Strength (Mark of Nexus #1) (15 page)

He chuckled, and the doors chimed open on the fourth floor. “Speaking of church, it was kinda nice having someone to go with. Think you’d ever be willing to try it again?”

I gave a little shrug, trying to feign nonchalance as I stepped out into the florescent lighting. “Only if you take me.”

He grinned and held my gaze until the doors started to close. “Deal.”

I think I floated back to the suite. There were a lot of things I didn’t know about Wallace, but one thing was for certain—I liked spending time with him and figuring them out.

“Look at you, all done up!” a high-pitched voice squawked.

I clutched my chest. “Cass! You scared the crap out of me. What’re you doing?”

Cass lived in the room next door, along with her half-baked roommate, Whitney. It was pretty rare to see either one of them, other than the occasional bathroom encounter. They’re both on-the-go types, and that’s fine by me. I’m not a huge fan of sharing.

She put her shoe up on the sofa cushion and bent to tie the laces. “
I’m
going out for a jog. What are you doing?”

Well, that made sense. She was wearing one of those cold weather tunics, and her dark hair was pushed back by a headband. I was pretty sure it was the first time I’d seen her without hair extensions, since move-in weekend last August. “I just came from church.”

Her lips twitched, half caught in a snicker. “No, really, where’d you go?”

The door to my room opened, and Gabby poked her head out. Her hair was sticking everywhere and sleep still weighted her lids. “It’s too early to hear voices out here,” she chided with a grin. “What’s going on?”

“Gabby.” Cass turned, straightening. “Where did Rena go all dressed up this morning?”

“She went to church with Wallace Blake.”

“The crazy guy?”

My blood instantly spiked ten degrees. “He is not—”

“Please don’t get her started.” Gabby reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me inside. “They’re BFFs now, and it makes her all pissy.”

“He’s not crazy,” I stressed, giving them both
the look
. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

“Uh huh.” Cass stretched in place, giving me a look right back. “Well, that’s good to know. I’m out. I’ll catch you girls later.”

“See ya,” Gabby called, shutting the door on the conversation.

“She doesn’t believe me,” I said flatly, staring at the door.

“Give her time.”

“Whatever.” I spun to face the room and shrieked when I caught sight of our two
very
occupied
beds. “What the hell are they doing here?”

Maverick clicked his tongue in disapproval, hugging a pillow to his chest. “Didn’t you just come from church?”

“Shut up.” I shifted my gaze to the other side of the room where Aiden was wrapped up in my bedspread, watching TV. “What’s going on?”

Aiden shrugged, gesturing to the half empty box of doughnuts at the foot of the bed. “Brunch.”

“Brunch,” I echoed and shook my head, looking heavenward for patience.

“So, how was it?” he asked.

“Not bad, actually.” I unzipped my boots, kicked them off, and crawled into bed beside him. “Kind of a low-key, casual thing.”

Gabby was close behind and had to perform some kind of acrobatic maneuver to snuggle in between us. It was safe to assume the mattress had reached capacity. “Mavey, get over here.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I warned, burrowing down into the warmth of the comforter. My body still held a chill from outside, but I’d sooner freeze than share body heat with one more person. “Gabby, why don’t you just go over there?”

She turned to me, lips tilted with mischief. “What, and miss all the fun? Huh uh.”

“Besides,” Maverick added, making no effort to get up, “put us in the same bed, and we’ll forget we have an audience.”

Gabby smirked, nodding her head as if to say
damn right
. “So, what happened?”

Gag.
I inched away from her and wrapped my arms around my stomach. “We went to church.”

“Girl, don’t give me that generic summary to work with. What happened? What’d he say? What’d he do? What’s he drive? Did he have a spaz headache?”

Speaking of headaches, she was about to give me one. I blew out a sigh. If I didn’t answer, it’d only get worse. “He drives a big black truck with a cracked steering wheel...something about leaving the window open. We went to church, talked a little, and came back here. The end. What’s on TV?”

“What’d you talk ab—?”

“How did his window crack the steering wheel?” Aiden asked at the same time.

I sank down into the mattress, choosing to answer the easier of the two. “The cold air.”

Aiden crumpled his brow. “How does cold air crack a steering wheel?”

“Do I look like Bill Nye the Science Guy? How the hell would I know?” I huffed and sat up, tugging at the sleeves of my coat. Okay, so I was still a little frustrated about that one, myself.

“Anyway,” Gabby cut in, louder than before. “What’d you talk about?”

“You know.” I pulled the coat off and threw it at my desk chair. “Church, siblings…things like that.”

She perked up. “Ooo, that’s right. Your boy’s got a twin, doesn’t he?”

“He’s not
my
anything,” I insisted, fighting a blush.

“Uh huh.” She glanced between the two guys. “Did I tell you that? Wallace has a twin in Columbus. We…er,
she
could have twins.”

“Oh, for the love of…” I reached across the bed and jerked the pillow out from behind Aiden, brandishing it like a weapon. “I told you guys I don’t like him!”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. It was his way of calling bull without confrontation.

“So, does his twin have clusters, too?” Maverick’s voice cut in from behind me.

I paused. The thought had never occurred to me. “I have no idea.”

“That would suck,” Aiden added, shaking his head.

“Yeah.” Actually, I didn’t know how I felt about it. It was bad enough for Wallace to have a medical condition, without the possibility of his brother sharing it—but a small part of me almost wished he did, just so it’d be fair. Was that wrong?

As we lay there, contemplating the possibility, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. These two—well,
three
now—were my backbone away from home, and I’d been keeping them at arm’s length. Yes, they liked to pry and tease, but that was normal. Why was I making such a big deal out of it?

