After class, he met me outside the humanities building. I had a math class next, but decided to skip it to find out more about Declan. We found a bench in the quad near a fountain that was popular and took a seat. We chatted about what he was doing in his classes and how he struggled to keep his head above water, and I could tell that even though he wasn’t an A student, he did try. I didn’t want to pressure him to talk about Declan even though I was dying to know more.

“You’re a good listener,” he said after a while, giving me a gentle poke in the ribs.

“You’re easy to listen to.”

“Not to mention how hot I am.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re full of crap.”

He tossed an arm around me. “You better believe it, love.”

I toyed with my backpack. “So about Declan …”

He sighed and took my phone and typed in some digits, giving me a self-satisfied smirk.

“What are you doing?”

“Texting Declan and telling him to meet us for lunch.”

“Lunch? What if I already had plans? And use your own phone.” I tried to jerk it back, but he held on to it.

“But he might come if you ask. Dude doesn’t even budge for me.” He handed my phone back. “Here, I’m done. He now thinks you want to see him at the student center in half an hour. He also thinks you want to shag him in the science lab later.”

My mouth parted. “Seriously?”

He laughed just as my phone pinged and I saw it was from Declan.

“What does it say? Is he excited?” he said in a girly voice, leaning over my shoulder to read my phone, his dark hair tickling my arm. Of course, Dax had lied about the shagging text, so I didn’t smack him.

“He said ‘Okay.’ That’s vague,” I muttered.

“Hmm.” He sat back and scratched at his unshaven jaw as if what he had to say he’d thought about carefully.

“What’s up?”

He sent me an unsure look. “It’s just, Declan really likes you, but Nadia yanked him around pretty good, and I just don’t want you to do that to him.”

“How do you know he likes me?”

He sent me an exasperated look. “He gave you a cute nickname for starters. And he watches you like a hawk in class. He’s rather jelly, my bro, but when he loves, he loves hard.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “He puts his all into whatever he does. Fighting. His gym. Me. When we first moved here and were the new kids at our private school, we were both scrawny, and of course, we talked funny. He lashed out at the wankers who teased me and ended up with the rep as the guy with a chip on his shoulder, which wasn’t true. But word got around and pretty soon rednecks were showing up and trying to push him around. Mostly he tried to stay out of trouble, but senior year while he was on a date, he got jumped by four guys behind the bleachers at a football game. He’d filled out by then, and it took three to hold him down while one pounded him with brass knuckles. When he came to, he was lying on the ground and they were all laughing and tossing back their beer. He got up and beat the bloody hell out of them, even chased one down the highway. Then the cops showed up. It was a hell of a night. Father was not pleased.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Spent the night in the hospital, but the other guys were worse.”

He grunted. “He’s always been the better guy than me. Smarter, quicker, kinder. He even pays his own uni fees. When I grow up, I want to be just like him.”

I smiled. Declan was all those things and more. Sexy, sweet, hung.

He shot me a cocky grin. “You got a crush on him.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

“Do not.”

“You so bloody do. Now shut the fuck-all up about it.”

“I do not.” I stood up and stamped my foot on the sidewalk.

“Then let me come over to your place tonight. I’ll show you my sexy underwear—Union Jack flag and all.”

My mouth flapped open. “No. That’s just weird. You’re like … a brother.”

“Okay, gross, but you aren’t seeing anyone else, so why does it matter? I’ll be one of your famous one-night stands, no problem.”

I closed my eyes. “Dammit, does everyone know about that?”

“It’s a small university, but your friend Shelley also likes to talk when she drinks.” He grinned. “She’s been popping in at the frat house a lot lately. She and Blake are thick as thieves.”

Ah. Interesting.

He continued. “You have feelings for Declan. I know it because your eyes get all mushy when he walks in a room.”

“You’re an expert on me?”

A self-satisfied grin curved his lips. “I’m a psych major, remember? And not nearly as stupid as you may think.”

“You’re a lunatic major more like it.”

He leveled me with a serious stare. “I wish I was more like you. You don’t care what other people think and you’ve made your own way at Whitman—which sounds a lot like Declan—but you’re also completely gorgeous and unaware of it. Hell, I could have fallen for you in a heartbeat if you’d given me any indication we had a chance.” He smiled at my widened eyes. “You met me first, but I was drunk and Declan wasn’t. Not that that mattered. Once you took one look at him, you’d chosen him already. Fate. Karma.” He smirked. “Yeah, I believe in all that silly stuff. Anyway, I’m not here to hit on you—too late for that—but I am telling you not to crush his heart. He’s had enough of that already.”

This was family. Love. Emotion swelled and impulsively, I hugged him tight.

I pulled back to stare up at him. “Is he back with Nadia?”

“No, but I heard Donatello broke up with her, so she’s free.” He took my hand. “Come on, let’s go see him.”

On the way over, Shelley and Blake texted us and wanted to meet for lunch too—even after I told Blake that Declan was coming—so we arranged to meet outside the student center and walk in together.

All I could think about was seeing Declan again.

My eyes searched the milling crowd until I found him standing next to a big column outside the entrance to the stone building. His dark brown hair was disheveled as if he’d raked his hands through it. As I watched, he took his bottom lip between his teeth and pulled as he read Pride and Prejudice.

He checked every box I had.

“He’s a dream,” Shelley purred next to me.

“He’s okay,” was my reply.

“Girl, you crazier than my mama when she’s got her menses and runs out of coffee.”

She grinned and gave me a hug. She’d been over to the apartment for the past two nights to keep me company. Between Declan and the whole Mom and Karl mess, I’d needed a friend. I’d also cooked dinner for her both nights in appreciation of her getting me the jewelry interview.

I pulled her aside. “Heard anything about Colby?”

She nodded, a worried expression on her face. “Officially, the word is he left NYU because he wanted to be closer to home.” She rolled her eyes. “As if anyone would miss Petal.”

I nodded.

She held a finger up. “The gossip is he got caught sniffing coke at a party the cops busted. He got off, thanks to dear old dad, but he also got kicked out of school—and went to some fancy rehab. Looks like our perfect poster boy isn’t so clean anymore.”

She sent me a hard look. “And if he comes to your house again, you have to call the police. You can’t take any chances, especially if he’s doing drugs. Think about it, Elizabeth. He was always on the edge in high school, and I guarantee you, Colby on drugs is crazy as shit. As soon as you see him, you run straight to Declan’s or you dial 911. Okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Declan looked up at that moment, his gray eyes zeroing in on mine, and I lifted a hand in a wave. I shoved thoughts of Colby away.

He tucked his book in his backpack and headed our way.

“Just watching him walk is like art moving.” Shelley sighed.

He stopped in front of our crew, gave Dax a fist bump and nodded at the rest of us. We all headed inside Zoe’s, a pizza place.