Page 17 of Pin-up Girl

I chuckled. “Afraid she’ll steal your virtue?”

He scowled at me.No. We need to keep on track if we want to finish this year. How are we supposed to do that when we’re stuck babysitting?

The bastard was attracted to her. His feelings were written all over him, from the combination of fire and fear in his eyes, to the downward tilt of his lips. It sounded like a weird combination. On anyone else, no way would it say attraction, but I knew Jules better than anyone else. His expression said he was captivated, but hated it.

Damn it. All of the torrid daydreams that had been attacking my psyche for the last thirty minutes went up in flames. It wasn’t often Jules ever really liked anyone. Never even had a girlfriend, which wasn’t saying much, neither had me or Milo. Part of being the top tier of the frat meant keeping up our whoring ways. Well, my whoring ways and their permanent place on the market.

“I like her. I know this is supposed to be a temporary thing, but she has spunk.” I was the best friend ever. For Jules, I would tee this up and deliver her on a silver platter, dying a little on the inside from unrequited lust. He cut me with his gaze. “Didn’t you think it was hot how she laid out the twins?”

He huffed, typed out another message, then flashed the phone my way.I admit. I was fucking surprised. She didn’t like what they said.

There was more there, but he didn’t continue. Didn’t offer to give me any more words. “What did you think about that?” Okay, I was going into full counselor mode, and we’d all had our share of counseling as kids after the fucked up incident that took Jules’ voice. But damn, he wanted to talk about it.

He tried to play it off like he was disgruntled as hell, shifting around in his seat and grunting. He cast a quick glance around the room to see who all was watching. No one, and everyone. The brothers would never openly stare, but they were doing their best to listen to this one-sided conversation. Too bad their foosball game on one side of the room and beer pong on the other end drowned out the softer noises.

He typed for a solid minute. That was if you counted backspacing, typing, then backspacing.

I don’t care what people say about me. I haven’t for a long fucking time. It didn’t even matter that one of the twins said that shit. What was weird was that she stood up for me. Why? It was a completely illogical move on her part. For all she knows, we could kill her. Fuck. We did kidnap her in a way. That confuses me, and I don’t like to be confused.

Damn, he gave me so many words. I had the sudden urge to hug him to death. Not that he would let me. He hated public displays of affection. After his father nearly whipped the top layer of skin off his back and ass, he shied away from it. All for comforting a little girl he should never have met. He was fucking ten years old. Something like that would scar a guy.

The odd thing was, his dad paraded his whores around with no thought to who was watching. And the little girl was a daughter of his acquaintance, so what did it matter if he befriended her? Good thing Jules cut both his parents out of his life, otherwise, we might have added one more crime to our repertoire before retiring.

“I think like us, she doesn’t like to see anyone make cutting remarks in order to belittle someone. She doesn’t know how strong you are, or how devoted we are. Elise seemed angry they would do that, especially to someone they were supposed to support. You should tap that before we send her away.”

If I were trying to ice her out, I would have told Jules she was only trying to gain our trust. Trick us into letting her go. The smart thing for our future would be to foster his suspicions, but for some reason, I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I found myself coming up with a ridiculous plan that would ensure he put a little bit of faith in her, or if not her, than her desire to save herself.

Not a good idea. I don’t need to get attached in any form to someone that could disappear tomorrow.

In other words, that we wouldmakedisappear. “You know, Jules? I think I have an idea that would buy us some assurances, and maybe let her walk away without us getting too much blood on our hands or her constantly looking over her shoulder.” Milo would probably veto it. He was the conservative one of the bunch. I was the wild card, and Jules was the moderator. If Jules was on my side, Milo would be hard pressed to say no.

Jules’ eyebrows kissed his hairline.And how do you think we can do that? Obtain a sacred blood oath under a full moon?

I laughed. That was such a non-Jules answer, I had no idea where he came up with it. He wasn’t into witchcraft, blood rites, or paranormal activities in general. “That was my first thought, but I passed on it. My next idea is simpler. She already read between the lines on why we were behind the club. I say we bring her with us when we pay Clownface a visit. Let her participate. If her own hands are dirty, then we don’t have to worry about ourselves.”

Brilliant idea. Why hadn’t we thought of this last night? It solved all of our problems in a tidy little package.

Jules shook his head.That’s a nightmare waiting to happen. 1-we can’t force her to participate. If she stood up for me this morning, what makes you think she’d stand by and watch, then give a helping hand? She has a conscience. 2-Clownface is ruthless. He’ll go after her the first time he comes across her if we aren’t with her. 3- Milo won’t like it.

“Okay, I see you made some good points. But knowing Pin-up, I don’t think we’d have to work too hard to convince her. All we have to do is share a little bit of Clownface’s habits, and she’ll be chomping at the bit to help. As for Clownface going after her, we’ll just make sure he knows that would not be wise for him. He’s more afraid of us than Infinity. Milo might be a problem, but you leave him to me.” I clapped him on the back. He shook his head again before settling back against the cushion.

One of the guys put a porno on the big screen TV. What was it with these guys? They’d been doing this since we moved in. Okay, the first couple of times it was fun. The big screen has a way of enhancing everything. But the real thing was so easy to get and infinitely better than watching sex with a group of horny guys. Why bother?

And what do you know? The first scene of Horny Moms came on right as Milo and Elise walked in. She took one look at the screen, grunted, then walked directly to me. The heat of every gaze in the room lit my skin on fire. What was she doing?

Jules liked her. She should be going to Jules, not coming at me like I was the only lolli left in the shop and she needed to sate her sweets addiction.

It didn’t help that she’d changed into a pair of pink and green camo leggings that showed her shape as if she were naked, or the oversized white shirt that left everything else to the imagination. Even dressed down, she was damn fine.

Fuck. I propped up a knee to hide my growing chubby. The accusation from Jules was a physical thing as he watched me and her.

She stopped when she was barely an inch from my knees. Holding out one hand, she adjusted her bag with the other. “Key? I want to put my stuff up before I get my porn on. I might even rub one out so I can sit here with you sexy studs without getting all flustered.”

The room stopped. She hadn’t been quiet, and if my suspicions were correct, she projected her voice to make a scene. I was pretty sure this girl was trying to make our lives hell for keeping her. What she didn’t know was that she’d met her match.

I grinned and opened my mouth to give it back, then stopped. Jules. I want Jules to have something good—even if only a good lay—for once in his life. He’d never go for it if I got there too.

Clearing my throat, I pulled the key out of my pocket. The heavy iron key was warm in my palm. “Sure. Go ahead. I wouldn’t set anything on the bed though. The sheets from last night are still on it, and the fluid level is extreme.” There, that ought to turn her off of the Emmett charm.

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