Free Tempting Fate (The Blake Boys Book 9) by Rhonda Laurel Page A

out of the car when a tall, muscular young man approached them wearing a pair of khakis and a polo shirt that said VIP Tour Guide. He seemed harmless enough until he got closer, and his smile got wider as he gave Avery a long once over.
    “Mr. Blake.” The young man attempted to give Channing a firm handshake—too firm. “My name is Xander. Dean Drake sent me over to personally escort you to his office.”
    “Thanks, Xander.” Channing’s jaw ticked. He shook the boy’s hand like he was cracking a walnut. The kid flinched but obviously didn’t want to yelp in front of Avery.
    “And you must be Avery. It’s so nice of you to consider Texas University as one of your potential schools. I heard you have a 4.0 average and big interest in English literature. You’d be a perfect fit with the brainy crowd on campus.” Xander’s eyes sparkled as he caressed Avery’s hand.
    “Thanks. It’s nice to meet you.” Avery blushed.
    “Xander.” Channing reached out and pulled their hands apart. “Isn’t the dean waiting for us?”
    Avery shot him a look. Channing ignored it. He knew that horny smile Xander was sporting. He was young once, after all.
    Xander got into the golf cart and patted the seat next to him for Avery, but Channing gave the young man look that would have sent chills down the devil’s spine and herded her to the backseat with him. They hadn’t been on campus ten minutes, and someone was already giving her leering looks. Having a young lady in the family was new for him, but he’d make the time to fend off some college gigolo who thought flexing a few muscles was going to score him some points.
    Xander pointed out some of the buildings as they rode and gave them some information on the history of the school. Avery was all too happy to engage and fired a ton of questions at him. Like Channing had figured, Xander was a running back on the football team, and his major was physical education. Avery was impressed, but Channing felt like he was going to throw up from the kid’s blatant attempts to sound cool. Finally they parked in front of the dean’s office building and went inside.
    “Mr. Blake, what a pleasure to meet with you and your niece Avery today,” Dean Drake said.
    “Thank you for taking the time. I had no idea you’d be giving us special treatment,” Channing drawled and shot a look at Xander, who was staring at Avery.
    “When I heard a Blake was visiting the campus, I had to make sure we rolled out the red carpet. We almost recruited your brother Seth way back when.”
    “You’re Seth Blake’s brother?” Xander blurted out.
    “Yes, I am.” You horny idiot. “Avery is our niece and the apple of our eye.”
    Dean Drake cleared his throat. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
    The four of them walked the campus. Xander walked ahead a bit with Avery. Channing tried to keep his ear on their conversation while he listened to the dean drone on about his wonderful school. He’d done some research, and they had an excellent graduation ratio and a great variety of classes, but what he wanted to know was how Avery would benefit from all of it.
    They stopped to have lunch in the dining hall. Xander was the perfect gentleman until he suggested he and Avery eat at a separate table.
    “I’d like to hear your thoughts on campus life, Xander,” Channing murmured. He knew the boy had to be on his best behavior for the dean.
    Xander gave him a tight smile. “Sure.”
    Avery nibbled on her burger and listened attentively to Xander. He remembered being Xander’s age and trying to ditch the adults to be with a girl. He hoped karma wouldn’t bite him on the ass for all the things he’d done as a kid when it was his turn to be the adult.
    Dean Drake droned on about the school. Xander and Avery cleared the trays, so he couldn’t hear what they were saying as they emptied them into the trash cans.
    “So, Mr. Blake, Avery will have a plenty of time to chart her course and declare a major. We