Change Me (The Protector Series Book 2) Read online

  “What? What do you mean not in the mood for her? She’s your girlfriend,” he exclaimed.

  “She is definitely not my girlfriend. Just because you’re in love with her twin sister doesn’t mean I’ll ever be in love with her.”

  “Man, we both know you like sleeping with her; be a team player,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Fine,” I groaned as I got out of bed and forced myself to change into fresh clothes. Sam was right, I didn’t mind having Brooke in my bed from time to time, but she always wanted more. She’d get pissed when I didn’t let her stay over or when I didn’t want to take her to dinner. She wasn’t on board with the purely physical type of relationship I wanted, but that didn’t stop me from using her and her from coming back for more.

  ***

  “Hi-ya, Jasper,” Blaire said as I sat down across from her. Sam had gone to start a tab with the bartender.

  “Hey, Blaire,” I answered, without a hint a enthusiasm in my voice.

  “Sister is just freshening up. She won’t be long,” she told me even though I hadn’t asked. I nodded so she wouldn’t think I was completely ignoring her, even though that was exactly what I felt like doing.

  Sam slid into the booth with Blaire. He handed me a brew as he simultaneously kissed his girlfriend’s neck. She giggled and swatted him away. I took a long drink as I fought back the urge to gag.

  “Hey, baby,” Brooke whispered as she slid in next to me. I inwardly cringed at the sound of her calling me baby.

  “Hey,” I said with a nod before I downed the rest of my beer in a couple of large gulps. “I’m going to get another. Anybody want anything?”

  Sam and Blaire were too busy attacking each other’s mouths to notice that I’d asked a question. As I started to turn toward the bar, Brooke spoke up.

  “I’ll take a Sex on the Beach,” she said suggestively, followed with a wink. “And tell Gabe I want extra cherries.” I gave her a tight-lipped smile and headed to the bar as quickly as possible. I ordered two beers for myself and the over-priced fruity concoction for Brooke. Thankfully, she bartended there a couple of nights a week, so we usually got cut-rate drinks.

  “You don’t look like the type to drink a Sex on the Beach,” the woman occupying the stool to my left said with a smirk. I turned my attention to her and took time to appreciate her chest, which her black tank-top proudly displayed. Her wild, red curls were sticking out in every direction. I smiled at her approvingly after I’d finished looking over her body.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I told her as I rested my elbows on the bar in front of me.

  “Ah, it’s for your date then, I assume,” she said before taking a sip of whatever was in her glass.

  “You’d be wrong to assume that I’d bring a date to a bar.”

  “Oh, is dinner and a movie more your style?” she asked with another smirk.

  “My style is more like walking the streets late at night, seeing what kind of trouble we can get into. Then going back to my place and using the adrenaline rush of getting away with whatever mischief we come up with to our advantage until the sun comes up and we’re too exhausted to move,” I told her without breaking eye contact. Her jaw went slightly slack and her eyes widened at my revelation.

  “Nice chatting with you,” I said with a confident grin as I grabbed my drinks off the bar.

  “Hey! If you get bored with your nondate then come find me. My friend will be here soon and her idea of a good time involves looking for trouble, too.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I tossed over my shoulder with a laugh.

  I had just set the drinks down at our table when Sam and Blaire stood up.

  “We’re going to head out, man. You can give Brooke a lift home, right?” he asked. I made sure he knew I was killing him with my eyes before I nodded my head. He plastered on a huge grin before turning and walking away, smacking Blaire’s ass as they walked through the crowd of people.

  I rolled my eyes in irritation as I sat in the seat Sam had just vacated. Sam had always been the relationship-type. He could have any girl he wanted, but he never even gave them a second glance. Things had gotten even more pathetic now that he was with Blaire. He did whatever she wanted, including hanging out with her pain-in-the-ass twin sister more often than not.

  I knew Brooke was expecting me to offer up my bed, and on most nights I would, but I just wasn’t feeling it this time.

  “Hey, I’m not feeling so hot. I think I might be coming down with something,” I lied. “Let me call you a cab. I’ll sleep it off and call you tomorrow, okay?”

  Brooke was oblivious to the fact that I didn’t give a damn about her and agreed without questioning me. Twenty minutes later I was waving goodbye as she rode away in a cab.

  I went back into the bar to close out the tab that Sam had conveniently forgotten about.

  “So you finally ditched her, huh?” a familiar voice asked from behind me. I turned to see the redhead standing there with two fresh drinks in her hand.

  “Something like that,” I smirked. “I assume one of those drinks is for your friend?” I asked with raised brows.

  “You assume correctly. Want to meet her?”

  “Sure, but I’ve got to close out my tab first.”

  She held up one finger before sauntering up to the front of the line. After whispering in the bartender’s ear, she beckoned me over. I did as she said and made my way to the bar. The bartender held out his hand for my credit card and I gave it to him.

  “Thanks,” I told the redhead while I waited for my receipt.

  “You taking care of my girl for me?” the bartender asked as he handed over my card and receipt. I stared back at him as I put two and two together.

  “He’s not with me, Gabe. I’m going to introduce him to Mace,” she said with an excited smile.

