there. Lace’s too.”
“All right.” Longish layers of Dizzy’s platinum-and-black hair slid across his brow, shadowing his gaze as he typed.
“You ready to go?” Bryan asked me, leaning against my locker, his muscular forearm propped above my head.
“Yeah.” I licked my dry lips. My heart raced with him so close, and my mind wandered. I wondered what that incredible scent of his was. It was cool and crisp, like freshly fallen snow in a pine forest.
“Ready to go where?” Dizzy shot Bryan a curious look as he returned his phone.
“I’m walking Lace home today,” Bryan said.
Watching him slide his cell into the front pocket of his well-fitting jeans, I had an additional reason for my fast heart rate.
“What’s going on with you two?” Dizzy glanced back and forth between Bryan and me. “I thought you were with War.”
“I’m not with anyone,” I said firmly, but I could see where my brother might be confused. “Bryan’s just walking me home so we can catch up.”
“Okay, I guess.” Dizzy’s head turned, his attention drifting to a curvy brunette and a blonde in the hallway.
“Hey, Diz.” The blonde giggled.
“Hey, you.” He jerked his chin up, then looked right through Bryan and me. “I’m gonna take off. See you guys later. At practice.”
When he jogged over to the girls, they separated from each other. He moved between them, slinging his arm around each one. Neither girl looked unhappy to share him.
“Hard to believe.” I shook my head, wondering how my brother could make a situation like that work.
“A lot of things are difficult to believe,” Bryan said.
“Huh?” Puzzled by his words, I turned to look at him. He was staring at me, the heat in his eyes palpable.
“Difficult to believe you’re the same little girl who used to annoy the shit out of me with constant questions.” Bryan hooked his thumb in the direction everyone else had gone. “We’d better take off.”
“You didn’t have to answer them,” I said, moving along with him in the direction he’d pointed.
“I wanted to. You were annoying but cute. You asked good questions, and I liked you looking up to me. It was cool. Who would’ve thought,” he said low, placing his hand on the small of my back and steering me through the hall, “that cute would end up being as pretty as this?”
Holy shit. I stumbled from the compliment. Plus, with him touching me, there was enough electrical current buzzing inside me to light up the entire Southside power grid.
“Stupid ballet flats,” I muttered, feeling his eyes on me. “Got caught on a crack in the floor.”
“Oh, I didn’t see one.” His hand slid more firmly into position on my back. “But seen or unseen obstacles, I won’t let you fall. I’ve got you.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that. This was the boy I knew. Gentle, caring, teasing. But all that felt different now. Vastly different.
When we turned from the hall and entered the foyer, a few students were lingering by the office, and I noticed them tracking us.
“You seem to have developed a different style from when we were younger.” Removing his hand from my back, Bryan pushed open the door and held it open for me.
My hip brushed his as I scooted past. Heat jolted me, and my legs wobbled.
“Make the grades and look the part,” I said, being careful on my wobbly legs not to trip on the steps outside. “Plus, I have some income to make my own choices about what I wear.”
“Sexy and studious.” He returned his hand to my back, guiding me along the sidewalk in front of the school.
My body tingling, I didn’t protest his touch. I reveled in it.
“Not trying to be sexy,” I said as my brows drew together.
“You don’t have to try, Lace.”
The way he said my name made me warm, even though it was chilly outside.
“Hey, Bry.” A blonde with better curves than me and a cigarette dangling from her lips disengaged from the group she was in and waved at him from across the lawn.
“Hey, Janine.” He acknowledged her with a chin lift.
“See you tomorrow, Bry.” Another girl, this one with long inky dark hair and beautiful ice-blue eyes waved at him over her shoulder as she hurried past us.
“Who was that?” I asked, turning to him after scanning the girl. She was pretty, and her jeans were tighter and newer than mine.
“Missy Rivera,” he said after a long pause.
“Oh.” I stumbled again and he stabilized me, or he tried to. With him touching