Dream With Me (With Me Book 4) by Elyssa Patrick Page A

each other at various games, bars, and college parties.
    We quickly introduce ourselves to the girls we really don’t know. I end up next to Griff with Chloe and Taylor directly across from me. Chloe has Daphne Fox, Nick Brady’s girlfriend, on her other side. Daphne is also an English major and we’ve had a class or two together. The only time I’ve run into Hailey has been in a bar bathroom. The tiny blonde, Zelda, who is Jamie’s girlfriend, is completely new and seems nice but quieter than all the rest.
    Jamie, who is on the other side of Taylor, leans over, a devilish smile lighting his face. “Evie.”
    “Jamie,” I say.
    Jamie was the one who tried to get Griff to dance with me at the Freshmen Mixer. Obviously Jamie is recalling the same thing, and he’s no doubt wondering why I’m at the table with Griff beside me.
    “Mystery solved,” Jamie says.
    I lay a napkin over my lap and glance at Jamie. “Huh?”
    “Griff said we needed to save extra spots. And he kept looking around until a few seconds ago when he suddenly got up and hurried off. Silent but Deadly never hurries anywhere.”
    “Silent but Deadly?” I reach for my iced tea, ignoring the knowing looks on my best friends’ faces. Warmth is spreading through me that Griff not only saved these chairs for us, but was looking for me, too.
    “You’ll have to forgive him,” Jamie’s girlfriend says. “Jamie’s had too much sugar.”
    Jamie turns to her, his eyes dipping to her mouth. “I definitely have not had too much sugar.”
    He kisses her, a loud, teasing smack that softens.
    “We try not to let him out much,” Caleb says.
    Jamie pulls away from his girlfriend to look over at Caleb. “Aw, Fox, you love me. You all do.”
    Chloe rolls her eyes and reaches for her cheeseburger. “So, are you all going to The Tavern?”
    “I also heard Blue Oyster is having a special,” Taylor adds.
    Soon they’re talking about plans for tonight, and I shoot Chloe and Taylor a grateful smile. They totally have my back, and the conversation allows me to turn slightly to Griff and have some amount of privacy.
    “Thanks for saving us seats,” I say quietly. “How did you know to grab three?”
    “You’re always with those two, so I figured you’d be coming with them.”
    That’s simple enough. I know who his friends are, too. “You were right about that, but thanks for thinking of Chloe and Taylor. You’re not eating?”
    “It’s too hard,” he says.
    I stop from grabbing my hamburger. “Why?”
    “I’m a vegan,” Griff says. “I’m also Jewish.”
    “Are you Kosher?” I ask.
    Griff shakes his head no.
    “And he’s a health nut.” Jamie leans over. “Constantly on the move, whether it’s running or working at the mechanic shop with his older brother.”
    Ah. That explains the work-roughened hands.
    “You should also know one more very important thing, Evie,” Jamie says. “It’s about his brother.”
    “What about his brother?”
    The whole table, with the exception of me, Taylor, and Chloe, let out a sound that, if said, would be: not this again .
    “McAlister, let’s not go there,” Griff says.
    Jamie ignores him. “His brother, Jack, says he’s a mechanic. But I know that he’s a secret spy. Like James Bond.”
    I blink, not sure I heard Jamie right. “You’re joking, right?”
    “Not joking. He’s completely a spy,” Jamie says. “I might not have proven this, but one day I will. Somehow.”
    “Sure, you will,” Nick says.
    I laugh, because surely Jamie isn’t serious. But then I catch a look at Jamie’s face. He totally is!
    “You’re unbelievable,” I say.
    “Thank you,” Jamie says. “I like to think outside the box.”
    “McAlister, you’re so outside the box, you might as well be in—”
    “Now, Brady,” Jamie says to Nick, “don’t say anything you’ll regret.”
    Nick just looks at Jamie, then points to Zelda. “I have no idea how you put up with him.”
    “He’s a catch,” Zelda