Collide Series Box Set

by J. C. Hannigan

  "This time, try actually saying something to him," I muttered, gently tugging my arm away from Jenna's grasp. "Play it cool."

  Jenna looked nervous. My heart warmed a little for her. She'd had a rough go the last several years and a traumatic experience at the end of high school had left a sour taste in her mouth. She'd had a brief fling with a mutual friend of ours, Jake Patterson, but it hadn't worked out. They were just too different. The three of us were still friends, but more like distant friends that communicated by Facebook. The last time I'd heard from Jake, he told me that he had cleaned up his act and was joining the military. It would be interesting to see how that played out as Jake had always hated authority figures. He’d spent the majority of his high school career trying to stick it to the man by selling marijuana.

  When it was our turn, I greeted Lucas with a nod. He smiled back at us, his hazel eyes lingering on Jenna for a moment before he spoke. "What can I get you lovely ladies?" Jenna giggled and was visibly blushing.

  "I'll take a coffee," I jumped in, allowing Jenna a moment to collect herself while hiding my smile at my friend’s discomfort.

  "Green tea for me, please," Jenna squeaked.

  "Is that our Harlow I hear?" Jamie's sing song voice rang out, his blond head popping up over the kitchen door. "It is! Mark, Harlow's come to say hello!" Seconds later, he was walking purposely around the counter to embrace me in a hug. Mark came out with a tray of donuts, grinning his hello at me and winking warmly at Jenna.

  Jamie was tall with shoulder length blond hair and a tan that he religiously kept up. He had pale blue eyes and was very lean. Mark was the night to Jamie's day. He had dark hair, dark eyes and a dusting of stubble across his chin. He was taller and broader. Both were friendly, warm, inviting and extremely fun. They'd all but adopted Lucas and I as their surrogate children. What I knew about Lucas was all from Jamie, who was quite the talker.

  "You're not coming by to bail out of your shift tonight, are you?" Jamie joked.

  "Of course, I already told you that I quit!" I joked back, grinning.

  "Nobody else would hire you; you're too cold," Jamie shot back, winking at me.

  "Oh please." I rolled my eyes. I knew he was kidding, but it still stung a little. I was a good employee, I did my job and I was warm to the customers, but I knew I wasn't fooling Jamie or Mark. Smiling and exchanging easy banter with customers did not come easily to me.

  "Here's your change," Lucas interrupted. "Unless you want me to add it to my tip jar," he said with a wink.

  "Sure, go ahead. Buy yourself a haircut," I shot back, smirking. Jamie laughed.

  "You wicked girl," he abolished. I shrugged, sparing a glance at Jenna. She was biting her glossy lip, looking at Lucas with hopeful eyes.

  Jamie's keen eyes swept over her, noting the object of her attention. He grinned mischievously. "Hmm, looks like I have a lot of work to do today," he added thoughtfully. "I'll see you around three, Harlow. Good luck today!"

  Jenna and I stepped aside to wait for our orders. She looked down at her feet, disappointment marring her delicate features. She didn't see Lucas's eyes slide back to her after he finished taking the next order or how his gaze lingered on her as we fixed our beverages at the sugar station.

  "Gee, thanks for the help," Jenna muttered as we left The Bean and headed towards a cluster of the campuses many buildings. She took a sip of her green tea, pouting at me with her wide blue eyes.

  "Don't ask for my help," I warned, laughing. "You won't like the method." I took a sip of my hot coffee, embracing the flavors as they danced across my taste buds. "Besides, I think maybe Jamie is adopting this cause."

  "What?" Jenna exclaimed, looking behind us at the doors to The Bean. I had already told Jenna stories about how Jamie loved to meddle in other people’s business and play matchmaker.

  I grinned, happy that maybe Jamie would get off my back about dating if he had Lucas to focus on. Plus, Jenna needed the help. Of course I wanted to help Jenna. I thought about mentioning her to Lucas, but I wasn't exactly known for my delicate approach on such matters. Jamie would be better at it. I was too blunt. Jamie was honest, but he had a gentle way about him. I was a bit cold—as he pointed out. I figured I would leave this one to him.

