I grinned into the phone. “Is this my first official booty call in college?”

“No.” I could hear his amusement. “Well, maybe later. Want to go somewhere with me?”

“Where?” I was tempted to tease him if he was going to say his bedroom, but I stopped myself. There was exhaustion in his voice and my Jesse senses were tingling. Something was up, probably whatever he’d been busy with all week.

“My buddy’s in a band. Sometimes I go and listen to their practices.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. I’m outside your dorm right now.”

“The back door?” I didn’t wait for his answer. “I’ll be down.” Warmth rushed through me and I hurried to change my shorts into jeans. My shirt was off next and I pulled a tank with a sweater over it. Slipping my feet into flats, I grabbed my purse and headed out. As I was locking my door, Kara was coming up the back stairwell with a tall guy behind her. He had brown hair, long enough to be teased with some curl, but not long enough to look shaggy. He had high cheekbones, almost as chiseled as Jesse’s, and keen dark eyes. Their hands were interlocked so I figured this was the boyfriend.

“Oh, hi!” Kara stopped. He stood just inside the doorway with a hand against it to keep from slamming into him. “This is my boyfriend, Derek. Derek, this is Alex. She…knows Cord.”

An eyebrow went up, but he didn’t comment on that. “Nice to meet you.”

When he didn’t extend a hand, I was relieved. “You too. Be seeing you guys.”

“Oh, wait.” Kara stepped to the side, blocking me. Her smile never moved an inch. “I wanted to invite you to a picnic in two weekends. Are you doing anything Saturday?”

Yes. I had such a busy life. “Studying?”

“You can’t study all the time. The picnic is at Carver Park, eleven thirty. You don’t need to bring anything.”

“Who else is going to be there?” This sounded fishy to me.

Her smile was strained now.

I knew it.

She answered, “Tiffany, Chandra, myself, and another girl, Elizabeth Ives are putting it on. There will be lots of guys, if you want to meet a guy. Oh, and I was going to invite Hannah and Beth too. They have a Frisbee golf course and I know some of the guys will have a soccer game too. But don’t worry, there’ll be other girls there too. It’s just for a fun afternoon at the park.”

A brief frown appeared over her boyfriend before it cleared just as quick.

What was that for?

“So do you think you’d come?”

“Oh. Uh. You think it’s a good idea for Hannah to come if Tiffany’s going to be there? They didn’t seem to get along so well.”

She waved that off. “They’re always like that. There was another fight last night. So? Do you want to come?” Her eyes were animated as she waited for my answer.

I shrugged as I started to say, “Suu…” But I faded. A big fat knot had formed in my stomach. My other senses were telling me this was a bad idea.

Kara didn’t care. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. “Great! I’ll come to your room at eleven fifteen. We can walk over together.”

With a pat to my shoulder, she jerked her boyfriend from the doorway and past me. I was left unsettled when they disappeared into her room. When the lock clicked, I shook my head. I felt duped, but went down the stairs and to the back door. I’d deal with that later. Right now, as I stepped outside and saw the black Ferrari, I was thankful Jesse had his windows tinted. There was a cluster of girls on two benches that had been landscaped amidst foliage. They were eyeing the Ferrari. With a quick scan, I figured they were freshmen like me. Maybe they hadn’t heard Jesse Hunt drove the same car. I was hoping.

As soon as I got in, he sped away. For some reason, I wasn’t surprised to see he was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. The shirt was snug on him. His arm muscles moved underneath and it accentuated the cut of his shoulders. The warmth from before came back, mingling with lust. It was on a simmer, always there, as if waiting for his presence. The simmer had been turned up. It was a steady boil now, not too overwhelming, but he looked he looked pissed and stoic at the same time. It was a deadly combination, especially on him.

Neither of us said a word. There was a comfortable silence and I didn’t want to break it. Closing my eyes, I leaned back and opened the window a bit. The wind raced against my face, calming my racing heart. Being there with him and not needing to fill the silence soothed an edge inside of me.

My chest lifted again, up and down in a smooth rhythm.

When we were nearing the outskirts of town, he asked, “Are you hungry? Did you want some food?”

“I had old pizza. I’m good.”

He nodded and wheeled the car onto the interstate. We were flying away from town with no end in sight. After we had driven thirty minutes, I felt Jesse’s gaze on me. “What is it?”

He gave me a rueful grin. “Do you have an early class tomorrow?”

“Nope, those are Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a ten o’clock class.” Which I didn’t mind skipping, it was psychology. My head couldn’t take that stuff.

He nodded and went back to the road. “Good. It might be a long night.”

I grinned to myself as I heard that. Pleasure spread through me and the steady boil went up another notch. This addiction to him was like a drug, I was intoxicated. He pumped adrenalin through me and made me feel like I was living again.

My head went down. My eyes closed.

My chest filled with searing pain.

He was making me right again. I didn’t know what would happen when this was done. Could I go back?

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head, unable to speak. Too many damn emotions were stirring in me. “Nothing. Are we almost there?”

“Yeah.” He pointed to a small building in the middle of nowhere. “They call it ‘The Shack’, but it’s just a place they practice. Sometimes they’ll have their friends come and listen and hang out.”

“How did you meet these guys?”

Half of his mouth lifted up in a grin. “A bar. Okay. A dive bar, in the wrong area of town. Luke and I were both having a drink when some guys picked a fight. We were sitting next to each other so both of us were pulled into it. Afterwards, we shared a few more drinks. I was laying low; he was doing the same. We bonded.” As he pulled into the gravel parking lot and slid to a stop, he laughed to himself. “These guys know sports, but they don’t say anything. I can just be me.”