Claiming Callie: Part one (11 page)

He sputters and blinks through the liquid, wiping at his eyes, but Callie doesn’t stand around to watch. She’s already heading for the door, and on her way out, hears his parting words.

CHAPTER EIGHT

DEAN

“You. Are. So. Busted.” His sister stands in the doorway of his dorm room and pokes him in the chest, emphasizing each word.

He knocks her hand away and rubs his sternum. “What are you talking about?”

Jinny sticks her head inside, moving her gaze about the room. “You know what! Are you in here gorging yourself on cookie dough ice cream like some hormonal teenage girl?”

Dean runs a hand through his already disheveled hair and tries to hold onto his quickly dissipating patience. “What do you want, Jinny? It’s been a long day. I’m tired. Emmett and I are just having a couple beers while we watch some action flicks with gratuitous violence and sex. Not something you’d be interested in.”

He begins to shut the door in her face. If he’s being honest with himself, he’s still pissed at her for not siding with him on Callie’s situation. She can’t possibly be that blind or dumb, and the fact that she is, where this whole escort business is concerned, irritates him to no end. It’s partly her fault Callie’s out with a snake like Jason—partly her fault Callie’s going out with tons of slimy, loser guys, for that matter.

Jinny slams her open palm on the door and stops it from closing. “Uh, no you don’t.” Without an invite, she pushes it open enough to slide inside and move around Dean.

Emmett turns, eyes wide, as if he hadn’t heard their bickering until now. But one look at Jinny and an appreciative smile lights up his face. “Hey, gorgeous. It’s been a while. Miss me?”

Jinny grimaces, and Emmett throws her a couple air kisses before he shoots up from his bunk. “I know. I could barely stand it, too. It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other. We can’t keep letting this happen. Who cares if my best friend is your brother? We can’t allow that to get between us any longer.” He steps forward and reaches for Jinny’s hand, but she snatches it away. “You need to stop fighting your feelings for me. It’s not natural—”

“Can it, worm,” Jinny says, grinning.

Dean rolls his eyes and moves back to his six-pack, popping the top off a fresh Rolling Rock.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to have that in here,” Jinny says, her tone scolding.

Dean eyes her over the mouth of the bottle while he chugs half the beer down in seconds. “Okay, Mom.”

“I’m serious. You better not get kicked out of the dorms, because you’re sure as hell not moving in with Callie and me if you do.”

Emmett’s eyes brighten. “Is that an option? Dude, I’ve never thought about that,” he says as he turns to Dean. “That’s not a half-bad idea, actually. Hurry, call the RA and have him come down here.”

Dean laughs, but Jinny puts her hands on her hips and scowls. “Hilarious.”

“Again, what do you want?” Dean asks, all humor gone from his voice.

“I came to tell you that I’m on to you. I know exactly why you’ve been acting extra crazy lately with this,” Jinny pauses, eyeing Emmett, “with this business of Callie’s.”

Dean takes another swig of his beer, feeling the room spin from the six he already downed. He smirks.
If Jinny only knew…

“Oh, yeah? And why’s that?” he asks and turns away from her, reaching into the bag of chips sitting on the top bunk. Shoving a handful into his mouth, he smacks his lips and chews as loudly as possible, knowing this will only further irritate her. And the more irritated she gets, the better he feels about his own anger.

But it doesn’t work. Jinny meets his obnoxiousness with a grin and crosses her arms. “
You
have a thing for Callie.”

Dean chokes. He brings a fist to his chest and pounds it, sucking in air and coughing, trying to dislodge the chip blocking his esophagus. “What?” he croaks.

“You heard me.” Her brown eyes brighten as if she hadn’t been completely sure until that moment. She straightens, and her expression turns triumphant. “I see it now, plain as day. You’re completely hung up on her. Aren’t you?”

Emmett eyes him with a raised brow, but Dean ignores him. He takes a quick drink of beer, washing down the rest of the chips and giving him a moment to think.

I’m completely busted. Should I ’fess up? What would it mean if I did? Would she ban me from coming to their apartment again? Call me out on it in front of Callie? Would she get all weird and think of every time Callie’s been around me in her pajamas or a short skirt, or…

Shit.

Dean turns to Emmett—whose eyes continue to dart from Dean to his sister and back again. Raising his hands, Emmett backs away and flops back on his bunk. “Don’t look at me, dude. I didn’t say anything. Hell, I’ve known all these years and never said a word. Why would I squeal now?”

Sighing, Dean glances back at his sister, whose jaw drops.

“Holy crap. How long have you liked her?”

He steps forward, hands outstretched. “Listen, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you keep this to yourself. Don’t go blabbing it to her like you do everything…” His voice trails off when Jinny’s phone begins to ring.

She digs it out of her coat pocket and answers it. Dean can barely make out the voice on the other line, but from what little he can hear, he’s pretty sure it’s Callie, and by the rate at which she’s talking, he gets the feeling she’s worked up. It doesn’t matter that he has no idea what she’s saying, just the sound of her voice cuts through the alcohol, sobering him.

