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all night. I want to be brave enough to have my heart broken. I want it all. The good, the bad, and the indifferent. I mean it. I’ll let you be my bodyguard, but you can consider yourself along for the ride. I’m not going to let you dictate my choices.”
    “For the record, the guy you were dating, Axel was right. He wasn’t good enough for you.”
    How would he know, unless... I sigh. “Let me guess, you helped Axel scare him off?”
    “I’m also the one who helped Axel dig up the dirt on him—I talked to a couple of his exes, and believe me, we did you a favor. That guy was bad news.”
    “But it was my choice!” I can’t believe Kevin has been helping Axel meddle in my life for years. That man has a serious issue with boundaries.
    “Maybe. But I’m good at my job, when given the chance to be. I don’t want you to fight me every step of the way.”
    “Then don’t fight me. ”
    Kevin mutters something unintelligible under his breath. “Suffering in the dorm is that important to you?”
    “I won’t be suffering.”
    “We’ll see.” He smirks. “I’ve done the dorm thing, living with a bunch of sweaty guys in basic and then again in the desert. It sucked donkey balls. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say living with girls has got to be a whole lot worse. I bet you’ll be begging for that apartment by the end of the week.”
    I cross my arms across my chest, determined to hang on to my idealized vision of college for as long as possible. I’m not going to let him ruin it for me. “Never.”

Chapter Seven
    —-♥—-
    K evin
    “There it is! There it is!” Lexi twists within her seatbelt, her fingertips pressed lightly to the tinted glass. “It’s beautiful.” Her breathy exclamation touches something within me, stirring feelings I’d rather not be having. But her exuberance is contagious, and a stubborn smile weaves its way across my lips. She’s a constant contradiction. Feisty and experienced, naïve and innocent. The world has dealt her crappy hand after crappy hand, yet she continues to cup her palms, believing that eventually, her serving will contain diamonds or gold.
    I don’t get it, but I envy it. While I expect the worst, she’s determined to create the best.
    And she’s a virgin.
    As if the fact that she’s my client wasn’t enough of a reason for me to stop noticing the curve of her ass and the swell of her breasts, that one word is like a giant yellow caution sign. My heart’s a train wreck, and I absolutely cannot pull into her station, no matter how welcoming she might seem. Hearing her talk about living ripped at the necrotic flesh deep inside me. I recognize her primal need to feel, to experience. I remember what that was like. I remember who I was, before I gave up.
    I can try to tell myself it’s just because I’ve gone without for a few days, but I always could smell a lie. It’s a good damn thing the lighting was so dim in the truck as she innocently proclaimed her burning desire to have sex, because for about two seconds I considered saying screw it and looking for the first dark parking lot I could find, and I know damn well the bulge in my jeans would have been visible if she were looking.
    Which she wasn’t, because while I see her as a man sees a woman, she only sees me the way a petulant child sees a parent. She doesn’t give a shit about my intentions; she resents me for trying to keep her safe.
    Which is probably a good damn thing, because if I fuck her, Axel will kill me, and he’s one of the only friends I’ve got left. It’s kind of hard to push away the guy signing your paycheck.
    “I see the gate, and the spire!” Lexi points up ahead, bouncing (literally) in her seat. “I think that’s Charleston Hall.”  The trees planted at perfectly spaced intervals pause, permitting a view of a scrolled iron arch proclaiming Chancellorsville College. The sides of the gate are framed in red brick, coordinating with the brick and white-columned