4. Lux
FOUR
LUX
Ace looked up when I arrived back at the table where Tanner and Parker were now arguing between Cabo and the Bahamas.
“Did you get her number?”
“Working on it,” I replied, placing the bottles in front of them.
“Did you get her name?”
I sat down, picked up my beer, and took a long draw. Getting rejected by a beautiful girl is thirsty work. “Nope.”
“So, you’re no better off than you were before you got over there?”
I shook my head. “Not true. I stopped two guys from taking a picture with her…”
“Regular Superman right here,” drawled Tanner, thumbing in my direction. “Must be why neither her nor the hottie she’s with have stopped looking over since you left them.”
I slowly placed the bottle back on the table. “Really? She has? ”
“Yep. Who’s the hottie?”
“The best friend.”
“And is she single?”
My eyes closed and I attempted to rub away the pressure building in my temples while I figured out my plan of action, because one way or another, I was getting her name and number. Tanner was still staring when I opened my eyes again.
“What?”
“Is she single?”
Thankfully, Parker interrupted before I got dragged further away from the point I was trying to get to in my head – namely her number in my cell.
“Why did they want her picture?”
I frowned. “I don’t know that either.”
“How do you plan on finding out?”
I shrugged. Maybe if everyone stopped asking questions and started coming up with solutions I’d get there quicker.
“Well, you’re running out of chances, my friend,” Parker nodded over to the bar. “Looks like she’s leaving.”
“Uh oh.”
My neck cracked from the speed at which I side-eyed my best scowl at Tanner and another of his unhelpful comments as I found her in the crowd. My gaze stayed trained on her back, while my brain stayed focused how the fuck I was going to get her name, let alone her number. After two run-ins in one day, the chances I’d see her again were slim.
But then she reached the door, right before she disappeared out of sight. She turned around.
The thud in my chest paused. Air caught in my throat.
I got a flash of those golden eyes as they immediately locked into mine.
But that’s all it was, a flash, and then she was gone.
I pushed out of my chair. “Drink up, we’re leaving.”
“What?” asked all three boys in unison.
“Drink the fuck up.” I took off for the exit without waiting for the rest of them.
“Jeez. Wait a second!” Parker cried, jogging after me, followed by Ace and Tanner, who was downing the rest of his beer as he did so.
By the time we made it through the bar, fighting against the crowds of even more undergrads and reached the street, she was out of sight.
“Great,” I grumbled, spinning around left then right, squinting into the darkness and the relatively quiet, sparsely lit sidewalks running alongside the sprawling Columbia University buildings. I threw my hands in the air, linked them behind my head, and pulled hard. “Now what?”
Tanner was next to me, focusing along the same stretch of road I was, while Parker and Ace were covering the right. We saw nothing, except for a small group of students making a lot of noise as they left another bar a little further up the street; a guy on a bicycle with another dude running alongside him, someone walking a dog… but not her.
An empty can of Diet Coke, which had been discarded on the sidewalk, found itself launched into the air, courtesy of my right foot.
“Is that her?”
I turned in the direction Parker was pointing. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking at, but then a shard of light separated the shape I thought was one very large person, into two smaller ones and… yes. YES. I was looking at two girls, their arms linked together .
My heart rolled around my chest, and skipped a happy beat. I roped Parker into a hug and noogied him hard. “It sure is. Well done, Sunshine.”
He grabbed hold of me before I took off in a dead sprint. “Wait, you need a plan.”
“My plan is to get her number.”
“You already asked her, and she said no. You need something better.”
My teeth ground while I waited for him to tell me what the ‘something better’ was, but then Ace smacked me in the arm.
“Shit, look.” He jabbed a finger in the same direction the girls were almost disappearing out of sight. I was going to lose them again. “It’s that weird guy.”
We all focused on where he was pointing; thirty yards behind the girls, a man walking in the shadows. Ace was right; it was the weirdo from Brown’s.
