I walk into my bedroom and pull the towel off my head, rubbing my hair to dry it. I pull my pajamas out of my drawer and start to take off my robe.
“It goes against all of my principles...”
I scream and wrap the robe back around me.
“...but you’d better stop there. I think my brother would kill me if I saw you naked before he did.” Gage is sitting on my bed.
“What are you doing here?” My face is flaming with rage and embarrassment.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened today.”
“You couldn’t wait until I got dressed?” I hold the robe close to my chest.
“It’s more fun this way.” He has theI'm too cute for you to be mad at melook on his face. This time it only makes me mad.
I point to the door. “Out!”
He isn’t moving. He picks up the picture of Jacob from my nightstand. “I’m glad to see Jacob is still hanging out in your bedroom. You show this picture to Stephens?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, even though I know exactly what he means. “I barely know Michael.”
“Right, but have you shown this picture to him?” Gage asks.
“No. He’s never been in my bedroom.” I hold my hand out for the picture. “And you shouldn’t be either.”
He hands me the picture. His voice gets serious. “You need to watch out for him. There's something off about him, and he wants to be more than friends with you, Jess. I can tell.”
I set the picture back on my nightstand without meeting his eye, because I know he’s right. As much as I’ve tried to keep Michael at arm’s length, I can tell he wants more. “I thought this was supposed to be an apology.”
He leans back and gets comfortable. On mybed. “A warning and an apology.”
“You need to leave, Gage.”
“One thing. I've heard some things about him. You should probably–”
A knock on my door stops him. “Jess. Are you in there?” It’s Michael.
Gage stands up. “I’ll get it.”
I point at him. “You stay quiet. I don’t want him getting the wrong idea about us.”
“Maybe that would discourage him.”
I draw my finger across my throat. He grins and mimes locking his lips.
“Jess, are you there?”
I open the door and stand just inside, blocking Michael’s way to come in or to see who’s in my room.
“I wanted to apologize.” He steps closer, and I hold my ground. “I didn’t mean to lose my temper. I thought Gage had hurt you. He’s kind of a hot-head.”
I flip my hair and say loud enough for Gage to hear, “You don’t have to tell me about Gage. I’ve known him since we were kids. He always acts before he thinks.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what his deal is. He’s like that on base too. He doesn’t have much respect for authority. I have a hard time keeping him in line.”
I hear Gage moving toward the door. I take a step forward and shut the door with my foot.
“Is there a problem?” Michael asks.
