Pepped Up and Ready (Pepper Jones #3) (7 page)

An hour later and full of pizza we had delivered, we’re snuggling on Jace’s bed, contemplating returning to a puzzle we started a few days ago or watching a movie, when we hear the door to the main entry swing open and loud male voices enter the common area. Jace’s door is closed but a moment later there’s loud banging.

“Are you decent in there, Wilder?” the voice roars. It’s not one I recognize.

“He’s with Pepper, give them a minute,” Frankie says.

Jace rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “I had a feeling this might happen.”

“Who is it?”

“Turner,” Jace tells me as he swings his legs off the bed, resigned. There’s more banging. Chandler Turner is one of the UC football team captains.

Jace opens the door to three huge guys as I quickly sit up on the bed. They all look at me and I wave sheepishly.

“What?” Jace asks. Although I suspect he already knows. And I have a feeling I know too. Jace has managed to avoid going out to any parties so far. He’s either hanging out with me or the team is out of town for an away game.

“Dude, I get you want to hang with your girl, but you gotta celebrate with the team.” Turner’s arms are crossed and he’s nearly as large as Frankie, who is standing behind him, looking a little guilty. Frankie must have let them in, but judging by the determined look on the upperclassmen football players’ faces, I don’t blame him.

“You can bring her,” a junior who I recognize as Dimitri Johnson, says, nodding in my direction. “Hi Pepper, we’ve never met because your boyfriend keeps you to himself, but I’m Dimitri.”

“And I’m Chandler,” Turner adds. “You need to get your boy to come out after such a big win.”

“Everyone’s asking for you, man. Your absence is bringing down morale,” Dimitri says, laying it on thick. Frankie just shrugs silently behind them, helpless.

“Bringing down morale?” Jace scoffs. But he knows what they mean. He’s become the face of the team, and he needs to represent. Jace is a natural leader, even as a freshman, and hiding away in his dorm room with me is simply unacceptable. He might not need to party as hard as he did in high school, but he’s got to make a showing.

Jace has already slipped on his shoes and he hands me my cowboy boots. I raise my eyebrows. “I’ve been up since 5:30 this morning, Jace.” It’s a weak protest, and I actually want to go with, just so I know what’s going on. But I also don’t want to intrude on team stuff if Jace doesn’t want me tagging along, so I leave the decision to him, not wanting him to feel obligated to bring me.

“I thought you took a nap after the race?” he asks. And that’s enough of a green light. He wants me by his side.

“Yeah, yeah,” I concede, pulling on my boots. I slept for three hours in the middle of the day. With the hulks watching us from the doorway, I relent and let Jace take my hand and pull me off the bed.

“Let’s go,” he says.

We pile into Chandler Turner’s car and he drives us a few minutes across campus. I’m squeezed in between Frankie and Jace in the back seat and for some reason, being crammed in a car with four large dudes helps diminish my anxiety about the party.

I’m pretty sure I know why Jace has been putting it off. One time Frankie was giving him a hard time about it, and teased him that he’d protect him from the hordes of girls. I thought he’d been partially joking, or at least exaggerating. But as we emerge from the car and make our way toward the crowds of people outside on a lawn, the number of eyes turning our way, mostly female, is alarming. It must be because we’re with the captain of the football team. Surely, once we’ve separated from Chandler and Dimitri, the girls I can feel following behind us (it takes all my effort not to look) will disappear.

Jace slides his arm around my waist. “I’m glad you’re still wearing my jersey,” he leans in to tell me.

“You’re telling me,” I reply dryly.

We follow Turner and Dimitri to a fire pit. “You guys want a drink?” Frankie offers. We decline, but Frankie leaves us to find the keg.

When we settle amongst a group around the fire, I finally take in the scene around me. Stricken by the size of the guys at the party, I realize I’ve never actually been in one place with Jace’s entire team before. “I’m surrounded by giants,” I murmur.

Jace chuckles. “Basketball and baseball guys are here too. It’s a lot of big guys.”