This time when the caveman woke in my chest, he wanted to break something.
“There’s no way this is a coincidence, right? Is he following them?”
“We should stop him. Maybe he’s a campus creeper.”
The three of us turned to Tanner. Parker did the honors. “A what?”
“A campus creeper. All schools have one. It’s a guy who goes around creeping on girls.”
“Dude, you have to stop watching chick flicks.”
“It’s not chick flicks! It’s true. My sister told me.”
Ace rolled his eyes; I scrubbed a hand down my face. Parker stayed silent, until he didn’t.
“I never thought I’d say it, but Tan’s right. That guy is walking alone, in the same direction as those girls. He stood in the corner of the bar, not doing anything, and you said you saw him in Brown’s.”
“Two and two equals a creeper.”
Didn’t know what the fuck that math was, but in the distance, the girls turned left to cut through to Van Am Quad. Twenty seconds later the guy followed, and they all disappeared out of sight.
I clapped my hands together and jumped on the spot. I was ready to kick some ass. “Boys, what are we doing?”
The four of us followed because it felt like the best thing to do; the creeper came back into view, walking along the path running around the perimeter of the grass. And there were the girls, thirty seconds in front, briefly disappearing as they passed under a broken streetlight.
The whole square was dark.
“You know, someone really needs to tell whoever’s in charge that it’s not safe here.”
Aside from another couple of people on the far side of Van Am, the place was deserted. Ace was right. But now we’d stopped running, I was kind of having second thoughts about following a guy who may or may not be a creeper.
“Yeah, I’ll make it my first job in the morning. For now, can we focus? What are we doing? Is this crazy?”
“We’re stopping him before he reaches the girls.”
Yeah, this is crazy. “How?”
“Ask him what he’s doing. Go on,” Tanner nodded way too eagerly and shoved me forward. “We got your back. We’ll be right behind you.”
All three of them waited for me to make my move in this half-baked plan. No, half-baked was a compliment. This plan was still soaking wet. From the way they were all bouncing on the balls of their feet, their excitement likely had more to do with the fact we’d been knocked out of the playoffs, and we were all still pissed about it.
We were creating a distraction by thwarting a potential creeper.
Yeah, this had disaster written all over it. Except, except , I still hadn’t gotten her name or number.
“Go,” urged Tanner again, as the creeper passed under the broken street lamp.
“Yeah, okay.” I jogged a little ways ahead; my back-up crew followed.
I was bigger than this guy. If it came down to it – which I doubted it would – I could take him. We could take him. There were four of us, and we were all professional athletes.
In hindsight, I wish we’d come up with a plan better than ‘stop him’, because as I got nearer, I realized I wasn’t sure exactly how I would stop him.
“Hey!”
The creeper didn’t flinch, though it got the attention of a few people I hadn’t noticed earlier. I tried again. Nothing.
I was ten yards out when I gave it a second go. Quieter this time, because I wasn’t trying to make a scene.
“Hey! Buddy, I’m talking to you.”
I reached out to grab his shoulder… I think. Except… somehow… instead of grabbing his shoulder… I found myself on my back with a gun pointed in my face.
Which is when things went from crazy to really hitting the fan.
I didn’t even have time to shit myself before Parker landed next to me on the grass verge with a loud grunt .
“What the…?” he groaned, like I had.
“FEDERAL AGENT. DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING MOVE!”
I didn’t move. I was still staring up at the night sky and trying to figure out exactly what the fuck was going on, and whether the stars I was seeing were real or due to a likely head injury. Following another chorus of loud cries and heavy grunts, plus a high-pitched screech that nearly burst my ear drums, Ace and Tanner joined us on the ground.
“GET THE FUCK DOWN!” someone yelled as Tanner tried to sit up. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
“Sit-Rep on Bookstore,” a deep voice said, hopefully not to me, because I had no fucking clue what they were talking about, let alone what was happening. “Twenty on Bookstore.”
