In, one . . . two . . . three . . .
Out, one . . . two . . . three . . .
In, one . . . two . . . three . . .
Out, one . . . two . . . three . . .
There was a sudden knock at the door. With one last breath to steady her quaking nerves, Ariana got up. As soon as she opened the door, Palmer Liriano cupped her face in his hands and brought his full lips down on hers, backing her into the room again and slamming the door with a backward kick of his foot. Ariana giggled, the sound almost foreign to her own ears, and tripped backward, letting him lower her down onto her bed and settle in next to her, kissing her the entire time.
A few weeks ago, Palmer had broken up with Lexa so that he could go out with Ariana, but Ariana had insisted on keeping their relationship secret—at least until she could be certain that her new friend Lexa was truly over Palmer. On the night of the NoBash, Palmer had challenged Ariana about taking their relationship public, but he hadn’t mentioned it since. So for the past week the two of them had been sneaking around as usual, stealing moments together after class or during study hours. These moments were Ariana’s refuge and she cherished them like they were gold.
“Hello,” Palmer said, finally parting his lips from hers.
He was so insanely handsome, with his jet-black hair and warm brown eyes, his tanned skin and easy smile, that sometimes it was almost impossible to tear her eyes off him.
“Hey,” she replied with a grin. He trailed kisses down her neck and she placed her hand against his chest, feeling his muscles through the soft cotton of his T-shirt. “What would you have done if Lillian were here?”
Palmer’s brow knit. “Kicked her out on her ass, of course,” he said. “Nothing keeps me from you.”
Ariana laughed at the visual. “How very chivalrous of you.”
“I’m a chivalrous guy,” he said jokingly. He ran a fingertip down her cheek, sending pleasant flutters through her chest. “So, what were you doing when I rudely interrupted?” Palmer leaned on his side and crooked his elbow under his head.
“Trying to study for our government quiz,” Ariana replied, sitting up and gesturing at the book. It looked so massive and foreboding just sitting there.
“Trying?” he asked.
“Having a hard time concentrating,” Ariana admitted, averting her eyes.
“Oh.”
Palmer swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. He leaned over her open laptop and scrolled through what few notes she had taken. “I can e-mail you my notes, if you want.”
“Yeah?” Ariana said, standing up to face him. “That would be amazing.” She reached for his hand and took it lightly in hers, toying with his fingers. “But . . . haven’t you been distracted too? With the whole Brigit thing?”
A shadow passed over Palmer’s handsome features. “Yeah, but that just means my notes are even better than usual. That’s how I deal. By staying busy.”
Ariana used to be that way too. Back at Easton Academy, whenever something bad happened, her grades only went up and her extracurriculars became her solace. What had changed? Why was she different now? Maybe it was because back then the bad things that had happened had seemed manageable. But now . . .
“Hey. Are you okay?” Palmer asked, reaching for her hand. “You just got sad.”
Ariana attempted to smile. “Yeah. I just—”
There was a quick rap at the door and then Lexa walked in. Ariana dropped Palmer’s hand, but stopped herself from springing away from him. She froze instead, gripping the back of the desk chair, realizing that moving away from Lexa’s ex would just make her look even more guilty than she already did. Still, Lexa’s eyes darted between Palmer and Ariana. Ariana’s fingers tingled. Had she been too slow? Had Lexa seen?
“Hey, Lexa,” Palmer said smoothly. “What’s up?”
Lexa looked from Palmer to Ariana and back again. “Nothing . . . What’s up with you?” She glanced around the room suspiciously. Her eyes paused briefly on Kaitlynn’s torn poster.
“Not much.” Palmer turned to Ariana. “So you’ll e-mail me those notes, right?” he said, backing toward the door.
“Sure,” Ariana said. “No problem. Glad I could help.”
Palmer winked and smiled at Ariana as he slipped into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Ariana’s heart fluttered around in her chest like a caged bird. If possible, she loved him even more for being so suave under pressure.
“Notes?” Lexa asked, raising her perfect eyebrows.
“Yeah. We have a quiz this week,” Ariana said, closing her laptop so Lexa wouldn’t see that her notes document was practically empty. “We figure between the two of us we may have absorbed most of the information.”