I’ve always wanted to punch Julian Reed in the face. Tonight is no exception.

“Come on, Kick. What’s going on with her? She disappeared on me.” He’s been begging me to talk to him about Shay for ten minutes, and I can’t get him off my back. It’s Saturday night, twenty-four hours after watching Jack Kingston on stage, and I should have my groove on. The entire women’s swim team came over to our place to pre-game, and now we’re at a party with endless attractive dudes. But I’m not really feeling it, and Julian Reed is driving me nuts.

Julian’s the captain of the men’s swim team at Cal U, and he’s been hooking up with Shay for the past year. Their arrangement isn’t all that unusual in college, but I hate it. It might work for some people, but not Shay. They’re casual, and not exclusive. This means that Shay only hooks up with Julian but Julian sleeps around. Though Shay had a huge crush on the guy growing up, I don’t think she has feelings for him anymore. He was always just that hot guy at swim meets the girls liked to gossip about. We didn’t really know him.

Now that we do, he’s fluff. There’s nothing to him. He obviously wants something more from my sister than a one-night stand because they have this weird non-relationship thing that keeps going on, but he doesn’t have the balls to do anything about it. Shay needed to shake him loose and move on, and now that she’s met Jett Decker, I think she finally will.

Now I just have to shake off Julian.

“Dude,” I say with annoyance. “I’m not Shay’s babysitter. She’s a big girl. And I’m not giving you anything on her and Jett, so just give it up already.”

Julian saw Jett at our place this morning, so he knows all he needs to know. I’m not taking the bait.

Chris Sweetwater walks by and I take the opportunity to break off from Julian.

“Hey, Chris!” I call out.

At over six and a half feet tall, the basketball player can easily spot me over the crowd.

“Kick, what’s up?”

Chris is all male athleticism and definitely a guy I would get with if the opportunity presented itself. Tonight seems to be such an opportunity, and I really need something to take my mind off Jack Kingston.

I make my way over to Chris, not missing Julian’s huff of annoyance that I’m blowing him off.

“You headed to Alpha Chi Beta?” I ask.

“Yep. You coming? There’s a few people hanging there and we’ve got the good alcohol.”

He’s happy to have me round up a group of my girls from the team to join before leading us to the frat. This is when my blood should be pumping with excitement of the possibilities for the night. Chris is f-i-n-e fine, with ebony skin, broad shoulders, and, if I remember from a spotting in the weight room, a six-pack. Heading to his frat with my girls to meet up with more guys should give me a rush, that feeling of anticipation and the excitement of roping him in and wrapping him around my finger for the night. But nope. Nada. No buzz, not even from the drinks I had earlier.

Chris directs us up to the balcony where the liquor is, saying he’s going to grab a few more guys who are downstairs playing beer pong.

We open the doors to the balcony and the first person I spot is Jett Decker, whose arms are wrapped around my sister. They look good together and I start to smile, until I notice who they’re talking to. Townie. Kings of Sound’s drummer.

When my eyes settle on Jack a moment later, the onslaught of emotions is unwelcome. Despite the anger and embarrassment caused by his rejection, there’s a tug there, pulling me toward him. What the hell is he doing here? This is my scene, my territory, my people.

Stomping forward, I head straight for the bar. He’s standing with a group of guys from the track team, whom I recognize as Jett’s friends. Though I’m trying to ignore him, I can’t help but notice there’s a familiarity there, as if he already knows these guys.

Townie is talking to my sister. “Wait, did I see you after the show last night? With that smoking chick in red leather pants?”

“That was me,” I tell him as I reach for a bottle of vodka. Hearing his description of me, I’m glad I’m dressed to kill again tonight. Our aunt Coco showed up after practice today and brought us some designer dresses from her friend Ella Frost’s line. Coco’s only fourteen years older than us, and fourteen years younger than our mom. She’s more like a sister to us than an aunt, and she’s here tonight, partying with us like a college kid.

My eyes can’t help but dart over to Jack, who hasn’t turned from his conversation.

“Ah, now it makes sense,” Townie says knowingly.

My eyes snap back to him. “What does?”

“Why Jack wanted to go to a college party tonight. Seemed random.”

I let out a noise of disbelief and amusement. Jack didn’t want me. He was turned on, sure, because he’s a guy, but he thought I was trash. I bet the number he left me wasn’t even his. He probably just wanted to let me down gently and didn’t want to be a dick. “Oh, no. Rock star boy isn’t here for me.” He’ll probably be annoyed to find me here.

Coco, who’s standing with Jack and the track guys, notices us. “You found us!” She throws her hands up, splashing her drink.

I sense Jack turning to acknowledge what Coco is referring to, and I force myself not to look at him. As Beatrice, Fran and Tori swarm Jack, I turn to my sister, trying to clue her in about the Julian situation. I know the girls were trying to text her, warn her that Julian was looking for her and all worked up about it. She’s going to have to figure out how to deal with that situation.

