firm arms at her sides was kind of hot. It made me wonder if she was athletic in bed. I bet she was.
“Here you go.” Lindy came around the corner with a bright-blue shirt in her arms.
I felt like telling her blue wasn’t my color, but whatever got me out of this shit as soon as possible.
She pointed across the gym to some kids standing right next to Patience.
“That group of boys over there is your group. Since today’s your first day, just spend the hour getting to know them and we’ll work on activities tomorrow.”
I nodded my understanding, then got up and walked out. I watched Patience as I walked up behind her. She was beginning to fidget again and it struck me how cute she was. I heard the boys from my group laughing and joking, and then I watched as the bravest of the group walked up to her and started to flirt. I didn’t hear her response, but suddenly she turned and ran right into me.
She smelled like freshly cut grass and female. It was a weird combination since the feminine smell usually wasn’t associated with anything outdoorsy, but I liked it. It belonged to her and somehow, even though she was delicate looking and entirely too sweet, it fit her. She looked up at me and suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. A faint black bruise worked its way up her cheek and under her eye. I knew my bruises and this was definitely a backhand to the face. It was at least three days old, which let me know it happened once she left the police station.
The urge to reach up and run my finger softly across her bruise was strong. I’d never wanted to soothe something so bad in my life. I didn’t like feeling that way. As a matter of fact, I fucking hated it. I wanted to lash out at her, but more than anything, I wanted to beat the shit out of her dad for laying a hand on such a defenseless person. Then again, I should kick my own ass since I was positive me being a smartass contributed to the problem.
It must have been obvious that I was staring down at her bruise because she swiped at it anxiously with her hand and turned her head away a bit. She told me with her eyes what I already knew. That bruise was my fault.
“You again,” I said as I bit down on my lip ring. “Guess that means I’m going to jail today.”
She looked as if she was physically shaking and I wondered for a moment if she was afraid of me. “Why would you go to jail?” she asked. She reached up and grabbed at the ends of her ponytail.
Every time I saw her, she got prettier and prettier and after our last run-in at the jail with her asshole of a dad, I looked at her differently. Before, I thought her life was perfect, but after seeing her fucked-up relationship with her dad, I knew not everything was as it seemed.
“Every time I see you I end up behind bars. What happened to your face?” I blurted out.
I shouldn’t give a shit what happened to her face, but I did.
She shrugged and attempted to laugh it off. “It was a stupid soccer ball to the face yesterday at practice.”
She was lying, but I didn’t push it. I knew what it was like to make up excuses for a busted lip or a black eye.
Quickly, I changed the subject.
“Why are you here? I mean, other than to flirt with underage boys.” I smirked down at her.
She was so much shorter than me. I liked that. It made me feel powerful somehow… manly.
“I wasn’t flirting with underage boys, and I’m here to volunteer. It’s only fair since we were both arrested.” She shrugged.
I guess being the governor’s daughter had its perks, like being able to find out personal information on people’s community service, but then again, why would her dad tell her how to find me when he so obviously didn’t want us to be around each other? Not that I could blame him after my smartass attitude toward him the last time we were together.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked. I didn’t want the kids behind her to hear us so I moved in closer. “Does your daddy know you’re stalking me, snowflake?”
Her eyes filled with panic and it pissed me off that