Page 21 of April’s Fool

I’ve dealt with girls like her before. In high school, there was a whole group of them. The kind that decide you’re a threat before you’ve even opened your mouth. The kind that make it their personal mission to chip away at you until you question your right to take up space. Not to mention the girls at the DRMC clubhouse.

When we were kids and playing there, they weren’t around as much, but now that we’re adults, we see them, and they try to act better than us. Well, me at least, since I’m technically not related to any of the members of the club.

I learned early how to hold my ground. At home. At school. Anywhere I had to deal with women like her.

Venus’s gaze slides away when I meet it head-on, and I feel a small flicker of satisfaction at that.

“Pizza’s here,” someone calls from the front of the clubhouse, and the entire room seems to shift as people move toward the source of the announcement.

Fool sets his cards face down on the table and nudges me off his lap. He stands, keeping a hand at the small of my back as Cannon and the others push back their chairs and head toward where a prospect is stacking flat boxes on the bar, with paper plates at one end of the stack.

“You good with pepperoni?” Fool asks me.

“I’m good with anything, honestly. As long as there are no veggies.”

“Not a supreme lover?” He raises a brow and grins at me.

“Veggies don’t belong on pizza.” I shrug, wrinkling my nose.

“So noted.” He chuckles.

Fool steers me toward the bar, grabs two paper plates, and loads both without asking, as if he already has a read on me. He hands me mine before guiding us back to the table. This feels so natural and easy, as if I was always meant to be here. He makes me feel that way, and I don’t want to lose it.

Chapter 12

FOOL

“Gotta talk to you about something,” I tell her as she comes out of my bathroom. She’s fresh-faced and dressed in tiny sleep shorts and a tank top that does nothing to hide the fact that her nipples are poking through the material.

“What’s that?” she asks without looking at me directly.

“Come here.” I spread my legs and wave her toward me from the edge of my bed.

Tonight’s gonna be hell sleeping next to her. I haven’t slept next to a woman since Stacy, and even then it was rare. We were young and still living at home with our parents before I enlisted. I’m not sure how I’m gonna handle sleeping next to April with my nightmares. Some nights I wake up sweating and panting from them. Other nights, my screams jolt me awake.

April steps closer, and when she’s within reach, I tug her the rest of the way, securing her to me. Her hands go to my shoulders and dig in.

“Got something to confess,” I say. Tilting my head back to meet her gaze, I bite back a groan at how easily I could use my chin to lower her tee and take one of those puckered nipples into my mouth.

“Um, okay,” she stammers, licking her lips.

Fuck. It’s not going to be hell. It’s gonna be downright torturous.

“So, this week, I’ve been on campus every day,” I admit, watching her closely.

April’s fingers dig into my shoulders. Her eyes flash with annoyance, and she tries to step back, but I don’t let her.

“You’ve been spying on me all week?”

“Not spying on you, shadowing, or watching those around you,” I clarify.

“That’s still spying,” she snaps.

“It’s not, sweets.” I stand, keeping my arms around her, her body too much of a temptation. “There’s a big-ass difference. Yes, I followed you. I watched you, but I did nothing else. I focused on your surroundings, on those who paid too much attention to you. And I gotta say, it pisses me off that I had to witness you in that shell of yours, doing your best not to draw attention. I saw the guys who would snap photos of you or call out to you. The ones who stopped you to talk⁠—”

“Stop it,” April whispers, her face having grown pale as I spoke.

“Talk to me, sweets. Tell me what’s going on at school,” I demand, doing my best to keep my tone even.