Everything is just off tonight. I need to get back in my groove. I turn to the bar, where Coco is making drinks, and snag one, sucking half of it down in one go. If I can’t get the buzz I’m looking for elsewhere, maybe alcohol will give it to me.

The pull to go over to Jack isn’t lessening, and I can only imagine Beatrice and the others fawning over him, touching him, flirting. They were at the concert last night, but we got split up early on. None of them know what happened after the show, and I’m certainly not planning on telling them. It takes all my willpower to stay rooted next to my sister, though it helps that Townie’s providing some intel on Jack.

Apparently, Keenan, Jett’s best friend, went to elementary school with Jack. I’m half listening to Townie explain how everyone knows each other, but also straining to listen for Jack’s voice. Tori’s on about the concert last night, and Jack isn’t saying anything. Will he show them his sweet side too, or keep up the cool rocker vibe?

A sharp elbow in my rib pulls me out of my head. Shay asks, “How did he know we were up here?” It’s then I realize Julian Reed has arrived and is grinning like a Cheshire cat, with a crew of guys from the swim team behind him.

Ugh. This night keeps getting better and better. “Shit. He must have followed us. Or maybe one of the girls texted one of the guys. They wouldn’t have told Julian to come up, but maybe Fran told Brett or something.” Fran and Brett hook up on the regular like Julian and Shay used to. If Shay had been checking her texts she’d be prepared for this possibility.

When Julian approaches Shay and acts like she’s not standing there with another guy, my patience with him is up. Any restraint I showed him earlier is gone. I’m about to charge forward and finally throw the punch I’ve been wanting to, but a hand grabs my wrist. I glance over to Coco, who shakes her head at me, telling me to back down.

“There you are, Shay. We didn’t get to finish talking earlier.” His words are benign, but his stance is aggressive, his eyes suggestive, and his voice makes it sound like “earlier” was something intimate.

As Julian continues to talk, I squeeze my fists, imagining pummeling him in his pretty face.

“Shay, you’ve been in my bed, and only my bed, for a year now. I’ve been patient, taking things at your pace, and then you suddenly tell me you’re serious with another guy? I don’t think so, baby.”

My eyes swing to Shay, knowing that Coco wants me to let Shay handle this, but amazed that she’s able to keep her cool. Jett has a hold on her too, and I wonder if that’s keeping her grounded. She’s steady as she slowly articulates her response. “There are so many things wrong with what you just said, I don’t even know where to start.” The chill in her voice is unmistakable.

I tear away from Coco’s hold and take a step forward, unable to restrain myself any longer. “I’ll do it for you,” I say. If I can’t physically attack him, I can at least point out what an idiot the guy is. “First of all, your definition of patience is flawed. You’ve been sleeping around the entire past year, sending Shay and everyone else the message that you and Shay weren’t exclusive and it wasn’t serious between the two of you. Shay didn’t sleep around because she’s not like that. Not because she thought things were serious between the two of you. Well, she found someone she wants to be serious with now, so you need to back the hell off and stop acting like you have some claim on her.”

“I do have a claim on her, Kick,” Julian replies easily. “All the guys on campus know it, except this guy,” Julian nods toward Jett without looking at him, “didn’t get the message when he transferred here. Shay knows none of the other girls mattered. She’s the one I’ve stayed with. The others were one time.”

A growl escapes my throat and I start to charge forward as Julian tries to reach around me to get to Shay. This time, two strong hands wrap around my waist and pull me back. They’re too powerful to be Coco’s and I know immediately by the way my heart picks up who is holding me. I should be pulling away, stiffening from the uninvited touch, but my body betrays me, sinking back into him.

“You’re a real fireball, you know that?” he says, chuckling in my ear. “But this isn’t your fight,” he whispers. I know he’s right. I’m pissed at Julian, and I want to protect my sister, let her have something better with Jett, but the need to fight doesn’t stem entirely from her situation. I’m angry about something else too, and I don’t want to identify just what that is.

With the feel of Jack’s hands around my waist and the smell of his aftershave infiltrating my senses, I don’t hear the rest of the conversation between Julian and Shay. I hardly even notice Shay and Jett leaving, as I revel in how strange it is that Jack’s touch is so familiar. Like he’s held me a million times before. The rest of the world just fades away.

I don’t know how long we stay like that, seconds or minutes, but I stiffen when Chris comes onto the balcony with four other basketball players. Jack’s hands fall away at my reaction. I’d forgotten about Chris and my intentions for him tonight. Now, I can’t find an ounce of excitement at the site of him. I’ve finally got that stirring in my belly I was longing for earlier, but it’s for the wrong guy. All I can think about is how Jack felt against me last night, the smell of him around me right now. But Jack made it clear he doesn’t want what I have to offer.

I’m torn. Do I try to change his mind?

I turn to look at him. His expression is anything but playful. There’s no sign of the dimples as he watches me, dark and intent, his jaw set. He’s not showing me the sweet Jack. It’s the rocker Jack tonight. And I know, without any words exchanged, that Jack Kingston isn’t the kind of guy who changes his mind once he’s made a decision.