  "You're late, by the way," Jenna huffed, nodding her head in the direction of a large clock that hung on one of the campus building's towers. Bantering with my co-workers had set us back. I was late for class.

  "Crap," I muttered, glaring at her. She shrugged innocently and gave me a small wave as she headed towards the building where her accounting class was.

  I headed straight towards the lecture hall while trying to finish my coffee before I reached the doors. I shoved the empty disposable cup into a nearby garbage pail, my anxiety rising with each step I took.

  I hated being the last student in a classroom, and judging by the time on the clock tower, I was twenty minutes late; I would undoubtedly be the last student to arrive. I pushed opened the doors, wincing slightly as they loudly creaked, announcing my belated arrival.

  A stern looking woman in her mid-thirties was standing at the podium, her pale hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her piercing gray eyes narrowed in on me. She furrowed her brow, frowning as she showed her displeasure at my disruption of her class.

  "Sorry," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

  The lecture hall was massive and it was full of students. My eyes widened as I searched the rows for a vacant seat. I started walking up the stairs, finally spotting one almost at the very back of the far left side of the hall.

  "I do not like interruptions," Professor Pedersen said rigidly, her voice ringing out sharply against the silence of the hall. I gritted my teeth, feeling thousands of eyes upon me. "If you’re late, don't bother coming in. I will be locking the doors. I do not wait around to start my lectures. You need to respect the hours allotted for this course and arrive on time."

  My face burned with irritation and embarrassment. I kept my head down, allowing my dark hair to fall into my face. I didn't like being called out like that. Normally, I'd toss a smart-ass remark at her, but I'd learned something about University professors: they tolerated a lot less than high school teachers.

  At the thought of high school teachers, my heart seized momentarily in my chest, as it did every time I thought of him. I absently fingered the necklace that rested on my collarbone before I forced myself into the present: the task of finding that single free seat.

  I made my way through the auditorium quickly, apologizing to the people whose legs I had to step over. Relief overcame me as I found a free seat and sank down into it. The hall was overwhelmingly silent. Professor Pedersen refused to continue her lecture until I sat down. Everyone was staring at me, including the Professor. Her stern gray eyes finally left my face as she resumed speaking.

  "What a bitch," the guy beside me said, his voice low and gruff. I looked at him, resisting the urge to raise my eyebrows in approval.

  He was a good head taller than me, even while sitting down. He had long dark brown hair that reached past his shoulders and brown eyes with an intense ring of gold encasing the pupils. He had a slight dusting of facial hair across his jaw, as if shaving hadn't been on his list of priorities. He was clearly in excellent shape, his prominent muscles showcased by the simple black t-shirt he wore.

  I drank in his defined forearms, following the entire length of his body. My head kept focusing on the word “defined.” Defined was one way to describe him. I raised my green eyes to his face, pausing on his thick lips and sweeping across his strong features. He looked like a Viking, or even a Barbarian. I had to admit to myself, I was impressed with what I saw, and I didn't normally like guys who had better hair than me.

  He wore a grin as I studied him. His smile suggested that he knew what I was thinking. He extended a large hand, offering it to me. "My name is Jax."

  "Harlow," I said, shaking his hand while I resisted the urge to smile.

  "Pretty name,"
he remarked, his white teeth flashing as he smiled at me widely.

  "If you two are done talking, I'd like to resume my lecture." Professor Pedersen's voice snapped across the lecture hall like a sharp whip, drawing the eyes of my peers back to me.

  "Sorry about that." Jax’s grin was even wider. He waved his hand, motioning for her to continue. The Professor's lips were pursed in a thin line as she continued on.

  It was hard to focus on anything that Professor Pedersen was saying. I knew that Jax was staring at me. The seats in the lecture hall were close to one another, separated by thin armrests. Jax's arm rested on his armrest, a mere inches away from my arm. I felt the tingles of his nearness. He was electrically charged and my body responded without my permission.

  I bit into the inside of my lip, wanting to move away from this stranger that evoked feelings of attraction in me. I didn't want to be attracted to anybody. I wasn't ready for anything. I absently touched the necklace at my collarbone again, a nervous gesture I had developed shortly after my relationship with Iain ended.

