“I know.” He smiled down at me.
Geez, he has a great smile. That dimple is killing me. Stop it! You shouldn’t be looking… but he’s so easy to look at.
When we got to our class, he pulled my chair out for me and hung my bag on the back before walking to his seat. He sat down and looked over his shoulder, catching me watching him. His lips twitched into a small smile.
Ugh, what am I doing?
I looked down at the gold band Chay gave me and felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of my stomach.
After class, Xavier and I walked to our next class together. Lily walked toward us. I saw her ball her fists as she neared. Some tells were so easy to spot. When her hand darted out to jab me in the side, I grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully. I leaned into her so the sides of our faces were almost touching.
“Don’t screw with me,” I whispered. She tried to jerk away, but I tightened my grip. “It’s been nice having this little talk,” I said louder before letting her go. She stomped away with a scowl, rubbing her wrist.
“Not very friendly, is she?” Xavier put his hand on the small of my back and guided me around him so the wall of lockers was on one side of me and he was on the other, blocking me from the crowd in the hall.
I trailed my finger along the blue and gold lockers, looking at the photos and things people had pasted on the outside of the doors.
“What class do you have last hour?” he asked.
“Gym. I’m sitting out, obviously.”
“Where are you going?”
I shrugged. “I’ll probably go to the library and work on my homework until Muriel is ready to leave.”
“Ah.”
***
I’d just gotten settled in the library that afternoon when I saw him saunter across the room toward me. His jet-black hair gleamed under the incandescent lighting, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” I asked.
“I came to save you from an hour of boredom.” Xavier pinned me with one of his dimpled grins.
“So you’re skipping,” I accused under my breath. “Shame, shame. Not very angelic of you, now is it?” He laughed, and I grinned at the sound.
I’m in way over my head here. I just need to stay away.
“Like I said, I’m saving a damsel in distress. That takes precedence over English class.” He leaned his hip against the table where I sat. “So, can we go before I get caught?”
“You should go to class, Xavier,” I said quietly.
“Why? You think he’d have a problem with me driving you home an hour early from school? He could’ve taken you when he left at lunch. It was obvious to everyone you weren’t feeling up to being here today.” His voice had a hardness I’d never heard in it before.
He’s right. I didn’t feel like being here.
I tapped my pen on the book opened in front of me and let out a sigh. Biting my lip, I looked around the room. It was empty except for the librarian and us. It would be so easy to slip through the tall bookcases and out the side door. Once in the hallway, we’d be just a few feet from a door leading outside and to the student parking area.
“Okay,” I whispered and closed my book, slipping it into my bag. “Let’s go.”
His dimple winked at me, and he took my bag from the table. I stood, and he waved me in front of him with a sweep of his arm. “Ladies first,” he teased, bending at the waist. I stifled a laugh and walked past.
We slipped through the door into the hallway and made our way outside. The sunlight glinted off the newly fallen snow covering the ground. Our footsteps crunched when we walked across it.
“Snowball snow,” I said.
“Hmm?”
“You can tell by the way it crunches when we walk on it. It’s good packing snow. Great for building snowmen.” I reached down and scooped up a handful, squeezing it into a small ball. “Or snowballs.” I tossed it at him, laughing.
He bent and scooped up two handfuls of snow, patting them together to make a ball the size of a softball.
My laughter faded, and my eyes grew wide. “You wouldn’t throw that at an injured woman, would you?”
“Of course not.” He shook his head. “I’m going to toss it.” He lobbed the snowball at my feet, chuckling. “I’ve never had a snowball fight before.”
“When I’m feeling better, we’ll have one…” My words faltered.
We both knew it wasn’t true. I was with Chay. He wouldn’t look at a snowball fight as innocent fun. I wasn’t sure Xavier would either.
“Yeah.” He reached out and threaded his fingers through mine. I stared out our entwined fingers for a beat before pulling away. His grip tightened. “I’m just holding you so you don’t slip.” His words rang false, but I didn’t push. I tried not to think of why that was, but I was sure it had something to do with the way his fingers felt against mine, warm and strong.