He joins us in the kitchen and gives me a half hug. He’s dressed in gym shorts and is shirtless like me.

  I jerk a thumb at Tiny. “Everything all right?”

  Leo shakes his head. “Now that Tiny has a grandkid, we’re working on a little cardiovascular fitness.”

  “Fuck that shit.” Tiny snorts and rubs his forehead with the back of his palm. “I’m getting guilted into this shit because I have a grandson. What I really care about is getting a little of my mojo back.”

  “Your mojo back?” Leo asks with a snort.

  I grin, remembering that Marla gave Tiny her number. Or vice versa. “You trying to get back into fucking shape, T?” I ask. “No shame in that.”

  Tiny gives me a blistering glare and hauls himself off the stool. “Don’t fucking call me T.”

  Leo cracks a grin. “He’s not a fan of working out. It makes him a little grouchy.”

  Tiny grunts, pointing a shaking finger at Leo. “We’re done. Son-in-law or not, no more working out.” He lumbers over to the fridge and yanks it open and curses a blue streak under his breath. “I need a goddamn Coke,” he sputters, then heads off toward his office.

  Leo shakes his head again, then fires up the coffeemaker. “So, things working out here?” he asks. “Tiny told me you’re crashing in Crow’s old room with…” Leo gives me a curious look. “Your old lady.”

  I nod but decide it’s better not to get into it. “Yeah, man. Annie and I are really grateful.”

  He looks like he’s about to press me for details, but I don’t want to explain. Leo and I are friends, but I’ve always been tighter with his older brother, Tim. It probably seems a little weird that I’ve never mentioned Annie before now, but now is definitely not the time either.

  Right on cue, Annie rushes into the kitchen, clutching her phone in her hands and looking like she just woke up. Her hair is loose and messy, and she’s wearing the same cupcake pajamas from last night. She’s biting her lower lip and looking like she’s about to break into a run.

  Immediately, my body remembers the feel of her ass against my hands and the taste of her nipples in my mouth, but my protective instincts go into overdrive at the raw fear on her face.

  “Annie, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  I cross the kitchen to meet her, and she looks at me with a wobbly smile.

  “Hey.” I pull her against my chest and kiss the top of her head, then release her and search her face. “What’s up? You were sound asleep just a minute ago.”

  She nods, then holds out her phone to me. “I woke up when you left, so I grabbed my phone to see if you’d texted where you were going.” She looks terrified. “I have six messages, Josh. All from the same person.”

  I take her phone and scroll the messages. “Neveah?” I ask.

  Annie nods.

  I read the messages and start to feel pressure building behind my eyes after each one. The first message is friendly, but with each additional message, the tone changes. The voice goes cold and almost authoritative.

  The last one has me most concerned.

  “She says if you don’t come to campus this morning and check in with her, she’s going to report you as withdrawn to Student Affairs.” I hand the phone back to her. “I’ve never been to college, but that doesn’t sound like her job.”

  Annie shrugs. “I mean, technically, I’m paying for the program. I’m not on scholarship. I should be able to come and go as I please, but I do think one of the conditions of living in the residence hall is if I plan to be away, I need to formally notify my RA. It’s a safety concern, I guess. They need to know where I am if I’m not in my room.”

  I suck in a chest full of the coffee aroma coming from the very full pot Leo’s made. “Let’s get showered and dressed. I think our first stop today is your dorm.”

  Annie nods, and I introduce her to Leo. He offers us coffee and reminds us to help ourselves to food. “I’m out, man. See you at the office later?” Leo looks me over, so I assume he hasn’t noticed the sign I put on my door back at the strip mall.

  “Not likely,” I tell him. “I’ll be working off-site until we sort this all out.”

  Leo nods, waves goodbye to Annie, then heads out.

  Once we’re alone, Annie and I grab cups of coffee and take them back to our room.

  She plops down on the bed and looks wrecked. “What is happening?” she whispers. “Could Neveah have something to do with the letters?”

