“Swing by.” He moves the pencil wildly in and out of his fingers, until it flies across the room. “Oops.”
He scrambles to get it and all I can think is that Reyn was right. Not only did I do the right thing not giving this awkward, clumsy boy my first kiss, I probably dodged a bullet.
“Anyway,” he says, jumping back in his seat. “I thought, you know, maybe we could go together?”
“Together?” I slowly repeat. Shit. How did this happen? I glance back and see Caroline smiling in amusement.
“Right. I’d pick you up. We’d get some food. Then head to the dance.” He taps his pencil on the table, a rapid tattoo that’s drawing annoyed stares. “Together.” He looks at me hopefully. So very hopefully that I feel a little bad for him even if he’s been a touch too presumptuous in the past.
“That—” I spot Sydney from the corner of my eye. She’s focused on her sketch pad but it’s obvious she’s listening. Screw her. “That’s really nice of you to ask, but I’ve got to cover all the homecoming activities for the newspaper, and I don’t think I’d make a great… uh, date.”
“The newspaper.” He nods rapidly. “Right, right. I get it. Duty calls and all that.”
“Yep,” I tuck my hair behind my ear, feeling oddly embarrassed. “Mr. Lee’s a hardass. Deadlines and all.” Even I can feel the weakness of my smile.
Caroline, two rows back, gives me a thumbs up. It’s pretty obvious from George’s fidgeting that he’s regretting his seat choice right about now.
Two hours later I’m at lunch, Reyn on the opposite side of the table, tipping a can of soda to his mouth. He’s been eating cookies out of a bag that was left in his locker by one of the cheerleaders this morning. It doesn’t exactly make me jealous. It’s just some dumb homecoming tradition, cheerleaders showering the players with locker goodies on game day. But it does make me want to snatch the bag out of his hand and throw it across the room.
Okay, maybe it makes me a little jealous.
I could have left him food in his locker. And it would have been good food, too. Something other than empty calories. Protein, because Reyn is an athlete. Something with a sauce, because he likes stuff in a sauce. It’s bad enough I have to sit all the way over here, unable to touch him, do I really have to watch him eat some other girl’s food, too?
He’s not near enough that it completely rattles me—not close enough for me to accidentally brush up against his leg under the table. Or, you know, lick that sugary soda off his lips. Conversation floats. The guys are deep in discussion about the game. The girls are gossiping about who’s taking whom, some muttered worries of the weather possibly being bad and ruining hairdos. None of it penetrates. I just keep thinking about the way those hands of his were on me last night. The way he—almost obsessively—showered my inner thighs with obscenely wet, open-mouthed kisses. How his mouth felt between my legs. How his hard cock was—
“What about you, V?”
I blink, head whipping around. “What?”
Georgia’s eyebrows are raised. “What does your dress look like?”
I struggle to become coherent. It’s not really working. “Dress?”
“For the dance,” Afton adds.
“Oh, well, I didn’t get one.” My mind had been on other… things. I lower my voice so only the Devils and Playthings can hear. “We’re just kind of making an appearance, right? Does it matter?”
Elana rolls her eyes. “Of course, it matters. It’s a new dress,” she says, as though that clears it up. “And you can’t just walk in all casual like a total rando. That’ll be more obvious.”
“Oh, well.” I frown, trying to think if I have a dress that wasn’t just bought for Easter portraits. “I guess I can figure something out.”
“You can borrow something of mine if you want,” Aubrey says. “We’re about the same size, and my mom’s already started shopping for sorority rush next year. Or at least that’s what she says. Seriously, I have things I’ve never even worn.”
My eyes dart next to her, where my brother is sitting. I didn’t realize he was listening, but he gives Aubrey an appreciative smile for her generosity. Damn, she’s working this hard and he’s buying into it. Not a single one of his prior girlfriends even looked in my direction except for their rare moments