Ila frowned. “Is it War?” she asked.
“No,” Jack snapped.
“Then who?” she demanded, her gaze shifting between Jack and me. A second later, her eyes popped wide, her mouth forming an O.Aaandshe got the wrong end of the broom. I wanted to whack Jack over the head with said broom “Jack?”
“Yes,” he bit out. “After I kill the fucker.”
“Wait, wait—” Ila waved her hands between us. “Explain this to me, which fu—I mean, who do you want to kill, Jack?”
Oh, God.Please, please.I gave him a subtle shake of my head, praying he’d keep quiet.
Jack’s mouth thinned, his expression hardening. At the lengthening silence, my confused sister glanced back at him, and then she smiled.
And I knew I was in a shitload of trouble.
How the hell did I convince her that thisthingbetween Jack and me wasn’t like her and Max?
He sliced me another scalding look and stalked off, joining Max, and War who’d finally arrived. A tremor scuttled down my spine, lodging in my stomach like a brick. He wasn’t going to let me get away with it.
Dammit.He’dtossed down the gauntlet and started this war.
I had to find a way out, get him to back off and go back to ignoring me. The list thing wasn’t viable any longer.
6
Ray
Silence hungheavy in the car as Jack drove me back to my dorm, his expression like stone. Yep, still mad as a raging bull. It was probably for the best that there wasn’t any conversation. But I had my suspicions and wouldn’t be surprised if he was plotting my downfall…right at his feet.
As usual, the elevator in the block of apartments was out of order, but I rarely used it anyway. I headed up the dim stairwell to the sixth floor with Jack following. The stillness in the place reminded me of a haunted house with most of the students already gone.
Unable to take the silence any longer, I glanced over my shoulder. “You know, you can leave. I’m quite safe here.”
It was like arguing with a wall. He just slid me a nonchalant stare.
“I promised your sister I would see you safely to your door. And these are stairs.”
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” Bah. I ran up the final set to my floor. The gloomy corridor appeared as still as a morgue. Until he said, “You should move in with Max and your sister. This place doesn’t feel safe.”
“Says you. There’s a security guard at the entrance. I’ll be fine.”
His expression hardened. “He wears a damn uniform. It doesn’t make him infallible. A determined person could overpower him or scale the drainpipes and find their way in here.”
Man. This is what happened when people hung around my sister.
Zipping my lips, I got out the key for my place. Two tries, that’s how many times I missed the damn keyhole. You’d think I was drunk—stupid nerves. I finally opened the door to my studio and switched on the light.
As I strode down the short passage, bypassing the bathroom to the kitchen, I slowed to a halt. God. I bit back a groan at the up-turned bowl. Kibble was all over the kitchen floor again. The sink was a whole other issue, piled with dishes and the burned baking tray I’d left unattended in frustration.
“What happened?” Jack drawled, his gaze flicking over the metal tray and the half-used flour package on the counter.
Did he not see the mess on the floor? But sure, pick on my baking fail.
“It overcooked, okay?”
His mouth twitched. “What were you er…baking?”
“Cookies,” I growled. “Fine. I’m not very good at cooking or baking, but I can’t always trouble Ila to make stuff for me.”