Jinny closes her eyes, making Dean wonder if he’s not the only one that can’t make anything out. “Okay. It’s fine. I’ll be right there,” she says into the phone, and when she hangs up and says nothing about it, he stares at her, waiting.

“Well?” he asks.

Sighing, her shoulders slump. “That was Callie. She’s fine. Nothing’s wrong. Let’s just say she didn’t have the best of dates. I’m going home.”

The muscles in his back spasm with the news. “What happened?”

I’ll kill him. I’ll absolutely fucking throttle him if he touched her.

She shakes her head. “Nothing—”

“I want to know. Now.” Dean’s breathing quickens, and he can feel the ball of anger fisting in his chest.

“I don’t really know. All I know is that she’s super pissed and a little upset. You can come with me, but only if you promise,” she says, stabbing a finger at him, “and I mean
promise
, not to blow a gasket and flip out. No matter what happened.”

“Fine. Whatever. Let’s just go.”

When he moves to the door, Emmett follows, too, but before he can leave with them, he and Jinny turn together and yell, “Not you!”

When they enter Jinny and Callie’s apartment, Dean has no idea what to expect. His chest feels tight, like a million tiny fists are squeezing his ribcage. He spots her standing in the middle of the living room, arms crossed over her chest, and before he can stop himself, he rushes over to her and puts his arms out, ready to envelop her in them.

What are you doing? Friends, you’re just friends
.

He lowers his arms and sinks his hands in his pockets instead.

She looks fine, a little pale maybe, but she hasn’t been crying and she’s not distraught. No need to get worked up.

Jinny moves to her side and hugs her, squeezing her tight, doing what Dean wishes he could.

Callie’s gaze darts to him as Jinny releases her, and her mouth tightens. As if reading her thoughts, Jinny says, “Dean’s fine. He won’t act like an ass again. Right, Dean?” She turns her gaze to him, brows raised.

He gets the message. “Right. I’m good,” Dean says. It’s all he can manage through his locked jaw and the pressure in his chest.

“So what happened?” Jinny asks.

“He propositioned me.”

“Meaning what, exactly?” Jinny asks, reading Dean’s mind.

Callie runs a hand through the length of her blonde hair and sighs, then begins to pace the floor in front of them. “The date was going fine. We went to the musical, so we didn’t have a ton of time to talk, but, still, things were going great. Then he was supposed to take me to Anwar’s.”

Of course he was.

Jinny’s eyes widen. “It’s impossible to get in there.”

“I know, right? So, I was a little unsure, but we went and when we got there, he spoke to the maître d’, and it was clear he was upset. That there was a problem. It turns out that his family has monthly reservations there and, unbeknownst to him, his parents were using them tonight. So we opted to go somewhere else, because dining with his parents would just be—”

“Majorly weird,” Jinny finishes for her.

“Exactly!” Callie stops pacing, and her cheeks bloom a fiery red. Her voice grows louder when she goes on. “So, he suggests we go back to his place, since it was only a block away and he could make us dinner there.”

Dean steps forward and squeezes his eyes shut. “Please, tell me you didn’t.”

“I did. He was being a perfect gentlemen, and I felt, I don’t know…flattered that he’s harbored these feelings for me for so long—”

“This is exactly what I knew would happen! You’re so naive—” he stops mid-sentence at Jinny’s warning glare.

I can’t believe she actually fell for that bullshit.

“Anyway,” Callie says, glaring at him. “We were there and he was telling me about the first time he saw me and how he’s liked me ever since. Blah, blah. And the next thing I know, he’s asking me about the whole escort thing and why I’m doing it. So I tell him, very briefly, that it’s to pay off my credit cards. That I’m in a bad spot.”

Bite your tongue. Just keep it shut, Dean.

Callie’s talking fast now, her tone incredulous. “And the next thing I know, he’s pulling an envelope out of his pocket and he’s offering me five hundred bucks a week to basically be his booty call whenever he wants it.”

Jinny gasps and slaps a hand over her mouth. “No way!”

Rage hits him like a bomb, and fury encapsulates him. He can no longer see Callie or his sister. For a moment, he’s lost in the anger that consumes him, and the only thing he hears is the pounding of blood in his ears with Callie’s blurred voice in the background.

“Yes way! The deal, as he put it, would just be that when he wanted me, he could have me, and he’d pay me weekly for the rest of the year.”

“So, what did you say?” Jinny asks, and Dean is grateful, because nothing coherent enters his mind, only murderous thoughts of Jason, and Dean beating the piss out of his cocky-pretty-boy face.

“I really hope that’s not an actual question.” Callie waves her hands while she talks. “I told him that he was disgusting and that I’m not a damn prostitute. Well, he didn’t seem to like the things I had to say, apparently, and he said that I should reconsider because if I didn’t take him up on his offer, I’d regret it. That he could make my life on campus miserable or something. I’m not exactly sure because I was still shocked and furious.”

Her words cut through Dean’s thoughts. “He what?” His nostrils flare and his muscles tense as he suppresses the desire to pound his fist into something, preferably Jason’s face.

“Yeah. I’m sure it was just some dumb-ass, meaningless threat, but still… After that, I threw my wine in his face and ran out.”