“Whatever the fraternity pays you to DD,” she said, “you should ask for a raise.”
His throat felt dry, burning. He didn’t understand what was happening. What had he done to deserve her kindness? The last time they’d spoken, she’d made it clear she hated him and would continue to hate him.
“I…I volunteer,” he croaked, feeling lame.
Her eyes flared with surprised. She opened her mouth as if to ask him why. But then she pressed her lips back together and glanced away. “Well…thanks for being so patient with us and pulling over for Tess. She…”
She motioned into the car but didn’t seem to know what to say about her friend. He didn’t know what to say about her gratitude. Had he just fallen down a hill and landed on his head? Paige Zukowski was not supposed to be nice to him. To tease him.
“Yeah, well…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, utterly uncomfortable, out of his element, and not sure what to do about the girl he was obsessed with actually smiling at him. He was used to her hating him. “At least she’s a happy drunk. A lot of them aren’t.”
Her gaze touched on his and something dark and knowing swam in the depths of her brown eyes. “How well I know that.”
At first, he thought she was referring to him. The last time he’d been drunk, he’d killed someone. That was about as far removed from being a happy drunk as a person could get. But then, in an unconscious gesture, she touched the side of her shoulder and rubbed one specific spot. He tracked the movement with his gaze, seeing a half-moon shaped scar embedded in her perfect skin.
“Wha—” Shocked, he lurched forward to help her, much the same way he’d done at The Squeeze when she’d cut her finger. Not that he could do anything about a scar that had healed long ago, but his body reacted before his head did. He wanted to fix anything wrong with her.
But she jerked back, her eyes flaring with fear. He stopped himself, realizing what he was doing. Body going into a hyper-aware kind of shock, his epidermis heated and chilled at the same time, making his entire system feel as if he had ants crawling on him.
She knew pain at the hands of a nasty drunk and bore a scar to prove it.
That wasn’t acceptable.
He wanted to act. He wanted to hurt whoever had hurt her. Fisting his hands at his sides, he let his system prepare for war even though it was too late to do anything about it now.
Feeling as useless as he’d ever felt, he whispered, “Your dad?”
Of course it had been her dad. She’d already admitted as much at the one group meeting they’d attended together, talking about how her father had turned into a drunk.
Without answering, Paige jerked away and jumped into the back seat with her friends, slamming the door.
Logan stood there, hollowed out and numb. Tempted to stumble to the bushes and borrow Tess’s sick spot, he covered his mouth with one hand because it struck him how much this was his fault. His actions had turned her father into a morose alcoholic, and she had suffered the consequences.
“So how do you guys know each other?”
Logan glanced over his shoulder to find Bailey perching herself on the edge of her seat so she could rest a forearm on the back of his and lean in toward him with an expectant look.
He cleared his throat and shifted, casting a quick darting peek in his rearview mirror to meet Paige’s gaze. He still couldn’t believe her dad had actually hit her. And left a scar.
“We, uh, we work together at The Squeeze,” she said, looking straight at his reflection, her gaze demanding he keep silent about everything else, which baffled him.
“Really? Hmm. Paige has never mentioned you before.” The way Bailey said Paige’s name told him Paige was getting a stern, reprimanding look. He slid another quick glance into his mirror, amazed she hadn’t told her friends about him. Amazed she didn’t want them to know.
She’d told no one. Anything.
When she looked up and made eye contact, he realized she wouldn’t say anything, either.
Why hadn’t she fed him to the wolves already and gotten him chased out of Granton? He appreciated her silence more than he could say, but he had a sinking feeling it was for her own protection, not his. If she spoke of his relationship to her, she might have to keep talking, and reveal her mother’s suicide and father’s abuse.
Dawning realization struck him. That had to be it. He clenched his teeth, not liking this insight at all. He didn’t like thinking she couldn’t talk to anyone about her scars—physical and emotional. Maybe he should go see Samantha and ask her to seek out Paige privately and—but no. Every time he’d butted into Paige Zukowski’s life, he’d only left her hurting more. He needed to mind his own damn business.
