Page 12 of Pin-up Girl

My phone beeped. It beeped again.

It was too fucking early for this. I shoved my arm under the pillows, tossing the blanket over my head to drown out the world.

Another beep.

Then I remembered… Pin-up. And Fuckface.

Groaning, I threw the covers down. My fucking phone. That was probably Jules, wanting to get out of his room.

Jules: We’re up

Jules: Where are you?

Jules: Wake your FUCKING ass up!!

I responded:I’ll be there in two

I got dressed, pissed, brushed my teeth, and made it to Jules’ door in four. This was an old house, and while the door could be locked from the inside, the key lock was completely separate. I hated to do it, but until we understood her a little better, we had to keep her under lock and key. She should feel lucky we let her keep her phone.

She seemed to take me seriously enough when I told her the only two options available to her. If she had been on campus for any amount of time, she would know who we were and what that meant. Not about the darker side of the fraternity, but who our families were. Then she would know that money was no object, and if we wanted her to disappear, she would. We would never have to lift a finger.

Jules glared at me from the other side of the door. Elise must have a horrible snoring problem. She jumped and the top of her head peeked over his shoulder before she disappeared again. Without her heels, she was completely eclipsed by his body. For Jules to be so peeved, she must have talked his ear off. He hated that.

“Come on, let’s grab breakfast. Figure out our plan for the day.” Sundays were our catch-up days. We did homework, relaxed, or holed ourselves up in one of our rooms.

Elise pushed her way around Jules, shoving her elbow in his side as she went.

“Breakfast sounds great. Then I need to go to my place.”

Holy hell. She was makeup free, her hair in soft waves. The only thing she wore was some ridiculous shirt of Jules. It was so large on her, one shoulder was bared. There was a smattering of golden brown freckles. Then I noticed her toes. Blood red, painted toes.

I got it now. Jules was frustrated from being locked in the same room for nine hours. Jules shook his head. He didn’t want to be the one to accompany her to her place. Emmett might make a good choice.

Knocking on Emmett’s door, I changed my mind. No, if I put them together, it would be like tossing a nerd in a frat party. There would be sneers, words, and someone would leave crying.

Elise crossed her arms, leaning against the wall like she was only going along with this because shewantedto. She was handling all of this well, maybe too well. I doubted she’d be the one crying. Then again, Emmett didn’t care about anyone other than us. Nothing she could say would affect him.

Emmett greeted us in his boxers, scratching his chest and yawning. His hair was disheveled, and his abs were on full display. I suppose it was luck that a select didn’t stay the night. That was a complication we didn’t need in our already complex problem.

He glanced around to see what was going on, and his gaze caught on Elise. Then his signature smirk appeared.

“No.”

Emmett turned to me. “No?” The fucker was laughing at me.

“Justno.Get dressed. We need breakfast, then I have to take Elise to her place.” To grab her things. Because that was the only choice available to her.

“Fine.” Emmett waved a hand, disappearing back into his room.

I turned to Elise, finding Jules also gone. “Did you sleep okay?”

She rubbed her forehead like she was trying to make this whole thing go away. “Sure. For being threatened, kidnapped, and next to pimp daddy over there, I slept great.”

Her reference to Emmett almost made me smile. She might make it out of this alive. The fear wasn’t nearly as potent as last night. By now, she would’ve realized we didn’t have any plans to harm her if she didn’t squeal. Since the cops didn’t break down our door, she hadn’t made any calls in the middle of the night.

“Do you want to get your clothes on from last night, or wear Jules’ shirt to your place?” If she wanted to avoid as much gossip as possible, she needed to change, but she was a big girl. She could make her own decisions.

“Ugh…yeah, I’ll change.” She passed Jules as she stepped back into his room.

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