He smiles and touches my cheek, his fingers drifting across my skin. “Now get out of my car, go inside and lock your door before I reconsider and throw you in the backseat.”

Wait a minute. He’ll throw me in the backseat and have his way with me if I don’t leave soon? “Really?” I ask hopefully. It’s weird, how I momentarily forget all about my sexual hang-ups with him.

Shep laughs again and shakes his head, giving me a gentle shove. “Go, Jade. Now.”

I open the door and crawl out of his car on shaky legs, grabbing my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder as I slam the door. I stand there at the base of the steps that lead to the double doors of my dorm hall, staring at his beautiful car, at the beautiful man sitting behind the steering wheel. I’m so freaking confused. I should hate him. But I don’t. Not really. Not when he kisses me like he does and talks to me like he does and is so…sweet.

The passenger side window rolls down and he leans forward, peering at me through the open window. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I frown.

“Like you don’t want to me to leave.”

“But I do want you to leave,” I say, the words sounding so incredibly lame I want to punch myself in the mouth.

“Yeah right. Keep fooling yourself.” He starts the car and waves at me. “I’m not leaving until you go inside so…”

I turn on my heel and run up the steps, grabbing my key card and waving it in front of the keypad. The door springs open and I hurry inside, turning to watch as he pulls away from the curb. I stay there until his red taillights are swallowed up by the darkness before I start toward my room.

My phone dings just as I reach my door and I pull my phone out of my pocket to see it’s a text from Shep.

You’re in your room?

Aw, he’s concerned about my safety. That’s sweet.

Just got here.

Tell me when you’re tucked into bed.

I smile. Where is he going with this?

Why so you can ask me what I’m wearing?

Of course. I need more masturbation material.

A groan escapes me. He’s so…awful. And funny.

And sexy.

You’re gross.

Don’t lie. You think it’s hot.

I smile. Fine. He’s right.

I’ll call you tomorrow.

My smile fades. He’s also extremely bossy.

Maybe I don’t want you to.

Stop lying. You know you’ll be on pins and needles tomorrow waiting for my call.

Ugh. He’s so annoying. Worse?

He’s right.

“You fucked her didn’t you? Finally. Jesus. This whole thing was starting to get on my nerves.”

I glare at Tristan as he shuffles into the kitchen, headed toward the coffeemaker. I’m on my third cup, hopped up on caffeine and memories of the taste of Jade’s lips. I hardly slept last night, spent most of the time tossing and turning, thinking about her.

“What was getting on your nerves?” I don’t bother arguing over his assessment. He’s wrong. I didn’t fuck her. I’m dying to fuck her, but there really is something to be said for anticipation.

Who knew?

Not me, and the anticipation is slowly killing me inside. I jacked off again last night to thoughts of Jade. Her soft, plump lips. The sounds she made when I kissed her neck, when I touched her…fucking hell. She makes me insane.

“You walking around like a lovesick puppy. At least now you look satisfied. Like you got that girl out of your system once and for all.” Tristan grabs a mug out of the cupboard above him and pours himself a cup of coffee, dumping a pile of sugar and a gob of vanilla creamer into the mug before he stirs it. “So how was she?”

“What do you mean?” I ask warily, knowing exactly what he means.

“In bed. Is she any good? Is she a natural redhead? Come on, I need deets.”

I scowl at him. Fucker. I can’t answer that question because I don’t know. Though I’d bet big money on it that she is a natural redhead. “I’m not going to answer that question.” And I used to, all the time. I had no problem telling Tristan and Gabe all about my hookups. We swapped stories. It’s what we do.

Now, I can’t imagine giving Tristan or Gabe any details about Jade and the way she tastes or the sounds she makes. And once I see her in her full, naked glory—because I will, you can count on that—I’m not going to tell them shit about that either.

She’s like my little secret. And I’m not willing to share. She belongs to me.

Tristan makes a noise and approaches the counter I’m sitting at, standing across from me, clutching his coffee close. “Redheads usually aren’t your thing.”

“You’ve said that before.” And he’s right. There’s always an exception to the rule though. Jade is my exception.

“Well, I’m saying it again. Though you two didn’t seem to last long in your room. I’m guessing it really was a one and done? Please tell me you’ve moved on. Got her out of your system.”

I clench my hands into fists. I’m pissed. I hate how he’s talking about Jade. But what the fuck do I say? I’m in a no win situation. He’ll mock me no matter what. “I haven’t got her out of my system,” I mutter, hanging my head, staring at my phone. Which isn’t lit up. Meaning I’m staring at a black screen.

“What did you say?” Tristan doesn’t wait for my answer. “Are you serious right now? Wait a minute…you didn’t fuck her last night, did you? What the hell are you waiting for?”

“I’m not waiting for anything.” I look up so I can glare at him only to find he’s glaring at me too. “We were interrupted last night.”

“And when has that ever stopped you before?” Tristan asks incredulously.

It hasn’t. But I never actually respected another girl’s opinion before either. “Jade didn’t want to stick around. So I drove her back to her dorm,” I admit, feeling like an idiot because I didn’t close the deal, as Tristan so fondly likes to put it.

“She didn’t want to stick around? More like she didn’t want you to stick it in her. What the hell is wrong with this chick anyway? Is she a lesbian?”

“Aw, fuck you Tristan.” I snatch my phone off the counter and slide off the stool I was sitting on, making my escape. But he’s right behind me, carrying on like the dick he is.

“I’m serious, man. What’s her prob? More like, what’s your prob? Why are you pursuing this chick so hot and heavy when she’s clearly not interested in you? If she’s not a lesbian, then what’s the deal? Is she a virgin?”

I stop in my tracks, dread filling me. Holy shit. What if she is? Yeah, she had that weenie boyfriend of hers, Noel or Joel or whatever the fuck, but that didn’t mean shit.

She didn’t kiss like a virgin. But how does a virgin kiss? There are a lot of virgins out there who are saving it for Jesus—I swear, that line has been used on me before—but they’ll do everything else. And when I say everything else, I mean everything else.

“That’s it, huh. She must be a virgin.”

I turn to stare at Tristan, who’s sipping on his coffee, looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world. And he doesn’t. He’s a rich fuck who skates through life and uses women like they were Kleenex. Just like I used to be until I met Jade.