Blinking rapidly, he forced his attention to the road and slowed to turn down the street toward her dormitory. Okay, so he finally understood her silence concerning him. But why was she being so pleasant when he knew she hated him and still blamed him for Trace’s death?
As he pulled alongside the curb in front of Grammar Hall, a group of guys had gathered around a small tree on the front lawn and were launching things into the branches at something cowering above them.
“What is that?” he said, squinting as he leaned forward to see better. It looked as if they’d treed some kind of animal.
In the back seat, Paige gasped. “Oh my God. Einstein!” She pushed open the back driver’s side door before he’d even come to a complete halt.
“Paige!” He slammed on the brake, though she was already out and sprinting a lopsided dash in her high heels across the front lawn. Approaching the largest guy in the group, she dived at him, shoving him square in the chest with both hands and making him falter backwards away from the tree.
Logan’s jaw dropped. “Holy—is she completely insane?”
“Yes,” Bailey moaned. “Yes, she is.”
Ripping open his door, Logan got out of the car and sprinted toward the action, hearing her friends scrambling after him.
“How many times have I told you to leave him alone already?” Paige roared to the big fellow, pushing him again. “Don’t you have anything better to do, like get a life?”
“Maybe I would, if you’d ever go out with me.” Instead of looking insulted, the guy appeared as if he’d just accepted a challenge. Stepping right up to her until he was entirely too close, he reached out and ran his fingers over her bare shoulder, playing with the thin red strap holding up her dress.
Logan moved to intervene, his teeth clenched with fury.
But with a growl of repugnance, Paige grabbed the bully’s hand off her shoulder, by his thumb, and twisted hard, making him grunt out a sound of pain as he doubled over. “Are you trying to make me sick?”
Stumbling to a halt, Logan’s mouth dropped open. Paige must’ve applied more pressure to the guy’s thumb because he bowed down nearly onto his knees before her and whimpered.
“No, ma’am,” her victim rushed to croak. “But he…the little homo was watching me take a shower.”
“I don’t care if he was trying to join you in the shower. No human being deserves to be chased up a tree like an animal. Leave him alone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Next time, just tell him to stop.” Releasing Einstein’s tormentor, Paige pushed him back and stepped toward the tree, opening her arms as if prompting a kitten to jump down to her.
“Okay, everybody clear out,” Logan called, deciding to clean up while she was preoccupied. “Now! Get going.”
He waved his arms wide, corralling the spectators away from Paige. Surprisingly enough, they followed his orders, slowly shuffling toward the entrance of the building. One person was even nice enough to pause and help the sore-thumbed bully up from the ground.
Inside of a minute, the only people left around the tree were him, Paige, and her two friends.
“Holy guacamole, Paige.” Bailey gaped at her. “Where’d you learn a move like that?”
Paige shrugged, her attention still up the tree.
“My brother taught it to me when I was little. Okay,” she called softly. “They’re all gone. You can come down now.”
“You’re sure?” a timid voice asked.
“I’m sure. All the mobsters have fled.”
“It’s mob,” the voice muttered.
When Paige only chuckled, the dark mass in the tree deftly leaped down, landing on the grass with ease. A young boy straightened and hurried from the shadows and straight into Paige’s arms. He buried his face in her shoulder as she hugged him close, and Logan shook his head, certain he was seeing things.
What was a kid doing on campus?
“I can’t believe she’s so nice to that freak,” Bailey hissed beside him. “Look at him. He’s gawking down her cleavage while she’s trying to pamper him like some kind of concerned mama bear.”
“Did they get you anywhere tonight?” Paige asked, pulling back just enough to look him over.
The boy shook his head, long dark bangs flopping into his eyes. “No.” After giving his sullen answer, he scooted back to her for another hug.
Paige lifted her face to her friends while she wrapped one arm around the boy’s shoulder and turned him toward the dorm building. “I’m going to take Einstein up to his room. I’ll see you guys later, okay?” Her gaze touched briefly on Logan. “Thanks again for the ride.”