I cleared my throat. “So, Wallace got all weird about his brother again.”

Aiden cocked his head to the side. “Do you think they fight or something?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, propping the pillow behind me. “I asked, but he brushed me off and said they don’t see eye to eye anymore. Whatever that means.”

Gabby sat straight up. “Oh, that totally means they’re fighting. What do you think happened? I bet they fought over a girl. Oh! Or they were conjoined twins, and Wallace got to keep the good organs!”

We both stared at her, and Maverick chuckled.

She jerked her chin back. “What?”

“You cannot be a doctor,” I said. “I’ve lost all faith in the future of medicine.”

Aiden was quick to agree. “Same.”

Her almost-boyfriend, being the clever man that he was, chose to say nothing.

“Shut up.” She pouted, crossing her arms. “I was kidding about that, anyway. There’s got to be a real reason.”

I made a reaching gesture, grabbing at the doughnuts until Aiden handed me the box. “Well, I guess, whatever it is, it’s none of our business. He changes the subject whenever it comes up.”

Gabby snatched one and dropped the pouty act. “Yeah, but maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it, because it bothers him so much. You guys are kinda friends now. Shouldn’t you make it your business?”

I opened and shut my mouth, unsure of how to respond.

She pressed on. “What if Aiden wasn’t on good terms with his little sister? Wouldn’t we do something?”

“Probably,” I admitted.

“Oh, come on. You know we’d bust out some talk show therapy. Why? Because we care.”

“Aww, Gabby…” Aiden softened his features, looking like he’d just seen a puppy. “That’s so—”

“Shut up! I’m making a point here.” She ignored his sentiment, cutting straight to the heart of her argument. “If you don’t try to help him, what kind of friend are you?”

Ouch.
“Why do you care so much?” Evasive, yes, but she’d basically said I didn’t care about Wallace. What was I supposed to do, short of shoving her off the bed?

She grinned. “I told you. I like helping people.”

A frightening thought, if I ever heard one, but she had a point. Wallace helped me this morning. If I didn’t repay that kindness, what kind of friend was I? Maybe we needed to have another talk…

“Why don’t you just confront him?” Maverick asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Tell him you’re having an intervention, and it’s for his own good. We can all write letters like they do on TV. Maybe get a banner or somethi—”

“Are you serious?” Aiden recoiled, incredulity written all over his features. “He’ll snap! What if he starts going down the line and punching us?”

Gabby rolled her eyes. “Are you still stuck on that madman business? Stop bein’ such a pussy.”

“I’m not a p-pansy,” Aiden stuttered, tripping over the last word. Vulgar terminology didn’t exist in his vocabulary. Whenever he tried to push the envelope, he choked in the cutest way possible.

“I said
pussy
,” she emphasized.

He went red from the neck up. “I heard you!”

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “Look, nobody’s a pussy, and I’m not making this into some big thing.” My words sounded distorted, muffled against my palms. “Let’s just forget about it.”

As if I could.

Chapter Seventeen

Campus is always dead on Thursday evenings. The commuters are gone, the partiers are out buying red plastic cups, and the rest of us are left to wander the quad in a slow, academic stupor.

After a three hour lecture on Behavioral Dynamics, I didn’t have the energy for anything ambitious. As long as my feet kept moving toward Reid, I’d be happy. I had a ten minute window to drop my books off, run a brush through my hair, and get to the dining hall. Any later than that, and I’d get caught in the dinner rush.

Gabby and Aiden were probably already there. Their stupid classes always let out early. Or at least, Aiden’s did. I was pretty sure Gabby just walked out.

A misty gust caught the tattered edge of my notebook and rustled its pages for attention. We were due for another rain, and by the looks of things, it’d be here early.

I cast a wary glance skyward once I got alongside the building. Dark clouds were rolling in like a noxious fog. They sort of looked like—

Angry voices carried from around the corner, and I froze mid-step.

“—
told you I was done.”

Was it my imagination or did that sound like Wallace?

I took a detour off the sidewalk and huddled against the cold bricks. He wouldn’t argue with someone in front of the dorm, would he? Inch by inch, I edged toward the corner, straining to get even the slightest visual.

“And I told you this was serious,” the other man growled, flexing his hands at his sides. “I thought it was just me you didn’t give a shit about, but apparently Grandma doesn’t mean anything to you, either.”

Wallace’s spine went rigid as the wind whipped the bottom of his coat. “Cole…”

Hold the freakin’ phone.
Wasn’t that his brother’s name? I dared another inch or two into the open, and my boots sank into the mud.

Same knit brow, same intense features. These guys weren’t identical, but the resemblance was definitely there.
Wow.

Good genes in that family
…

Cole took a step toward Wallace and nearly met him eye to eye. He stood a few inches shorter than his brother—maybe six foot one—but that didn’t stop him from trying to stare him down. “Don’t ‘Cole’ me. I need your help. It’s not like you’ve been answering my calls.”

“You know why I don’t answer your calls,” Wallace retorted, rubbing his forehead. “And you’re not going to drag me into another fight by lying, so give it up.”

“I’m not lying! They really said they’d kill her.”

Sweat dampened my palms against the bricks. Kill who? Their grandmother?

Wallace backed up and shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Oh, come on.” Cole ran a hand over his militaristic buzz cut. “What do I have to do to prove I’m serious?”

Wallace crossed his arms. “More than this, apparently.”

“I can’t believe you won’t even…” Cole trailed off, his dark gaze sliding from Wallace to me and locking hold. “Can I help you?”

I jolted, and my heart slammed out a warning beat. “Uh…”