“And girls,” I murmur, noticing one in particular manning the keg who towers over some of the guys. She eyes me up and down as she pours a beer. “Who are all the girls?”

Jace shrugs, like he didn’t even notice there were girls here. “Don’t know.”

My gaze lingers on the tall girl by the keg. She looks familiar, and when her eyes dart our way again between pours, I realize she was one of the girls with Clayton when he came to the Tavern the other night. That must explain why she won’t stop staring at me. And Jace, it doesn’t escape my notice. Though she’s not the only girl doing this.

The number of people around the fire pit rapidly increases. Jace is eventually crowded by other guys – teammates or other athletes, most of them congratulating him on the game and offering him a drink. He introduces me to everyone, letting them know I’m his girlfriend, but I feel out of place. This is Jace’s time to shine and I feel like a burden. Would he be having more fun without me? The girls won’t stop ogling him, and their interest in me turns hostile as Jace continues to ignore them. But Jace keeps tugging me closer and offering brief kisses on my head, reassuring me that he prefers me at his side. Holding me to him like an anchor. And I sigh into that thought, trying to let go of the negative doubts that infiltrate whenever he’s on display like this. Will I ever get used to it?

“Pepper!” Someone calls my name and I glance around before finding Kayla Chambers waving enthusiastically from the front porch of a house. “Hey! Hi guys!” she continues shouting as she makes her way toward us. Heads swing in her direction and I get the feeling she’s purposefully attracting attention.

When she leans in to give Jace a hug, I realize she’s the only girl who’s approached him all night, despite how many have lurked at our periphery. Interesting. Maybe I look more intimidating than I feel.

Kayla and Jace hung out on a regular basis throughout high school, and I know they’ve shared memories with mutual friends that I wasn’t a part of. I’m okay with that. What bothers me is that Kayla also shares intimate memories with him. Jace was with a lot of girls before me, and I know none of them were serious. But still, the jealousy is there. And it’s worse that she probably slept with him, and, well, we haven’t done that together yet.

Kayla hugs me, too, but it doesn’t escape my notice that she went straight for Jace. I don’t suspect she’s trying to pull a move on him or anything, she knows us well enough to know we’re in a serious relationship, but I’m not stupid. Hugging Jace Wilder just elevated her social status to a whole new level. She’s not just a hot freshman sorority girl anymore. Now she’s one with power.

Before Jace and I got together, Kayla annoyed me like you might expect the most popular girl in her grade who’s buddies with my crush would annoy me. But once I got to know her, she was cooler than I expected. And she had my back when Madeline Brescoll tried to get between me and Jace. Despite that, my guard is up right now. She’s pledging with a sorority and as a freshman she’s got something to prove. It’s not like she’s got her status established at the top of the food chain like she did at Brockton Public.

Warily, I hug her back, but I’m sure my face shows my suspicions because she looks away from me, back to Jace, smiling broadly. Jace isn’t stupid either, and I feel his arm tighten around me.

“What’s up, Kayla?” he asks in a tone that indicates his question is more than casual.

“You gu-uys!” she sing-songs. “You aren’t having enough fun! So serious. Why don’t you come on into the house and I can show you around?”

“We’re good out here,” Jace says. I glance at the house I hadn’t paid attention to before, realizing this must be the home of Theta Kapp.

“You sure? We’ve got something that will ensure a
really
good night,” she says, lowering her voice and wiggling her eyebrows knowingly.

She should know better. I glare at her. “Seriously, Kayla?”

I’ve never done drugs before and Jace hasn’t in nearly a year. Not to get all self-righteous here, but Jace definitely can’t afford
that
kind of partying with the spotlight on him. Not to mention all the other reasons.

Kayla straightens up, and I notice her pupils are dilated. “Chill, Pepper. We’re discreet.” Her voice is condescending, and I don’t like it. “Besides, Jace wouldn’t be the only one on his team letting loose after a great game.”

“That’s not very discreet, now, is it?” Jace’s voice is low with suppressed anger.

