“You were in a zone, chick. I tried all class to get your attention. I haven’t seen or heard from you all summer. What gives?” Riley asked, bumping my shoulder with hers as we began walking toward the door and into the hallway.
Riley was one of the two good friends I had here. There were others who were friendly, but coming into this close-knit crowd last year was hard. They didn’t accept new faces that easily.
“Sorry. I was working mostly. How was your summer?” I replied.
She sighed in a dramatic fashion that made me smile. “Well, I had to go visit my dad and his new wife up in Pennsylvania. And, girl, let me tell you, they have rednecks up there too. Some people would give folks around here a run for their money. He lives out in the country, and his wife went barefoot to the grocery store! Seriously! Who does that?”
That was another thing about Riley: She always made me smile. “Sounds traumatic,” I replied.
She almost nodded in agreement, then squinted at me. “You’re being a smartass, aren’t you?”
I bit back a grin and started to say something when her dark green eyes went wide as she looked up at something behind me. I started to turn and stopped. I could smell him. Peppermint and leather. Why did that smell so good?
Riley’s eyes went from amazed to flirty real fast. She was preparing to grab my new friend’s attention. With her new look, I had no doubt she could. She would be an easy target. I needed to save her.
“Hello, Rock,” I said, turning to face him. He was completely focused on me, missing Riley’s fluttering eyelashes and come-hither smile.
His lips did a sexy smirk. “What lunch period did you get?” he asked me, keeping those determined eyes directed at me.
“Second,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t sound affected by him. But he was so close and he smelled so nice. I liked peppermint and leather. It worked. Totally worked.
“Me too,” he replied, his smirk turning into a pleased smile. “Let me walk you.”
Walk me. Rock wanted to walk me to lunch. Deep breaths, Trisha. Deep breaths. “Oh, I was going to walk with Riley to lunch.” It was the only excuse I could think of.
Finally Rock shifted his gaze from me to Riley, and I am pretty sure she made a swoony sigh. “Care if I join y’all, Riley?” Rock asked her.
“No. Not at all. I mean, you can walk us both. I don’t mind. Or if Trisha doesn’t want to, you can walk me. Anywhere at any time.” She was babbling like an idiot.
I shot her an annoyed frown. She had just told him he could walk her anywhere at any time. Really? Dear God. No wonder the guy thought all women should fall at his feet. Apparently they all did.
He chuckled. “I’d really like to take Trisha. She’s my new friend, and I’m working hard to get her to keep me.” His gaze was back on me.
Riley nudged me hard in my battered ribs, and I fell into Rock’s chest as I let out a small cry. Pain shot through me, making my vision blur and my eyes water. I was going to be sick. If only I could breathe, I would have run to the restroom.
Two strong arms wrapped around me and held me steady as I focused on not throwing up. “You okay?”
I couldn’t answer him. The pain was still shooting through me, and I was struggling to breathe.
“Shit, how hard did you hit her?” he asked angrily. His arms were gentle but held on to me firmly. I didn’t fight him. The pain was ebbing, and I could hear Riley apologizing as the pounding in my head eased. I needed to tell her it was fine, that this wasn’t her fault. But I was still fighting back the nausea.
“You okay? You need me to walk you down to the nurse? Have her take a look?” He was concerned. If he hadn’t held on to me, I would be on the floor in the fetal position.
Pushing past the lingering pain, I managed to nod and take a deep breath. Straightening my shoulders, I stepped back, trying to move out of his arms. At first I didn’t think he was going to let me go, but he dropped his arms slowly, reluctant to let me move away.
“I’m so sorry,” Riley whispered. “I didn’t mean to hit you hard. I was just trying to get you to go with him. I mean, it’s Rock Taylor, for crying out loud. He’s . . .” Riley paused.
“It’s fine. I think you just hit the wrong spot and, uh . . . hit my, uh . . . funny bone.” That didn’t even sound believable.
Riley scrunched her nose up and frowned. “I thought I hit your side. . . .”
I glanced back at Rock. He was going to think I was crazy. But maybe then he’d give up on trying to get me to like him. “I’m not going to lunch. I need . . . to go get a book from the library,” I said in a hurry, then turned and walked as fast as I could down the hallway. No footsteps followed me, and I took that as a good thing.
With me gone, Rock would probably turn the charm on Riley and she’d let him sweet-talk his way into her panties. The idea of that made me ill. I didn’t want Rock hooking up with Riley.
Shoving that thought away, I passed by the library and headed toward my next class. Lunch was one of my favorite things about school: I got a hot meal. I was hungry, and I doubted I would get much, if anything, to eat tonight. Fandora was in a bad mood. Her latest boyfriend had left her.
I had gone longer than this without food. I could make it until tomorrow at lunch if needed. What I wasn’t ready to do was face Rock after that fiasco in the hall. I doubted he’d try to speak to me again. He and Riley probably thought I was insane.