Sneaking a quick glance over my shoulder, I whispered, “Thanks.”
While Mr. Martin finished his long and boring monologue about the solution to a question that wasn’t even going to be on our final exam, I bit back another yawn. I’d never had a problem with insomnia before, but I hadn’t been sleeping all that great the past two months—ever since I’d gotten home from my trip to see my brother during spring break.
I hadn’t been able to get the kiss Dax laid on me out of my head. It could’ve been because I’d never really been kissed beyond a quick press of lips before. Or maybe it was how my knees had gone weak while his tongue explored my mouth. Then again, it might’ve been the gruffness in his deep voice when he warned me to stay away from other guys since that had just about made my panties spontaneously combust. His commanding tone had made the already sexy sergeant at arms for the Silver Saints MC even hotter, which should’ve been impossible. With his thick, strawberry blond hair that was short on the sides but long on top, full beard, green eyes, and tall, muscular build, Dax had been the star of a lot of my fantasies for the past year or so. In my dreams, he’d done a whole lot more than kiss me, but the reality of having his mouth devour mine blew away anything my imagination had come up with.
Whatever the reason, I’d spent way more time reliving Dax’s kiss than studying for finals. It was a good thing that my grades were high enough that I could almost flunk the tests for most of my classes without dropping my grade point average. Not that it would’ve been a huge deal since my parents didn’t pay much attention to my report cards, and I wasn’t planning on going to college. But my brother would have gotten worried, and I had a feeling that Nova wouldn’t be happy with me telling him that I let my grades tank because I was obsessing over one of his club brothers.
Nova was ten years older than me, and he took his big brother duties seriously, even from afar. His relationship with our parents wasn’t great, but he called me at least once a week to check in and make sure everything was going okay. Ever since I hit my teen years, those conversations always included questions about boys—and a reminder that he was more than willing to come back home to kick some butt if anyone broke my heart. Not that any of the boys who went to school with me tried to ask me out. People still gossiped about the trouble Nova got into when he was a student here, and the talk always took a turn for the worse when my brother visited and our neighbors were reminded that he was in a motorcycle club.
It had always been easy for me to laugh off Nova’s concerns about me dating when we talked. If I’d ever been tempted to like a boy around here, those feelings would have been quickly squashed the first time he repeated something stupid about my brother. The way everyone treated Nova around here was a big part of why I wanted to leave town as soon as I graduated. It was also the original reason I’d fibbed to him about my graduation date. I knew he wouldn’t want to miss the ceremony, and I didn’t want him stuck in the audience with a bunch of judgy people who I couldn’t care less about.
Little had I known when I’d given Nova a date a full two weeks later than the actual graduation that my lie would be so useful later. But when the bell finally rang, signaling the conclusion of Mr. Martin’s torture by math and the end of the last regular school day before finals, I knew it was finally time to put my little plan into action.
Leaping out of my chair, I raced toward the door to beat the crowd out of the building. Once I was close to home without anyone near, I stepped off the sidewalk and ducked behind a big oak tree in front of one of our neighbor’s houses. The couple who lived there were out of town, so I knew nobody would be able to listen in while I made a call. I tossed my backpack on the ground, pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and dropped down onto the grass.
A couple of years ago when I was visiting my brother, he’d put a few phone numbers into my contacts. He’d wanted me to be able to reach someone in the club if he was out of contact for too long, but I’d never expected to use them. I was lucky he’d been thinking ahead, though, because now I had Dax’s number without having to ask Nova for it.