Page 20 of De Vil

I blink at her text. Who the hell is looking at the guys? Oh, that's right, the normal teenagers that just got to this college. That's who.

Me:Not really. Been busy with volleyball.

Jazz:Are you going to the party tonight?

Me:On a Monday night?

Jazz:Are you seriously being the responsible one right now? It's usually me that's telling you no.

I chuckle and send a message back to her.

Me:Fine. Let's go. Where’s the party at?

Jazz:The Kappa house.

Me:Alright. I'm going to jump in the shower.

Jazz:Why? History doesn't require you getting dirty.

Me:A story for another time. See you in twenty minutes.

Jazz:Be good, girl.

I laugh. Everyone is telling me to begoodand honestly, I'm pretty sure I need that reminder. Fifteen minutes later, I'm headed toward the psych building. Jazz is standing there, speaking to an older man, having a heated discussion. If they were outside, it would be as if they were yelling at one another. The man is in her space, and Jazz is hunkered down. I’ve never seen her like that, and I see red.

"Hey, leave her alone."

Jazz's eyes pop wide open, and she steps back, shaking her head. "Ah, you must be Jasmine's best friend, Tia. I'm Christopher Groveton, the Dean of Education."

I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow. "Your point?"

"Tia, please, this is my step-uncle-in-law." Jazz intertwines her arm with mine and pulls us back. "He was just reminding me of the family dinner this weekend."

"Cool. Now let's go, Jazz." Mr. Groveton’s lip twitches in amusement at me as I tug Jazz along to the building. Something is off with the situation. Too much tension. The same tension that's between me and Coach.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I ask Jazz when we get to the room we are supposed to be in for our class.

"Yeah. He's really overbearing, and my mom thinks it's important that I report to him every other day at least. You know my mom. Helicopter parent!"

Jazz giggles and opens her laptop. "I've been thinking. Maybe I could afford to move in with you. Uncle Chris keeps stopping by my dorm." She trembles and averts her eyes.

I want to laugh at how she seems to like the attention but doesn’t want to. Biting my lip, I take her hand in mine, which makes her look back at me . "You know I offered to begin with."

Jazz whines and rolls her eyes at me. "Yes, I know, but mom wanted me to have the whole college experience."

"True, but it’s overrated right? If you want to move in with me, there's plenty of space."

"I'll let you know. Right now, I just want to whine about the whole situation." She giggles when she’s nervous and shows me the picture she was trying to find. "This is Jaxton, he's the head of the basketball team. He invited us tonight."

Instantly, I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. "What do you mean, he invited us?"

I'm not being mean, but Jazz is a bit of a nerd. She's beyond smart and completely naive to what people around her may want. People may take advantage of heralways sunshineattitude. "Yes, he did. He's kind of nice, you know?"

Shit. No one in high school ever looked at Jazz, and I know that's got her wondering why she's not good enough. First guy to give her attention? This is definitely bad. I might have to go just to keep her safe. "Of course. Let's go and see what he's like. If we don’t like the vibe, we can leave."

She gets up, bouncing on the balls of her feet and does a little dance. She hugs me tightly, and I hold back a groan. "Thank you, Tia. It will be my first party."

"I know." I kept it that way in high school so she wouldn't get hurt. I always felt like it was my duty to keep her safe. God, can I do that for her now?

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