whack me across the cheek, and I spin towards the football player in alarm.
“What?” I ask, and he nods towards the wadded up piece of paper he just threw at my face.
Ignoring Mariabella’s inquisitive stare and the way Lucas’s muscles tighten, I slowly unwrap the paper and smooth it out over my desk.
I like you. I think you like me. Second date?
Beneath the scrawled words he drew two boxes, one marked yes and the other marked no.
I bite down on my lower lip anxiously. The thing is, I do like Emmett. He’s funny and sweet and sexy as hell. But then I remember how he persistently grabbed my ass when we were kissing, forcing his tongue between my lips, and my good thoughts evaporate like rainwater when the sun is high and blistering in the sky.
Instead of answering, I merely slide the note into my backpack and focus once more on the lesson. When Ms. Auperlee gives us the remainder of the class period to work on our homework assignment for tonight, I know I’m in trouble.
“Hey, did you read my message?” Emmett persists, tapping his foot against my own.
“I did,” I confess.
“And?” He leans sideways across his desk until he’s practically sprawled on mine. “I know our date got cut short because of some assholes.” He glares at the back of Lucas’s head. I can tell that the red-haired Devil is listening keenly, despite his attempts not to. His shoulders touch his ears as he rips a hole in his homework with the tip of his pencil. “But I think we could really have something. And that kiss…” He groans low in his throat. “The thing you did with your tongue…”
Lucas spins in his chair so abruptly that the air shifts, propelling his papers off his desk.
“Maybe we should talk about our own date instead?” Lucas asks with an evil grin. His eyes slide to Emmett before locking on my own. “The one we went to on Friday after the football game? That cute little restaurant I brought you to? You looked radiant in your cheerleading uniform. I kept imagining ripping it off of you…with my teeth.”
Have mercy.
The thought of Lucas on his knees before me, his teeth grazing my inner thigh before clamping down on the hem of my skirt, has lust pooling in my belly.
Nope. Not going there, Peony. Head out of gutter.
I know exactly what he’s doing, and I refuse to be a part of their pissing match a second longer. If they want to measure their dicks, then so be it. I’ll even be willing to grab the measuring tape and do it for them. But this? Putting me in between them like I’m some sort of toy to be fought over? Fuck no.
“Fuck you, Scott,” Emmett seethes, baring his teeth. Lucas smiles, every inch the feral mutt.
“That’s what Peony said on our date,” he quips.
Mercifully, the bell puts an end to the conversation. I glare at both of them, mustering all of my anger into that one loaded look, before picking up my backpack and turning towards Mariabella.
Only to see that she has already left the classroom, golden hair trailing behind her.
“Mari!” Forgetting about the stupid boys, I hurry after my best friend, watching as she gets swallowed by the crowd. “Mariabella!” I break into a jog, practically shoving students out of the way, before I reach her near the stairwell. I tug on her arm to get her to stop, and she whirls on me.
I’m momentarily taken aback by the anger in her gaze. It somehow distorts her angelic features into something unrecognizable. Something, dare I say, demonic?
“What do you want, Peony?” she asks haughtily, and I take a step back at the venom spewing from her lips. I’ve heard her mad before, but never like this. Never.
“What the hell is up with you?” I demand.
“Why do you care?” She cocks out her hip. “Maybe you should just talk to Lucas, since you seem to care so much about his feelings.”
“What?” She’s not making a lick of sense. I half wonder if she hit her head or something at cheerleading practice. Maybe she has a fever…?
“I just don’t understand you!” She throws her hands up in the air as she begins to pace. In the hallway, a few curious underclassmen stop to watch our exchange, but I narrow my eyes at them until they scurry along. I have no doubt that rumors of our fight will reach the rest of the school by