Chapter 4 Trouble - Monet

I've always stayed far away from trouble. I never drank when kids were throwing parties. I never stayed out past my curfew, or any of the things my mother warned me against.

I'm sure I wouldn't even have been in much trouble had I stepped out of line a few times, but it's just something that never really appealed to me.

So I'm feeling a little excited like I'm doing something illicit when I sent James my number on Instagram and agreed to meet him at a coffee shop on campus.

I know it's going to get back to Cole somehow, especially since James is also on the football team, but what is it that he can do anyway aside from warning me not to fraternize with players?

He's already waiting for me outside the shop, his hands in his shorts' pockets and wearing a baseball cap turned backwards looking extra cute today.

"Hey." He smiles brightly when I walk up to him, and I have to say I'm impressed since I intentionally wore a top that showed off a lot of cleavage. Yet, his eyes stayed on my face.

"Hi." I smile back, tiny butterflies erupting in my stomach.

I don't think I've ever met a boy that got this kind of reaction out of me.

"I actually didn't think you'd show." He chuckles, holding the door open for me like a true gentleman.

"Oh really, why not?" I'm curious to know.

Is that something girls do? Tell boys they'll meet them and then not pitch up?

"Because you're really hot, and you're Cole Brown's sister." His eyebrows lift like he's still surprised I'm standing next to him. "I did not expect you to send me a DM."

He thinks I'm hot, the thought sending more butterflies flapping their wings.

I think I like a boy. I can't wait to tell Mom.

"Well, here I am." I smile brightly. "Are you going to buy me coffee or not?"

"I'll buy you the whole machine." James' hand touches mine as we stand in the line to get to the counter, and he sneakily intertwines his pinky finger with mine. "What are you having?"

"Iced Americano with half and half." I pull my face at him. "I'm boring like that. In winter, not iced."

"I'll remember that when it starts to get cold." He really is the cutest, only leaving my pinky to pay for the coffee and carry our order to one of the open tables.

"I have to give it to you, you are one brave guy." I shake my head. "Don't let Cole intimidate you. He's more bark than bite."

"You're worth the trouble." James takes a slow sip of his coffee. "So how does a girl like you not have a boyfriend?"

"How does a boy like you not have a girlfriend?" I throw right back at him.

"I had a girlfriend until before summer." He shrugs.

"Oh, why did you break up then?" If he was my boyfriend, I might not have let him go.

"We were going in different directions. She went to the East Coast to a school there, and I got a scholarship here. We both agreed that we outgrew the relationship." There's honesty in his eyes. "What about you?"

"Is it weird if I tell you I've never had a boyfriend?" It does make me sound like a little bit of a loser.

"You never dated anyone?" He asks surprised.

"I did go on dates, but I was never interested enough to make one of them my boyfriend." I shrug. "I was studying very hard, because I like it. My mother always says I'm nothing like her, and I also had a job. I guess I never made time for a boyfriend."

"And nobody pursued you?" He asks in disbelief.

"I told you I was off limits." I laugh. "And Cole is like a god in my town. No boy will ever go against his wishes."

"It seems he's like a god on campus too." James holds his hands up. "Not that I blame them. This is Alabama of course, and football is a religion on its own."

His words aren't even cold before the door to the cafe opens and in walks my brother with a blonde that looks like she just stepped out of a magazine.

"Speaking of which." I lift my cup to Cole whose eyes zero in on me as soon as he goes to stand in the line.

Those intense blue eyes narrow on me, and I wonder if he saw that I blocked him. He has to know by now that I want nothing to do with him on this campus. He can go his merry way, and I will go mine.

Cole's eyes go from me to James and I don't miss the warning flashing from his gaze.

The blonde tugs on his sleeve when she realises he's ignoring her, trying to talk to him about something, but he completely ignores her.

He is such a bastard. Why did he bring the girl here in the first place if he never planned on even talking to her.

"You know what, James." I get up from the table. "It's starting to get crowded in here, let's go for a walk."

James looks from me to Cole. "Sure."

We're not even outside when my name gets called like there's an emergency, and I halt and turn around to watch Cole walking up to us with a determination that should be studied.

"Can I talk to you in private, please." It sounds more like a demand than a request, but I don't want to put poor James on the spot, so I walk away from my coffee date and turn towards my brother who was following me.

"What do you want?" I take a sip of my coffee, avoiding his eyes that dare to look hurt. He's always been able to get what he wants from me with just one look of those damn electric blue eyes.

"You blocked me. Why."

Again with the demands.

I look at him incredulously. "You really have some nerve, don't you?"

"Unblock me, or I call Kamila." He looks smug as he says those words, knowing that Mom won't like the fact we're not talking to each other.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

A silent battle goes on between us, our eyes saying more than words ever could.

"Fuck you, Cole!" I say eventually before stomping away from him.

The boy who I think of as a brother, the one I used to trust the most, is fast becoming enemy number one.