Page 53 of My Brother's Teammates

His eyes shifted and his mouth opened and closed but nothing of value came out. Finally, he shrugged it off. “Half of those questions are trivial, Jen. And the others, I know. Of course, I know.”

“Why am I majoring in psychology?”

“... You’re majoring in psychology because…”

I laughed and I found that it was real. The pain I’d felt over him at first had faded into absolutely nothing. It didn’t even feel real to think that I’d dated him in the first place. Not after feeling the fire that the guys could burn me with. “Because I want to join the FBI as a profiler, Landon.”

He grinned and chuckled until he saw that I wasn’t joking. “Oh.Oh. God, Jenny, you’re not-”

“What? What am I not?”

He gestured at me. “You’re just…small. You’re smart, sure, but have you ever even seen a gun?”

He was pretty lucky I’d never seen a gun with the way he was talking to me. I planted my hands on the tabletop and glared at him. “My point was that you don’t know me. You knew who you wanted to know and I stood in whatever corner you needed me in and waited for you to acknowledge me. The last couple of weeks have changed me, though. I’ll never be the woman who stands in the corner for you. I’ll never be convenient again.”

Landon reached for me again but jumped when a big hand landed on his shoulder. We both looked up and I gasped when I saw Ryder standing over Landon with a dark scowl on his face. It was ridiculous how excited I was to see him. Until I realized that he knew the truth about Landon and his fist was balled up and he looked ready to murder Landon.

“Excuse me? Could you get your-”

“Shut up.” Ryder leaned down and spoke directly into the older man’s face. “I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth until Jenny is away from you.”

***Jenny***

Inearlychokedonmy tongue when hands grabbed me under my arms and lifted me like a doll. Axel tucked me into his chest and held me tight, but his eyes were on Landon. I had to do something to diffuse the situation. Fast. “You guys were supposed to be gone already. Is the game canceled?”

“Get your hands off of her.” Landon was too stupid to know when he was in danger. He even tried to stand up but Ryder’s hand didn’t allow room for movement. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m a professor!”

“Are you sure you want to yell that,Professor?” Jason slid into the seat I’d just been removed from. “We haven’t had the chance to meet outside of your classroom, but I’m sure you remember me. Jason Ramsey. You know, Jenny’s big brother?”

I struggled to get down and stop whatever they were doing but Axel’s hold wasn’t budging. I looked around for Hudson, knowing he was the voice of reason when everyone else was angry usually. When I spotted him a few feet away, I shouted his name. “Make them stop, Hud! This doesn’t go well for anyone!”

Instead of his normal easy smile, he practically bared his teeth as he moved closer to Landon. “It goes well for everyone here who didn’t put their hands where they don’t belong. That’s all of us, Professor Hall. But you? You did just that, didn’t you? You put your hands where they didn’t belong. And instead of staying away from her, you’re here, harassing her, putting your hands on her again.”

I swore. Even Hudson had mayhem in his gaze. None of them were going to see reason. I looked up at Axel and whimpered. “Please, stop them before they do something stupid and ruin their lives, Ax.”

Hudson answered for him. “Meh. Papa DuPont hasn’t flexed his power lately. I’m sure he’d love to buy off a few local cops and maybe a judge, or two.”

Landon crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Maybe your daddy’s money and privilege could get you out of trouble. Maybe even the asshole behind you. Probably the big brother. But this one? Nothing would save him.”

I went still at the look Landon cast up at Ryder. “Stopit.”

Ryder laughed bitterly. “You don’t know me, you piece of shit. Any judge in the state would take one look at what you did to Jenny and he’d congratulate us for kicking your ass.”

“Did you know the psych department passed around your record like it was contagious? No one wanted to touch you. The school only let you in because you can toss a ball around. We used to call youRadioand wonder how long it would take for you to snap someone in half during an angry fit. With your history? No, Ryder Tuff, no one would congratulate you for violence. They’d just accept that it finally happened.”

I’d never seen or heard Landon act so vile. My stomach turned and a red-hot wave of fury slammed into me. I burst out of Axel’s grip with a shocking amount of strength and had plans on throwing myself at Landon in an attempt to make him sorry for what he said, but Ryder caught me around the waist and all I could do was throw my arm out and hope for the best. Or worst. Whichever.

Landon grunted when my fingertips connected with his face and started swearing. “Jesus! Are you trying to put my eye out, Jenny?!”

I fought against Ryder’s hold. “I hope I do! What is wrong with you? How could you speak to this man like that? You- You…unethical piece of shit!”

“What the hell is going on? Take this out of here right now!” Jackie appeared next to us and when her eyes landed on me, still trying to attack Landon, she sighed. “I like you and I’ll take you back if you’ve got your shit together in a couple of months, but you’re fired, Jenny. I can’t have this shit in here. One table starts fighting and the whole place will be destroyed. All of you, out.”

I deflated in Ryder’s arms. “I- I’m sorry, Ms. Jackie. I…”

“You can have your job back, Jenny.” Landon was insane. Clearly. “I’ll forget all of this and welcome you back.”

Jackie frowned at him. “You don’t give me good vibes. How old are you? I don’t like the way you’re looking at Jenny. Where do you work?”

---