  “If you think she’ll be into him, then go for it, babe. I’ll be finished up in an hour,” he reach over the bar and grabbed the back of her head before pulling her close enough to press his lips to hers. I looked away awkwardly until they were finished.

  “Okay, let’s do this,” she said with a grin. “I’m Taylor by the way,” she said over her shoulder as she walked ahead of me.

  “Jasper,” I told her. She nodded as she continued weaving through the crowd.

  We came to a table at the back of the bar. A blonde chick was looking down at her phone as we approached.

  “Another vodka cranberry, my love,” Taylor said in a sing-song voice as she sat one of the glasses down on the table. The blonde didn’t look up from her phone. “Everything okay?” Taylor asked her.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. Everything is fine,” she said with a sad smile as she put her phone into her pocket. My heart rate sped up when I got a good view of her face.

  “This is my new friend,” Taylor said with a smile as she gestured to me.

  “And what does Gabe think of your new—,” her voice trailed off when she finally looked at me. I smiled and hoped like hell that she wouldn’t recognize me.

  No such luck. “It’s you,” she said, leaving her mouth half open with a confused look in her eyes.

  “Uh...” I looked around the bar awkwardly before I made eye contact with Taylor again. “I should probably go. It was nice meeting you and your friend,” I said in a rush before I turned on my heel and quickly walked toward the exit.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” I heard someone say from behind me as she grabbed my wrist and gently tugged me backward. I knew it was the blonde without turning around. I didn’t stop walking until we were in the parking lot. She didn’t let go of my arm until I stopped.

  “Who are you?” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for my reply.

  “The name is Jasper.” I mimicked her, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “I’ve seen you outside my window, Jasper.”

  Honestly, her stare intimidated me. It was as if she could see inside of me and she was trying to
find all of my secrets in the process. I did my best to match her glare as I tried to come up with an explanation.

  “Are we going to stand here and stare at each other all night? Or are you going to start talking?” she snapped, shifting her weight to one foot. She was a fiery little thing.

  A small group of people walked out of the bar and forced us to move our stand off a few feet to the left. I ran my hands through my hair roughly and sighed. “Listen, I’m not like—,” I stopped talking when her head jerked to the side and her hand flew to her cheek.

  She started looking around frantically while I just stared at her in confusion. She closed her eyes for what felt like half of a second before they flew open.

  “I gotta go,” she said in a rush before she took off running. I stood there, frozen in place as I watched her run behind the bar. I replayed the last twenty seconds in my mind. She had looked like I’d slapped her across the face, then she started panicking and looking…for what? I had to find out, so I followed her.

  I could hear people arguing as I got closer to the back entrance of the bar. I slowed my pace and attempted to make out what they were saying. I couldn’t hear well enough, and I couldn’t see shit. I stuck to the shadows as I turned the corner and made my way toward three figures, two females and one male. One of the girls had her hands over her face and I could hear her sniffling. The tiny blonde girl had a finger in the guy’s face and was calling him every name in the book. That’s my girl, I thought to myself with a smile on my face. My girl? Where the hell did that come from?

  I shook my head side to side in an effort to regain my focus. I must have made some sort of noise in the process because the blonde’s head whipped around in my direction. Our eyes met and she immediately glared. I just smiled. Until I saw the hand of the douchebag behind her connect with her left cheek. I saw red and was sprinting toward them in less than a second. But she didn’t need me. She didn’t even flinch when he hit her, but I saw the anger flash in her eyes. She socked him in the nose twice. When he stumbled and fell to his knees, she put one hand on his shoulder and stared into his eyes. I was close enough to the two of them to know that there was no sort of conversation happening, but his eyes grew wide with fear before he jumped up and ran away. The blonde turned to the crying girl, “There’s a cab out front. Go home,” she said quietly. The girl nodded and walked quickly away from us.

  “What are you doing? You distracted me,” she huffed as she spun around and began walking away from me, shaking her head in the process.

  “What do you mean, ‘what am I doing?’ You were acting crazy so I followed you. And I’m glad I did so I can kill that guy the next time I see him. Is your cheek all right?”

  “It’s fine,” she snapped without stopping, causing me to jog to get beside her.

  “Where did you learn to fight?” I asked as I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

  She stopped walking but didn’t turn to face me. “My brother and his wife taught me most of it, but I’ve figured out a few things by myself.”

  “I take it you get into altercations like this frequently then?” I asked, stepping in front of her so she had no choice but to look at me. The top of her head barely came up to my chest. Her blonde hair and light blue eyes paired with her tiny frame and sweet sounding voice made her seem innocent and vulnerable. But when we made eye contact, I knew there was nothing vulnerable or innocent about this girl.

  “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?” she asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

  “Not tonight. Do you?”

  “You know, now that you mention it, I should really get going.”

  I grabbed her wrist before she could take off again. “At least tell me your name first.”

  “It’s Macie. Macie Smith,” she said with a ghost of a smile on her lips. I smiled back at her as I repeated her name in my head. She left and I stood there behind the bar wondering when I would see her again.