  I can tell from the look on her face that the idea of the people she thought she could trust betraying her is eating her up. I wish I could reassure her. I wish I had the answers, but I don’t. I know the disappointment of those closest to you letting you down. Fuck, stabbing you right in the belly. But if that’s what Annie’s facing, she’s not going to face it alone.

  I sip my coffee, then set it down on Crow’s dresser. I sit beside her on the bed and open my arms. She tucks her head under my chest and hugs me. “You’ll get through this,” I promise. “You’re not alone. We’re going to sort out exactly who’s behind this and why. We’re going to stop it, Annie.”

  I’m not sure my words bring her any comfort. If the one person she cares about at school is somehow behind all this, she may decide, or be forced, to leave. Derailing her dreams is not something I’m looking forward to doing, but if it comes to that, her life will have to come before her art.

  I just hope to high heaven I don’t have to be the one to tell her that.

  Annie and I drive my truck onto campus and park in the student lot. I use her student parking permit and almost hope that some campus security officer checks that the tag matches the plates the permit is registered to. I have very little faith that anything like that will happen.

  We first head up to the studio just to check if there are any notes left behind. Thankfully, there are none. And no evidence that anything has been moved or disturbed since we were here last.

  Then we head to the dorms. Her room is still as messy as we left it, with only the clothes and toiletries that she took to the compound missing. Here, too, looks unchanged and untouched since yesterday.

  “That’s a relief,” Annie says, her shoulders sagging. “No new bad news to deal with.”

  “Let’s do some cleaning,” I tell her. “Let’s turn on some music and prop that door open, so that anyone who may be interested will know you’re here.”

  She looks nervous, but she nods before she uses the tip of a sneaker to hold open the door. The windows are closed, and the blinds are drawn, so she lifts them halfway up to let in light. It’ll be blazing hot in a couple hours, but by then, we’ll have made our appearance and can get out of here.

  Annie cues up a playlist on her phone and connects to a small speaker.

  I cock my chin at her and grin. “You listen to this?”

  The first song is a cover of a retro nineties girl band pop hit. The absolute opposite of what I imagine a textile artist would play, but then, I have no freaking idea what kind of music an artist listens to. There is so much I don’t know about Annie and so much more I want to learn.

  “It’s girl-power music,” she explains. “I’m not feeling very connected to strength at the moment.” She’s stepping over piles of clothes and looking like she has no idea where to begin.

  “Hey.” I toe off my boots, careful to avoid stepping on her underwear and bras, and pull her to standing. “Come here.”

  I hold her close, and she presses her ear against my chest.

  “Why do you smell so good?” she asks, breathing me in.

  I laugh. “I don’t know, babe. But you smell good enough to eat.”

  She looks up at me with a smoldering grin just as there’s a loud knock on the door.

  “Annie freaking Hannie.” Neveah storms through the door and practically yanks Annie out of my arms. She holds her close in a hug and rocks her lightly. “I’m so happy to see you, babe.”

  Neveah’s enthusiasm seems genuine until she gets a look at me. “Oh, hey.” She nods, but then she looks away and focuses all her attention on Annie. “Where’ve you been? You’ve been getting my messages, right?”

  I stand back and let Annie handle the situation, but I’m in full observation mode. I watch every move Neveah makes. I study her clothes, her shoes, her hair. There is something about her that is eerily familiar. I can’t shake the feeling that I know her from somewhere. That she’s someone I may actually have met before.

  Annie is making apologies to Neveah and explaining that she’s been staying with me and doing great. She lies, saying she hasn’t been checking her phone.

  Neveah makes a little, “Uh-huh,” noise and waves a hand at me. “Okay, so you run out and find a hot boyfriend. You can’t at least let me know, so I don’t worry?”

  Everything she says is right. She sounds like the perfect friend. Reasonable. Thoughtful. But my instincts are firing hard. There’s something about this woman that makes me not trust a word coming out of her mouth.

  “You want some help? You know you don’t have to clean this up alone.” Neveah bends down to pick up a paperback book and sets it on Annie’s desk.

