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“No,” Nox answers for us. “Now get the fuck out of our office before you’re all fired.”
They leave us and I sit at my desk, tossing my pen on my blotter in anger.
“Don’t do something stupid, Sawyer.”
“I won’t.”
Our stocks take an enormous tank in the afternoon, and I know I have to do something to change our fortunes.
Chapter One
Jillian
I haven’t seen Sawyer in four years. God, it aches in every part of my body how much I miss him. The stupid asshole.
We haven’t heard from them as often as we used to before. It’s all my fault, and I know it. I let my emotions get the better of me, and I slipped up. Sawyer’s a grown man and whoever he dates shouldn’t have been any of my business, but I couldn’t help my broken heart. He was bound to have lovers. Sawyer’s tall, gorgeous, rich, strong, and a gentleman who looks out for people. Who wouldn’t fall for a man like him?
Still, I made that dumb mistake that haunts me till this day, and it cost me Sawyer. It was during my first year of college and the only frat party I attended when I almost kissed Lennox Masterson, thinking it was Sawyer. For years I could always tell them apart, but that night…that night I want to forget. The last time I saw either brother.
“What’s wrong, Jill?” my college friend asks in the middle of class.
“Oh, nothing, Andi. I was only thinking about home.”
“We’re so close to graduating college. Don’t start getting the senior fever.”
“Oh, no. I was talking about after graduation.” It’s less than a month away. Then, I’m going to have to grow up and get a job, and then maybe I’ll finally get over my obsession with Sawyer. Then again, maybe not. If I haven’t gotten over him yet, I may never get over him. Those beautiful, deep eyes, intensified by his powerful glare and strong jaw, his hands on me as he scolded me with such promise. My body heats up in class as that night comes to mind again.
“That makes sense,” Andi mutters, returning to the lecture.
Thankfully, she leaves me alone with my thoughts while our professor drones on about the importance of fossils from the Paleolithic era. I’m not even sure why I took this class, even if it’s interesting. Still, my mind goes back to that night when things changed and Sawyer never came around again.
“You have to come to this party tonight, Jilly Bean,” my cute classmate Scott says. I flinch when he calls me that. He’s everything I should want to date, but my heart had been stolen a long time ago.
“What? You don’t like that pet name?” he asks, pouting playfully.
“No. Someone else used to call me that.”
“An ex?”
“No, more like a big brother. Anyway, I don’t like it.” My tone tells him not to press the issue.
He throws his hands up and says, “Sorry, Jillian. But please tell me you’ll be there.”
“Yeah, totally. I need to get out.” And forget all about Sawyer. I close my notebook and tuck it in my bag as the clock hits noon. We exit class, and I swear there’s someone following me in the distance. I ignore it and finish my day before going to my dorm room. Scott texts me the address, and I get dressed. It’s at a frat house on campus.
I make it there quickly, but the second I arrive, a sense of reservation kicks in. I nearly turn around, but Scott finds me at the door. “Hey, pretty girl, you made it. Come on.”
“Hey, guys, look who it is,” he cheers, wrangling me in with a hand wrapped around my shoulder so tightly I can’t escape his grip. On the sofa is a large gathering of about six meathead-looking jocks already in their cups. The music’s up, but not blaring yet as more people are gathered by the stairs and toward a DJ booth set up on the other side of the room.
“Gorgeous. It’s a fresh penny,” one guy says.
“Let’s get you a drink.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, tipping my head toward the couch.
“You’re a freshman. That’s all.” He shrugs off my concern, and we keep walking past the people laughing and having a good time. Nothing looks too crazy, so I try to relax.
“Oh.” We go into the kitchen where people are gathered around a beer bong contest, and someone hands us two cups of punch. It’s fruity looking, so I take a drink. It’s not terrible, so I chug the cup. I’ve never had a drink before, so I’m not sure how fast I’m supposed to be feeling the effects, but they’re coming on quick. I don’t make it down the hall when my vision is blurred and I can swear I see Sawyer, and that’s foolish because he wouldn’t be caught dead at a college campus party. They’re grown adults, and I’m sure even when they were in college, neither of them would have gone anyway.
