of noise. “Make sure it’s someone you’ll actually get stuff done with.” At that, she swivels her head until she’s narrowing her eyes at two unfamiliar football players sitting near the back of the classroom. They chuckle at her good-naturedly and shrug their broad shoulders sheepishly.
A few things happen at the exact same time.
Lucas begins to turn around in seat, still sitting like a fucking king overlooking us lowly peasants. All he needs is a crown in his meticulously-groomed hair. Emmett begins to turn towards me as well, a mischievous smile replacing the anger I’d seen in his eyes when class began. And Mariabella grips both of my hands with a delighted squeal.
“We totes have to be partners!” she gushes, rubbing her thumbs across the tops of my hands.
And Mariabella? She’s the safest option by far.
If I choose Emmett, I might forget about all of my carefully constructed plans and my vow for “no romantic entanglements.” Something about the cheeky boy reels me in, hook, line, and sinker.
And if I choose Lucas…
I’ll lose myself to the darkness pulsating just beneath my ribcage.
“Of course,” I say immediately, ignoring the probing eyes I can feel drilling a hole in the side of my face. Those cold, cold eyes…
“I guess that leaves you and me, fucker,” Emmett grumbles, but Lucas ignores him completely, turning back towards his notebook and scribbling in the margins. His red sweater is pulled tight over hard, sinewy muscles. How is it possible that someone so…nerdy could have such delectable muscles? It’s not fair.
“Or just me,” Emmett relents at last with a disgruntled sigh.
Mariabella giggles and sticks her tongue out at him. “You snooze, you lose.”
“Obviously.” He rolls his eyes as his dimple makes another appearance. “If you fall asleep after sex, you’re always losing.”
“You’re disgusting,” I say with a grin as I flick an eraser at his head.
Instead of answering with words, he simply wags his tongue like a dog and shakes his head from side to side enthusiastically.
Disgusting, yes.
But also very tempting.
We don’t talk more about the project for the rest of the class period. Instead, Ms. Auperlee continues her PowerPoint presentation while I pretend that I’m not staring intently at Lucas’s broad shoulders and his perfectly sculpted back. That I’m not noticing the one hair slightly out of place near the back of his scalp. That I’m not paying attention to the way his long, elegant fingers wrap around the pencil as he writes perfect notes into his notebook.
“Who are you writing to?” I asked softly as I moved to sit next to the red-haired boy. The rest of the kids were playing on the playset, running through the field, or shoving each other off the swings. But not Lucas. Never Lucas. He always spent his recess by himself.
He smiled up at me, revealing a gap between his two front teeth, and I felt my heart flutter.
“You,” he answered simply, thrusting a piece of notebook paper into my hands.
Gingerly, I smoothed the paper out on my knee before reading the words he wrote in his small, albeit sloppy, print.
Peony. I thank u pretty. Will u b my girlfrend?
I hugged the letter to my chest as I stared at the shy, skinny boy. A tentative smile curled up my own lips as I resisted the urge to squeal. The other girls in my class were going to be so jealous.
“Do we get to hold hands?” I ask, slightly breathless. Lucas grinned timidly as he reached forward and took my hand in his.
“I’ll be the bestest boyfriend ever,” he vowed. “For now and always.”
When the bell rings, signaling the end of class, I’m out of my seat like a bolt of lightning, practically racing to the door. I can hear Emmett and Mariabella calling my name behind me, but I simply wave my hand in the air and give a muffled, “Bathroom.”
My heart is running a marathon in my chest when I arrive at Orchestra, throwing myself into the uncomfortable black seat before remembering I need to grab a violin from the storage closet.
Why does Lucas affect me the way he does? Am I one of those heroines you read about in books who falls for one of her tormentors? The mere thought is laughable. Been there, done that with Elias. I learned my lesson once before. Never again.
And I hate Lucas more than anything in this world. Maybe even more than I hate the other Devils.
Even I can admit, though, that he’s a fine specimen. When I