Page 28 of Pin-up Girl

“Glad that’s resolved.”

Jules stepped away from Elise, staying within touching distance. I had no idea what his deal was. One minute, he was on board with our plan, the next, he didn’t want to touch her. Now, he didn’t like others looking at her, so he felt the need to make his claim known. It was out of character for our best friend.

He caught me watching him, probably with awhat the helllook on my face. Jules shrugged, turning to watch the brothers again.

Outside the Shack, we gathered on the sidewalk. Fraternity row was alive and bustling this morning, tons of frat boys and their sorority pieces walking toward the campus for classes. The members of those houses were all good little boys and girls, not daring to miss out on educational instruction.

“I can’t say that was fun, but it wasn’t too painful.” Pin-up tried to peel off toward the econ building.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Milo snatched her hand. He pulled her back, then with a hand to her jaw, he tilted her head up. She froze, seemingly unsure of what he was doing. Hell, even I had no idea what he was up to.

Slowly, he lowered his head until he pressed his lips to hers. Her entire body locked up, but Milo slanted an arm around her lower back, bringing her body flush against his.

When he lifted his head, Jules shoved his phone under Milo’s nose.

He read it, then released Elise. “We never agreed to not be public about what we were doing. After your territorial claiming in there, it gave me the idea. We are going to protect Elise, but our open claiming of her will make others think twice before spouting shit off at the mouth.”

I scratched my chin. “I don’t think that’s quite how this is going to work.”

“Of course it is. How many girls have you kissed in public?”

I smirked, but he scoffed. “I mean before class or randomly during the day. How about more than once?”

I chuckled but still answered, now that I saw where he was going with this. “None.”

Milo tossed out an arm at Jules. “Yes, and Jules has never blatantly kissed a girl on the neck either. This is just another way for us to show that she’s not to be fucked with.”

Shaking off whatever had momentarily frozen her, Elise shoved away from Milo. “Fuck off. I’m not into PDA, especially not from douchebags who just want to make a point and piss on their territory.”

She marched off, cursing under her breath.

Jerking a thumb over my shoulder, I grinned at Milo. “That’s my cue, since you fucked things up. Don’t worry, I’ll calm her down.”

Pin-up had quite the endurance. She was already across the street and on the path specifically for the college students. It was a nice little scenic walk to campus for the rich bitches of Wellington.

“Hey,” I called as I jogged up behind her. She sniffed haughtily and ignored me, causing a grin to pull at the corners of my mouth. So Pin-up had a petulant side too, didn’t she? Oddly, that amused the hell out of me.

“Come on, Pin-up. Don’t be that way.”

She cut her eyes at me, and if they were blades, my jugular would be splayed wide open and leaking blood like an open fire hydrant.

“I don’t really know what way you mean. If there’s anything out of the ordinary, it must be because I’m being strong-armed into playing house with you three. Now in the light of day, I’m rethinking my decisions.”

She was waffling on us. That couldn’t happen.

“Elise, babe. There’s no going back.” I stepped closer to her, crowding her as we entered the courtyard for the econ building. People parted around us, not willing to get on my bad side by jostling me. Lowering my voice, I touched my cheek to her temple and said, “I get it. Everything seems out of your control, but it’s not so bad. Before long, you’ll be able to go your own way, and you’ll have some wicked fun memories to take with you.”

She kept walking, clearly not impressed with my answer. “Look, I’m just having second thoughts. It all seems too real in the light of day.”

I nodded, there was nothing else for me to say. Instead, I caught her hand, threading my fingers through hers. She tried to jerk away, but I held on. If she didn’t want to chat, fine, but I wasn’t going to let her get any space. Milo was right, by giving her something we’d never given before, others would think twice before attacking her. There were going to be haters, but this way, we’d cut out all the fake asses.

She sighed heavily, and all dark thoughts evaporated.

The econ classroom was more like an auditorium, providing enough space for students to get lost among the rows of chairs. Unless you were the top tier of Alpha Delta Omega. There were a few brothers in the class, already sitting in the center. They were sprawled out, ignoring the flirty looks from girls as they passed.

“Hey, man.” Derek stood up to greet me. We slapped hands, but the way his gaze trailed down the length of Elise? I didn’t fucking like it.

I tugged hard on her hand until she fell into my side. “Spence, move down. Elise is sitting with me today.”

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