And my bestie has had no shortage of offers since we returned to campus from summer break a couple weeks ago.
“Too cheesy?” I’m still grinning as I say it. Nothing can put a dent in my good mood today. Not even the mammoth assignment Prof Brown just handed us.
“Definitely, but you own that, girl, and feel proud! Dylan’s the catch of the century, and if you weren’t my bestest friend in the entire universe, I might feel jealous.”
I loop my arm in hers as we walk through campus. Glorious sunshine beats down on us, and it feels good to be alive. “Your Prince Charming is out there too, waiting to be claimed.” I had thought Travis might be the one, but after the shit he pulled, it’s clear I was mistaken. “I still can’t believe Travis cheated on you with that skank. He was so devoted last year.”
My bestie shrugs, but she can’t disguise the flash of hurt glimmering in her eyes. “Neither can I, but I guess I never really knew him at all. Everything he said to me was a bare-faced lie.”
“Let’s schedule a girl’s night for next week,” I suggest. “Just you and me. We can grab dinner and a movie or hang out at my place. I’ll kick Dylan out for the night.”
Myndi and I met our first week of freshman year, and we’ve been pretty much joined at the hip since then. We’re both studying nursing, so we spend every day together, and when she started dating Travis last year, double dates became a regular occurrence.
Travis and Dylan were close, until Travis did the unthinkable over the summer and Myndi kicked him to the curb. Now, Dylan refuses to return Travis’s calls, and I admire his loyalty to my friend—as if I need additional reasons to adore my long-term boyfriend and childhood sweetheart.
“That’d be great, but I don’t want to kick Dylan out of his own condo. We’ll just ban him to the bedroom and commandeer the living room.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
A shrill whistle pierces my eardrums, and I look up as my name is called. My brother, Ryan, waves from across the street. He’s in his running gear, and, judging by the hair plastered to his forehead, I’m guessing he’s on the return route of his daily jog. He sprints across the road with a certain look on his face. One I’ve seen way too many times to count.
“Good evening, ladies,” he says, all but ignoring me as he grins seductively at my friend. Very slowly, he peruses the length of her body, licking his lips and folding his muscular arms across his torso. Myndi’s chest visibly heaves as she returns the eye-fuck, and I know it’s time to stop this train wreck from happening.
I punch Ryan in the arm.
Hard.
“Ow!” Rubbing his arm, he scowls at me. “What the fuck was that for?”
“Quit with the sleazy ‘come fuck me’ looks. Myndi is my best friend so that means she’s off limits to the likes of you.” I prod my finger in his solid chest to drill my point home. And it’s not the first time I’ve had to issue a warning. He’s been after her since last year. Although he’d never make a move on any girl in a relationship, now that Myndi and Travis are no more, he seems to have made it a mission to get her underneath him.
As much as I love my brother, and I truly adore him, he’s a complete manwhore, leaving a trail of broken hearts all over campus. If I thought his intentions were serious, and that Myndi was into it, I wouldn’t stand in their way, but I don’t want to see her hurt. And I don’t want things to become awkward. Even though Ryan, Slater, and their crew are seniors, we still hang with them a lot, and if Ryan treated Myndi like one of his “girls,” things would definitely get messy.
“You’re lucky you’re my favorite sister,” he grumbles, shoving my finger away.
I purse my lips and narrow my eyes. “I’m your only sister.”
“Exactly.” He smirks, and I roll my eyes.
“Myndi has just had a bad breakup and the last thing she needs is Mr. One-night Stand hitting on her.”
He slams a hand over his chest, feigning upset. “You slay me, little sis. Such cruel words.”
“Don’t even try to deny it. There’s a running roll call of your conquests on the wall in the girls’ restroom.” A sour taste fills my mouth. “And that is not something I should ever have to see.” I’m not confirming it’s a list of the hottest guys on campus with each girl rating their skills on a scale of one to ten. Or the fact he and Slater are more than holding their own at the top of the list. Ugh. A sister does not need to know this stuff.
He puffs out his chest, and his lips curl up at the corners. “Can’t help it if the ladies love what I’m offering.” He shoots us a smug grin. “It’s all in the James’ genes. You’d know it if you hadn’t attached yourself to Woods when you were still in diapers.”
I smack his chest this time. “I was fifteen when Dylan and I first started going out. Asshat.”
“Does Woods know you get off on beating up defenseless men?” He grabs his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Or is that the standard he’s used to?”
I fist my hands into knots, working hard to quell the urge to thump him again. “Ugh. You are so freaking annoying. Thank God, it’s your last year here.”
Quick as a flash, he grabs me into a headlock, messing up my hair. “Don’t be mean, Tornado. You know you’ll miss your favorite brother.”
Ryan started calling me Tornado when I was about five after my propensity to race around the place, blowing in and out of rooms like a tornado. I’ve always had an abundance of restless energy, and it’s why you’ll rarely find me lounging around doing nothing. I like to keep active. The only exception is sleep. I love my bed and enjoy sleeping late, but once I’m up and out in the world, I’m always on the go.
I aim a punch toward his gut, but he snatches my wrist and effortlessly lifts me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I hate being the smallest in my family and the fact all three of my brothers use that to their advantage when it suits them.
“Put me down, Randy Ryan,” I yell, balling my hands into fists and pummeling his back. Ryan hates that name, and I love throwing it out to piss him off. The girls in high school gave him the label, and it stuck, much to his disgust. Especially when Sexy Slater rubbed his much cooler nickname in his face. My brother’s best friend was a permanent fixture around our house growing up, so I’ve spent years listening to them winding one another up. Slater’s practically a surrogate James.
Especially in the last year.
A pang of sorrow slams into me, but Ryan derails my emotions when he swats my butt, dragging me back into the moment. “Hitting is not nice, Gabby. Mom and Dad would be so disappointed to realize their little baby girl is a wannabe Katie Taylor.”
“Neither is screwing girls, making them fall in love with you, and then ignoring them, but you don’t see me running to the folks like a big blabbermouth.” I wriggle aggressively in his hold, and he relents, finally letting me down. I move to punch him in the gut again, but I’m only messing around. When he holds his hands up in a defensive stanch, I grab his face and smack a loud kiss on his cheek instead. “Love you, little big bro.”
I’m the youngest in our family, and Ryan is the youngest of my big brothers, and we’re the closest in age so, naturally, we formed the closest bond. When I was a kid, I used to call him little big bro, and it’s kinda stuck over the years.