Page 22 of The Transfer
“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.
“Iamgoing 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.
SEVENTEEN
REAGAN
“Sorry about that.” I look over at Drew as we pull out of the parking lot and head to a coffee shop in the next town over. Neither of us wants to deal with the CTU or Durham crowd speculating, so we are driving farther for more privacy.
He smiles, and it turns into a chuckle. “You have nothing to apologize for, beautiful. I know your brother and fully expected him to push back. It’s like I told you earlier, I’m not afraid of a fight. If I have you right now, I don’t care about the rest.” Typical Drew Cole confidence shows on his face.
Pulling into the coffee shop, I go to get out, and Drew is right by my door waiting with his hand out. I take it, and he helps pull me to standing. His hand lingers in mine for a little longer, and I can feel a little excitement in me build. I take a small step back, and our hands unclasp. I can’t rush anything, and I think Drew sees it because he doesn’t push like I expected him to.
We walk in and go to the counter to order. Drew pays, and we both thank the barista for our drinks before choosing a booth in the corner to sit down. I don’t really know where to start, so I hope Drew will take the lead here. Thankfully, he does.
“So, Rea Rea, tell me what you’ve been up to for the past four years?” He has a grin on his face.
“Could you be any vaguer?” I say with a laugh.
His eyes go to mine, and he gets serious. “Well, I want to know anything and everything, so you start wherever you want.”
Swoon, right?
