“Yup,” she said glumly. “Social media is the devil.”
He shook his head, then reread the words on the screen. His gaze shifted to the profile picture on the corner of the page, which revealed a decent-looking guy with curly black hair, bright eyes, and a cleft chin. Rage bubbled in Jack’s gut the longer he stared at the picture. As innocent as he looked, this was the creep who’d caused the fight that Pepper had tried to break up. The asshole who’d given her a black eye. Accident or not, the guy deserved an ass-kicking for putting Pepper in harm’s way like that.
“Is any of this true?” he asked Kendra.
She paused before answering. “I’m not sure, but that’s not the point. I mean, everyone we went to college with knows Pepper as Penny, so there’s not much chance of any of her friends or family here reading this. And she’s not on Facebook, so she probably won’t care. But all our college friends will see the post, and I’m worried people will start calling her about it, or saying stuff behind her back.” Kendra’s face collapsed. “I don’t know if I should tell her about it.”
Kendra looked so upset that Jack couldn’t help but reach out and squeeze her slender arm. “Hey, there’s no need to freak out this hard. Clearly this guy is hung up on Pepper, he’s pissed that she’s not into him, and he decided to act like a petulant, spiteful brat and spread gossip about her on the Internet. We’ll tell Pepper about it together, and she’ll most likely laugh it off. You know her—she doesn’t give a shit what people think about her. It’s what her friends think that matters.”
Concern still lingered in Kendra’s eyes. “You’re probably right. She’s not the type to shoot the messenger.”
Jack grinned. “Naah. But she might shoot him—” he pointed to the face on the computer screen, “—so it’ll be up to you and me to talk her out of any craziness. Deal?”
A hint of a smile lifted Kendra’s lips. “Deal.”
“Good. Now stop stressing and come watch some baseball highlights with me. And when Pepper gets back—”
The sound of a door slamming, followed by Pepper’s cheerful “Hellooooooo, roomie!” interrupted Jack midsentence. His grin widened as the entire mood in the apartment shifted. Pepper had that effect on every person, and every room she was in. Electrifying the air with her larger-than-life personality and mellow attitude.
“Come on,” he told Kendra. “Let’s go.”
This time she squeezed his arm, her touch more friendly than intimate, but soft with concern. “What about you?” she said urgently. “Are you okay with this?”
He furrowed his brow. “With what?”
“What he wrote.” Kendra lowered her voice. “I mean, if it’s true, then…”
“Then nothing,” he said easily. “Whatever Pepper did or didn’t do before we started dating doesn’t affect me.”
Kendra paused, then nodded. “Good.”
They left the bedroom, entering the living room just as Pepper strode in from the hall. She was wearing the tiniest shorts Jack had ever seen, and a tight tank top damp with sweat clung to her spectacular tits. Maybe it made him a hound dog, but even concerned about breaking the bad news to her, he got semi-hard the second he laid eyes on her.
Pepper arched a brow when she spotted him. “Whatcha doing, Jackjack? I thought we were going out at eight.”
“I finished up early.” He went over to give her a kiss, forcing himself to keep it brief because her roommate was standing two feet away. “I texted you saying I was coming by.”
“Oh. I didn’t have my phone on me. I was out for a run.” She removed the earphones hanging over her neck, slid off the armband that had been holding her iPod, and tossed both items on the coffee table. Then she popped into the kitchen, returning a second later with her phone in hand. She glanced at the display, frowning in displeasure. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I have nine missed calls from Adam. What does that fucker want now?”
Jack and Kendra exchanged a look, which Pepper didn’t miss.
“What?” she demanded. “Why do you two look all guilty?”
Kendra heaved out a sigh. “I’ll be right back. Just grabbing my laptop.”
After Pepper’s friend dashed off, Pepper fixed Jack with a suspicious glare. “What the hell is going on?”
“Your friend Adam is causing trouble again,” he admitted. “He wrote something about you on the Internet.”
Alarm skittered across her face. “What? What did he write?”