uninvited

chapter sixty

unguarded

Getting away from Julian wasn't easy. The only reason she was able to pull it off was because he liked his peacekeeping classes.

Truth was she'd wasted too much time today on the crushing pain in her chest and trying to figure out how to let her family know that they are everything to her.

No matter how difficult it was she had to let that go and start taking care of business. There was so much to do and some of it would be impossible with everyone watching.

They loved her. Cared about her but that wasn't what she needed right now.

Later, when there was nothing left to do but cry and die, she would look back and know how much they cared. How much they wanted to save her.

But they couldn't. She was going to save them. Or at least give them a fighting chance.

She gave a sigh of relief when Sinclair finally dragged his fine ass to class and sat across from her. Without bothering to look at her, he slouched in his chair and looked like he was already taking a nap.

"Is it true?"

Jess frowned when he didn't answer her. "You know I know those headphones don't work. Don't be a jerk."

He still didn't answer.

She kicked him under the table.

The look he gave her suggested that she take a flying leap. With a roll of his sexy green eyes, he removed his headphones.

"Is it true?"

"You'll have to be more specific, sweetheart."

Since this was the first time she's heard him speak, his sexy southern drawl caught her off guard and she forgot to smash his face in.

"Look, I'm not interested." He gave her a once over. "Much. So, run along."

Jess grounded her teeth together. "You're friends with Hayley, right? She says you hang out."

"If by hang out, you mean she stalks me. Then yes, we hang."

The guy was a cool drink. Before Kell had completely ruined her for anyone else she would have been stalking him herself.

Bad attitude. Asshole. Brooding. Sexy as hell. Just her type.

If Lee was right, he'd only been one step from being kicked out of here when he put in a request to leave. Several of them.

He was Hayley's two favorite topics. Someone who was getting to leave here and doing him before he was gone. "You really getting out of here?"

"That's right. All I have to do is play nice for the rest of the day."

"What's so bad about this place?"

"You might be an alien lover, but to me, this looks and feels like a prison. Anything else you want to know, or can I get back to my shit?"

She reached across the table and put a piece of paper in his hand. Careful not to give herself away but it wouldn't matter if the ass didn't play along.

"Why did you come here if you didn't want to be here?" She took a deep breath when he didn't rat her out.

He smirked and she knew she had caught his interest.