  I checked my bedroom window as soon as I got back to my apartment. I was shocked to see a note there. He must have left it earlier that evening, because there was no way he had time to get to my apartment before me. I got butterflies in my stomach as I held the folded piece of paper in my hand.

  I’m not the kind of guy who helps 18-year-old girls find their place.

  -J

  I rolled my eyes as I wadded the paper up and tossed it into the trash can against the wall.

  “Arrogant much?” I asked out loud, even though I knew he wasn’t there to hear me. I didn’t bother leaving him a response.

  It took me two full days to convince Taylor that I hadn’t gone home with Jasper. She’d assumed that we had left together and that I was refusing to share the juicy details of our romp. There was nothing juicy about our encounter, and definitely no romping. I hadn’t seen him since that night and I didn’t plan on seeing him anytime soon.

  I had just stepped out of the shower when I got a call from Nat. Once again, I considered telling her about Jasper and how I’d seen him outside of my window. But I knew I would have to tell her about seeing him at the bar and how he saw me protecting that girl. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but I knew he was suspicious or he wouldn’t have asked about my fighting.

  Nat and Shiloh would freak if they thought that somebody might find out that I’m a Protector. And I don’t even want to know what Bennett would do. Ever since he’d taken over for my brother as the leader of the Protectors in Seattle, he’d been on a power trip. I lost count of all of the lectures he’d given me over the past year. But I knew he meant well, and I was glad that Shiloh didn’t have to stay in Seattle any longer.

  I promised Nat I was doing fine and that I would enroll in a few classes before the end of the week. Shi was sleeping and I told her not to wake him but to tell him I missed him.

  After hanging up with Nat, I felt lonely for the first time since I’d moved to Florida. I missed her and Shi. It’d been the three of us for the last six years. I’m sure they were happy to have their space, just like I was, but I was already wanting to plan a weekend trip back home. I grabbed a random book off of my shelf and crawled into bed. I fell asleep reading and felt better than ever when I woke up.

  I was ready to start marking things off of the to-do list in my phone, and the first thing on the list was enrolling in school. I dressed in athletic shorts and a t-shirt with my running shoes and a messy top-knot. I grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water on my way out of the apartment.

  It was a ten-minute walk to the campus. I let the sun warm my skin as I slowly made my way to the admissions building, taking in the people around me. Classes had started last week, so the campus was crowded. There were several groups of people sitting on the lawn or leaning against various buildings. They all looked care-free and happy for the most part. I wondered if I had made the right choice to enroll. My life had never been care-free; maybe taking classes would be too much for me to deal with.

  I shoved the negative thoughts aside and walked faster. A skinny brunette woman was sitting behind a desk when I opened the door labeled ADMISSIONS.

  “How may I help you?” she asked with a smile.

  “I’d like to enroll in a couple of classes. I got my acceptance letter in the mail a few weeks ago.”

  “Of course. I’ll need a form of I.D. first, and have you chosen a major yet?”

  “Um, well, I actually just wanted to take a creative writing course. And I guess an English class wouldn’t hurt,” I said with a shrug.

  The woman studied me for a moment before typing some things into her computer. A half hour later I was officially enrolled in Intro to Writing and English Composition I. The woman had tried to talk me into taking more classes so I would be considered a full-time student, but I wasn’t interested. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I actually wanted a degree.

  I stopped by the campus bookstore and bought the books I would need. My classes were only going to be on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so I would st
ill have time to sleep during the day if I ended up working all night. I had time to kill, so I went to a small coffee shop to catch up on the material I’d missed the previous week.

  I ordered an iced coffee and made myself comfortable at a table toward the back. I started with English because I expected it to be the least fun. The man at the bookstore had given me a syllabus for each class so I would know what I’d missed out on. I reviewed the first two chapters of English and wrote a two-page essay on what I hoped to get out of the course. I was eager to open my Intro to Writing book, but I had already occupied my table for almost three hours. I was sure they were ready for me to order something else or to move along. I gathered my things and started walking back to my apartment.

  When I was a little less than four blocks away from my place, my left forearm started to hurt. It felt like it was burning. I moved my books to my right arm and inspected the area that was hurting. There was nothing there; it looked completely normal. The burning sensation got more intense as I walked. It almost felt like my skin was on fire. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I pushed everything out of my mind. Everything other than the pain I felt in my arm. Where is it coming from? I wondered as I desperately surveyed my surroundings.

  It only took me a second to realize that I was feeling something from two streets over. I started walking that way quickly. My arm started throbbing and the pain got more intense the closer I got to the source. I could barely move my left hand by the time I came to an old, deserted warehouse. It was on a corner lot by itself. The lawn had grown up around it, several windows were covered with boards, and the front door was padlocked.

  I sat my books down next to the overgrown walkway and cautiously made my way around to the back of the building. There was a garage door as the back entrance. It looked like it had once been white but had fallen victim to years of rust and graffiti.

  I wasn’t sure if I was getting used to the pain in my arm or if it was just going numb. I wrapped my right hand around my left forearm tightly for a moment in an effort to get the pain to subside long enough for me to lift the garage door and see what was inside. Or who was inside. Whoever it was had done some serious damage to their arm.