I was still dragging as I entered art class. The doctor who’d given me a physical exam the day before had made me run for twenty minutes straight on a treadmill, testing my heart rate before and after.
Not used to running...or any kind of exercise, really, my sore legs screamed at me with every step I took up to my seat.
“I got another one,” Caroline cheered, waving a piece of paper. When she finally stopped moving it enough to let me see the drawing, I smiled. It was basically the same picture as the first one, but a cute fuzzy kitten was now playing with Caroline’s bare toes and her eyes were opened as if she’d just awakened.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
I nodded. “The details are astounding.”
Caroline touched the pencil strokes. “And now I want a kitten.”
I laughed just as Reese bounced into the room, full of smiles. “Are you guys going to the club next Friday? Asher’s playing his first gig then.”
“Asher?” Caroline asked slowly, burrowing her eyebrows. “What’re you talking about? Who’s Asher?”
“Oh my God. Does your brother tell you nothing about his work? Asher...Asher Hart. He’s the newest bartender at Forbidden, and Pick’s let him set up this entire sound system at the bar so his band can sing there. And their first performance is next Friday. I’m so excited. I’ve heard them practice and, oh...my...God. Asher’s voice...it’ll melt your panties right off, ladies. I kid you not.”
Ten snorted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. “Whatever. He’s not that good.”
“Oh...Yes. He is,” Reese argued. “I have to molest Mason senseless every time I hear him sing. Seriously.” She glanced between Caroline and me. “He has the best voice. Oh my God, did you get another drawing?” She snagged it out of Caroline’
s hand to inspect it. “Aww. I love the kitten. Now I want a kitten.”
“Wait. What is that?” When Ten tried to peer around Reese’s shoulder to see it, Reese slapped it to her chest so he couldn’t.
“None of your business.”
“I’ll just make it my business then.” He snagged it away from her, making her gasp in outrage.
“Hey,” Caroline snapped as he stared at the drawing. “Stop manhandling my picture. You’ll rip it.” Scowling at him, she tore it from his hand about as roughly as he’d taken it from Reese.
“What the fuck is that?” he demanded. “Who’s drawing your picture?”
She turned her back to him and busied herself by carefully tucking it into her book bag. “I don’t know,” she finally said.
“Caroline’s got a secret admirer,” Reese announced in a sing-songy voice. “Isn’t that sweet?”
“Or creepy,” Ten said, studying Caroline’s face before he added, “The fucker got your chin all wrong.”
“The hell if he did,” Caroline muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and staring straight ahead. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
Smiling to myself as I listened to them squabble, I opened my biology book.
“Your first test in biology is today, right?” Quinn asked, almost in my ear.
I snapped upright, not realizing he’d made it to class yet. His dark hair was windblown, and his voice a little breathless as if he’d had to rush to get here. My skin buzzed with awareness as he slid into his chair, and his scent wafted past me.
“Uh...yeah,” I said, watching him situate himself. “I guess there are some lab experiment questions, so it’s this afternoon instead of next hour when I actually have class. I don’t know if the few extra hours to wait are going to give me more time to study or more time to freak out.”
Worry filled his gaze as he paused from getting prepared for class to look at me. “I have a free period at eleven if you need a last-minute cram session.”
Oh, dear God. I didn’t have a class then, either. But even as my brain told me to say I did, my mouth blurted, “I have a free period then too.”
He straightened as if surprised by that, but then he smiled. “Cool. You want to meet up at the library or some place? I could quiz you.”
No. No, I didn’t want to meet at the library, because actually, secretly, I really did want to meet up—anywhere—with him. But I knew I shouldn’t.
My mouth worked faster than my brain, though. “Okay,” I said. “That would be great.”