“Jeez, Jace, you used to be so much fun,” she huffs and then her eyes widen when she takes in our expressions. She’s gone too far. And she knows it.

“What are you trying to say?” I’m not afraid to stand up for myself anymore. If she wants to hash this out, I’m game.

Her stuttering is interrupted by Gage Fitzgerald, who throws his arm around Kayla. “Kayla bear!” he greets her jovially. “Let’s not forget we have an audience,” he says quietly in her ear before looking pointedly at me and then Jace.

An audience doesn’t bother me. We’re not saying anything I’m uncomfortable with others overhearing. But Kayla blanches under Gage’s arm.

Speaking loudly now, Gage says to Jace, “Hey man, ran into your pal Wes the other day.”

I’m back on alert, not liking the way he said
pal
. That was weeks ago. Where is he going with this?

Jace remains silent, refusing to encourage Gage.

“He was at the creek with your girl, here.” Gage nods at me. He’s testing Jace for a reaction, and fortunately Jace doesn’t give him one. He’s better at reining it in than he used to be. Besides, I already told Jace about that excursion. He didn’t seem thrilled, and I didn’t feel right about it either, so I’ve tried to avoid one-on-one hanging out with Wes since.

“Are you trying to imply something?” Jace sounds threatening, and I’m happy he’s forced Gage to get right to the point. He doesn’t do well at pretending to be nice. Or oblivious for that matter. Gage wants something, and he might as well let us know what it is.

Frankie has joined us, and when I glance at him it registers that he’s protective of me and Jace. Or maybe just Jace, and me by association. It’s reassuring, and even though I don’t know him very well, I trust him for some reason. He looks like a bodyguard standing there, legs wide, arms crossed, buzz cut and serious expression aimed at Gage.

I almost let out a giggle, but instead I just smile and nod at Frankie, who lets down his warrior attitude for a moment to wink at me.

Gage has backed off a little from his cocky tone. He raises his hands in a “take it easy” gesture. “I’m not implying anything, Wilder. If you’re cool with Pepper here sunbathing in a string bikini with another guy, or a whole bunch of other guys as it turned out, then…”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence. Jace lets go of me so fast I almost lose my balance. But before he can throw a punch, Frankie is there, holding him back and telling him to think about what he’s doing.

“You heard what the fucker said,” Jace says through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, and it’ll be all over the Internet in an hour if you don’t back off,” Frankie reasons.

Other guys from the football team have joined us, and Gage seems to recognize he’s screwed up.

“Look man, I’m not trying to be an asshole. Just looking out for you,” Gage takes a step back as he says this, bringing Kayla with him. She’s clearly not entirely with it, though, because her eyes are darting around unfocused and she’s unsteady on her feet. High or drunk or both, I don’t really care.

“Don’t,” Jace tells him harshly.

“Wes is around here somewhere.” Gage gestures in a circle. “I’m sure he can clear up any misunderstanding.”

Jace’s jaw clenches and I reach for him, unsure how close he is to losing it.

“Frankie, where’s the keg?” Jace asks, without taking his eyes off Gage, who keeps backing away until he’s swallowed by the crowd.

Before Frankie responds, someone has handed Jace a red solo cup full to the brim, which he immediately chugs. Jace’s grasp on my hand is tight and I expect him to lead me away from the party, but instead he leads me to a chair by the fire and pulls me onto his lap.

“What’s his problem?” I ask, unable to restrain my curiosity, even if Jace is better off being distracted right now. “Last I knew he was sucking up to you.”

Jace rubs his forehead. “It’s complicated.”

“Secrets aren’t cool,” I remind him. I’m confused, because most of the ugly in Jace’s life comes from his past.

“We will have to get cozier if we want to keep this private.” He squeezes my hips and smirks, and some of the tension I’m carrying lifts. He hasn’t closed himself off.

“Like this?” I tease, straddling and facing him in front piggy-back style. Now it’s just the two of us, our faces inches apart. I don’t care if everyone
is
staring. Being Jace Wilder’s girlfriend has made me bolder. Stronger. I have to be able to handle the ugly in his life.