  “I’m not alone,” Annie says quietly. “Josh is helping.”

  “Right, of course, I know. But, like, doesn’t he have a job or something to get off to? I got you. That’s literally what they’re paying me for.”

  I can tell that Annie is struggling to manage her friend’s attention. I pretend to engross myself in moving the mattress back onto the bed frame, but I’m racking my brain.

  “Let me help you,” Annie offers, lifting one end of the mattress.

  She and I position the mattress back on the frame with ease, and that’s when it hits me.

  I know this woman, and she is not who she says she is.

  All of a sudden, I’m faced with a choice. Do I let on to Neveah what I know—and even worse, do I tell Annie?

  I decide playing it cool for a bit is the safest path. I get an idea.

  “Babe,” I say, lifting my brows at Annie. “Is there a cafeteria or a coffee kiosk nearby? I’ll grab us some cleaning fuel.”

  Annie’s lips part and she looks like she’s about to ask me to stay, but Neveah talks over her.

  “This is a closed campus,” she says a little stiffly. “You’d need a student ID or a guest pass if you want to eat in the cafeteria.” She gives me a sweet and absolutely fake smile. “But I will treat if you’ll make a run for lattes.”

  I stand and nod. “Love that plan.”

  I think fast. Neveah is obviously trying to separate me from Annie, and I’m pretty sure there’s a good reason.

  “I’m going to hit the head before I roll out.” I slip into the bathroom attached to Annie’s room and tap out a text message to Annie.

  Right after I leave for coffee, I’m going to call you. Answer the call. I’ll explain on the phone. Got it?

  Then I hit send.

  While I wait for her to reply, I flush and run the tap so it sounds like I really did come in here to piss.

  My phone vibrates with a response to my text.

  Got it.

  I leave the bathroom and walk into the room, rubbing my hands together. “Okay, ladies. Lay your coffee orders on me.”

  Neveah asks me to get her some frothy pink drink with extra ice. I notice that she doesn’t, as she promised, grab any cash or offer to pay, but I’m okay fronting this expense. I have a plan, and I need Neveah to trust me.

  “You know what I want, babe.” Annie lifts up on her toes and kisses my cheek, and I think I fall in love with her a little in that moment.

  I have no clue what she wants from the coffee shop, but she’s playing up the fact that we’re dating for Neveah’s benefit. I want to crush her body against me and whisper that I can’t wait to give her what she wants…but I’ll have plenty of time for that tonight.

  “Be back before you can miss me,” I promise.

  I hope Neveah takes that to mean I won’t be long. Anything she has to say to Annie, she’d better say right away.

  I head down the hall, the opposite direction from the elevator, and into the stairwell, hoping like hell I get cell reception. I punch Annie’s number into my phone and dial. She answers on the second ring.

  “Hey, you forget something?” she asks.

  “Do not end the call,” I tell her, speaking quickly and quietly. “Pretend to hang up, but keep your phone on speaker so I can hear your conversation. Make sure she doesn’t see.”

  Annie doesn’t respond to what I’m saying, but instead, she says, “Yeah, honey. Let me ask Neveah.” I hear shuffling and then the sound clear as day of Annie asking whether Neveah’s hungry for lunch. I immediately mute my phone because it sounds like Annie has already put her phone on speaker.

  When she comes back to me, she says, “Thanks, but we’re both fine with just the drinks. We can eat lunch later.” She pauses only a second and then says, “Okay, babe. See you soon,” just like she’s saying it in response to something I’ve said. She’s acting out the role to perfection.

  Then I hear her say to Neveah, “He’s such a sweetheart. Gorgeous and sexy, but thoughtful too.”

  I shake my head and grin. She knows I’m listening to everything she’s saying, and fuck, I’m going to pay those compliments back and then some tonight at the compound. I stay in the stairwell listening, having absolutely no intention of actually leaving for coffee yet. If Neveah is who I think she is, Annie should be safe with her. But I want to understand exactly what she’s up to.

