Drew sighed. “It’s a long story. He’s not a good guy, Red. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m a big girl, Drew. I can handle myself.”

Drew narrowed his eyes at me. He was being a bit overprotective. Whatever happened in the past didn’t really matter. People change. Well, hopefully.

Chapter 11

Drew (Then)

After a few weeks, Red and I settled into a routine. Movie night was becoming a regular thing, and sometimes we even remembered to actually watch a movie. We talked, went to parties on campus, and went to dinner or whatever sounded good to us. We were becoming pretty close, although we had a tendency to argue over pretty much everything. We talked to each other about nearly anything, whether the other wanted to hear it or not. Overall, things were good.

After my psych class, I headed to Union Brew to meet up with her. When I walked in, the place was pretty empty. I didn’t see Red right away, but I heard her. Her laugh carried from the back of the brew, and I headed toward it.

“Hey, Re…” I started as I turned the corner, but she was not alone. She was sitting at a small café table with Peter Russell.

They both looked up when they saw me. Russell was wearing an amused expression.

“Hey, Drew!”

“Hey.” I glanced back and forth between them. They were in a public place. She was smiling and laughing and Peter seemed to be at ease and posing no immediate threat, but every instinct in my body was screaming for me to get her away from this guy.

“Oh, sorry, Peter. This is my friend, Drew Collins. Drew, this is Peter Russell.”

He held out a hand to me. “Nice to meet you, man.”

I shook his hand with a firm grip. “You too.”

His smile never faltered, but I think he got my point. I was going to be watching him.

“Collins?” he asked. “Are you related to David Collins?”

“David’s his older brother,” Red answered for me.

“No shit! We are practically family then, man. Sigma Kai.” He gestured to the house letters printed on the front of his shirt.

“Yeah.” I couldn’t come up with a better response. I had a bad feeling about this guy. I never bought into the whole Greek thing. David tried to get me to pledge my freshman year, but I could get into the parties and the access to the sorority girls without the humiliation and ritual sacrifice.

“Well, I have to get to class. I’ll see you Saturday, Alex?” Peter turned his attention back to her.

“Yeah, sounds great.”

Peter got to his feet and clapped me on the back, slightly harder than was necessary. My jaw tightened in response. “It was nice to meet you, Collins.” Dude was seriously trying my patience.

“You too.” I nodded as I took his seat and dropped an arm around Red. His eyes locked on my arm, his jaw tensing as he nodded and turned to head out. I watched until he was out of the Brew before I turned back to Red.

“So, what was that about?” I tried to keep my voice light even though I really wanted to tell her to stay far away from him, but we all know how that would have gone over.

“I just ran into him while I was waiting for you to show up.” She shrugged. “We got to talking and he asked me to dinner Saturday.”

“He asked you out?”

“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No.” Shit! She was getting pissed. I needed to tread lightly. “Of course not, Red. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” She gave me a look that said this better be good.

“Well, you just met the guy.”

“So?”

“You don’t know anything about him. He could be a creep.”

“I can take care of myself.” Her voice softened as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and nudged me with her shoulder.

“I know.” I smiled. “I’m just looking out for you. Tell you what. Sean and I will take you to breakfast on Sunday. You can tell me all about the date. Okay?” I didn’t want this guy anywhere near her, but I wanted to make sure she felt comfortable being open about going out with him so I could keep an eye on him.

She smiled at me. “Okay.”

I reached out and covered her hand with mine. “Can you do one thing for me, though?”

She rolled her eyes and exhaled a long breath. “What?”

“Can you just text me when you get home Saturday? I just want to make sure you get home safely.”

“Drew, I’ll be fi—”

“Humor me?”

She nodded.

I was going to have to call David to see what he found out from Frankie.

***

I called David the next day. “Hey bro.”

“Hey. I was wondering if you had a chance to talk to Frankie about that Russell guy.”

“Oh yeah, Frank said he was an okay guy. Hasn’t caused any real trouble. Kind of a womanizer, though. Says he gets a little aggressive when he has been drinking but hasn’t hurt anyone or anything. Frank said he would keep an eye on him for me, but so far no serious red flags.”

“What do you mean aggressive?”

“Well, maybe aggressive is the wrong word. Persistent, maybe. Frank said when he sees something he likes, he tends to pursue until he gets what he wants.”

“Well, he wants Red.”

“Does she want him?”

“I don’t know, man, but she is going out with him Saturday. He was at the Brew with her yesterday. I just have a bad feeling about this guy.”

“You know she’ll be pissed if you try to interfere. I suggest you keep an eye on him, but from a distance.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, man,” I said. “How’s Mom doing?”

“Not great, Drew.” Sadness crept into his voice. “You might want to make a trip home soon.”

My chest ached. The chemo was not working and the cancer was progressing faster than anticipated. I hated that I was so far away, but Mom insisted that I stay at school. “I will come next weekend. Maybe Sean and Red will come with.”

“That would be good, man. Well, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later.”

Sean burst through the door and dropped to the couch next to me as I hung up the phone. “We on for tomorrow?”

“For what?”

“Dude, Sigma Kai kegger,” he said, like I should know what he was talking about. “I told you about it last week. That chick, Mary Anne, invited me, remember?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m not in the mood.” Between the news about Mom and worrying about Red, I was more than a little distracted.

“Come on, I need my wingman. Be the Goose to my Maverick.” He gave me his signature puppy dog look that he has perfected over the years. I swear, the man had pathetic down to a science.

“Okay, I’m in.” I chuckled. Maybe a party was just what I needed to keep my mind off of Red going out with that guy.

***

The party was crazy. Girls were everywhere. The music was loud and I found just the distraction I needed with a gorgeous brunette named Sara. Sara and I had just found a quiet little corner on the porch when I heard someone say, “Pete, you made it.”

I glanced over Sara’s head to see Russell coming up the porch steps. “I thought you were going out with that hot little redhead.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I just dropped her off. Figured I would come by to check out the action.”

“What’s going on, Drew?” Sara asked. I shushed her. She shot me a pout and crossed her arms.

“You hit it?” the guy asked. I tensed, clenching my teeth.

“It’s in the works, man.” Russell smirked.

“I bet it is.”

“Who’s here?” Russell asked, looking through the open front door.

“The same sorority skanks, but Megan brought that chick Chelsea with her.”

“Really?” Russell asked as he moved his jaw back and forth. “I should go say hi. Wouldn’t want to be rude.” Russell slapped the guy’s hand and headed inside.

I looked back down at Sara, who was pretty pissed about being interrupted. “Hey, let’s go get a drink?” I grabbed her hand and her expression instantly went back to flirty.