  My heart squeezed painfully at the mere thought of him. Iain Bentley was...well, Iain was a big deal to me, even still.

  Iain was my first love. We met in my final year at high school. I still remember the first day I saw him, sitting at his desk. His dirty blond hair and Caribbean blue eyes would probably stay etched in my mind forever. Our relationship was a whirlwind affair. I fell quickly and hard for him, but our relationship was doomed from the start.

  Iain Bentley was my twelfth grade English teacher.

  I know what you're thinking; he took advantage of me, or that he was deeply disturbed to even consider a relationship with a student. It wasn't like that. Life isn't black or white. It's complicated, it's messy, and it doesn't always fit into perfect little categories of right and wrong.

  My final year of high school was traumatic. I met Jenna then. I befriended her after a power-hungry son of the town’s Chief of Police sexually assaulted her. In fact, I tried to stop it from happening. When it was clear I was too late, I stepped into the role of best friend and helped Jenna attempt to seek justice from her attacker, which she never really got. Andrew Cooper walked away with a slap on the wrist. He was sentenced to community service, and the smear on his permanent record would fade with time and good behaviour.

  As if not getting justice after having her innocence stolen from her when Andrew raped her wasn't enough, Jenna had also ended up pregnant. Like some kind of horrible Lifetime movie. I helped Jenna throughout her entire pregnancy until she gave birth.

  There was a small silver lining in all of that; the charges against Andrew brought forth the illegal actions of his father, Carl, and he faced legal repercussions for his wrongdoings. Jenna wasn’t the first girl that Andrew had raped.

  Carl was currently serving time for covering up his son's vile behaviour. Not only that, he had secret dealings with some of the big drug dealers in town. When we exposed Chief Cooper for his part in keeping the law from touching Andrew, we exposed him in all his wrong doings. He was going to spend a long time in prison.

  And Iain...he was my rock through it all. Jenna's sexual assault brought up tormented memories of my own past. If it weren't for Iain, well, I probably would have returned to a dark and scary place. Iain was the one who suggested the idea of adoption to me for Jenna. She couldn't stand the idea of an abortion, but struggled with the idea of raising a child conceived by sexual assault.

  Unfortunately, just after the trial of Jenna Burke vs. Andrew Cooper, photos of Iain and I together surfaced. Iain was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, and had to serve one year in jail. Locals were outraged that one year was all he got. I was naive and optimistic that after that year he would find me again.

  He hadn't. I hadn't heard a word from him in the last two years. Not a whisper.

  I missed him more than anything. I missed our conversations in his worn kitchen. I missed the way he kissed me. I missed how he knew exactly what I needed when I needed it, and often before I knew I needed it.

  "So...are you just going to sit here all day then?" Jax's voice rumbled, rousing me from my reverie. Startled, I looked around, noticing for the first time that the lecture hall was almost completely empty. I looked back at Jax. He was standing up, looking down at me with a delectable smile on his lips. I cleared my throat, forcing a smile, and all but jumped out of my chair.

  "Nice meeting you," I said over my shoulder, weaving my way through the lingering students at the top of the aisle.

  I didn't necessarily run away, but I wasn't exactly walking either. I pushed opened the doors to the lecture hall, carefully avoiding catching the eye of the professor that didn’t seem to like me much.

  I had three more classes that day before my shift at The Bean and I couldn't concentrate in any of them. I was thankful that it was the first day of a new semester. Most professors weren't expecting us to focus—except Professor Pedersen, it would seem.

  With fifteen minutes to spare, I made it back to The Bean, sneaking in the back to toss my uniform on and wrap my long dark hair in a sock bun. Mark greeted me with a cheerful hello, his hands completely covered in flour from preparing dough for the next day’s bread. Jamie was in the office, finishing up on inventory. I peeked my head inside while I tossed on my hairnet. "I'm here."

  "Good," Jamie grinned. "I've been dying to ask you—your pretty little friend, she has the hots for our Lucas, doesn't she?" He leaned back in his desk chair leisurely.

  "Yes, she does." I shrugged. "I guess she likes Harry Potter more than I thought," I added, shrugging at him before I closed his office door to the sound of his laughter.

