be such a snob.”
Another girl laughed. “Yesterday, he started his car and I swear, it let out so much smoke I thought a volcano just erupted.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I muttered. Although, it was. Alexa was talking to Joey when it happened. We were both sitting in her car. I nearly gagged before Alexa hurriedly rolled up the windows.
“I wouldn’t mind the new guy driving me. A friend of mine saw him roar up into the parking lot this morning on this completely hot bike,” Christine whispered to me. I followed her gaze straight back to Matt, who now stood at the head of the lunch line. I agreed. I wouldn’t mind him driving me either, and I wasn’t talking about on a bike.
“You’ll never even make it into town in that thing, Alexa,” Ramanajan continued. We lived in Concord, Massachusetts, a small outlying city about forty minutes from the heart of Boston.
Alexa’s eyes narrowed as she opened her cherry lips to retort. She never got the chance.
“Halloo, sis,” Grey Ragnar said as he sauntered over to us. He led a group of his football buddies. Ramanajan beamed at Grey. Her eyes roved over the pack of guys, all in resplendent blue-and-yellow varsity letterman jackets. Grey tossed a bottle of chocolate Yoo-hoo back and forth in his hand. “I need your house keys, Alexa. I forgot mine. I’m going to be late today. Coach has us staying because he thinks some new guy might be worth looking at.”
“Hello, ladies.” Joey, tall and gangly, rushed forward. His eyes glued on Alexa, he walked straight into Grey. The bottle Grey was tossing around flew out of his hand. The cap must have been loose because it started to erupt in the air. Most of the liquid came spraying straight down at me.
Then, somehow, my chair was yanked out of the way, and I tumbled to the floor. A hand caught me around the waist. The plastic bottle landed on the table with a thud. The lacrosse girls all yelped and jumped up from the table. Gooey chocolate milk ran from it and dripped over the sides onto the floor beside me. At least it wasn’t all over me.
Finding myself bent over backwards, resting on his arm, I looked up into the eyes of my rescuer. For a second, I thought I saw a faint glow of blue on the hand before I blinked and the glimmer of blue vanished. I looked up. Matt Emrys.
Amber eyes smiled down at me. He held a palm out in silent question. Gingerly, I put mine in his, and his warm hand closed around mine. A sizzle like an electric shock went through me. A hint of forever blue flared in his dark eyes. It asked me to reach out and embrace its endless expanse, to allow it to wrap around me like a safe blanket.
For a long second, everything stood still. Around us, the cafeteria hushed into whispers as I heard the blood pumping and thumping through his heart along with the accelerated rate of mine. In that moment, I flew like fierce wind across the top of the steepest cliff. So full of life, I burst with it the need to seek expression, and I tumbled off the cliff into the rocks below.
“Grey, apologize!” Alexa patted her shirt where a few drops had fallen.
I blinked and the cacophony of the cafeteria came back into jagged focus. The blue in his eyes ebbed, returning them to a comfortable brown. My heart sighed as I watched the brown become a beautiful amber. I wondered briefly if being near Matt Emrys was turning my mind into mush. His hand tightening on me, he yanked me up.
“Th-thanks,” I said, wincing. Why did that sound so embarrassingly breathless?
“You’re most welcome.” His words came out in a caress of rolling tones. He had a heavy accent that sounded oddly like a blend of southern US and British.
All my befuddled brain could do was give him a goofy smile back. Alright—so it wasn’t really a life or death situation to be saved from a splattering of chocolate milk, but my nerves remained standing on end from the adrenaline rush.
“Ry,” Grey started. His hand reached out to as he took a step toward me, but somehow, he slipped on the chocolate mess all over the floor. Matt caught him by his jacket. Grey gave Matt an annoyed look and shook off his hand. Grey straightened up.
“How agile,” Matt said, his tone biting. “You