My Know-It-All Nemesis - Maggie Dallen Page 0,31

one. “That’s why you can’t finish your speech—you have nothing to say.” I knew I was right as I was saying it, because I knew him. We might not have been friends, but I’d gotten to know him as my enemy, and that meant I knew him even better than a friend in some ways. I’d studied this guy like a textbook for two years. I knew how he worked—even if he did manage to surprise me tonight with that kiss.

A rush of heat hit me all over again as my brain tried to follow down that path and remember the sensation. Not the time, brain! We could obsess over that later. Right now, I had a battle to win, and battling with Miller? This was something I knew how to do. That was second nature.

My gaze focused on him. That was why he was running for student council president. The realization smacked me in the face, and as I met his gaze head on, I knew I was right. “I don’t know who you think you need to prove yourself to, but it’s not me.” I shook my head, frustration making my throat feel choked all over again. “It was never me, Miller.”

The silence that followed was unbearable. I felt like I’d said too much. Or maybe I hadn’t said enough. I didn’t know, I just hated whatever this was between us. Like two years’ worth of animosity coming to the surface, and it was making me rethink everything, making me doubt everything I thought was true.

Making me see him in a whole new light.

I took a step back. I didn’t know if I wanted to see him in a new light.

He seemed to be reading my mind, because his shoulders slumped as he met my gaze. “Of course, I had something to prove to you,” he said. “Because you’ve always looked at me like this.” He waved a hand in my general direction. “Everyone else was impressed by parties, they like me because I’m on the team or because I pick up the bill when we go out. But you…” He shook his head. “Nothing I do impresses you. Nothing I do ever earns your respect—”

“That’s not true,” I interrupted with a frown. “It’s not that I don’t respect you.”

He arched his brows in disbelief, and I shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s not,” I said. As I said it, I realized it was true. I might not have liked the guy, or his methods, but I’d never thought he wasn’t a worthy competitor. “You’re smart, and you work hard.” I shrugged. “You’re an excellent rival.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “Are you serious right now?”

I felt my lips twitching up in response, more because his laugh was kind of infectious when it wasn’t at my expense. I shrugged again. “Yeah, I am. You are a worthy competitor, Miller Hardwell.”

He tilted his head to the side as he considered me, and I found myself holding my breath. The guy was hot, and he knew it. But there were times when he wasn’t just handsome, he was…compelling. Times like this when he was looking at me like he saw me. Like he got me.

Times like this when he was walking toward me slowly, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

I felt a nervous laugh bubbling up the closer he got. “It’s definitely the nicest thing I’ve ever said to you.”

He smiled that sexy lopsided smile as he stopped just inches away. “Thank you.”

I blinked in surprise because…he was serious. He was actually grateful that I’d acknowledged that he was smart and ambitious. As if there was any question. But that was when it dawned on me. He’d wanted my respect—he’d wanted to earn it. Because…because…

“You respect me.” What a stupid thing to say, and it sounded even lamer because it came out all breathy, filled with awe.

His brows shot up. “Was there ever any doubt?”

I echoed his words unintentionally. “Are you serious right now?”

He frowned in confusion. “Of course, I respect you.”

“You make fun—”

“I tease,” he interrupted. “It’s what I do. But Kate…whether you’re dressed like this—" He let out a loud exhale. “Which is hot as hell, by the way. Or whether you’re sporting pigtails and a hoop skirt—”

“I don’t wear—”

“Either way,” he said over my interruption. “You are the fiercest person I know.”

He took a step closer, and I held my breath again because the scent of him was