Free Redemption and Regrets (Chastity Falls, #4) by L A Cotton

and hit the sidewalk.
    ~
    B eads of sweat trickled down my face as my feet pounded the asphalt, but the cool air offered some light relief. The town was already awake. Shop signs read ‘open’ and people went about their business, not giving a second thought to the guy in the dark hoodie jogging past them, trying to chase away his demons.
    My route took me around the perimeter of the campus and up to Lincoln Park where I did a couple of laps before circling back down the other side of campus along Sunset Drive. I knew the street looped around student housing, but I couldn’t help myself. Blondie was so far under my skin; she was like a fucking disease.
    I slowed my pace as the red brick buildings came into view. I didn’t expect to see her, not really, so my eyes almost bugged out of my head when I spotted Cara exiting the glass doors with the creep from the bar hot on her heels. Not wanting to be seen, I ducked behind some bushes to watch her. She looked pissed as she marched down the path. The guy yelled something, but Cara didn’t stop, so he picked up his pace breaking into a jog.
    Cara spun around, and with her hands firmly on her hips, she glared at him before unleashing her short temper on him. The guy obviously knew it was coming; he threw his hands up in defense, attempting to pacify her, but it didn’t work. Like at the bar, something about their exchange bothered me. They were obviously more than acquaintances, but it felt more personal than just friends. The same jealousy I’d experienced watching them at The Grove burned through me, and when he reached out to touch her, my fists clenched at my side.
    ‘Get off me,’ I thought I saw her yell, all up in his face, as much as someone standing around five inches shorter than her adversary could. But the guy didn’t back down. He grabbed her arm and held Cara in place, forcing her to listen to him. Her eyes widened with something. Fear? Alarm? It was enough for me. I broke my cover and jogged over to where they stood. Cara noticed me straight away, surprise registering in her features.
    “You need to back off.” I angled myself to face the guy, ignoring Cara for now.
    “And who the fuck are you?” The dude’s eyes narrowed, but his grip on Cara remained. My eyes flickered to where his hand curled around her arm and back to his face. “You need to let go of her, now.”
    “Bra-”
    “You know this dick?” The guy addressed Cara, and I felt her tense beside me. Something must have passed between them because he released her and dropped his hands to his side.
    “You should stay out of things that don’t concern you. I’ll catch you later, Cara.”
    His warning rolled off me, and I didn’t take my eyes off him until he disappeared back inside the building.
    “What the hell was that?” she hissed, and I turned to Cara and frowned. She was pissed at me? “I had it under control, Braiden. You shouldn’t have done that. Shit.”
    Unfamiliar emotions rushed through me, and I didn’t know what to say. So I shook my head, drove my hands in my pockets, and started walking.
    “Wait, Braiden, just wait,” she called after me, and I stopped. What the hell was it about her that had me so confused?
    “I’m sorry, okay.” She stepped around me and smiled up at me. “Thanks, for what you did. Jason gets a little carried away sometimes.” Her eyes moved past me, and I wondered if he was watching us.
    “He your guy?”
    Green eyes snapped back to mine. “Who? Jason? No. No! It isn’t like that. Listen, I can’t talk now, but later? Our spot?”
    Our spot? Why was that like music to my fucking ears?
    “Eight?”
    “Eight.” Cara nodded and headed back to her building, while I stood there, in the middle of the campus like some pussy-whipped punk, wondering what the hell had just happened.
    ~
    W hen eight o’clock finally rolled around, I was ready to combust, and as if the short blonde wasn’t enough to contend with, Jack Doyle hadn’t called me