“—Wait!” Sloane stands abruptly from my bed. “Royce is back?”
“Who’s Royce?” Nellie asks from behind me, fiddling with the photo I’ve already placed on my dresser of the five of us on the boat when we were younger.
“Um,” I start quickly, but before I can get a word in, Sloane has her palms pressed to my cheeks, yanking my attention back to her.
“Tell me everything.”
I whack her hand away. “Nothing to tell. He came home last weekend for his birthday and told us that he had been with a motorcycle club for the past four years.”
“Oh my god…” Sloane drools, her mouth wide open. “Is he hotter than he was when we were younger?”
“What? I’m not answering that. He’s my brother.”
“—Foster brother, and we all know how he—”
“Sounds like I need to meet him.” Nellie smirks, sitting on my bed. I don’t mention that I barely know her and that she most definitely should not be sitting on my bed, props to her confidence though. “What club is he with?” Nellie further asks.
“What? Ah, I don’t remember.” I don’t want to tell them any more than I already have. Not that I care if they find him hot, just that I don’t want to be talking about him right now.
“Can we change the subject?” I mutter, piling my long hair up into a high ponytail. “Like food. Where can we get food?”
We find a small place off campus. It’s the typical greasy spoon diner, with gloss red leather seats, checked floors, and tired waiters. I slip into the booth and scan over the menu.
“So what else has Royce been doing?” Sloane asks. I ignore her. I can’t do the song and dance to Royce’s tune today—or ever. When the waitress comes to our table, I smile up to her, thankful for the distraction. “I’ll have the double cheeseburger with extra bacon, please.”
“Fine,” Sloane groans. “But we are going out this weekend. Right, Nellie?”
Nellie nods. “Yep. There’s a spot I go to every weekend. We’ll pick Jade up.”
I dive into my burger, ignoring their talks of what boys are what in the school. To say that I’m not interested is probably an understatement. My sex life is something I protect, so I zone out and dig into my fries.
“Do you know where your classes are on Monday, Jade?” Nellie asks around her straw.
“I think so.” I pop another fry in my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the door open, but I don’t pay it any attention. “I mean, I have the school map and all of my class numbers, so I’m guessing they won’t be hard to find.”
I look to Sloane, whose eyes are over Nellie’s shoulder and on the new group who just sauntered in. I lean over to see who she is gawking at.
“Sloane…” I nudge her with my shoulder. My friend is blatant when it comes to what she wants. The entire back section of the diner is now occupied with a group of guys. You can practically smell the testosterone from here. Of course Sloane would sniff out the school’s football team like a dog in heat.
“Yes?” She bats her eyelashes at me, and when I look back at the group, I find a couple of them already watching us. Well, probably Sloane more than me. She’s the beautiful red-haired bombshell with great tits, and I’m the weird-looking brunette with creepy eyes. Sloane has always said that I’m completely oblivious when it comes to my appearance and that I’m every guy’s wet dream. I don’t buy it. She’s my best friend, of course she’s going to say that.
Chuckling, I shake my head. “You are terrible.” I lazily scan the group, when one guy catches my eye who is watching me carefully. His scruffy blond hair reminds me of ancient ash and his dark eyes are like magnetic orbs, pulling me in. He has tanned skin, broad shoulders, and the face structure of a GQ model.
He’s attractive. Actually, that’s an iniquitous understatement. He’s hot as fucking sin, and I’d gladly kneel at church on Sunday for devouring that. Instantly, I ignore my thoughts and the direction to which they went. I can’t afford to have crushes. Not now, not ever.
“—Jade!” Now it’s Sloane’s turn to demand my attention.
“Hmm?” I answer, bringing my drink to my lips.
Sloane looks between me and the guy and then smirks. Zoning out on a hot guy isn’t such a bad thing, but when you have a best friend who likes to call you out on everything, it is.
“Ah, I see. Well, don’t stop your eye fuck on my account…”
Nellie looks over her shoulder, finally figuring out what we’re staring at. I notice she visibly stills, her face falling before she turns back to face me. “I wouldn’t even try. My sister knows them, and they’re not what they appear to be.”