Page 13 of Off Limits

“Do you want me to give you a ride back to the dorms?” he asks as I’m boxing up my food while he signs the credit card slip. “Or would you rather catch a ride with your bodyguards?”

“Oh … um …” I look over at Simon and Cal again, not sure which choice is the right one. But Andrew makes the decision for me.

“It’s fine,” he says. “It’s probably safer for me if you go with them. Who knows what they’d assume if we left together? Would they follow us back to your dorm?”

I scoff at that suggestion. “No. They wouldn’t do that.” I don’t think, anyway. Would they? Actually, maybe I should go with Cal and Simon, that way I can lay down some ground rules as to what constitutes acceptable behavior if they’re going to stalk me while I’m on dates. Sitting in the bar and leaving me alone but being available if I need backup is one thing. Interrupting my date and swinging their dicks around is another thing entirely.

“You’re right, though,” I say, standing and clutching the styrofoam box in my hand. “I should go with them. We need to have a discussion about boundaries and appropriate behavior.”

Andrew gives a single, sardonic laugh. “Good luck with that.” He leans in and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you in class.”

“Yeah. See you,” I say to his back. Yeah, there’s no way he’s ever going to ask me out again. Which is fine, because then I don’t have to say no. But dammit. Even if I didn’t want to date him, Simon’s behavior is not okay, and he needs to know that.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Simon

I’ve cast Ellie as an angel in my head since that night under the glow of the lamplight on my couch. But now she looks like an avenging angel, beautiful and fierce, her eyes full of fire, her dark hair flowing behind her, her skirt swishing with every step as she marches up to our table in the bar. “Not. Cool.” She spits the words like bullets, the full force of her fury aimed at me, her eyes trying to incinerate me where I sit. “What the hell, man?”

I hold up my hands in surrender and shift in my seat, becausefuck, my jeans are getting tight. She’s adorable when she’s all smiles and sunshine, but she’s fucking hot when she’s pissed.

I don’t want to fight with her, though. Not here in the middle of a restaurant. Not with her brother sitting next to us. Not when I know the fight can’t end any way I really want it too. Besides, she was crying. I saw it, she admitted to it, I had to do something. But I didn’t expect it to blow up in my face quite this badly. I guess I had some dumb idea that I’d ride in like a white knight, save her from her date, and earn her undying gratitude and affection.

Ha. Like that’s even a possibility.

Instead of defending myself like I want to, I take the smarter route and say, “I’m sorry, Ellie. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Damn right it won’t!” She slaps her palm on the table for emphasis then points a finger in her brother’s face. “You. I don’t tell you about my dates for a reason. If Mom mentions something, it’s not so you’ll stalk me. And don’t you have better things to do? Get a life, dude!”

“Hey!” Cal protests, but Ellie ignores him, turning her fury back on me. “And you. If Cal decides to keep stalking my dates, you arenotallowed to come with him. We were having a perfectly nice time, and you completely ruined it. We should be finishing up our dinner and contemplating whether to order dessert or go do something else, but instead my date has left me here because he thought he’d be safer if I caught a ride back to campus with you guys.”

“Aww, man,” Cal says, his irritation evident in his voice. “I was gonna—”

She rounds on him, her finger in his face again, and I have to stifle a smile. I haven’t ever seen her go toe-to-toe with her brother like this, and I’m loving it. Especially since he’s distracted her from yelling at me. “Quiet. No bitching out of you. This is your fault. This is why you’re here, right? To give me a ride home in case my date turns into a disaster?” She steps back and spreads her arms wide. “Well, congratulations. Thanks to the two of you, this is the worst date I’ve ever been on. Now you get to do what you came to do. Let’s go.” Crossing her arms, she cocks one hip to the side, waiting for us to stand. I half expect her to start tapping her foot, but she doesn’t. She just stares her brother down, completely ignoring me. Which is fine, actually, because it gives me the chance to observe her in all her glory without getting caught.

Her crossed arms make that slice of cleavage even more visible, and if I knew I could do it without getting slapped in the face by her and strung up by her brother, I’d want to run my tongue down that shadowy line to see how she tastes.

“We have to pay still, Ellie,” Cal mutters.

“Well, don’t let me stop you.” She makes no effort to keep her voice down, and people turn to look at us.

When Cal doesn’t move, I stand and head to the bar to ask for the check and pay the bill. I’m the one who ruined everything, after all. It makes sense for me to pay. Not that my paying will make any difference with Ellie, but it will get us out of here sooner, which is clearly what she wants.

I can’t get what I want, but I can do this small thing for her.

Cal glares at me when I return to the table, stands, and leads the way out of the restaurant. None of us say a word the entire drive back to campus. When I pull up in the parking lot closest to Ellie’s dorm, Cal hops out to let Ellie out of the back of my extended cab. They exchange words that are too low for me to hear, and then he climbs back in and we head home.

“She looked like she was crying, man,” I say quietly as I park in front of our house, wanting to at least smooth things over with Cal. He might not care about me ruining his sister’s date, but I know the fact that I made such a huge mess of it that I essentially cockblocked him irritates him. And while normally I wouldn’t care that much, the extra ration of guilt over the way I keep fantasizing about his little sister prods me into trying to make amends as best I can. “That’s the only reason I went over there. If some douchenozzle was making my sister cry, I’d want to beat his ass. I figured the same applies to Ellie.” It’s more than that, though. I didn’t interrupt Ellie’s date out of brotherly concern. No, my interest goes far beyond that. Far beyond where it should. And the reality of that sits in my chest like a lead ball. But I’m not about to admit that to Cal.

Cal sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “I know, man. I appreciate it. She’s pissed, but she’ll get over it. She didn’t even really like that guy.”

Surprised, I give him a quizzical look. “You can tell that just by looking?” I never pegged Cal as being that observant. What else has he noticed? Can he tell that my feelings toward his sister aren’t as brotherly as I’m trying to make out?

“No,” he scoffs as he climbs out of the truck. “She told me.”

I climb out and follow him to the house, relieved that even if I am transparent, Cal’s not paying enough attention to notice, and lock my truck behind me. “When?”

“When we dropped her off.” He unlocks the house and pushes his way inside. “I asked if we’d really ruined something that might’ve gone somewhere. She said no, she wouldn’t have gone out with him again even if he’d asked. Said he reminded her too much of me.” He flops onto the couch with an affronted look on his face. “I don’t get why, though. He was a skinny little shit that looks like he’d trip over his own feet if he tried to run. I’m a fucking football player.”

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