Einstein yanked to an abrupt halt, looking up at Logan with sudden suspicion glittering in his eyes. “Who’s he?” he demanded, then he turned to Paige and looked her up and down. “Where were you?”
“We went to a Halloween party,” she said, tearing the bunny ears off her head as if she suddenly decided they must look lame. “I would’ve invited you, but you weren’t by the door when we left.”
As they started toward the entrance of Grammar Hall, Bailey groaned. “She would have invited him too.” After rolling her eyes, she gave a dreaded shiver. “Paige pampers the creepy little weirdo like he’s actually normal.”
“She does,” Tess agreed sadly, tipping her head to watch them leave. “I tried to be nice to him once. Told him I liked his shirt. He said it wasn’t for sale and was too small to fit me anyway.” She harrumphed. “The jerk.”
“You mean, he’s a student here?” Logan asked. “But he looks like he’s ten years old.”
“Looks ten. Acts eight.” Bailey sighed. “He’s sixteen and some boy genius or something like that, except the kid’s cracked if you asked me. He spies on everyone from under the front stairs, and if you try to talk nicely to him, he always ends up insulting your intelligence. Paige is the only person who can get him to behave slightly normal.”
“Who else here thinks he’s exactly like Plato off Rebel Without a Cause?” Tess asked, raising her own hand.
“Off what?” Bailey arched her strange look.
“Rebel Without a Cause. You know, that old classic movie with James Dean.”
“Yeah. Who here has actually seen Rebel Without a Cause?”
This time, no one put a hand in the air.
“Well, the day we find him on the top of a roof, waving a gun at everyone, don’t you come running to me and say I told you so, because…because I told you so.”
After sharing a look with Logan, Bailey cracked off a laugh. “Oh my God, you are so drunk you said that all wrong.”
Tess frowned. “I did?”
Looping her arm around Tess’s shoulder, Bailey chuckled again. “Yeah, you did. Come on, lush. Let’s get you inside.” Gesturing at Logan, she said, “Thanks for the ride, Dave, or Logan, or whoever you are.”
He watched them head in and then glanced around the now-deserted yard. He definitely couldn’t claim it had been a boring evening. Looking up at Grammar Hall, he wondered which room Paige was in now. He pictured her tucking the strange kid college student into his crib and telling him some kind of bedtime story.
This nurturing side of her was a new development. The lady certainly came in many layers, and he’d seen his fair share of them tonight alone. Jokester, warrior, temptress, nurturer.
What was worse, all of them intrigued him.
As he returned to the DD-mobile, he shook his head, his mind wandering back to that costume she’d worn.
Reggie Oates had to be the biggest idiot on earth. He’d had the most gorgeous girl in all Granton by his side tonight and he’d blown it. Logan knew he should feel bad that her date had bombed, but he just couldn’t summon the oomph. Whistling quietly to himself, he climbed into the car.
If he’d been honored enough to go to a party with her, he certainly would have paid attention to her.
Hell, he felt honored just getting to drive her home. His lips twitched with pleasure because not only had she been around him and not hated on him, but she’d actually smiled, teased him, and thanked him for the ride. Things were definitely looking up.
If he’d never learned her alcoholic father had physically scarred her, tonight might actually have ended up a being spectacular.
Chapter Sixteen
OCTOBER WORKED ITS WAY into November, and the weather grew colder as the days grew shorter.
Reggie stopped flirting with Paige in Geography. Either he must’ve known he’d lost her after the Halloween flop, or he’d lost interest himself. Whatever the case, he now sat by a stunning Latina near the back of the class and made her giggle all hour while Presni tried to give his dry lectures.
Despite all that, she wasn’t depressed. Her B in Chemistry rose to an A. And Einstein’s tormentors gave up on him altogether, finding fresh prey in another dorm building.
Mariah met a guy she liked enough that she actually entered a monogamous relationship, and her rare visits to the dorm room stopped altogether after she packed all her clothes and moved in with Gavin.