  I joined Lucas out front. There were a few customers in line, but we handled them quickly. We had about ten minutes before the next rush of students came in. In an hour, Lucas was off and it would be just me manning the front. Jamie and Mark were heading out at five, and I would close up the shop at nine by myself.

  "So, how was your day?" I asked, my lips in a thin line as I resisted the urge to smile at Lucas's bewildered expression. I didn't normally start conversation with anybody. Jamie was always able to get me to talk, although it had taken him a year, but I certainly wasn't friendly with Lucas.

  He looked around, then pointed at his chest and mouthed 'me?' as if he couldn't believe that I was actually talking to him about non-work related things. I rolled my eyes, irritated. This was exactly why I didn't make a habit of talking to people.

  "Okay, I'm just going to cut to the chase," I said, frowning. "My friend, the blond one? She thinks you're cute. Jamie noticed and he'll probably harass you into finding your balls and asking her out. You've been warned."

  "The hot one?" Lucas's expression was even more bewildered. His eyes widened slightly, as if this information was new to him.

  "Are you blind? Yes." I rolled my eyes dramatically. A huge smile broke out on Lucas's face. "Huh, well go figure," he said thoughtfully.

  "Excuse me," a voice that sounded vaguely familiar broke up the little pow-wow session Lucas and I were having by the coffee maker. Lucas chose that moment to go in the back to grab more coffee cups, leaving me to man the till. I turned my head, seeing the tall, dark and handsome guy from my Psychology lecture waiting in front of the cash register.

  "Oh, it's you again." I exhaled, approaching the register. My lips curved in a small smile in response to the infectious grin on his face.

  "Yes, me again," he said, his eyes lingering on my face for a moment. I arched my eyebrow, alerting him that he was staring. He cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly. "Can I get a large coffee please?"

  "Yes." I rang his order in, careful to avoid meeting his eyes. I wanted to look at him, and I found that a little...alarming. My body's reaction to just sitting beside him was a warning itself. I wasn't ready for anything and I didn't want anything. I want Iain, I thought stubbornly, but my body ignored me, tingling with anticipation and excitement.

  Jax held out his money, for
cing me to reach a little farther than necessary. My eyes met his. I was again struck by the gold rim around his pupils. The startling colour faded to a gentle brown, but it was still unlike anything I'd ever seen before. His eyes were captivating and mysterious.

  He held onto the money, looking down briefly at my right forearm, at the tattoo of a quill and inkpot I'd gotten shortly before beginning twelfth grade. "Love the tattoo," he said, his eyes slowly roaming back up to my face.

  I snatched the cash a little too roughly from his large hand, feeling vulnerable and exposed with his intense gaze upon my face. I handed him back his change, my mouth in a thin line. "Your coffee will be ready to the left of the register," I told him, motioning with my head for him to move on.

  "See you around," Jax said with a wink.

  I glared at his retreating back. He looked muscular even from behind. This guy oozed sexual appeal in the most annoying way. I was left reeling and feeling guilty from our brief encounter.

  "Oh my word," Jamie sighed, fanning himself and blinking dramatically. "Who was that!" My brows furrowed. I didn’t notice when Jamie approached; Jax distracted me.

  "Some guy," I muttered, busying myself with wiping down the already spotless counter.

  "I could practically taste the sexual tension rolling off you two. Snag that up, honey, and hang on tight." Jamie winked. I rolled my eyes, trying not to let Jamie's comment get to me. Jamie predicted sexual tension at least a hundred times a day.

  Lucas left at four, then Mark and Jamie left at five, leaving me alone to manage the store until close.

  Although I adored my bosses and tolerated Lucas, I preferred closing the store alone. It wasn't a difficult job, and I enjoyed watching the majority of the customers. They were pretentious University types who thought they were rare intellectuals. Watching them interact with each other was amusing.

  Closing the store was simple. I closed the cash register and deposited the money into the safe in Jamie's office. I powered down all the machines, made sure everything that needed to be kept cool was in the refrigerator, threw out what food hadn't sold or took it home, because Mark's baked goods were too good to resist. After that, I scrubbed down every surface until it shined. Finally, I activated the alarm and locked up. It took about an hour to ensure everything was done. After that, my walk home was quick.