Chapter Three
I can’t believe you’re already dating someone else. I can’t believe you moved on. Did I mean nothing to you???
Yeesh, three question marks. Colton was serious.
I jammed my finger over the power button of my phone and cocked my arm to chuck it against
the wall. But then talked myself out of it. At this point, I couldn’t afford a new cell phone. And I couldn’t afford any more emotions for freaking Colton.
Seriously?
He was mad thatImoved on?
Him. The man-whore with no standards.
This was not worth getting angry over. This was not worth a reply.
Especially since I didn’t really want to be honest about the dating part. Or the moving on part.
Since I wasn’t really doing either.
“You alright, Els?” Beckett called from a few feet away.
My head snapped up and I groaned audibly. Not that it stopped Becket from leaving his friends and jogging over to me. His light brown eyebrows were drawn in concern and he rubbed a hand over his shortly cropped golden brown hair, his signature “I’m going to protect you now” move.
“I’m fine, Becks,” I sighed and then lowered my arm. “How are you?” I smiled brightly at him, hoping to nudge him away from the direction of why I was about to throw my phone into the brick wall of the library.
“Is this about Hunter harassing you this morning?” Beckett took a wide stance and crossed his arms.
As siblings, I was closest to Becket in a way that meant we loved each other the most but showed it through fighting constantly. He was only two years older than me and he used to be the best at treating me like I wasn’t an infant or breakable. But ever since he went off to college and grew up a little bit, that changed. Granted I appreciated that he wasn’t as selfish as he used to be in high school, and that his perspective on the world had widened. But why did it have to widen my direction? Since his freshman year, he joined the ranks with Lennox and Grayson in their overbearing, dictatorial rule over my life.
“Nobody was harassing me this morning,” I explained dryly. I stopped myself from a good, solid eye roll and prepared my brain to go through this routine. “God, where do you hear this stuff?”
“Ear to the ground, Els, ear to the ground,” he broke out into a crooked grin then and I had to laugh.
“You are so crazy,” I giggled.
Defenses efficiently lowered, Becket went in for the attack, “So, is this about Fin? Do you like him? Because as your brother, I feel like it’s my familial duty to inform you that he is not good enough for you. He’s a whore, a borderline alcoholic and a-“
“Scoundrel?” I butted in. “A dirty, rotten scoundrel?” I asked innocently.
“You’re such a smart ass,” Becket laughed.
“For real, Becks, there is nothing going on between Fin Hunter and me,” I reassured him. “If there was a problem with anybody this morning, it was Colton.NotFin Hunter.”
Beckett narrowed his eyes on me and thought over my words. “Colton still bothering you, E?”
“Oh my word, let it go!” I growled.
“Hey Beckett,” a leggy blonde called from up the sidewalk a ways. She was wearing a denim mini skirt, a low cut ultra-tight t-shirt and Uggs. I didn’t even know how to begin to start judging her. Honestly, there were too many options.
“Hey, you,” Beckett called back with his best I’m-a-lady’s-man-smile.
“Oh lord, you don’t even know her name,” I mumbled on a laugh.
“Shut it,” he growled at me.
The blonde was interrupted by a friend of hers, another blonde, in not a denim mini skirt, but in fact, denim shorty shorts and an equally tight Packers t-shirt. Also in Uggs. She gave Becket a wave, a huge smile and then giggled. Then she turned to the first blonde at which point there were more…. giggles.
