Chapter 5

I mean, I remember him being attractive but not this attractive. Though, that might be because this is the first time I’m seeing him in full light.

Had I paid enough attention, I probably could have guessed he was a baseball player the night we met. He just has that look about him. An athlete's build.

“What are you doing here?” I glance over my own shoulder as well.

Habit.

“Don’t worry, he’s not here. I made sure.” He reads my thoughts perfectly. “I hope it’s okay that I asked Quinn for your class schedule. In truth, I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to come see you since the other night.” He runs a hand through his shiny blond locks.

“It’s completely fine.” I adjust my bag on my shoulder.

“I was hoping maybe we could grab coffee. If you’re free.”

“I’m free,” I answer too quickly. “I don’t have any more classes or anything.”

Shut up, Bex! I internally scold myself.

What can I say? When I get nervous, I tend to overshare.

“Great.” He grins.

We turn in unison, walking side by side toward the exit.

“I’m sorry about what happened at the bar the other night. You probably thought I was a complete jackass for taking off the way I did.”

“Rome tends to have that effect on people.” I nod a thank you when Max steps ahead of me and pushes the door open, holding it for me.

“Had I known you two weren’t a thing, I never would have left that night. And from what Quinn tells me, you

aren’t a thing.”

“Most definitely not.” I snort. “I’m not sure where you got that impression, but that’s about the furthest thing from reality.”

“But you two do know each other pretty well?” I follow his lead, matching his stride as we make our way down the sidewalk.

“I don’t know how well we actually know each other, but we grew up together.”

“Well now things are starting to make a little more sense.”

“What do you mean?” I briefly glance over at him.

If you’re wondering if he’s just as handsome from the side... he is.

“Just how protective he is of you.”

“Protective?” I bark out a laugh. “Rome is not protective of me. Far from it, actually.” I turn my gaze forward again.

“Is that why he’s forbidden the entire baseball team from even talking to you?”

“Forbidden them?” I stop mid-step, turning to face Max.

“Oh yeah. That’s one of the first things he ever said to me. Said to stay away from you. I just assumed you were his

girl. At least, that’s the impression he gave me.” “Sounds about right.” I grimace.

“Does it?” He arches a brow.

“You have no idea.” I blow out a breath.

We resume walking, the wheels in my head turning.

He’s telling everyone to stay away from me probably for the same reason he did in high school, because he doesn’t want me to have the satisfaction of dating one of his friends. But I will admit, warning off a new teammate during their first meeting seems extreme, even for Rome.

“I really didn’t think too much of it at the time,” Max admits. “Just figured it was his girlfriend and he wanted me to know it and that was that. I knew your name, but my mind was so far from some distant conversation I had my first week here that I didn’t even put it together. Even after we had spent two hours drinking and talking. That is...”

“Until Rome came storming in,” I finish his sentence for him.

“I thought I’d just spent the evening hitting on his girl, so when I realized who you were, I left.”

“But I’m not his girl.”

“Information I didn’t know at the time. After running into Quinn yesterday and getting the confirmation I needed, I got to thinking. If you two aren’t together, who the hell is he to tell me I can’t like you?”

“You like me?” I smile, our eyes meeting for a brief moment.

“I thought that much was pretty obvious.” He nudges me with his elbow.

“So you decided to tempt fate?” I bite down on my bottom lip to keep myself from smiling like a freaking idiot.

“What he doesn’t know...” He shrugs.

“Been the motto for most of my life,” I admit on a humorless laugh.

“That bad?”

“He’s pretty much made it his life mission to make me miserable.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah, weird,” I agree.

“So, you don’t think he has a thing for you or anything?”

“God, no.” I shake my head. “Him telling everyone to stay away from me is to hurt me, not because he harbors feelings for me. Trust me. This has been going on for years.” “That’s kind of horrible.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “But given how close our families are, there really isn’t much I can do about it. At least not yet.”

“Is that why you two both came here? Your parents?”

“No.” I shake my head. “My dad is an alum and I knew from very early on this is where I wanted to go to school. Rome, on the other hand, could have gone pretty much anywhere he wanted, but he came here to spite me.”

“Seems a bit extreme.”

“You’ll find that there’s almost no line Rome won’t cross where I’m involved.”

“If you’re trying to scare me off, it won’t work.”

I regard him for a long moment, having never met anyone that would knowingly go against Roman Danvers. And I have to admit, it’s pretty damn sexy that he doesn’t care.

“Your funeral.”

Max takes my hand, entwining our fingers together. “Well, at least I’ll die a happy man.” He winks.