everything I needed to know about your ex the minute I saw him lay hands on you.”
She hesitated, and Mason’s gut twisted. “He is your ex now, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” she gasped. “I’m never going back to him. It’s just that I do want to tell you everything, but I don’t know where to start.”
He reached into her purse, dug around, then handed her the slim smartphone he withdrew. “Start by calling Rosamie. If you don’t, she’ll be blowing up this phone with calls and texts, which will simply make you more anxious.”
He rose, taking her with him. “Let me show you to your room.”
Taking her bags and suitcase in one hand, he guided her to the guest room. Fortunately, he’d washed the sheets and made the bed after Ethan’s visit. Then Mason left her alone, ducking out to ask Ransom to watch over Rosamie.
Mason added a follow-up text, apologizing in advance for the ass-chewing his friend was about to get from a five-foot-nothing ballbuster.
Ransom swaggered up the girl’s dormitory stairs like he owned the place. It was a front, of course. He was hustling, wanting to make sure he got there before little Laila’s shithead of an ex-boyfriend showed up looking for her.
There was a significant pause after his knock. Ransom approved. If she were smart, then Laila’s friend was eyeballing him through the peephole, making sure it wasn’t this Dubey character.
The door swung open to reveal a dusky little pocket Venus. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but he could see a glimmer of interest in those dark depths.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked.
Leaning against the doorframe, he crossed his arms. It was a move that made his biceps bulged. Girls loved it.
“I’m Ransom. Mason sent me.” He batted his eyelashes. “Hello there, new friend.”
The girl’s mouth twitched, but then her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She tried to haul him inside with an ineffectual tug. Ransom helped her along by slipping in the room so she could slam the door shut.
“The manwhore was right! Joseph is here. “
“Manwhore?” Ransom scowled. “Mason isn’t a manwhore. It was your girl who left him in the dust when he was laid up in the hospital.”
Rosamie put her hands on her hips, glowering right back. “Her phone was toast! She had to switch phone companies, but it was his fault in the first place—”
Their argument was interrupted by a sharp rap at the door.
The little Venus reached for the doorknob. Ransom stopped her with a hand. “Allow me.”
Rosamie rolled her eyes, but she backed away with a little game-show-hostess gesture as if presenting the door as a grand prize.
Ransom jerked it open. He looked down his nose at the polo-wearing douchebag on the other side. Except this asshole’s clothing was rumpled, a manic light gleaming in his eyes.
“Is this him?” he asked Rosamie.
The douchebag tried to ignore Ransom—a laughable goal. He was over two hundred pounds of whoop-ass.
“Uh, Rose, I need to talk to Laila.” Dubey tried to peek around Ransom.
“You aren’t getting anywhere near her, ths asong puki,” the tiny spitfire hissed in what Ransom guessed was Filipino. “Consider this her break-up message, you abusive pussy. And oh, get ready, asno pagdila kambing, because I am about to rip your ass-licking goat balls off and make them into Kare-Kare.”
Ransom had to bite his lip to keep from laughing aloud, particularly when she started taking off her earrings in a classic chingona girl-fight move.
It was adorable, but also unnecessary. Ransom to the rescue. Grabbing the sweaty POS by the shirt, Ransom deadlifted the bastard until they were eye to eye.
“I would listen to the lady,” Ransom said in his most reasonable tone. As predicted, Joseph Dubey blanched.
“As of this moment, Laila James is a figment of your imagination,” Ransom continued. “She’s a ghost. If you see her in the street, run the other way. If not, I’ll know… and I won’t be happy.”
Unceremoniously, Ransom tossed the guy back into the hall. Unbalanced, Dubey fell on his ass.
“What the hell! Who even are you?” the piece-of-shit abuser sputtered.
“I’m—”
Smiling tauntingly, Rosamie tucked herself under his arm, anger rippling off her in waves. “He’s my new boyfriend, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay far away from me and miles away from Laila.”
Her attitude was kind of turning Ransom on. He glanced down at his new fake girlfriend.
Not bad, actually.
He was tempted to pat her ass to help sell the lie, but he decided he better keep his hands to