The Blythe College Complete Series Box Set

by Rochelle Paige

  Chapter 3

  Kaylie

  I loved bartending at the campus bar, The Rooster’s Nest. Of course, nobody called it by the real name. Instead, everyone usually just called it The Roost. Or if they were feeling particularly pervy, they called it The Cock. The bar was known for its cold beers, its hot cheese fries, and college bands. It’s a bit of a dive, but not in a sleazy way. Although the tight t-shirts we wore with crazy phrases like “I Serve Tail at The Cock” and a picture of a martini glass on it sure did seem push things toward the sleazy slide.

  I got the job as soon as I’d turned twenty-one. I needed the money, and it paid well for a part-time job with hours that didn’t interfere with school or dance. It also didn’t hurt that I usually got to work shifts with my roomie Charlotte since she was the one who’d gotten me the interview. She was the boss’s favorite at The Roost, so I’d been a shoe-in for the job. And I got paid well to flirt all night, so that was a plus too.

  Speaking of hot guys, Jackson Silver walked into the bar about an hour before last call. I’d thought about him several times over the last month and a half. Word on campus was that he’d been keeping to himself a lot more. When he came back from Christmas break, there hadn’t been any more rumors about random hook-ups. This was the first time I’d seen him since witnessing his argument with Sasha, which was strange considering how small the campus was.

  He sat down at the other side of the bar, so Charlotte took his order and served him a beer and a shot. Then she headed straight over to me as soon as she had taken care of Jackson.

  “Did ya see who’s at the bar? Hottie McHot-Pants himself,” she said, nodding her head in his direction.

  “Yeah, I saw him.” I replied.

  She snorted in response. “Like I didn’t know that already. I could practically feel you staring through my shoulder blades while I was servin’ him. Damn, girl. Something ya forgot to tell me about you and Jackson? Did y’all bump uglies or something after his fight with Sasha?” she teased. “C’mon. Make Momma proud. Tell me you had a wild ‘n’ crazy time and let him do all sorts of nasty things to you. Or at the very least that you’ve been thinking about what I said and are finally open to the idea of dating someone like him. Or maybe him for real.”

  I whipped her ass with my towel and didn’t bother responding. Charlotte knew that I wasn’t into one-night stands, and that was all Jackson used to do, maybe extending them to a weekend if the mood struck him. I didn’t bother with the whole love thing, but if I was going to let a guy get that close to me, then I had to at least know and like him.

  There was no doubt that Jackson was super hot, but I wasn’t sure that he was very likable, so there wasn’t any use going there. So of course I hadn’t thought about going out with him. That much. Except after watching Charlotte with Shane over break, I couldn’t get her comments about reformed players making the best boyfriends out of my head, and I wanted to kill her for it now.

  I glanced over at him one more time before refocusing on my own customers.

  The time to close flew by, and the next thing I knew, Charlotte was racing over to me as the bar started to empty out. I figured she was going to beg me to handle cleanup so that she could head back to the dorm to have some private webcam time with her boyfriend back home before I made it back.

  “Shit, Kaylie. I fucked up,” she whispered to me as she grabbed my arm.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. It wasn’t like Charlotte to freak out about anything. She was usually so laid back.

  “I didn’t realize Jackson had been drinking before he got here. He seemed fine, and now he’s totally trashed. I swear to God I had no idea I was over-serving him. I only gave him a couple beers and one shot, but now he’s totally smashed and I can’t let him drive back to campus. I’m screwed. If something happens to him, I am so fucked,” she lamented.

  I glanced down the bar to see Jackson hunched over with his head resting on his arms, eyes closed. Char hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she was screwed, even if she was the bar’s star employee. She couldn’t let him drive if he’d had too much to drink, and our boss would not like the idea of the town’s golden boy going home in a cab from his bar. There was no way that was going to work as a solution to this mess.

  “How about this? I’ll just drive Jackson back in his car and you take mine.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Kaylie? I know I’ve been teasing you about dating him, but you don’t know him that well, and the rumors on campus about his tastes don’t really inspire confidence. Especially when he’s trashed. I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you cleaning up my mess by leaving with him even in his condition,” Charlotte worried aloud.

  “It’ll be fine, Charlotte. He just needs a ride. Besides, if he didn’t hurt Sasha after the stunt she pulled, then he isn’t going to do anything to me just because I am helping him out with a ride home. Don’t be such a worrywart. I’ll even text his sister to let her know what’s going on so she can check on him in the morning, okay?”

  “I don’t know about this, Kaylie. It doesn’t feel right that you’re taking care of this for me. I should just take him.”

  I hugged her to me. ‘First of all, you’re my best friend. Of course I’m going to help you whenever I can. Secondly, he’s Aubrey’s brother, so I wouldn’t feel right leaving him like this even if this had happened somewhere else where we were just drinking and not serving. More importantly, it’s not like you can be the one to drive him back yourself. Shane would flip the fuck out if you told him you were alone in a car with a drunk hot guy even though it was perfectly innocent,” I reminded her.

  “Why don’t we just text Aubrey now and ask her to come get him?” she asked.

