Kingpin (Court University 2)

“Thanks.” So obviously curious about the gesture, she eyed me. She shrugged. “And sorry about the bumps before. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, I wasn’t.” I held up my phone for emphasis. “These things are like crack.”

A snort, a light and bubbly snort when she’d been a little cold before. Well, my joke made her laugh now, I guess, and nodding, she agreed.

“For sure,” she said, and when I grabbed some apples, she noticed mine. “Those look better than mine.”

“Well, the trick is the color. And the feel too. See.” I pressed down, then let her. “I think the ones you have just aren’t quite ripe. Let me help you.”

“Yeah?” She appeared shocked, and I grinned.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Between the pair of us, we got a real good set together and got her bag so full she’d be eating apples for days. I had no idea where her parents were or if she was shopping herself, but she appeared to be alone.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually getting so

mething healthy, Dasha—”

At least, I believed she was alone, alone until another set of bright blue eyes and a cool grin came my way. It faded instantly upon seeing me, LJ with a cart in his hands and looking all domestic.

And how good he looked, leather jacket on and pushed up his mighty arms. He accompanied the ensemble with a set of well-worn jeans that sagged low at his hips and crisp white sneakers that matched his T-shirt. His hair was also a darkened blond, wet like he either put product in it or was just out the shower.

He swallowed upon seeing me, and this girl, Dasha, rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t be an asshole,” she stated, making me blanch. No one talked to this guy like that. I was sure not even the police. Cradling the bag of apples, she propped a fist on her hip. “I was just trying to help you out since you eat well, Jesus.”

Judging by the contents of his cart, he didn’t, the thing filled to the brim with pizza bagels and cereal. I tried not to look at it, my attention mostly on him, and wetting my lips, I severed the attention back to the girl. She deposited the apples into the cart, then smiled at me.

“Thanks for your help before,” she said, truly shocking the fuck out of LJ, whose head snapped back. She directed a thumb at him. “This one’s no fucking help at all.”

“Watch it, attitude. Or you’ll be walking your ass back to the house.”

The girl merely jutted her shoulders at the LJ I’d come to know and love, and I had to give it to this girl. She had real moxie.

Giving him a little wink, Dasha waltzed right past LJ, moving onto some grapes and I considered the name as I looked at her.

Dasha…

That’d been the girl blowing up LJ’s phone, this girl.

Like LJ realized my thought process too, he studied me but made no comment. He nodded at my cart. “Doing a little grocery shopping?”

“Trying,” I said, all this so very awkward. I literally hadn’t talked to this guy outside of class, and the last time I had, we’d been screwing each other. I pulled down my hair, letting the red fall in thick tumbles, and LJ noticed.

His pupils dilated just a bit, his hands gripping his cart. Seemingly bothered, he glanced around, and I attempted to keep my heart in check. This guy screwed with my insides something awful, always did. He wet his lips. “You helped my sister?”

Confirmed, that she was indeed a relative, a sister, I felt really silly for how things did go down. I’d been wildly jealous, but then again, he hadn’t acted right either. My jaw moved. “Yeah. She didn’t know what she was doing. Picking apples?” But then I eased a look into his cart, smiling a little. “Seems someone hasn’t taught her much about produce.”

Eyes cut back, possibly a retort on his lips, but then that wicked grin that teased my heart. He rubbed his neck. “That obvious? I’m trying here but find myself giving her what she wants instead of what she actually needs. It’s always been that way. With all my sisters.”

A pushover, this guy?

As if he knew my thoughts again, his cheeks colored. Lance Johnson… flushing. Someone had to be playing a trick on me. He grinned. “I admit I could do better. Dasha’s staying with me for a little while. Albeit, temporarily.”

A middle finger lifted from the grapes area, Dasha when she flipped her brother off, and I had to bite back my smile.

“And as you can see, she has a hell of an attitude,” he grunted, then sighed. “She and my mom have been bumping heads lately so…”