I shoved the palms of my hands into my eye sockets and rubbed. My head hurt. I rolled over onto my stomach and wrapped my arms around my pillow, burying my face into the Egyptian linen case.

I downed my homemade lunch with a big bottle of Gatorade before heading out to the practice field to kick the ball around a bit. There wasn’t anyone else out there, so I focused on juggling and ran a couple of laps before hitting the shower. I shook out my hair, yanked my jeans up over my damp legs, and threw on a muscle shirt. The second bell had already rung when I walked out of the locker room, but I didn’t rush. I sauntered into AP Biology and ignored the glare from Mister Bucher as I turned down the aisle to go to my seat.

The empty seat in front of me where I usually placed my feet was strangely occupied.

Long, light brown hair covered most of her back and shoulders. She had smooth, porcelain skin, an athletic build, and deep blue eyes. She looked up at me, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip, and I knew immediately who she was. It was the girl I slammed into after I was kicked out of the game on Friday, and she was sitting right in front of my seat.

I dropped down behind her and leaned forward and to one side so I could look at her better. She tilted her head down, which made her hair drop over her shoulder and hide her face. It kind of pissed me off, actually, though I wasn’t sure why. I reached over and pushed her hair away from her face and back over her shoulder. She looked up at me, eyes wide and sapphire blue.

“Hey,” I said as I smiled at her.

“Um…hi,” she replied. She pulled back a little, and her hair dropped away from my fingers. At least it wasn’t hiding her from me anymore.

“I’m Thomas,” I told her.

“So I’ve heard,” she said. Her eyes flashed up to Mister Bucher, who was beginning his lecture on blue-green algae.

“Have you now?” I smirked. I wondered just what she had heard and from whom. “You got a name?”

“Yes.” She turned to look toward the front of the classroom and narrowed her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest and stiffened her shoulders.

I had to laugh.

“Want to tell me what it is,” I asked, “or do we get to play Rumplestiltskin?”

A few other games I could play with her flashed through my mind.

“Malone?” Mister Bucher snapped. I looked up at him. “You care to answer my question?”

The fucker thought he could trip me up. I blinked a couple of times, hit the mental rewind button in my head, and glanced up at the whiteboard.

“Oxygen production,” I said with a smile. He huffed and growled something about keeping my eyes up front.

Whatever.

I glanced back to the girl in front of me and saw the corners of her mouth turn up a little as if she was holding in a laugh. I shifted my desk forward with a scrape, moving a little closer to her and extending one of my legs so it was right next to her. She looked back at me and then quickly looked away.

I didn’t reach out to touch her again though it was a little tempting. I kept my leg just about three inches away from hers, shifting my foot when she moved so I could keep the distance constant. She had long, slender legs, but I could tell they had some muscle to them as well. I resisted the urge to immediately get out of my chair and run my hand over her thigh. No need to move too quickly on a chick that was obviously new. Maybe even a challenge.

I could feel that she was a little nervous—either because of my proximity or just because I kept leaning forward to stare at her throughout class. Bucher tried to catch me up a couple more times, even to the point of asking me where my book was and why I didn’t have a pencil. I told him I didn’t need them and noticed the girl in front of me glaring a bit.

I just smiled and winked at her. She rolled her eyes.

Yeah…definitely a challenge.

After class I sat there at my desk as she gathered her stuff and shoved it into her book bag.

“So…Rumplestiltskin,” I said. “Where are you from?”

“Very funny,” she replied as she stood up. “Minneapolis.”

“You must love the warm weather here,” I said with a friendly smile.

“Not really.” Totally deadpan answer. She didn’t offer anything else either. I followed her out of the classroom and down the hall.

“Enjoy it now—rainy season is on the way,” I added. She ignored me, so I pressed on. “What class do you have next?”

“Calculus.”

Tags: Shay Savage
Source: readsnovelonline.net