he can do way better.”
My heart clenched, physical pain manifesting in my chest. I didn’t want to hear anymore. I grabbed my pencil and hurried out from under the bleachers as fast as I possibly could.
Why did it feel like someone had split me open with an ice pick? They’d only said everything I’d been thinking, but the worst part was that they were right. Girls like Merritt and guys as handsome as Beckett found each other. It was the way human nature worked. Beckett and me, together? It defied all odds. All sanity.
Why hurt Beckett over a bet when everyone knew it wouldn’t last between us? I might not have deserved all the pestering I got from Merritt’s crew, but that didn’t mean Beckett deserved this. He was kind and pure and heartfelt. I felt like none of that.
After the girls had moved on to a new subject, I went back to my seat and buried myself in the history assignment. I almost didn’t register the sound of football cleats walking over the track and onto the bleachers.
“Hey, Cupcake.”
I looked up and took in Beckett in all of his sweaty glory. He had his helmet off, revealing a mess of damp hair and chiseled lines.
“Hi,” I managed. “Good practice.”
“Did you see any of it?” he asked. “You seemed pretty caught up in your books.”
My cheeks warmed at the idea of him watching me. “Trying to get some homework done before dinner.”
“Good idea.” He grinned. “I’ll run in and shower quick. Meet me at my car?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He bent and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before jogging away, his cleats crackling over the metal bleacher floor.
After finishing my assignment, I gathered up my notes and book and shoved them in my backpack. I walked toward the school, past the girls who’d said those things about me. Their eyes felt heavier on my back than ever before.
Eventually, I reached the school’s parking lot and walked to the space I knew was Beckett’s. He always parked closer to the front—in one of the prime spots reserved for seniors. I passed by Kai Rush getting into his ridiculously expensive Tesla and found Beckett’s car between a shiny red Miata and a Rolls Royce. There had to be millions of dollars sitting in this school’s parking lot.
I leaned against the trunk of Beckett’s car, holding on to the straps of my backpack. Athletes were starting to filter out of the school, and I hoped he’d be out soon. I didn’t want another run-in with Merritt or her cronies—or anyone who would be silently judging me like those girls from before.
It made me long for Jordan, Ginger, Zara, and Callie. I missed sitting with them, feeling like I belonged somewhere. But what could I do? Ginger and Jordan made it pretty clear they didn’t want anything to do with me. Every time Callie saw me in the halls, she changed directions, and Zara just kept her head high and continued past me. Like I was no more than the wallflower I previously longed to be.
“Hey, beautiful,” Beckett called, several feet away. His backpack strap tugged at his shirt, revealing a thin line of skin and muscles at his waist.
Hell-o.
“Hey,” I countered.
When he came closer to kiss me, I let my fingers trail along the patch of skin. He pressed in closer to me, deepening the kiss.
Someone cleared their throat, and Headmaster Bradford said, “Move it along, Mr. Langley. Miss Hutton.”
Beckett lifted a hand in acknowledgement, but I turned my head down, tucking my chin against my chest. There was no way he wouldn’t tell my mom, but I didn’t care. My lips were still warm from the pressure of his on mine, and I wanted more. A thirsty woman drinking in every ounce I could.
Beckett twisted his fingers through mine. “Let’s get out of here?”
I nodded, eager to be somewhere more private with him. To see his house, the place he laid his head each night.
He led me to my side of the car and opened the door for me. Once I was inside, he took my backpack and shut the door. I wondered where he learned to be such a gentleman—it certainly wasn’t from the other guys on the team.
How many guys were out there who still opened doors for women? Who thought to carry their bags? Beckett had to be a dying breed if the boys in our school were any indication.
He put my backpack in the backseat before getting