“Settle down, Kaylie. I’ll take care of this,” I told her before turning around with Kaylie protected behind me. “Sasha, I think I warned you before about messing around with people I care about.”

“Yeah, so what?” she asked.

“Leave Kaylie alone,” I continued.

“If I had to avoid all the girls you’ve fucked on campus, Jackson, then there would hardly be anyone left to bother with,” she argued.

“Kaylie isn’t a one-night stand. I’m dating her.”

Sasha’s jaw dropped open at my words. “What?”

“You heard me. She’s off-limits to you, too.”

“But you don’t date!” Sasha protested. “You always said you weren’t interested.”

“Things have changed. I wasn’t interested in dating before, but I am now that I’ve met Kaylie.”

“It fucking figures,” Sasha muttered under her breath before glaring at Kaylie over my shoulder and stomping into her room.

Kaylie wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my back. “Well, that was a great way to end the night.”

“Let me know if she causes any problems for you. You shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes,” I grumbled, completely pissed off that Sasha had ruined the moment for us.

“I might not like knowing that you slept with her, but I’m pretty sure she would have been a bitch even if you hadn’t,” Kaylie said as she stepped around me and placed a kiss on my cheek. There she went again, being so damn sweet.

“There are going to be other girls who will act just the same,” I admitted, frustrated that my past actions might come back to bite me in the ass with Kaylie.

“Then I guess I’ll have to learn to deal with it if I want to date you.”

“If? There’s no getting out of it now. You already said yes to another date,” I reminded her.

“Well then there you go. I guess we’ll figure it out as we go along. But you’d better get going so I can share these leftovers with Char.” She waved the takeout bag at me. “And then let her grill me about our date before I can get some sleep.”

“All right, off to bed with you then,” I said, stepping away. I waited until she went into her room and closed the door before I left.

I made it down to my truck and all the way to the frat house before I realized that I didn’t have her phone number. Shit! I really did suck at this dating thing. Getting the girl’s number had to be the first thing a guy did, and I’d totally forgotten about it until now.

Going back to her dorm wasn’t an option at this hour because getting in meant I’d have to talk someone into opening the door since it was locked. I glanced at the clock and realized that I only had a couple choices. I could head over there in the morning and hope to catch Kaylie before she went to class. Or I could suck it up and ask my sister if she had it. Which meant she’d ask me how the dinner had gone and I’d have to admit that it had been a date and not a thank-you dinner. I pulled my phone out and dialed her number.

“Hey, bro! What’s up,” she answered on the first ring.

“I need a favor.”

“You do? What kind?” she asked.

“Do you have Kaylie’s number?”

“Of course I do. But didn’t you have that dinner with her tonight? Why do you need it?” She paused. “Shit, Jackson. Don’t tell me you stood her up for a thank-you dinner and now you need to call her and apologize!”

“That’s not why I need it.”

“So if you didn’t stand her up, then you went to dinner with her tonight. Why didn’t you just ask her for it if you wanted it?”

Damn. Why did my sister have to be so difficult? “I forgot to ask,” I admitted.

“And why do you need it anyway?” she continued without listening to what I was saying.

“Because I’m taking her out again.”

And that stopped her dead in her tracks. There was complete silence on the other end of the phone for a minute before she responded.

“Jackson, did I just hear you correctly? You are taking Kaylie out again? The same Kaylie that I specifically asked you not to mess around with? And after that conversation, which you apparently completely ignored, you want me to help you out by giving you her phone number?”

“Yes, Aubrey. That’s exactly what I am saying. I’m asking you to trust me when I say this is different. And to give me the number because I am your brother and I am asking you for your help. Something I almost never do, so it’s gotta count for something here.”