if he had swallowed rotten fish, Patrick argued, “Why can’t someone like Rocky do the modeling instead of this freak? I don’t want to spend an hour staring at a dude. I’d rather appreciate the female form.”
Okay, Mr. In-Desperate-Need-Of-Zit-Medication just landed on my shit list for more reasons than one. He wasn’t going to spend an hour staring at any female form, let alone hers. Snapping my head around, I glared at him, picturing what it would be like to torture him a bit. Maybe Stephanie was onto something with that weird fanfiction of hers.
Miss McMillan quickly stepped in between us both, blocking my line of sight. “Da Vinci, Raphael, Picasso—do you think any of them minded staring at a ‘dude’ for more than an hour at a time?”
“Michelangelo did have to detail David’s dick,” another student pointed out.
“What do you say, Patrick? Care to emulate the masters?” Throwing my binder onto the floor, I proceeded to rip off my jacket, eliciting shocked gasps from around the room. “It’s really no problem. I have no qualms being naked.”
Rocky reached over and pinched me in my side. “Stop it.”
“What?” I asked innocently, spotting the familiar burn of her face. I had meant to get under Patrick’s skin, but seeing how worked up Rocky became felt just as good. I grinned triumphantly.
Miss McMillan straightened her glasses and glanced around. Realizing that she was about to lose full control of the class, she pulled out a nearby chair and readily hopped on. Placing two fingers in her mouth, she let out an ear-piercing whistle. We froze on the spot. “Quiet, everybody! Now listen up. As much as I don’t appreciate Patrick’s sexist comments, he does bring up a good point. Maybe we can use a female model for variety. Rocky, you okay with that?”
Rocky’s cheeks flushed as her head whipped around. “No. No. No. No.”
I elbowed her in the ribs. “We get it.”
“Shut up,” she whispered. Her face curled up into a little pout, and all at once my resolve came crashing down. She loved this class and here I was ruining it for her, just like I always destroyed everything I touched.
Shutting my eyes, I shook my head, suddenly feeling numb. “You know what? Maybe this was a bad idea.”
Rocky threw me a look of warning. “Jesse. I know what you’re thinking, and no. You need this club to stay in school.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do, then? I can’t draw or paint and apparently I can’t model either.” I threw a snide look at Patrick, who immediately looked away.
That’s right, pussy.
I was about to stand up to grab my things when I heard a raspy voice croon, “I want you to model for me, Jesse.”
I looked up in surprise and spotted Sarah Jacobs eyeing me like a hawk. I had no idea she was into art, let alone a member of the club. It wasn’t as if I kept tabs on her or anything, though it was hard not to know about her. It was no secret around school that the girl…uh…got around.
Rocky stiffened and shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure you can’t draw?”
“Uh, I wasn’t really expecting a private modeling session,” I admitted, trying to remain collected.
Miss McMillan frowned. “I wasn’t suggesting anything of the sort. Can’t get in trouble with the school board now, can we?”
I smirked and snuck a peek at Rocky, who looked as if she was silently fuming. This was certainly not what I expected when I agreed to join the club, but like Mr. Elliott had warned me, I really had no choice. Eyeing the paint stained barstool, I pushed myself up from my desk and begrudgingly stalked my way to the center of the room. “If Pizza Face over here doesn’t want to draw me, it doesn’t mean nobody else does, right?”
“Right,” Sarah cooed seductively.
Patrick groaned, causing another surge of irritation to run rampant through my veins. I gritted my teeth and sat down, making sure I was facing his direction. Purposely, I unbuttoned the top of my Henley and smiled seductively. “Give it your best, Pizza Boy.”
“Look over here, Jess,” Sarah called out to me.
My head snapped around automatically at the sound of my name. My eyes widened when I realized Sarah had stripped off whatever weird army jacket she was wearing, revealing a very thin camisole. Keeping her eyes on mine, she ran her tongue around her lips and shot me a wink.
Seriously?
Rocky cleared her throat loudly. “Jesse, can you face me?