I attempted to lift my head, which is harder than it sounds when someone is standing over you with a gun pointed your way, and you have cartoon stars spinning around from the speed at which you hit the ground.
“I don’t think he’s the campus creeper,” Parker whispered loudly on my left, cutting through the ringing in my ears.
“You think?” A sharp pain hit between my eyes as I attempted to roll them, and turned my head his way.
“Yeah. He’s more like G.I. Joe.”
“Hey, dickheads, I’m not telling you again. Keep your fucking mouths shut!” the voice ordered.
“I think he’s talking to us,” Tanner hissed.
“Yeah, so shut up,” I hissed back, as several sets of footsteps approached.
“Stand down, it’s those fucking baseball kids. It’s the Lions center field again. He’s just been with her, and three more of them.” I heard a click as G.I. Joe holstered his gun .
Great. So much for staying under the radar. But kids? What? Like, seriously? Kids ?
I wasn’t the only one outraged. “Who are you calling kids, asshole? I’d like to see you do it to my face.”
There was a deep, huffed laugh, though when the voice spoke, it was distinctly female. From the corner of my eye, Tanner’s head lifted before dropping again.
“Yeah, I’m quaking in my boots. You punch about as well as you hit. No wonder you didn’t make the World Series.”
“Hey, fuggchu,” mumbled Ace. Though it sounded more like he was underwater than laying on the ground two feet away.
I groaned. I didn’t know much, but figured antagonizing them wasn’t a good idea.
The woman leaned over Ace. “Say that one more time. I dare you. Think I care about accidently shooting the Lions’ pitcher?”
Ace stopped groaning, and thankfully there was silence for a second.
I opened my eyes a little wider than the squint they’d been held in, and what I could tell from my position, still on the ground, was there were now three people standing over us, with G.I. Joe – formerly the campus creeper – to the left. All of them had guns, and/or were members of law enforcement. That made sense. There’s no way one guy could take all four of us down at the same time in less than ten seconds.
Though it still begged the question, who the fuck were they?
“Get Bookstore to the dorm, we’ll be right behind you,” snapped G.I. Joe, one thick hand easing along his neck. “No, Agent Fordly. Get her to the dorm, and that’s an order.”
“Who’s he talking to?” asked Parker .
Okay, enough was enough. I pushed up on my elbows. “Hey! Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck are you talking to? What the fuck is Bookstore?”
I waited. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Not even an acknowledgment.
“Hey! I’m talking to you.”
“Did he say federal agent?” Tanner mumbled ten seconds later.
I was trying to listen to what G.I. Joe was saying, but Parker was hissing in my ear again, and tugging on my sleeve.
“Oh shit , Lux. I know where I’ve seen your girl before. Dude…”
Tug. Tug. Tug.
“Luuuux.”
“Shhh. Stop it. I’m listening.”
Before he tried again a loud gasp voice broke through the darkness, followed by one voice I finally recognized.
“Oh my God!” Goldilocks’ face appeared in my field of vision. “It’s you, again . What are you doing? Why are you on the ground?”
I grinned up at her, still totally confused by whatever was going on, but suddenly caring a whole lot less. “Saving you, again .”
“Jake, let them go.” My ears pricked at the new tone Goldilocks was using. Commanding, assertive, and absolutely don’t-fucking-mess-with-me. And also, why wasn’t she scared of these dudes?
“Can someone please explain to me what is going on?” I asked.
“Jake.”
“Hey, I’m not stopping them from getting up,” G.I. Joe grouched .
There was silence as the four of us waited to see if there was a catch. There didn’t seem to be. I rolled over and eased up, making sure my head was still attached before running my hands down my shirt to straighten myself up.
Goldilocks and the best friend were staring at me with mild amusement, along with four other grim-faced students – or three students and G.I. Joe. On closer inspection, the three weren’t students. They looked like students, they were dressed like students, but from the handgun one was holding, I’d hasten to bet I was wildly incorrect.
