I’d found a place in a small beach town on the outskirts of Todos Santos, and I’d arranged for a substitute teacher to cover my classes that day. That didn’t stop Principal Followhill from grunting that I had some nerve taking time off when my position was on the line and my classes were behind schedule on the required syllabus. She was back to her old ways now that she’d paid me off for Jaime’s car accident.
Since I didn’t want to spend much money on movers, I’d decided to do some of the heavy lifting myself. I spent my morning running from my old apartment to the new one, moving boxes up and down the stairs. I was sweaty and smelly, with my messy ponytail, PINK black sweatpants, and a yellow tank top that showed off my toned midriff. If there was a potential husband waiting for me in the dingy complex I was moving into, he was going to think that I was hot. And possibly homeless.
On my third run back to my old apartment, I saw Jaime waiting at my door. He was wearing a white sleeveless tank and khaki shorts. The kind that hugged his ass as if to say, You better believe I’m touching this all day, bitch.
My heart fluttered in my chest, which made my soul lurch in pain. Just until school ends, remember?
“You’re supposed to be at school.” I slipped past him, marching into my apartment. Yes, I was cold to him because of his mother’s behavior yesterday, and no, it was not fair, but I couldn’t help it. I was on my period. He needed to cut me some slack here. Besides—he really was skipping school. I still cared about his education. A lot, actually.
“I thought you were sick.” He hurried into my apartment before the door shut behind me, his hands tucked in his pockets. “You didn’t even mention you were moving today when we saw each other yesterday.”
“You saw the boxes.”
“Yeah. They have been sitting around since the first time I was here. You never put anything in them. I thought you were moving in, not out. What kind of bullshit is this?”
“My landlord wants the place for himself, so I got a new one.” I shrugged and refused to explain more because this thing with him was supposed to be fun. He didn’t need to know my schedule, even though most days, we both knew exactly where the other person was. There was pain in his voice. I not only heard it, I felt it. Like a punch to my stomach. This was wrong. He needed to know, we owed each other nothing.
With a sigh, Jaime dropped the subject. “Whatever. Let’s hang out.”
“You can’t skip classes, Jaime. You’ll fail. Even if you’ve already been accepted to college, it looks bad.” I started gathering my clothes by their hangers. I was going to carry some more boxes to my car but didn’t want him to see me melting into a sweaty pile of PMS rage.
“In other words, you don’t wanna hang out with me?” He followed me, knocking over a stack of boxes with his huge body in the process.
“No. I don’t have time to fuck around today.” I kept walking back and forth, stuffing my hanging clothes into a pair of laundry baskets, hoping he’d get the hint.
Damn him. It was his fault I wasn’t packed already in the first place.
Jaime grabbed my stiff shoulder, studying me. “You think that’s why I came here? To fuck you?”
His raw gaze alone stripped off a layer of my shitty attitude, but I still needed him to leave. This had to stop. We had to stop.
Then why did I run out of breath every time I thought about my life without him?
I shrugged again. “No? Okay, no then. Still, I’m moving, as you can see, and I’ve got my hands full.” I lifted up the heap of clothes in my hands for emphasis. “See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll help,” Jaime announced, grabbing the biggest, heaviest box and throwing it up on one of his shoulders.
I wanted to protest, but shit, that box was like a hundred pounds, easy. I was avoiding the thing like it was that drunk aunt at a wedding reception no one wanted to talk to. Scanning the prominent veins in his arms popping out, I knew I should decline his help. He should be in school. It could even raise suspicion, me and him not showing up on the same day. I remembered Vicious’s veiled threat.
But…I really needed the help.
Also, I was helpless when it came to him.
“Right,” I said after a pause. “I’ll show you where I’m parked.”
He tutted with a growl, reminding me who the boss around here is. “Makes more sense to use the Range Rover. More space. We can finish sooner. It’ll leave us more time for ourselves.”