“You’re acting funny,” Lee said from the barstool next to me. Being my best friend, obviously gave her the right to say whatever the hell she felt, whenever the hell she felt like it.

Why put a muzzle on her now? It wouldn’t help. She was going to call me out, regardless. I was an open book around her, which came from years of being my best friend. But man could she be annoying. How could someone so pretty, be so painstakingly frustrating?

Good thing I loved her.

I eyed her over the rim of my beer as I took another sip. The alcohol wasn’t doing anything to ease my mind. If anything, it made me even more fidgety. My leg bounced swiftly underneath the high bar table to the uneven rhythm of my heart.

“Leave it alone.” I pleaded with my eyes, so that she’d understand. It wasn’t the time or the place to be having some drawn out lengthy ass conversation about “Her”. Just mentioning her name felt wrong. At least, it did with this crowd. Too many people, too many prying eyes and ears. It was better that I left the subject off the table with our other friends around.

She nodded. Her hand brushed my shoulder as she stood up. “I’m here if you need me.” Her soft, sweet voice was exactly what I needed to hear. Over the years, she’d been not only my best friend, but also my safety net. I’d never completely fall, so long as she was in my life.

Sounds pathetic, I know. To rely on someone else for comfort and security, is ridiculous, especially someone that I’m not in love with. I mean I do love her, just in a purely platonic and friends only kind of way. No matter what though, I could always find comfort in her words when I needed it.

I smiled at her as she walked towards the other end of the table and left me sitting there by myself. The place was busy with the college nightlife crowd. It was elbow to asshole, barely an empty seat in the whole place. I sat facing the door waiting for Gwen Taylor to waltz inside. The moment I got the text from Obi, telling me that they had to stop and get Gwen, but they were on their way, I’d completely come undone.

One girl had that kind of power over me.

She made me a messy fool of a man.

Just thinking about her was toxic. My hands were sweaty. My heart was beating at an uneven pace. My leg shook like I had a nervous tick. It took me exactly thirty seconds to go from cool, calm, and collected, to a hormone-raged, obsessed teenager. It wasn’t like seeing a silhouette through a window. It was going to be the real thing this time.

I barely knew the girl, and to make matters worse, she was the little sister of Fox Taylor. You may as well have put a flashing red bulls eye on my back and issued a death warrant. Yes, it was that bad. I didn’t realize it at first, but the security that surrounded this girl was locked tight. She was like a rare jewel, with soundless, deadly alarms surrounding her. If you got too close, or didn’t maneuver just right, then you’d likely catch a silent bullet straight to the heart.

I swear I’m not exaggerating. After asking around campus, I learned that Gwen Taylor was off limits. Not just to me. There wasn’t a single guy on campus that would dare go near her.

Until me, that is.

I was a complete idiot, and I couldn’t stop myself.

The first moment I laid eyes on her, she took my breath away. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever met. One look, and you’d forget how to breathe. She had these dark blue-gray piercing eyes, and extra-long eyelashes. And man… Those lips. Sheesh.

Call me cynical, but her looks were what first attracted me to her. I was a red-blooded male after all, so I’d be lying if I said that the physical attraction didn’t come first. But, when she opened her mouth… God Damn!

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. Just the thought of her made me grow tight against my jeans.

“Another beer?” The waitress asked, as she stopped next to me. She was pretty girl, and no doubt flirting with me. Batting her lashes, and flipping her long red hair, but I was far from interested.

“Sure,” I replied, dismissing her as fast as I could.

She turned around quickly, and marched back towards the bar. Her ego was likely bruised, but she’d have to get over it.

Not today, Sweetheart. Not today.

You know how in the movies when a gorgeous girl walks into the room and everything slows down. The music slows, her walk slows, and everyone is anticipating her next move as her hair magically blows in the wind, even though she’s indoors.

Yes?

No?

Well, it’s exactly what happened when Gwen Taylor strolled inside the building. The whole room stood still. Okay, so maybe not the whole room, but it sure felt like it. I know my heart stopped.

She walked in with both of her brothers. Fox had his arm around her shoulder, and Obi stood close enough behind her that he looked like her own personal bodyguard. She may as well have been encased by Fort Knox.

There was some big mystery surrounding that girl that I wish I’d known. I understood the need to be a little overprotective. She was young and beautiful. But, there was clearly something else going on, some big secret that the rest of the world was clueless of.

The students at school talked about Fox like he was ten foot tall and bulletproof. They kept their distance from him, never pissed him off. And no one, I meant no one, ever crossed him when it came to Gwen.

