I shook my head in confusion. It seemed like he and Jackson were friendly last night. This didn’t make any sense to me. “Why would it matter that I know Jackson? I don’t understand.”

“It’s like this. There’s a guy code that I follow. Bros before hos—not that I am saying you are a ho or anything like that. I like Jackson. He seems like a cool guy from the time we’ve hung out together. I thought you were with him at the party. That he’d gotten to you before me, and if he had then I would have to respect that.”

“You thought that Jackson and I were a couple?”

Drake shook his head at me and glared. “Let me finish, babe. I need to get this out and on the table. For the first time ever, I didn’t want to follow the rule. I wanted you with me and not him. I had to watch you walk away with him, up the stairs to his room. I spent the rest of the night pissed the fuck off, imagining what you guys were doing in his room. I left the party and stayed away so that I wouldn’t knock his door down to get to you.”

His hands had clenched around mine, squeezing hard. He looked so angry with his eyes blazing into mine.

“Never been knocked off my feet like that before. I hadn’t planned to come home this weekend because I had too much going on at school. Seeing you at the party fucked with my head so much that I needed to get away so I had my dad book the charter out here. Wanted some distance to get my head on straight before I saw Jackson again at the frat house. Wasn’t sure I could see him without smashing my fist into his face.”

He chuckled darkly and looked at the ground as he admitted the anger he felt. “Then I bumped into you at the store this morning. You looked so different, but I still felt the chemistry. When I realized it was you again, I felt like karma really was a bitch. Grabbed my mom’s card and headed back to my apartment to pack my stuff up. Only there you were again when I got on the plane. I was trying to run from you, and I just couldn’t get the fuck away.”

He looked back up at me, and his hands gentled on mine. He lips turned up in a grin. “Hearing you say that you’ve known his mom as long as you’ve known him was probably the best news I’ve heard in a long time. I realized that what I’d seen between you wasn’t what I’d thought it was. Meant that you were free for me to pursue.”

He looked at me expectantly after his announcement. “Oh, is it my turn to speak now?” I asked with sarcasm, masking the whirl of thoughts flying through my mind.

His eyes flared with heat at my show of irritation. “Yeah, I’m done for now. Go ahead, babe.”

“Not so sure I like you calling me babe, babe.”

Drake leaned closer to me, our noses brushing against each other. His lips were as close to mine as they could be without us kissing. “Oh, you’re going to like me calling you babe. Trust me on that.”

I shook my head, hoping to clear my thoughts as my skin broke out in goose bumps. “You did get it wrong. Jackson is like a big brother to me. His sister is my best friend, and we’ve known each other since kindergarten.”

“Glad to hear confirmation that there isn’t anything going on between you two. Not sure I’d be able to back off at this point anyway. You’d be worth the risk,” Drake replied. “Doesn’t explain why Jackson didn’t introduce us or why he bailed on the party to hang out with you in his room though.”

His eyes had hardened again. Clearly the thought of me spending time in Jackson’s room wasn’t a pleasant thought for Drake. “Jackson’s a little protective of me with guys. I’m not sure if that’s why he didn’t introduce us. You’d have to ask him. And he knew that the party wasn’t really my scene so he helped me make my escape for a little while. We hung out and watched a movie in his room so that I didn’t bail so early that Aubrey would be pissed at me.”

“Is that a normal thing for you two, hanging out in his room and watching movies?” Drake didn’t look very happy with my explanation.

“Every day normal? No. Happens from time to time? Yes.” I knew my tone was getting snippy, but I didn’t feel like he had any right to question my perfectly innocent friendship with Jackson.

“Just want to make sure I understand the situation right. Could have sworn that I saw something between the two of you.”

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but I can tell you that you were wrong if it was anything other than close friendship. Jackson’s protective of me because he feels responsible after the way my last relationship ended. Maybe that’s what you saw.”