Push the Envelope Read Free Page A

the imagination. Did Aubrey have to tackle you to the floor
and wrestle you into this one?”

 
    Yup, those death stares were now hitting my back like
laser beams. Add in the snarky little laughs and I was starting to get pissed
off. Could they not tell that we were practically brother and sister? Geesh,
catty bitches were guaranteed to drive me crazy. I kissed him on the cheek and
kept an arm wrapped around his side just to put them in their place.

 
    “Nah. She worked her guilt magic on me just like she
did you to get the invites to the party. You know how she is.”

 
    “That I do, Lex. That I do. But she didn’t really have
to guilt me into making sure you guys got into the party. You know that I
wasn’t letting you go to your first official college party without being
there.” Jackson took a sip from his beer, glanced at the girls around us, and
carried on the conversation like they weren’t there. “Where did my sis run off
to?”

 
    “Oh, she’s around here somewhere. She can’t get into
too much trouble since everyone knows she’s your sister, right?”

 
    “Ha! You know better than that. Aubrey doesn’t need to
find trouble—it finds her. Lucky for me, I planned ahead and asked a few of the
guys to keep an eye on her tonight. Figured I would need reinforcements to make
sure we make it through the night without my having to beat the shit out of
anyone.”

 
    I couldn’t deny that there was a real possibility that
Jackson might get into a fight tonight, even if it wasn’t because he was
pulling Aubrey out of a situation she couldn’t handle. He had a very short fuse
and was quick to jump down someone’s throat if he thought they’d fucked up.
Over the years, Aubrey had certainly offered up several guys who got the shit
kicked out of them by Jackson when they wouldn’t leave her alone after she’d
dumped them. It wasn’t that she got into trouble often. It was just that her
ex-boyfriends never seemed willing to let go.

 
    “Aubrey doesn’t have any ex-boyfriends that go to
school here yet, so she shouldn’t get into too much trouble,” I reminded
Jackson.

 
    “But I am sure she is working on meeting her next ex,
right?”

 
    “Well, there was a guy that she was flirting with over
there. He seemed nice enough. He had an under-twenty-one stamp, too, so I would
guess he’s a freshman or sophomore.” I pointed over to Aubrey so he could see
where she was at across the room.

 
    “Good. I don’t recognize him, and if he had a hand
stamp then he isn’t one of my frat brothers. I’d hate to have to kick a
brother’s ass later if things go south.” Jackson finished off his beer. “Want
another one?” he asked as he tapped his empty cup against mine.

 
    I nodded, so we headed over to the keg to grab another
drink. As we walked away, I could hear one of the girls whining Jackson’s name.
He just shook his head at her as he held on to my hand so he wouldn’t lose me
in the crowd.

 
    “So Aubrey isn’t the only one working on their next ex
around here?” I asked Jackson.

 
    “It wasn’t like that with her. You know how girls can
be. Sometimes they think things are more serious than they really are.”

 
    Aubrey wasn’t the only one in her family who’d left a
trail of broken hearts in their wake. The big difference between the two was
that Aubrey jumped into relationships and then bailed when she got bored.
Jackson never let it get that serious. There were always girls around—he just
never called them his girlfriends. It had always surprised me how he treated
the girls he’d slept with when he would kill a guy if he treated Aubrey or me
the same way, but Jackson always told me that the girls he was with had known
the score and had nobody to blame but themselves if they thought he’d been
willing to give them something more.

 
    When we made it over to the keg to grab another beer,
my attention was drawn to the kitchen door. Just outside, an