I didn’t want to be the one in a million that did, but it all seemed shady to me. It wasn’t like I was scared of him. He wasn’t some psycho that chopped people’s heads off for fun. He was just Fox, the guy with a badass attitude, who didn’t mind knocking around anyone who got in his way. What scared me was the look that Gwen gave me that night at the school carnival. The one that made me think that she was worried, upset, or maybe even a little scared. I didn’t know her well enough to have all the answers, but I wanted to.

Thankfully, that night at the carnival it was crowded. It gave us a whole “two minutes” together. In that short amount of time, she must’ve looked over her shoulder twenty times. I asked her a couple of times if everything was okay, and she kept saying yes. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t shake the truth out of her. But the feeling I’d had in the pit of my stomach was real. Something was going on. When she started to rush off, I asked if I could see her again. She told me that she couldn’t, and offered no explanation. Little did she know, I was persistent when there was something I wanted. I reached for her hand, and it stunned us both. Her sweet voice whispered quickly, “text me” and she rushed away from me like her feet were on fire.

That night was on repeat in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t help wondering why she ran off, and why those brothers of hers watched her like a hawk. If only I could get her alone for more than five minutes at a time.

When they walked up to our table everyone said hey, and I watched those blue-grey eyes make their way to me. She smiled, but swiftly looked away. For days I’d been waiting for her to text me back, and not very patiently I might add. It was like waiting for rain in a drought. I must’ve sent her ten text messages, and she hadn’t replied to even one. For all I knew, she could’ve given me the wrong number. Maybe she was playing me for the fool, but she didn’t seem like the type of girl that would do that.

“Hey, Man. How’s it going?” Obi asked me, as he sat down on the stool next to mine. Gwen sat in the seat next to his at the end of the table, and Fox sat down on her other side. The three of them had me on the edge of my seat.

“I’m good.” I told him, trying my best not to stare at his sister. It was hard to do with her so close.

“You seen Garrett?” He questioned, as he waved over the waitress.

I pointed to the dance floor. He was already half lit, and making a complete fool out of himself. Lately, Sober Garrett was nowhere to be found.

“What is he doing?” Gwen asked. The sudden sound of her voice sent chills down my spine.

I had to clear my throat before I could even answer her. “Looks like maybe, the Cupid Shuffle.” I grinned. “Although, I think he left out the cupid, or maybe the shuffle.”

She giggled, and dammit I had to look away.

Get it together, Man.

“He looks ridiculous,” Fox said.

“I think he was half drunk when he got here,” I admitted. “He said something about wanting to drop a course, but his counselor wouldn’t let him. He has to keep the credits to stay in the dorms. He’s been pissed off about it ever since.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s pissed off or fucking peachy. He’ll use any excuse to get wasted. I’m going to go say something to him.” Obi slapped his hand down on the table before heading for the crowded dance floor, leaving an empty chair between Gwen and me.

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve already been twirling my girl around the dance floor. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and she wasn’t my girl. I may as well have been thirteen all over again. I was stealing glances at her, and trying not to be obvious about it.

The waitress from earlier walked up to the table to bring my beer and to take Fox’s order. Once she set eyes on Fox, I was forgotten. He ordered a drink and then stood up from his stool.

“I’ve got to run to the bathroom. Scoot over next to Josh,” he told Gwen. It was surprising. Outside of our card games, we hardly said anything to one another. It wasn’t like we were best buddies or anything. “Can you keep an eye on her for a minute? I won’t be gone long.”

Oh shit.

I noticed the way Gwen dropped her head. Clearly, she was embarrassed that Fox seemed to think she needed a sitter. Fact of the matter was that she was eighteen. It’s pretty messed up that she couldn’t be left alone at a table for a few minutes. The whole gang was here. Well, besides Jude.

Whatever the hell was going on with this girl, I wanted to know about it.

“Sure thing,” I agreed.

Glancing around the table I locked eyes with Lee. She had this cheesy grin on her face, and I wished I had something within arm’s reach to toss at her head.

Fox walked off towards the bathrooms, and I silently prayed for a long line. He pegged me for the wrong guy the moment he trusted me with his sister. Not that I’d take advantage, or let something happen to her because I wouldn’t. I had good intentions. Mostly. I just wasn’t the little piggy he thought I was, who fled at the sight of danger. I was the wolf. I’d use his trust to my advantage, if that’s what it took to get closer to her.

Was it likely for the Wolf and the Fox to be friends?

Maybe in this story…

“I was beginning to think I dreamt you up, and that you weren’t real,” I whispered to Gwen.