  “Because it’s already one o’clock in the morning. I’m not going to drag her out of bed when I’m already here. Relax. It’s not a big deal. Besides, you get to make it up to me by being on clean-up duty tonight,” I replied, tossing my towel at her before rounding the bar to walk over to Jackson.

  “Hey, buddy, let’s get you home. You don’t look so good,” I said before I helped Jackson to his feet. He looked up at me with glazed eyes and I noticed his flushed cheeks. I reached out and rested my hand on his forehead, realizing that he wasn’t drunk. He was sick. “Damn, you picked a bad time to come out to the bar. Didn’t you realize that you were coming down with something?”

  Jackson shook his head, but I wasn’t sure if it was in response to my question or to try to wake up a little. “No, I’m fine. I never get sick.”

  “Sure you don’t. How about I shoot your sister a text and then help you get home safely?” I asked. I held my palm out to him as I continued. “Now where are your car keys?”

  “I said I’m fine. There’s no way I’m going to let a little girl like you drive my truck,” he rasped back at me.

  “Okie-dokie then. Wow, you sure do like to remind me that you’re bigger than me. How about I walk you out and make sure you make it to your big manly truck, okay?” I teased as I watched him stagger on his way to the door. He really was in no condition to drive. Hopefully he’d realize it before I had to fight him for his keys, because as much as it irritated me when he called me little, he was still much bigger than I was.

  I shot Aubrey a quick text to let her know that her brother was sick while I trailed behind him. I figured she was probably asleep, but at least she’d know to check on him in the morning to make sure he was all right. We had just made it outside when I got a response back from her asking me if I’d be willing to take him to their parents’ house. Apparently he’s a big baby when he’s sick, so she thought it would be better for him if he wasn’t at the frat house while he wasn’t feeling well. She was going to let their mom know that we were on the way, and she was sure their dad would be able to drive me back to campus after.

  By the time we made it to his truck, Jackson looked like he was about to pass out. I watched as he pulled his keys out of his front pocket, both glad and a little disap
pointed that I didn’t have to fish for them myself. He fumbled with them while trying to unlock his car and they fell from his hand to the ground.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “C’mon. I told your sister that I’d make sure you made it to your parents’ house safe and sound so your mom can nurse you back to health.” I reached down to snag his keys before he could grab them. “I promise to be extra careful with your precious truck if you’ll just cooperate and get in.”

  He tried to level me with a glare, but it just didn’t have any heat to it. “Shit, I think you’re right. I feel like crap.”

  I tugged on his arm, walking him around to the passenger side. “C’mon then. Get in. I’ll have you to your parent’s house in no time flat,” I said as I opened the door and half-pushed him inside. He didn’t even fight. He just climbed into the car and leaned back with his eyes closed.

  When I got into the driver’s seat, I had to pull it all the way forward and up so I could see over the dash. I turned the key in the ignition and breathed a deep sigh of relief that it was automatic and not manual. I glanced across at Jackson and realized that he’d fallen fast asleep sometime during the time it took me to get situated. I sent Charlotte a quick text to tell her about the change in plans, plugged the address into my phone’s GPS, and pulled out of the parking lot.

  It was a quick drive to his parents’ and we were there before I knew it. Which was a good thing because my hormones were going crazy with his scent floating in the air. As much as I didn’t like the idea of wanting him, my body was making it clear that it disagreed with me. It didn’t help that I was seeing him at a vulnerable point right now either. I needed to get him out of the truck and into the house and then get myself out of here fast. As I climbed out, the porch lights turned on and his mom opened the front door. She came rushing out to help me get Jackson inside.

  “Hi, I’m Megan, Jackson’s mom. Thanks so much for bringing him home to me,” she said as she reached us. “Aubrey said you’re Kaylie, right?”

  “Yup, that’s me.”

  “It was awfully sweet of you to do this for him. We’re so lucky you were there and realized he was in trouble. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to my baby boy,” she continued as she led him into the house with me following behind, giggling a little. “I know. He hates when I call him that, but I just can’t help myself since he’s my youngest boy. Especially when he’s sick and I get to mother him.”

  “I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I see him on campus. I’m sure he’ll like it even less if I call him that since he likes to call me little girl.”

  “Yes! Definitely tease him about it if he calls you that. I didn’t realize you knew each other. I thought you were a friend of Aubrey’s?” she asked.

  I closed the door behind us before answering. “I don’t really know Jackson that much. We’ve just seen each other around a few times.”

  “Well, thank you so much for stepping in and helping him out after he’s irritated you those few times. I really appreciate it.” She waved me towards the living room couch. “Why don’t you wait down here while I get him settled upstairs? His dad is running late from a business dinner a few towns over, but he should be back soon to give you a lift back to campus.”

  I sat down and waited, glancing around the room and looking at all the family photos displayed on the walls. Ones of Jackson and Aubrey and their two older brothers at all stages of life, from baby to their high school graduations. Jackson was an adorable baby, but he looked a little awkward in his early teens. There were several of him looking sexy in some sort of martial arts gear closer to his age now. It was weird getting a peek into his life like this. Everything seemed so different than what I would have imagined from how he was on campus.

