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As soon as Caleb steered her outside though, I could hear them.
“Are you walking home today?” Caleb asked her, his tone friendly, but wisely keeping some distance between them. I frowned as she smiled at him, completely unguarded in his presence.
“Yes,” she answered easily as I prowled closer, not liking her casual proximity to Caleb. “Dominic,” she sighed, the easygoing expression disappearing from her face as she murmured under her breath, “Not Anna then.”
“What does Anna have to do with anything?” I grumbled, disgruntled by her apparent disappointment in my arrival.
“Nothing apparently,” she retorted. “What are you doing here?”
“It appears you were right,” I stated grimly, and there was a flicker of surprise on her face at my admission.
“How much does it pain you to admit that?” She asked, a smirk hovering on her lips, and even though her amusement was at my expense, I relished the moment.
“A little bit,” I lied, as Caleb chortled mentally at her needling me. “Apparently, I showed you preferential treatment.”
“Wow, if that’s preferential I hate to see what the standard treatment is,” she commented, shifting her backpack on her shoulders and ignoring my unimpressed stare.
“I figured Regina would say something and when Anna said she held you after class,” I explained, not wanting her to think we were stalking her, even if that was exactly what I was doing.
“We thought you might need rescuing,” Caleb rushed to add, as he gave her one of those disarming grins all the girls seemed to love.
“Surprisingly thoughtful of you,” she muttered, not even giving Caleb as second glance as she studied me.
I frowned at her inspection, and immediately denied I had anything to do with rescuing her. “Not my idea,” I reported, jerking my thumb toward Caleb. “Chivalry over here wanted to do it. I thought you could handle her,” I said indifferently.
“I did handle her!” She exclaimed, clearly insulted I’d thought anything else as she narrowed her eyes.
“She did,” Caleb joined, smiling as his gaze ping ponged between us. “You might even have cracked a smile at witnessing that putdown, Dom.”
I snorted, doubtful about that, as we headed into the forest, Jess following us automatically. She stopped abruptly, asking, “Where are we going?”
“Home,” I answered, hearing Caleb echo the same thing. She shook her head warily, a few silky tendrils of hair slipping into her eyes.
“I don’t live with you,” she retorted tartly.
“Thank God for small favors,” I murmured under my breath, not sure how long I could last if she was literally under foot in our community.
She heard me though and glared as she muttered, “Same here.” She glanced at Caleb to my irritation, saying, “I don’t want to get lost. I’ll just take the road.”
She actually turned to go back to the school as Caleb shot me a panicked glance. I reached for her, my hand curling around her upper arm as I kept my touch gentle, but her heat seared my palm and I quickly dropped my hand.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I told her gruffly, curling my fingers into my palm to hide the redness. “It’s not safe.”
“To walk home? Or to walk home with two men I barely know? One of whom could break me in half without a second’s hesitation.”
“There would be at least a second’s hesitation,” I informed her, one side of my mouth tugging upward unwillingly at her concerns. “There are wild animals. Dangerous men who would think nothing of kidnapping a single woman off the road,” I warned her, my gaze heavy, as I considered just tossing her over my shoulder and settling the argument that way. “At least with us, you know what you’re getting.”
“Do I?” She questioned archly.
“We’ll protect you,” Caleb promised, sincerity shining from his noble blue eyes, endearing her to him. “We’ll make sure you get home safely. Dom is right. Not everyone is friendly.”
“You don’t say,” she murmured, her gaze coming straight to me and I smirked, not arguing her implication. “You don’t even know where I live,” she argued, waving a slender arm at the deep forest. “How do I know this is even the right direction?”
As irritating as her pointless questions were, I was impressed at her determined questioning. She was going home in our company one way or another, but she didn’t know that, and refused to acquiesce easily.
“Where do you live?” I asked patiently, figuring it wouldn’t do to let her know I already knew the answer.
She eyed me curiously, but finally muttered, “The motel.” I didn’t bother to act surprised and she added, “Apparently, my Dad just bought it.”
“Nice place,” Caleb mentioned, always looking for the bright side as I muffled a snort when she blinked at him and asked, “Is that a joke?”
She cast me a quick glance, but my expression was smooth as Caleb answered her.
“No?” He was confused by her question, unused to people doubting his earnestness.
