Page 5

My heart was never involved.

“Brat.” He sighed. There it was. Brat. Now we were back to normal. “Seriously, have you eaten⁠—“

“Why do you care, Ferguson?” I asked, not bothering to look at him.

Shit! Tears started to form and my nose started to sting. Embarrassment from almost falling and the anxiousness of my cousin losing his chance with his girl were getting the better of me! No! I am not this sappy person.

It was the lack of sleep.

The full load of classes.

The stress of paying Dave back.

The devastation of watching two people meant to be not find their way to one another.

That has to be it!

“Dave,” he clipped, crossing his arms over his chest. For some reason, he didn’t like me calling him anything but his first name. “What’s up with you?” Concern laced his voice.

“Nothing.” My lips wobbled as I looked at the laptop on top of the table.

“Hey, what’s this?” His voice was too gentle, too caring and sweet, it somehow activated the unshed tears.

“I said nothing.” I sniffled.

“What? Wait, are you going to cry?” he teased. I looked up at him. The playful smile crumpled, and horror filled his face. “Babe?”

Damn it! Not the soft, sweet babe again! In the blink of an eye, he moved from where he’d been by the door to right in front of me.

“I said—“ I started to repeat, but my voice cracked at the same time as his hands cupped my face, tilting it up.

“You’re crying.” He wiped the traitorous tears with the thick pads of his thumbs. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” I shook my head, trying to pull away from him, but he didn’t let me.

“Don’t be a brat and talk to me,” he demanded. As if his word was law.

“But I am a brat!” I half-argued, only because embarrassment stung through me and heat coursed all through my body; even the tips of my ears burned with it. “I’m a brat and a pain in your ass. You should really get your head checked as to why you even want me here!”

“Babe.” His hands dropped from my face, but before I could step away, he lifted me up, and my legs, my stupid legs, wrapped around his waist like that was the only thing they could naturally do. He walked us to the couch and sat down.

“What happened? Did you hurt something when you almost fell?” I shook my head because I couldn’t trust my voice not to shake, or worse, have me fall apart and cry like a baby in his arms.

“Did something happen driving here?” Again, I shook my head. His brows bunched together like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. “At school?” I shrugged because it had kind of been at school.

“Roxie, talk to me, baby.” I sniffled, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the sweet way he’d asked or how he felt beneath me. Strong, hard, and reliable. Safe.

And maybe because of that, or maybe it was the way his dark brown almost black eyes made me feel like I was the only thing that mattered in his life, I broke.

“He’s going to lose her,” I blurted out, the words slipping past my lips.

“What? Who?”

“Adam!” I tried to blink away the tears that rolled down my face. “He’s in love with Callie.”

“Your roommate.”

“His bestie.”