Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
RIGGS
As I get close to the parking lot after a full day on campus, my eyes go to a beautiful woman standing beside her white Jeep in the spot next to mine.
I plan to grab my gym bag from my car and head into the practice facility to shoot some baskets and do a little weightlifting.
I smile, knowing I will get a chance to see Reagan.
As I look closer, though, I realize she isn’t standing alone.
Laughter turns my smile into a frown, and I would recognize that obnoxious voice anywhere, Drew freaking Cole. What is he doing here? Obviously, I know what he’s doing here, but it infuriates me, nonetheless.
Instead of striding up to Reagan, I pop the trunk on my car, grab my CTU duffel, and slam it shut. That seems to break their little bubble, and Reagan looks at me, surprised.
“Hi, Riggs.” The genuine smile on her face melts my icy resolve a little. As her eyes lock with mine, I feel like I’m breathing for what feels like the first time all day. She does that to me. Her presence alone calms the storm raging inside.
“Sunshine.” I step just close enough to be hit with her scent. Her signature coconut and vanilla make her smell like paradise, and heaven knows she looks like it too. I give her a smile.
“Hart.” I hear a grumbling from Drew, who stayed by the Jeep. He looks about ready to boil over, witnessing our interaction. That makes my grin grow.
“Cole.” That is all I have to say before I hear Jordan running up to us.
“Drew Cole. What are you doing here, man? You never show your ugly face in Titan territory.” Jordan and Drew both fake a smile as they do some complicated handshake. Then J looks between Drew, me, and Reagan, and his brows furrow in confusion.
“Mills. Just came to see Rea Rea after school. Wanted to take her for coffee and thought I’d surprise her.”
“No. Absolutely not. You are not taking my sister out,” Jordan says with a glare pointed at Drew.
“Jordan.” An icy tone comes from Reagan, and Jordan stills. I think she put him in his place with that one word. The next thing out of her mouth is a punch to the gut.
“I am going to get coffee with Drew, and he will drop me off when you are done in the gym. You get no say on what I do or who I do it with. Not anymore. I’m done with it.”
“You can’t be serious.” Jordan looks at his sister, and her answering glare shuts him up. He raises his hands in the air. “Fine. But, Drew, I will bury you if you do anything to hurt my sister, again.” I can see Drew flinch out of the corner of my eye as Jordan strides off to the gym.
I look at Reagan, and I don’t know what to think, but she’s going somewhere with him. Alone. Despite my rage and desire burning inside, she isn’t mine, and maybe this is the sign I need to let her go. I should focus on getting shots up, not on watching her and Drew.
“See you later, Sunshine.”
I walk away and hear Drew’s Mustang fire up. Before I can stop myself, I catch up to Jordan, grabbing his shoulder.
“Jordan, what was that? I thought you enforced an off-limits rule when it came to your sister.”
“Why does it matter, Hart?” He says it with a knowing glare pointed at me.
Great. Way to show your hand. Now he’s going to want to murder me too.
“I just don’t think that Drew Cole is really the good guy your sister deserves. I thought you wanted to protect her from guys like him.”
“Man, I screwed up in high school and kept some things from Reagan about Drew. I kept his feelings for her and the real reason she thought he hurt her back then a secret. She’s so pissed at me that I can’t push it right now. It will just send her straight into his arms faster.”
This is news to me. Does that rule apply to all guys? No, I can’t think about that.
“What do you mean by that? He didn’t hurt her back then?”
“Nah, man. Not in the way you’re thinking.
It’s not really my story to tell, but they had a talk, apparently.
He told her everything, and now it’s like a clean slate.
I know how Drew really feels about her, and the man won’t stop now.
As much as I would like to beat him black and blue, I can’t put any more strain on my relationship with Reagan. ”
I was counting on Jordan to insert himself between Drew and Reagan, but that’s not going to happen now.
My mind is completely blown, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.
How I feel for this girl is different from any fleeting crush I’ve felt before.
So instead of trying to work it out, I do what I always do.
I head inside and spend the next hour in the gym taking all the confusion, frustration, and anger out on the machines and shooting until my arms are noodles.