“Oh God, are you okay?” gasped Goldilocks, only when I looked at her she wasn’t talking to me.
I spun around to find Ace’s nose pouring with blood, and him attempting to stem the flow with his sweater.
“Pinch your nostrils and lean forward,” ordered one of the Joes, though didn’t bother to help him in any way. That job fell to Parker.
“Hang on a second.” The best friend leaned in closer right before her entire face opened and she belted out a laugh loud enough to draw the attention of anyone walking past, though I was unsure what was either fun or amusing. “Shiiit. That’s Ace Watson,” she rasped between cackles, pointing right at him in case we didn’t know already. “Oh man, your mom is going to flip. That is Ace Watson, Tanner Simpson, Parker King and the big one, Lux Weston.” Her finger moved to each of us as she punched out our names. “That’s why he looked familiar in the bar! Jake, you might get a raise.”
I groaned a little louder, cursing Ace and his stupid recognizable face.
“Cab sobone plead exbain to us what the acktchul fug is goindon?”
Along with special ops, G.I. Joe clearly had training in ‘ possible broken nose’ speak, or more likely had beaten so many people to a pulp that understanding them came naturally, because he looked straight at me. “You attacked a federal agent, that’s what’s going on.”
Hold the phone, my head snapped from Ace to him. “No, I fucking didn’t! I didn’t even touch you before I found myself on the floor. You attacked me .”
“Hang on,” Goldilocks said and held her hand up to G.I. Joe before he could speak, then turned to me. “What were you doing?”
I nodded in Joe’s direction. “I thought that guy was the campus creeper.”
“The what?”
“The…” I gestured over to Tanner, to see him grimace and look at his feet. Yeah, he should. This entire thing was his fault. “Never mind.”
“You thought Jake was a creeper?”
“Awesome,” the best friend snorted loudly behind her. “I think this might be the best night of my life to date.”
I shrugged, both of us ignoring her. “Yeah.”
“This is Jake, he’s head of my security detail. These guys are all Secret Service. You tried to take down a federal agent.”
I held my finger up, hoping to make it as clear as possible she was incorrect. Very incorrect. “No, I tried to stop a creeper from attacking you. He’s been following you all day. He was in the bookstore.”
“He’s paid to follow me.” A smile broke across her face, and I almost forgot why we were standing here. Hell, I almost forgot my own name. “I can’t believe you thought he was a creeper.”
My eyes flicked up over her head to where Jake was standing with his arms crossed, and locked onto his steely glare. “He looks like one.”
One of the agents dropped his head, though not before I clocked his lips quivering in a smirk. The other two didn’t even bother to hide their amusement.
When I looked back down at Goldilocks, her expression had also changed, though I wouldn’t call it amusement; more curiosity. Then she held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
“What?”
“Now, before I change my mind.” I did as I was told, watching her face illuminate from the glow of the screen as she tapped her number into my contacts.
My fists clenched before they did something stupid, like run a finger across her cheek to see if her freckles were really dancing. I settled for a brush of my thumb on her hand as I took my phone back, and I swear electricity jolted my entire body.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Radley, and I’m going now.” She turned to walk off before spinning back around. “Don’t make me regret it.”
This time, I wasn’t treated to a backward glance. Best friend walked with her, along with two of the agents.
Radley. Radley. Rad ley .
I glanced around; Ace was standing there with his head bent forward, Parker behind him. Tanner was still sitting on the ground, while G.I. Joe and the other one left, quietly talking between themselves.
Radley.
Her name was too unusual to be a coincidence.
That’s what Parker had been hissing about. He’d realized who she was… And I’d been knocked on my ass by the Secret Se rvice.
That’s why I knew her.
Radley Andrews.
The only daughter of President Emily Andrews.
Yup. I’d been hitting on the President’s daughter.
Crap.