in, she turned away from them and headed toward the trailhead.

I knew where they all were; Lachlan ran it all the time. First, he ran to stay in shape for lacrosse, but later, he’d taken to running all year round. Last year…

Now I knew why.

He was chasing KC.

I glanced down at my outfit then at her as she vanished through the trees. I could run, but not dressed like this. Maybe she’d need someone new to run with this year. I could volunteer.

The music began to play slowly again. The notes that had proven so elusive over the last few weeks filled my head again.

KC was here.

She was okay.

My phone buzzed again, and I lifted it to look at the message from Russell. KC’s schedule. Good, now I was able to see how many classes we had together. Last year, people had been stupid as fuck about her.

I pocketed my phone and headed back to my dorm. Since she was here, maybe I could leave music pinned to her door. She threw away the note last year, but she’d never thrown away the music.

The door to my dorm thrust open as guys carried their stuff in. But I wasn’t looking at the trucks or those guys, I was staring at the silver Mercedes AMG One.

No.

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

Pivoting, I came face-to-face with the one brother I could gladly live without ever having to see again.

“Hey, baby bro, miss me?”

“No,” I said, then slugged him.





Six





KC


“I’m going to pick up our schedules,” Aubrey said as I supervised the moving of our things. Well, supervised was probably too strong a word. Each time I tried to help, Dix got bossy. Including literally picking me up when I was climbing into the truck and putting me on the ground behind him.

“No, ma’am,” he informed me in that stern tone without an ounce of humor. “You’re still supposed to be taking it easy. I know you said you only had some bruises from the impact, but we’re not taking risks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dix…”

“No,” he repeated, then pointed toward the running trail. “Go burn off that nervous energy. But you aren’t going to be hauling and carrying on my watch.” I’d already taken my guitars upstairs, so I resisted sticking my tongue out at him.

“You’re not being very nice to me,” I told him with a mock pout. He legit laughed in my face.

“I didn’t say a word about you totaling my car,” he reminded me. “Or the fact I took that ticket for leaving the scene of an accident.”

Guilt raked through me. “Dix…I’m sorry.” The words seemed paltry. Even paying for the repairs and offering to buy a new one hadn’t really put a balm on that.

“Gorgeous, go on. Go run.” Almost at once, his stern expression eased. Raking a hand through his sandy blond hair, he shook his head. “You should never have been in that position anyway. Next time, I’ll save piss breaks for when we get home.”

I winced again. It wasn’t until I’d been back at the house for fifteen minutes that he’d called, worried as hell. The yelling had taken fifteen minutes, and when he got to the house at four in the morning, I got yelled at some more.

He had every right to be incensed, but when he was at the house, more than anger radiated off of him… it was fear.

That fear made me feel like shit. Dix had been fantastic the past few weeks, covering my ass and getting me out to burn off all the excess. Then I totaled his car after ducking out without a word to him.

I had my phone. I could have called. Did I call? Fuck, I didn’t even remember now. It was all a blur after Lachlan showed up on the dance floor. From the quick excitement to the fury that he would walk up on me like nothing happened.

The feel of him moving with me hadn’t helped. Then he pulled off my fucking hat…

Raising my hands, I backed off from Dix. “I’ll run. You do this. And Dix?”

“I know,” he said, almost indulgently. “I’m the best. Get going.”

I grinned, then blew him a kiss as he gave me an exasperated look. “Yes, you are the best and I know you love me.”

“Go,” he huffed, before turning back to the movers. “And you boys can button your mouths and get your eyes back in your head.”

Walking away, I tucked the earbuds in. They linked to my phone immediately. A message popped up on my screen from Jackie.

Jackie



Welcome back to school. Focus. Be sure to call us next week and give us all the deets. Pen is doing great. See below…





A photo followed with Pen’s sweet face smiling up at me. She was a perfect angel from her light brown skin to her dark brown eyes and curly hair.

She was showing off four sweet teeth, and it looked like a fifth one was coming through. She’d been teething when I was there the week before. Missing her was a pang in my chest.