Bailey became determined to find Mariah’s castoff cowboy. She dragged Tess and Paige outside every free evening they had together so they could walk the campus, scouting for him.
And all the while, Paige looked for Logan Xander. She didn’t spot him once. Her obsession had gotten almost as bad as Bailey’s. She scanned for even a glimpse of him everywhere she went, and it wasn’t to hide from him either. There was just something about the hard-working, protective, strong-willed, tortured loner that drew her, like they were kindred spirits, though that couldn’t be possible. They were supposed to be complete opposites.
When Thanksgiving break rolled around, she packed a few days’ worth of clothes into her beaten down old car and limped it five hours back to Creighton County.
Though she still talked to Kayla over the phone, she’d spoken to her father only a handful of times all semester to check in on him. But every time she had called, he’d seemed too inconvenienced to hear from her. She’d finally stopped altogether and didn’t even bother to let him know when she’d get home for the holiday.
The house was quiet when she slipped in the back door late Tuesday night after she’d driven straight from her last class.
Too quiet. It reminded her of the day she’d come home and found her mom lying in a pool of her own blood.
“Hello?” she called in a small voice as she flipped on a light.
The sight that greeted her made her catch her breath.
Lord above, had he cleaned at all since she’d left?
“Who’s there?” a gruff voice bellowed from the living room. It didn’t really sound like Paul Zukowski, but she knew it couldn’t be anyone else.
Relief swamped her. At least he was alive. “Dad?”
A pause. “Paige?”
Footsteps slugged through the house until he appeared in the opening of the kitchen, grease and sweat stains marring the dingy off-white tank top he wore. His ragged, saggy blue jeans didn’t look any better. A half-empty beer bottle dangled loosely from one hand as if the two had grown attached to each other.
Paige wanted to weep when she saw what he had become. She could remember when he’d been the most hygienic man she’d ever known. He’d had such particular grooming habits; he used to put his hair co
mb in the dishwasher at least once a week to keep it sterilized.
But she found she couldn’t shed a single tear for him.
“What’re you doing here?” he grumbled, eyeing her as if he was trying to figure her out.
Paige forced a smile. “I’m home for Thanksgiving.”
He gave a grunt of acknowledgement and turned away. “Didn’t think you’d come back for that nonsense.”
As he began to shuffle off, she lifted onto her toes. “Kayla invited us to eat with her family this year. I thought you and I could ride over there together.”
He paused but didn’t turn around. She knew good and well that Kayla was his soft spot. “Oh,” he mumbled. “Well. I guess that’d be okay, then.”
Her shoulders relaxed as he left, but she really didn’t feel as if she’d accomplished much. Glancing around the mess that had once been her family kitchen, she blew out a long, tired sigh. Then she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
After cleaning all of Wednesday from sunup to sundown, trying to put the house back together, Paige was sore and tired, and kind of irritable. She was beyond ready for Thursday to roll around. Still, she climbed out of her childhood bed early to make a dish to bring to the Hashmans’ house for dinner.
When the oven dinged, telling her the pumpkin pie was ready, her father appeared in the doorway. This time, he’d at least attempted to tidy himself. He wore one of the shirts she’d laundered and hung in his closet the day before, and his wet hair was combed sloppily over his bald spot.
“About time to go, is it?”
Paige nodded, feeling a stirring of the doting love she’d once felt for him. She kept glancing at him from the passenger seat of his truck as he drove them to Kayla’s.
“What?” he asked with a scowl when he caught her peeking.
“You need a haircut,” she said, her lips twitching with the desire to smile.
Grumbling something incompressible under his breath, he pulled into the Hashmans’ driveway and slapped at his hair before he got out of the car.
Kayla didn’t wait by the door to greet them; she dashed outside and met them at the truck. It was strange and yet familiar for Paige to hug her. They’d been apart for so long, everything felt different. She still smelled like Kayla’s minty fragrance and felt like Kayla. Except she didn’t.