Vanessa turned. “Well, let’s hustle. Coach is in a mood.”
Caitlin ran after her friend. It wasn’t until she reached the practice field that she realized she hadn’t said thank you to Jeremy—or acknowledged, maybe, what they’d been about to do. But of course she didn’t acknowledge that. He was Josh’s brother. Nothing more.
Still, she looked back to the curb. Jeremy was still idling there, helmet in hand. He gave Caitlin a long, lingering look. She froze as his warm brown eyes found hers. Somehow, it was like he was looking right into her soul.
And like he could tell that she’d almost let him kiss her.
CHAPTER NINE
ON MONDAY NIGHT, AVA AND Alex were curled up on the giant L-shaped couch in Ava’s den. A Harry Potter movie marathon was on, but the two of them were paying more attention to each other. Ava would’ve rather brought him into her bedroom, of course; but her dad and stepmom were home, and there were strict rules in Ava’s house about boyfriend-girlfriend contact in unsupervised spaces.
“Have I told you lately how gorgeous you are?” Alex murmured, pulling her close. He smelled like clean cashmere sweater and Old Spice.
Ava nudged him playfully. “Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend.”
“No ulterior motives.” Alex shook his curly brown head emphatically. “It’s just the truth. You, Ava Jalali, are a complete knockout. Just don’t let it go to your head.”
“Don’t worry,” Ava teased, touching the tip of his nose. “With you around to keep my ego in check, there’s no chance of that.”
Alex leaned forward and kissed her. Ava shut her eyes and reached her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer. She and Alex had been dating for a year, but their kisses never, ever got old.
Neither did the compliments. It was weird: All her life, Ava had known she was beautiful. Plenty of people told her so: photographers, modeling managers, even a guy who once wanted to make an avatar of her for a video game he was creating. But only when Alex said it did it actually feel real—because, unlike everyone else, he actually cared about her, Ava, not just what she looked like. Alex made her feel special all the time, and he had the unique ability to keep her sane and grounded in the overly competitive world of Beacon Heights.
Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled away to look at the screen. “Crap,” he said. “I didn’t realize how late it was. My parents will kill me if I miss curfew.”
“Stay,” she said. “You know your parents love you.” Much more than mine do right now. The truth was, she hated being alone right now. Whenever she was, panic about Nolan—and about her slipping grades—began to overtake her. Thanks to her evil stepmother, her relationship with her father was tenuous at best. If he ever caught wind of the Nolan rumors, that would be it.
“Are you still upset about that paper?” he asked, as if reading her mind, his brown eyes warm with concern. “That was really harsh of Mr. Granger.”
Ava suddenly flashed back to that day in class, when she and the other girls in the group had discussed vengeance and ended up talking about Nolan. What about Oxy? she heard their voices say. Not too much—just enough to knock him out. Just enough to take some incriminating pictures.
She gritted her teeth. Stop thinking about it.
“Yeah, that sucked,” she said aloud. “I wonder if I should talk to him. See if I can rewrite it?”
Alex’s gaze darted to the left. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Ava looked at him sharply. “Why would you say that?” Instantly she thought of the rumors about her. But Alex didn’t buy into them. “It was your idea,” she added.
Alex shrugged. “Never mind. You’re right. You should try to change the grade.”
“Okay.” Ava gave Alex’s hand a squeeze. She felt a little uncertain after Alex’s comment, but maybe Granger rubbed guys the wrong way for the same reason all the girls liked him. “I’ll ask him about it.”
They walked down the grand staircase to the first floor. Instantly, the heady scent of the room spray Ava’s stepmother used assaulted her nostrils. Even though her father had been married to Leslie for several years, Ava still found the smell offensive. God forbid the house smell like the Iranian spices her father used in his cooking. That would be too foreign and weird.