  I tapped a text out to Char so that she knew I had made it here safely and to let her know that I was waiting for Jackson’s dad to give me a ride home. Soon, my eyes started drifting shut since I was tired from a long day. Friday nights at the bar always wore me out since they capped off a full day of classes and kicked off the weekend for everyone else.

  I felt someone nudge my shoulder, and I blearily opened my eyes. “Hey, sweetie. Why don’t you just crash in Aubrey’s room for the night? She won’t mind, and I changed the sheets in there this week,” Jackson’s mom said.

  I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. It was probably a good idea, so I simply nodded and followed her upstairs. I pulled my clothes off and threw on the oversized shirt she’d brought for me to sleep in. Crawling under the sheets, I pretty much passed out right away.

  When I woke up the next morning, I found a ton of messages from Char, who was pissed because I hadn’t made it back last night and had slept through her checking up on me. Her last one said that I’d better be okay or she was going to kick Jackson’s ass. I sent her a quick text letting her know I had just slept over instead of waiting up for Jackson’s dad and that I’d be back soon.

  I stumbled out of Aubrey’s room to look for a bathroom, feeling icky because I hadn’t washed up or brushed my teeth before I fell asleep. I barely made it five steps into the hallway before a door was flung open and Jackson stepped out wearing nothing but his underwear. His hair was all mussed from sleep and his eyes had a tired sleepy look to them right before they opened wide upon seeing me.

  “Fuck!” he swore before grabbing my arm and pulling me into his room. “I cannot believe that I brought a chick home to my parents’ house last night. What the hell was I thinking? Shit. My dad is going to fucking kill me.”

  I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped when I realized he had the totally wrong idea. “Jackson,” I started, attempting to interrupt him to let him know what had happened.

  “Sorry, babe, but I need to get you out of here before anyone knows you were here. I’m sure last night was fun, but I never bring girls back here. Ever. I don’t know what the hell happened last night or how much we had to drink. I had to have been out of my mind to do this though,” he continued as he searched the room for my clothes. “Look, I know this sounds harsh, but I can’t even remember your name.”

  “Jackson, stop. You’ve got it all wrong—” I tried again, but he ignored me a second time as he ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his eyes.

  “Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. Last night meant more than I realized and you want to see me again,” he said before looking at my bare legs, which were peeking out of the bottom of the shirt his mom had given me. “And maybe we can do this again at my frat house or your place. It must’ve been good for me to let you sleep in one of my favorite shirts,” he continued as he reached a finger out to lift the bottom of the shirt up.

  “Listen, you don’t I understand,” I argued as I pushed his hand away and grabbed the doorknob to get out of there.

  “Jackson,” we both heard his mom say from the other side of the door. “Are you feeling any better?” she asked right before the door swung open, knocking me into Jackson’s arms.

  “Shit!” he swore as he caught me.

  “Well, I guess that answers my question about you feeling better. If you’re up to bothering Kaylie already, then you must not have come down with anything serious last night,” she carried on as though she hadn’t heard Jackson swear. “Kaylie, dear, I washed your clothes so you’d have something clean to change into this morning. Everything’s waiting in the bathroom for you.”

  “Wait, what?” I heard Jackson say as I escaped his bedroom as quickly as I could, mortified that he’d seen me looking like this and worried that his mom might get the wrong idea after seeing me in there with nothing on but his shirt.

  And it wasn’t like it had even been my fault. He’d dragged me in there and wouldn’t listen to a word I’d said. Geesh, how many one-night stands did a guy have had in order to assume that the girl he saw in his parents’ hallway was some random chick he’d brought home with him? I got that I was dressed in his shirt and he didn’t r
emember most of last night because he had been sick. But come on. That was one hell of an assumption to make.

  I showered as fast as possible and was happy to be back in my own clothes. Hopefully his dad was up and ready to take me back to campus because I really didn’t want to face Jackson again after what had just happened. I slowly pulled the door open and peeked in the hall, relieved to see that his door was closed. Rushing downstairs, I headed for what I assumed was the kitchen based on the noise I could hear from there.

  As I rounded the corner, I bumped straight into what felt like a very warm brick wall. I glanced up and straight into laughing blue eyes. I swear to God, I had the worst luck possible with this guy.

  “Hey,” I greeted Jackson as I backed away.

  “We’ve got to stop running into each other like this,” he answered. “You in your pajamas at Sasha’s door. Me almost ready to pass out at the bar. You in my favorite shirt outside my door. Me waiting to apologize to you for acting like an ass this morning.”

  “Wow. When you put it that way, it sounds really bad, doesn’t it? How about we just skip past all that and your dad can give me a lift back to my dorm?”

  “No can do. My parents would be pissed if I let you run off without breakfast,” he said, waving me toward the kitchen table, where scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast were already waiting. “Besides which, my dad has already left for the bank. So you’re stuck with me for a ride home. My mom will be down in a second, but she has an appointment she needs to get to.”