Poser by Cambria Hebert Read Free Book Online

might do something that would come back and hurt him later.
    However, bringing all that up to him in that moment was just bad timing. So I didn’t. I smiled and pretended I didn’t see the sideways looks as we got books and supplies. Of course, we could barely walk two feet without people approaching Braeden. Most of them were football players, and everyone was nice.
    It made me relax some. Maybe I was just overreacting.
    Too bad that feeling was short lived.
    After we went to the old, creepy bookshop to get the one book the campus store didn’t have, we walked over to a nearby café.
    It was a total college place. A lot of the students hung out here, especially the upperclassmen because they all had cars.
    The café sat high on the sidewalk, so much that you had to walk up about five steps to get to the courtyard that led to the front door. Down the center was a regular sidewalk, but on either side were flagstone patios with black wrought iron tables and chairs.
    The building itself was made of brick. It sort of looked like a cottage, not like a modern café, as the name suggested. The windows in front were arched and the front door was painted black with a bright green symbol in the center. The words LOTUS: Coffee with Atmosphere were spelled out in small letters beneath it.
    Funky music played through the speakers and filled the outside space. People milled around and talked over coffee and food.
    I was tense.
    I hated being tense. Going on campus today and facing everyone for the first time since last semester totally frayed my nerves. Usually, I was good at hiding any insecurities, but not right now. Right now I felt like a long length of perfect rope…
    That had been hacked off halfway with a pair of dull scissors.
    The ends were coming undone, tattered and messy.
    I really hoped my hair didn’t look the way I felt.
    As if he could sense the frazzled way I felt, Braeden draped his arm across my shoulders and pulled me into his side as we walked toward the door.
    “B!” some guy yelled from a table off to the right.
    “Yo!” Braeden swung around, pulling me with him.
    Toward the back of the courtyard was a round table full of a bunch of the Wolves. It was almost funny the way their huge bodies took up so much space and made the table seem insufficient.
    “Bring that girl over here,” the guy hollered.
    I swallowed and Braeden chuckled. “Ready to meet the fam?” he said low as we started toward the table.
    “Do I have a choice?”
    “Nope. You know they all want a look at the girl who brought me down.”
    I felt my hackles rise. It was a welcome feeling. A familiar feeling. I wore that spunk like a great-fitting leather jacket.
    I glanced around the table and my eyes fell on Trent. He winked, and I grinned.
    “Trent!” I said and pulled away from Braeden.
    He was already getting up and coming around to greet me. Before I thought better of it, I flung myself at him, giving him a hug. He hesitated for a second but then returned the quick embrace.
    “Have a good summer?” I asked.
    “You bet. Looks like summer agreed with you,” he said, taking in my face. To his credit, he didn’t look me up and down.
    I beamed. Maybe I didn’t look so frizzy after all.
    “You hitting on my woman?” Braeden quipped. He said it good-naturedly, but I heard a hint of steel beneath his tone. Trent made a rude sound (was that supposed to be a no?) and held his fist out to Braeden so they could pound it out.
    “Maybe,” Trent replied when they were done, glancing at me and winking.
    I smiled but slid a glance at B, hoping he knew Trent was only kidding.
    Braeden angled himself slightly between Trent and me with a glint in his eye I didn’t really like. So I slid my hand up the small of his back and let it rest there. My touch worked. He said nothing and turned to address the rest of the table.
    “Y’all know Ivy, right?”
    “Oh, we know her all right,” one of the guys cracked.
    Something in me stilled and my