Taking The Reins (The Rosewoods Book 1) Read Free Page A

elevator?”
    He frowned at me and then made a big show of flexing his arms like a bodybuilder, not that I could see any muscles through his Westwood Academy sweatshirt, but my imagination could fill in the blanks. “How am I supposed to impress all the new girls if I use the elevator? Hmmm?”
    “You’ll just have to do it with your wit and charm.” And by the way, mission accomplished , I didn’t say.
    He rolled his eyes and then gave me an incredulous look. “Nice try. I know your type. You’re all into caveman displays of strength and virility.”
    “Hardly,” I said, silently cursing that my voice broke on the single word.
    “Whatever,” he said and bent to grab a handle of my trunk, the weight of which obviously surprised him. “Jesus, are you sneaking your boyfriend in here, or something?”
    “No! I don’t have a boyfriend,” I blurted out. Ugh. Smooth one, Brooklyn. Like this guy is really interested. There was no way on this planet earth that this guy wasn’t already taken, with like fifteen girls in the wings.
    He glanced at me, obviously amused, and then looked away, scanning the crowd. Probably for his girlfriend...
    “Hey Jenks!” He hollered, looking toward another guy in a Westwood hoodie who was talking to Chelly as she consulted her clipboard. “Jenks!” he repeated. “Over here.”
    Jenks (First name? Last name? Nickname?) finally looked up at Will, nodding before turning back to Chelly. He said something to her and then nudged her gently with his elbow before coming over. The way Chelly smiled and watched him walk away from her, it was obvious she was checking out his butt and liking what she saw. I could hardly blame her (were all the guys from Westwood movie-star beautiful?) but it was a bit embarrassing, nonetheless. I caught her eye and she winked, obviously not quite as embarrassed. Maybe Jenks was her boyfriend; that little elbow nudge he gave her was telling and I couldn’t exclude the possibility that they were a couple.
    She sure could do worse; tall and ginger, with his Prince Harry good looks and a butt I hadn’t yet seen, but was Chelly-approved, he certainly held his own in the cute guy category.
    “Grab the other side, would you?” Will said as he leaned down again to grab the steamer trunk handle.
    “Where to?” Jenks asked, looking at me, not yet making a move to help Will with the trunk.
    “Third floor,” Will answered for me before I could open my mouth. “South wing.”
    Jenks groaned but then suddenly turned toward me. “We haven’t met, so I’m going to assume you didn’t choose a room at the very end of the third floor just to torture us.”
    The old, shy Brooklyn would have fallen over herself to apologize over the location of her room (which I had no control over) but the new Brooklyn decided she wanted to flirt a little more with this very cute boy in front of her. And his friend.
    I glanced at Will before looking Jenks in the eye and saying, “As a matter of fact, I did it just so you boys could impress me with displays of your strength and virility. I am a cavewoman at heart, after all. Carry on.” I waved at the trunk, feigning impatience.
    Jenks looked at me like I was insane, but Will barked out a laugh, making me feel clever and a little bit powerful. “I like you,” he said, picking up the trunk. “Come on, Jenks, you heard the lady...er...cavewoman.”
    Before picking up the trunk, Jenks turned to me and stuck out his hand. “Evan Jenkins, since that clod over there didn’t see fit to introduce us.”
    “Hey,” Will said. “I would have.”
    We both turned and looked at him, waiting.
    “Evan Jenkins, this is...” he looked at me for help, since he must have realized in that second I hadn’t told him my name.
    I smirked and held out my hand. “Brooklyn Prescott. Nice to meet you.”
    Evan smiled. “Likewise. Now let’s get this ridiculously heavy trunk upstairs.”
    “Brooklyn,” Will said, like he was considering my name,