Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University 1)

This girl kills me. I get lost staring at the soft pillow of her bottom lip, the way it gets really full in the middle and tapers on the sides. I want to kiss her so badly again it’s painful. Physically fucking painful.

“Rea?”

Her voice snaps me out of my staring jag. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

We make our way up the steps to the carved mahogany front door and Lionel, my parents’ estate manager for the past ten years, is already holding it open. He must’ve seen us on the security cameras. Not a moment after he greets us, my mother is advancing down the hallway, headed straight for us, heels clicking all the way.

“There’s my baby. I see you’re still not wearing sunscreen.”

With her short blonde hair and line-free face, my mom looks half her age. She’s about Alice’s height, maybe a little thinner. The only feature we share are her eyes. People have even mistaken me for her boyfriend.

She hugs me quickly, cups my face, and let’s go even faster. My mother is a nervous person. Brisk movements, quick smiles, fast talking. It’s just how she is. Her keen stare shifts to Alice who’s been standing quietly to the side watching us. “And who’s this? A friend?”

“Mom, this is Alice.”

Alice comes forward with an outstretched hand and a shy smile and an overwhelming amount of pride invades my chest. It catches me off guard. Then again, Alice has been catching me off guard since the moment I met her. And although I’m not sure yet how I feel about it, I do know that I’ve never felt like this before.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Dr. Reynolds. And thank you so much for having me. Your house is amazing.”

Dr. Deb, as Brian and I used to call her just to piss her off, offers her a brief smile and her hand a quick squeeze. “Nice to meet you too, Alice. Reagan seldom brings friends home so it’s a pleasure to have you.”

The subtext––my mother’s fishing for clarification. She’s hoping Alice is only a friend. I also note she didn’t tell Alice to call her Deborah the way she told Jordan.

Mom’s gaze focuses intently on Alice’s face. “You have beautiful skin.”

Alice grins widely. “Thank you. I wear sunscreen.”

Mom smiles back. “I know. I’m a dermatologist. Come in. The Richardsons are already here.” While Mom walks ahead of us, headed for the den, I take Alice’s hand in mine.

Alice’s smile turns into surprise and confusion, but I don’t have time to explain that the moment we stepped inside my house a sense of protectiveness came over me. That I feel responsible for having dragged her into a den of hungry wolves. Alice only has a vague idea of what my parents are capable of and it better stay that way.

“Your father is boring them to death with stories about work. Jordan is so excited to seen you, honey.”

Shit. My steps slow. Had my mother mentioned Jordan was coming, I would never have come. My mother walks into the den ahead of us, and I pull Alice back.

“What?” she whispers at my expression of pure frustration.

“Whatever I say in there––just go with it.”

“Go with what? Reagan?”

I enter the den tugging her along. My father and Steve Richardson are huddled by the television where the Cowboys are up on the Redskins by a field goal. Glancing over his shoulder, he glares at me. “Reagan, I thought I said four?” It’s only 4:20 but the old man never misses an opportunity to bust my balls.

“How’s the team doing?” Mr. Richardson calls out.

“Opening round of the NCAA tournament next Saturday,” I reply and he gives me a thumbs-up. My old man barely musters a smile.

“Rea!” Jordan gets up from the couch and closes the distance between us in seconds. My muscles stiffen automatically. All except for my dick of course. That’s a pretty good recap of our relationship. Hidden behind me, Alice tries to extricate her hand from mine and I tighten my hold.

Jordan, easily five-eleven in heels, throws her arms around my neck and pulls my head closer. She attempts to kiss me on the lips and I turn away in time to avoid it.

“Jordan. This is Alice, my girlfriend.” If my turning away from her doesn’t adjust her expectations, then my tone better.

Jordan’s smile disappears and there’s an audible gasp in the room. Not sure if it came from Alice, Jordan, or my mother. It’s a poorly designed plan, on the fly, and the best I can do on short notice. I won’t be ambushed, and I can see now it was the plan all along. Which is why my plan is to dine and ditch as quickly as possible.

One-handed, I pry Jordan’s wrist free from around my neck and drop it. Her sharp blue eyes shuttle between me and Alice who’s looking less and less comfortable with more and more attention on her.