Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(15)

Me



She looks great. Will do. Moving in now. Gonna run and get out of my head. Love you.





Jackie



Love you, too.





Sliding the phone into my armband, I fixed it tight, then fired off the music. The album was the recently cut one by Bound Hearts. Ian and Frankie had killed it this summer in the studio and they were out touring for it right now.

I was both wildly proud of them and a little jealous. Not of their album or their success, hell no. Just loved the idea of that first tour. We thought we knew everything when we went out there, but none of us had been ready for the insanity that awaited us as that first album took off.

It helped that their music was so rich with emotion, painting such vivid pictures of their challenges, their loves, and even their passions. At least two of the love songs made me want to swoon. The fact they sang to each other just added to the delicious tension.

They had such an amazing future in front of them. Stretching my arms above my head, I continued my walk to the trailhead. There were kids everywhere. I’d already seen a couple of camera phones pointed in my direction.

The whole drive in, I’d spent the time rebuilding my armor. Aubrey had asked me if I was sure about this. We could go back to online classes or even homeschooling if I wanted. We could certainly afford a private tutor.

But I refused to run away from my personal goals. I didn’t know they were my stepbrothers when I chose this school, when I arrived, or even when they started their judgmental bullshit.

No, they were deceptive and kept their secrets, judging me like it was their fucking right. Throw in the ninja kisses? The outright assaults on people in the hallway? On RJ? Just… fuck no.

They didn’t get to drive me away. If they wanted Dad, they could fucking have him.

At the top of the trail, I turned my face up to the sun. It was a gorgeous day. The weather was warm, without being hot. The breeze carried the scent of the woods. There was a familiarity that the previous year had lacked…

I was happy to be here.

As soon as the album rolled over to a faster-beat song, I started running. I’d managed a few miles a week on the treadmill, but running around Beverly Hills wasn’t always a good idea. It was part of why I’d started going out dancing at night.

Though after the run-in with Lachlan and the car accident, Dix had been far less on board with indulging my desire. He’d only relented when I let him pick the clubs, and instead of separating, we stuck together. It wasn’t quite the same, but at least he could dance and was fun to hang with.

I took the long route around. The trail had been recently trimmed, at least from the look of it. There were no leaves on it, and some of the dips had been smoothed over. A downed tree from the previous year was gone.

Someone had added signs along the trail with miles, and there were a couple that included suggested exercises. They kind of cracked me up, but whatever. It was just nice to be out here running again.

Aubrey had already spoken to Forrest. They’d been talking all summer. I wasn’t sure if they were still a thing or not. However, she had sounded happy to hear from him. She also couldn’t wait to see him.

That made me happy for her. We had a long talk about the guys and my dad. She and Yvette were furious when I gave them some of the details. They didn’t know about the dancing or how many nights, but they did know about the car accident. Hard to hide that when they’d walked in on Dix giving me hell.

Still, they were angrier with the Douchebag Brothers than they were with me. But I’d promised to try and be more open. Being private about family business was something we all understood. It would have helped if we’d known they were family. The ninja kisses had been hard enough to explain, but Aubrey called me out on those, too.

What was I angrier about? That he kept doing it? Or that I enjoyed it? Granted, it didn’t matter if I liked it. I was the one who said no, and I had cracked him in the nuts for it. But it was food for thought.

For some reason, I’d left Ramsey out of the kissing. It was uncomfortable enough with him being a TA. I wouldn’t be seeking any tutoring this year, and if he was a TA in one of my classes this year?

Fuck that, I’d ditch the class and transfer out. That would be worth the sanity check.

At the six-mile mark, I slowed to a walk. I was almost around the inner circuit. I hadn’t done the outer. It was almost an hour and ten minutes since I started the run. Not quite the ten-minute mile I’d worked my way toward last year. There was time, though.

Sweat soaked through my tank and sports bra, but the moisture-wicking did its job as I walked to cool down and swung my arms. The sweatshirt tied around my waist was a little uncomfortable. But I’d deal with it back at the room.

Hopefully, Dix and the guys would almost be done. Then I could shower and go over schedules with Aubrey. We did actually pick a couple of classes to share this year ‘cause that was just stupid last year.

Cutting off the trail, I followed the path made by so many people using the woods for a shortcut to get back to the dorm.

“Hey…”

“Fuck!” I put a hand to my stomach as I barely contained the shriek. Startled, I shuddered as Jonas stepped out from under the shadows of the tree.

Could he be creepier?

“Hey,” I said, blowing out a breath. Polite and succinct. Like me, his ink was on display. While I had it on both arms, he only had it on his left. I didn’t really have much to say, so I just jerked a thumb toward the buildings. “Gotta go. Moving in.”