Page 32 of Torrid Little Passion

Mya's going to have to explain this to someone. Why she's being dropped off this early in the morning. And why she's wearing the same clothes she was last night.

As I walk through the back door of the Kappa house, I'm surprised to find six guys already cleaning up the mess. And, of course, Max is shouting orders at them.

Tossing his keys on the counter in front of him, his head whips up. "Thanks for letting me borrow it. I only put two dents in it. Nothing the body shop won't be able to fix."

Max growls as he swipes his keys and shoves them in his pocket. It was an easy dig. Max loves his car more than he loves most things. He keeps it in pristine condition. It still smells brand new on the inside, even though he's had it for two years now. He has a no eating or drinking rule in his car. And when winter rolls around, he stores it and drives a shitty pick-up truck so the salt they put on the roads to help melt the snow doesn't damage the paint.

"You better be joking."

"I didn't dent it, but I did lose a french fry under the seat."

He growls at me again, and I can't help but laugh as I slide onto the stool next to him.

"The place doesn't look too bad this morning," I note, taking in the spotless kitchen.

"That's because we didn't sleep. The pledges have been scrubbing since three while I've been chugging coffee. Since someone conveniently forgot to leave me their keys, I had no way to get home last night."

"I didn't forget. You have no idea how to drive a motorcycle, Max. Have you forgotten the time you were pretending to be cool and sit on it and tipped it over? Because my broken mirror and kickstand didn't forget."

"I could handle that bike. You act like it's hard to control."

Rolling my eyes, I change the subject. We've had this conversation multiple times. It's a losing battle. Max thinks he can do anything he sets his mind to, and I've learned otherwise over the years. Though the bastard is pretty damn good at almost everything.

"Why didn't you catch a ride with Finn?"

"You know why." Max shakes his head when one of the pledges walks up to us. "What, Leo?"

The kid looks like he's about to fall asleep on his feet as he asks Max where more cleaning products are. There's another guy standing behind him, looking twice as dead. When they both head for the stairs, Max turns back to me, and the sneer on his face has me taking notice.

"That reminds me, I have a bone to pick with you. You said you would keep an eye on Evie last night, then you took off with my car and never came back. Want to know what happened while you were gone?" I shake my head, but he proceeds to tell me anyway. "Leo decided to put his hands on her."

"Is she okay?" My hackles rise as I stare after Leo. He isn't bruised or beaten. That tells me he didn't get too far.

"She's fine. But since you failed to keep an eye on her last night, you owe me now. I want you to watch them both. I don't know how you do it, but you seem to know everything about everyone, and I want to exploit that."

"You want me to spy on your sister?"

"And Leo," he clarifies.

"That feels wrong."

"Yet, I know you're going to do it. Because you care about her. You've always treated her like a sister, and now is your chance to act like a big brother."

"And by big brother, you mean watching out for her."

"I mean monitoring what she's up to. Making sure those two aren't sneaking around. Can you handle that?"

"Can you if I have to tell you something you don't want to hear?"

Max glares at me, giving me his answer. No, he won't be able to handle the truth, but I already knew that. Which means instead of watching Evie, I need to watch Max. And make sure he's not interfering with her life.

She's a smart girl. She can take care of herself. And if she wants to date this Leo kid, she should be allowed to. No matter what her brother wants.

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