my voice. “In case you missed it, the only one I’m interested in is you. Rina could blow every dude on the football team, and I wouldn’t give a shit. Hell, I doubt I’d even notice.”
Pink bloomed in her cheeks and she got that same spaced look she had when I had her against the wall back at the ice cream shop, and I felt my dick start to harden behind my fly.
Her mouth opened and closed like she planned on responding but didn’t know how. The moment was broken a second later when the first bell rang, signaling that classes were about to start.
“I-I have to go,” she said in a dazed whisper.
She was the polar opposite of her “friend” in every way. Hardly any makeup, long hair pulled back in a haphazard ponytail, her jeans and tee worn for comfort instead of attention. And still, she was the hottest girl I’d ever seen. Rina had nothing on Shane. I didn’t want to move away. I wanted to press closer. I wanted to fucking finally lean in and see what her lips tasted like. Instead of giving in to the desire licking at my skin, I took a step back, keeping her locked in place with my gaze.
“See you at lunch, sunshine. Be sure to save me a seat, yeah?”
Before she had a chance to reply, I turned and started down the hall. From the corner of my eye I noticed Rina standing a few yards away, arms crossed over her chest, an enraged frown creasing the makeup spackled on her face.
And I didn’t care at all.
Shane
Sixteen years old
I’d been a jumble of nerves all morning long. I felt antsy and on edge through every class, my knees shaking beneath my desk, my hands trembling as I tried to take notes, making my handwriting illegible. I had barely heard a word my teachers said during their lessons, too busy replaying Jensen’s words over and over.
When I’d spotted Rina down the hall after Jensen walked away, I saw how pissed she was, but I couldn’t find it in me to be upset that she was mad. And I’d tried really freaking hard to call up that emotion.
I’d meant what I told him. I was hardcore loyal when it came to the very few people I let it. Rina had once been one of those people, but with each passing day, I felt more and more distance forming between us. That connection I was clinging to was starting to feel more like an albatross than a friendship, and that had nothing to do with Jensen. I’d been feeling that way long before he came into the picture.
Still, I was the type of person who felt the need to apologize to anyone I’d caused pain, indirectly or not. That was why I’d decided to seek her out in the cafeteria come lunchtime. However, before I could find her, she found me, coming up and blocking my path as I stepped out of the lunch line with my tray in hand.
“What the hell was that?” she snapped, looking just as angry as she had in the hallway earlier that morning. “You’re making a move on Jensen Rose after I told you I liked him?”
Any contrition I’d been feeling before that moment died a quick and painless death, annoyance springing to life in its place. “I wasn’t making a move on anybody. And you didn’t say anything about liking him. All you said was that you wanted to sleep with him.”
Her raccoon eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Same damn thing.”
“No it’s not. Not even close,” I told her. “But you’re starting an argument over nothing. I’m not interested in Jensen.”
The anger in her expression deepened, twisting in to a venomous rage. “Could’ve fooled me. From the looks of it, I asked you to talk me up to a guy, and you used it as an opportunity to hit on him yourself. You need to back off. I called him first.”
I’d officially had enough. I was over the drama Rina liked dragging around with her everywhere she went, and I didn’t like that she’d insinuate she had dibs on a guy like he was a toy or the bigger slice of cake.
“You called him first?” I asked on an incredulous laugh. “Seriously?”
“I’m being dead serious,” she said, using a tone she’d never used with me before. It was as if all the years of friendship we had under our belts were forgotten. I was no