School Spirits - By Rachel Hawkins Page 0,73

I couldn’t stop the giddy leap of my heart or the sudden smile that wanted to break out over my face. The car stopped, and Dex loped out of the passenger side.

“I told you not to come,” I said, walking over to him.

He threw up his hands. “And yet. Now what are we doing here?”

He squinted past me at Maya, who was already toting the bag into the cave.

“Dex,” I said, pushing my hands into my back pockets so I wouldn’t do something stupid like hug him. “This could get—Wait, you didn’t drive.”

Running a hand up and down the back of his neck, Dex sighed. “Yes, my Nana had to drive me. You see, apparently, nearly being blown up at school was somehow my fault, so now I’m grounded. But when I explained that my Fair Isolde had need of me…”

I looked up into his blue eyes, taking in tonight’s scarf, which was a riot of turquoise and purple. His curly black hair was sticking up, and oh man, he was right. I did need him. Kind of a lot.

Which was just so, so unfortunate.

“Dexter!” Nana called, rolling down her window.

“Ah, yes.” He jogged back to the car, resting his hand on her windowsill and ducking his head inside. “Nana, Izzy needs me to go into this cave to get our friends. I’m going to help her with that, while you wait right here.”

Nana smiled at me. “Hello, Izzy. Dexter, you know I always appreciate your being helpful, but this seems…”

She looked past us toward the cave, and Dex craned his head over his shoulder, following her gaze. “I know it looks vaguely unsanitary and potentially scandalous, Nana, but I promise that Izzy and I are only pursuing noble…pursuits. We’ve even got a chaperone! Izzy, who was that woman who went into the cave?”

I blanked, not sure how to describe Maya. I settled on, “My…also my Nana.”

“See?” Dex said brightly, ducking his head in to kiss his Nana’s cheek. “Izzy’s Nana! We are totally safe and appropriate.”

I wasn’t sure Nana was convinced, but she pursed her lips and said, “No longer than ten minutes, Dexter.”

He gave her a jaunty salute, and we turned and walked into the mouth of the cave.

Maya was in the first chamber, spreading salt. It was to Dex’s credit that he just took her in with a “Huh,” and followed me deeper into the cave.

“Okay, so—” I started, but then his hand grasped my shoulders, turning me so that my back was against the cavern wall.

“I like you.”

Bewildered, I blinked at him. “What?”

“I. Like. You,” Dex repeated, and for once there was no glimmer in his eyes, no smile lurking on his lips. “I have since that morning on the track, and I should’ve made that clearer by now.”

Somewhere in this cave, Romy and Anderson were very possibly in danger. “Dex, seriously, now is not the—”

“No,” he said, giving me a little shake. “There is never going to be the right time, Izzy. I’ve figured that out by now. Every time I try to tell you this, you brush it off or don’t let me finish, or someone tries to blow up the gym. So I’m telling you now. I like you. And it has nothing to do with spells or near-death excitement or any of the other BS excuses you like to come up with.”

“Dex,” I said again, helplessly.

“And you like me, too,” he went on, and there, at last, was the smile. “That’s not just me being arrogant, by the way. Although I understand that that’s sometimes a problem. But”—he hurried on when I opened my mouth to reply—“I can work on that. If you want. Even though I think you secretly like that, too.”

Maybe it was knowing that we were about to walk into something really scary. Maybe I was afraid that, even if I didn’t get killed tonight, Dex might. Or maybe I just really wanted to kiss him. In any case, I fisted my hands in the front of his shirt and jerked him to me. Our lips met, and if this kiss wasn’t as…thorough as the first one, it felt bigger somehow. More important.

“You’re right,” I panted, once I’d wrenched my mouth from his. “I like you. A lot. And I just wanted you to know that, too. But—”

Dex just kissed me again, a quick peck on the lips, really. “No,” he whispered. “No buts. Now. Let’s go get Romy and Anderson.”

Almost as though his words had summoned it, there