Nixon had that in common. “Yup, everyone’s super nice.”
“Oh, honey, I knew it. I’m so glad.”
It was silent for a while and then he added. “Trace? Did you open your grandma’s box?”
I sighed happily. “Yes, sir! I haven’t looked at everything, but I wore the necklace today!”
“Aw, that does my heart proud! She loved that necklace, Trace.”
I was itching to ask him more about it, but my caller ID lit up. “Hey, Gramps, can I call you back?”
“Oh no, don’t worry about me, Trace. I gotta go do the night feeding for the cows. You stay out of trouble, okay?”
“Okay! I love you!”
“Trace, I love you more. Goodnight, sweet pea.”
“Night!”
I switched lines. “Hello?”
All I could hear was creepy breathing on the end. Awesome. And my night was complete. I quickly pressed end and threw my phone against the bed.
“You okay?” Monroe asked. “How’s the grandpa? Hmm, why don’t we watch The Proposal or something?”
“No.” I waved my hand in the air. “To all of that.” With a grunt I plopped onto my bed and groaned.
“Hey.” The bed dipped as Monroe came and sat next to me. “It’s fine, I promise. Nixon is… Nixon is. Well, that’s the thing. He’s Nixon. I’m sure he had a good reason for sending you in here and freaking the crap out of you, but let’s not forget how protective brother bear is.”
“Right.” I shivered, not because of fear, but because I hardly think Nixon and I had a brother bear relationship. And if that’s how he would categorize it, then I had a hell of a lot more problems than men in suits and creepy phone calls.
A knock sounded at the door. I flung off the bed. Almost tripping over the blankets, I reached for the door and opened it.
Nixon was leaning against the frame and looking at his cell phone. Without thinking, I pulled him into my arms and hugged him. There go all the rules about no touching or breathing the same air. But I was so freaked out and…
Holy crap, he was like a warm statue and then his arms very slowly wrapped around me.
I was pretty sure, in that moment, that Nixon’s arms were my favorite place to be in the world. Bliss didn’t last all too long. The second I realized he had no bumps or bruises and was texting, yes texting, before I hugged him.
With a shriek I pulled back and smacked him on the chest. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He grinned. “You sure do run fast, Farm Girl. They teach you that in Wyoming?” With a slow wink he walked around me and gave his sister a brief hug.
“Something’s very wrong with you.” I slammed the door and crossed my arms.
“Don’t I know it,” Monroe muttered. “And what the hell, Nixon? You can’t just go scaring my roommate like that. I thought she was going to have a heart attack and tell her grandpa she was witness to your murder.”
“Believe me, her grandpa would not have come to my rescue.” Nixon snorted.
“Hey!” I pointed. “You don’t even know him! He’s a good guy.”
“Did I say he was bad?” Nixon held up his hands in offense. “I just said he wouldn’t come to my rescue.”
“If I asked him to he would,” I argued.
Nixon laughed. “Your innocence is both aggravating and shocking.”
Clenching my fists, I fought the urge to stomp my foot and glared at Monroe. He was her brother. I refused to keep dealing with his mood swings.
“We should watch a movie,” Nixon said after I sat on the bed like a normal human instead of stomping around the room like Godzilla.
“She doesn’t want to,” Monroe said pointing in my direction. Yes, because I’m the one who is not being reasonable right now.
“Who were those guys?” I asked.
Nixon ignored me. “She saw me beat the crap out of two dudes tonight. She should watch something funny.”
Monroe nodded. “A chick flick and maybe some chocolate?”
“Hello!” I waved my hands in the air. “I’m right here.”
Nixon waved back. Bastard. Monroe had yet to look up from the movie selection.
“Nixon.” I hissed his name. “Who were those guys and why did I have to run?”
“Guys from work.” Nixon shrugged. “They just had a few questions about what went down tonight. I just didn’t want you to stay if things got weird and the less people that they know who know about what happened, the better.”
Damn. That did sound convincing. But work? What college student had grown men working for