“I get that he saved you, is always saving you,” she dragged out overdramatically.
I clenched my jaw.
“But this,” she threw her hands in the air making her red locks fly with the exaggerated movements. “This is too far. She reeks of him.”
“Sierra,” Lexi warned low. “If Chase finds out about this…” Lexi’s words implied that he wouldn’t be happy.
She smiled smugly at me. “At least he hasn’t completed the bond. One out of three, I guess that’s a small consolation.”
I wanted to slap that superior grin off her gorgeous face. Forget that I had no idea what she was talking about.
What the hell was going on? What did she mean I reeked of him?
Before I could demand answers, a rush of warmth spread through me, and my tramp stamp started to tingle. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who stood behind me. He was like a looming force of steel.
“Is there a problem?” he asked Sierra in a condescending tone.
She glared at him over my head with tiny spears of disgust, and then promptly turned on her Dior heels and stomped gracefully down the hall. I watched in a haze of confusion and animosity as her painted on jeans sauntered away.
Hello Hall High…I’m back for your amusement. Step right up as we watch Sierra make mincemeat out of me. Ugh. Sometimes being a teenager sucked. Being an altered teenager bound to a half-demon was proving to be cumbersome.
Chem class proved to be even more entertaining, if that was possible. Chase assumed his bodyguard duty behind me, causing the temperature in the room to rise by about a hundred degrees. Pulling out my notebook, I heard my name whispered to my right. I glanced sideways to find Brody, the football jock, smiling at me.
His chocolate eyes were bright with excitement. “Hey, I’m glad to see you are back. We really missed you around here.”
I blinked. In school this size it was impossible to not be missed. “Thanks, I think.”
His boy-next-door-grin widened. “Anytime. This class just isn’t the same without your pretty face.”
I got the feeling that he was being overly friendly, almost as if he was into me. Not that long ago he sort of asked me to homecoming, and that hadn’t ended well. I just assumed that had been the end of it. I must be the most clueless girl in the school. “I’m sure anything beats Mr. Edginton’s monotone lectures,” I replied, trying to downplay what I thought was a come on.
Chase shifted in seat, leaning forward and making his presence known. I don’t know how anyone could forget he was in a room. Try as I might, I never could. Brody’s eyes darted to Chase warily and then back to me. He cleared his throat, and I knew from the shuffle of his feet under the desk what he was going to ask before he said it. “Maybe we could, I don’t know, hang out sometime.”
Oh boy. He was totally nervous. And I was dumbfounded. The day wasn’t even half over and this was like the third time a guy had suggested that we hangout. For real. The first one I figured no big deal. The second one I thought coincidence, but a third one? This had to be a joke. I most definitely was not that popular, even in a school this small.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to bite me, yet… Chase leaned back into his seat and snickered. Not just any kind of snicker, the kind that made me what to make him crazy, insanely, jealous. Served him right. “Sure,” I found myself answering.
Truthfully though, I knew that when the time came, I would find an excuse why I couldn’t go. It probably would have been easier had I been up front with him, but I was too nice and afraid to hurt his feelings – again.
Class started shortly after that, and I was listening intently to Mr. Edgington’s lecture, hanging on his every word. Okay, that was a total lie. What I was really doing was trying to pretend that Brody wasn’t winking and air blowing kisses at me from the next aisle over. Well maybe the air-kissing was going too far, but still, what the hell? I was also trying to ignore the rapid tapping of Chase’s pencil on the desktop. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had noticed Brody’s cheesy attention.
Boys could be so oblivious.
Did Brody actually think that was the kind of attention I wanted when I’d said yes? He had to be out of his mind, or more likely drunk, to try and hit on me in front of Chase. Everyone knew that we sort of had a thing going on even if I didn’t know what exactly that thing was. I was pretty sure Chase was going to choke-slam him after class if the growl that came from behind was any indictor of what Chase thought of Brody’s behavior.