  “All right,” I hear Neveah say. Then I hear movement and the slam of Annie’s door. “Time for privacy. We need to talk.”

  She’s not wasting any time.

  “Okay…” Annie sounds uncertain, and I wish I could reassure her. Prove to her that, no matter what, I’m here for her. I am not going to let anything happen to her. “What do you want to talk about?”

  Neveah doesn’t say anything right away, but then she launches in and doesn’t hold back. “This hunk you’ve got glued to you. Tell me the truth. How long have you known him?”

  Annie stammers but answers in a way that feels sincere. “I mean…not that long, but long enough to know how I feel. Why?”

  When Neveah speaks next, her voice is low, but it’s incredibly clear. She must be really close to wherever Annie set the phone. “Babe, do you know what he does for a living? Do you have any idea who he really is?”

  Annie stumbles over that. “I mean, I think I know. But why? Why are you being so hard on Josh? What do you know? What’s the problem, Neveah? You’ve been acting really weird.”

  “He’s not someone you can trust, Annie.” Neveah’s voice is clear, but her tone is really setting my teeth on edge. “Listen to me, babe. He’s trouble. And all he’s going to do is bring that trouble to your door. This?” I picture her sweeping her hand around the mess in Annie’s room. “This is because of him. I’m sure of it.”

  “Wait, what?” Annie sounds genuinely confused, and my gut clenches at the sound. “What do you mean, this is because of him? Josh couldn’t have anything to do with this.”

  I feel sick at the fact that she thinks I might have had anything to do with what happened to her room. What’s happening in her life.

  But I want to know exactly what Neveah thinks. And then she says something that makes my belly turn over. “As long as you’re with that man, you’re in danger.”

  13

  ANNIE

  I know I shouldn’t feel unsafe with my friend, but I do. The way she’s looking at me. The way she’s so insistent that Josh is a freaking danger. I’ve known her only a few weeks longer than I’ve known him, but he’s never once made me question his intentions. From the very second I met him, he made it clear that he was looking out for my safety, my budget, and my best interests.

  And that was before I practically stripped off my pajamas and threw myself at him.

  I study Neveah’s face and try to ignore the fact that Josh can hear everything we’re saying. “I don’t get it,” I tell her. “Josh has nothing to do with any of this. Why do you think he does?”

  Neveah shakes her head dramatically, her colorful buns falling a little looser over her ears. “Girl, what’s this about?” She points to the mess in my room. “People lose their keys all the time. I’d know, I have to help them get their asses back into their rooms.” She grimaces as if the mess that is my dorm room is obvious evidence. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She reaches out and rests a hand on my arm, and for a moment, I see a side of her that drops my defenses. “Annie.” Her brows lower, and she sounds concerned. Like she’s trying not to scare me off. “Sometimes the people we’re attracted to don’t treat us well all the time. Most of the time, they are fun and loving, but when they get angry or feel threatened…”

  I close my eyes and draw in a breath. God. She really is trying to be a friend. She thinks Josh is violent. That he did this to my room?

  I shake my head. “No, no,” I say, starting to bite my lower lip. She’s got it all wrong, but it’s not unreasonable that she would ask. Hell, even suspect it. This is her job. I’m sure she’s been trained to see stuff like this. I’m sick at the fact that she’s probably seen this and so much worse.

  But that’s not the situation here. Josh is on my side, and I believe that, no matter what, I can trust him. And I desperately want her to do the same. I’m honestly still wrangling with the worry that I cannot entirely trust Neveah.

  “He’s not…” I try to explain, but I’m at a loss for words. I feel like the only way to clear Josh’s name is to tell Neveah about the notes I’ve been getting. About what’s really been going on. But what’s the downside to telling her? Will she go to the campus police? I mean, God. They already know about what happened to my room. Maybe the notes will make them take this more seriously.

  At this point, I’m hiding out in a motorcycle club compound. I’ve made a police report. I probably should make sure that everyone who might need to know what’s happening is in the loop.