CHAPTER 15
HE WAS IN THE POOL. In the goddamn fucking pool. Doing laps. His long, lean sculpted body shooting like an arrow from one end to the other. I stood over the edge, not sure if I wanted to jump his bones, apologize, or yell at him. When he raised his head from the azure waterline, dark blond locks raining water drops over his perfect face, my thighs clenched.
“You look heartbroken,” I assessed sarcastically.
He rested his arms on the tiles and flashed me his straight teeth. But this wasn’t a smile, it was a warning. “And you look like an animal out of its natural habitat. Missed me that much, Ms. G?”
“You didn’t come to school today.” My voice was grave.
“So? School year is practically over, and it’s not like you give a shit. I’m just a fling, remember? Your words.”
Touché.
When I arrived here, I wasn’t above begging. But now that I was in front of him, at Vicious’s house, an overwhelming need to protect myself took over again. I couldn’t ask him what his game was yesterday when we were at his mother’s office.
“So, you’re all packed for Texas?” I changed the subject. He’s moving away to college, I reminded myself. This is over.
He laughed, pushing himself upward and rising from the pool. His sculpted body shone under the sun, making him look like a Calvin Klein ad. He stood next to me, so close the scent of chlorine wafted into my nostrils.
“Not yet.” He took a step in my direction. I stumbled back. He took another step closer, ignoring me.
“I need to buy another suitcase.” His hand disappeared inside my curls. This time I leaned into his touch. Such a loser. Already a goner again.
“I thought men traveled light.” I swallowed.
“We do, but I’m sure you’ll be taking all kinds of girly shit with you when you move in with me.”
Dumbfounded, I narrowed my eyes at him, fighting a grin.
“Jaime,” I warned. From what, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want it to be a prank. I realized as soon as he said the words that I wanted exactly what he’d just said. A lot. A new beginning. Away from All Saints High. With him.
It didn’t make sense. It was wrong. It was going to lift a shit-ton of eyebrows. A college kid moving to another state with his twenty-six-year-old teacher? It had disaster written all over it. But I wanted this disaster. I wanted to bathe in it and love it and live it. To make this disaster my chaotic reality.
“Mel,” he answered, smiling. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” I bit my lower lip, peeking at him from under my lashes. If Vicious saw this, he would have probably puked.
My breaths were coming in shallow pants. My heart was in my throat. I hadn’t felt this alive since the last time I was on stage. I was going to say it, and fuck the world and what it’d think about me.
I placed my hands on top of his, still nestled in my hair, holding me still. “The truth is…I love you.”
There was a hint of a satisfied smile, but it was quick. Like I was still in trouble. I felt like the scolded student.
He nodded, his wet hair dripping on my face as he hooked an arm around my neck and jerked me into his face. “See? Was that so hard? Still in one piece, aren’t you, baby girl?” He raised an eyebrow at me in a smart-ass expression, and it was sexy as fuck. “I love you, too, Mel. Fucking crazy about you, actually. Now pack up.” He bit my lip playfully, smacking my ass at the exact same time.
“Excuse me?” I laughed. “What? Where? How? When? School’s not even over yet.”
There were four more days left of school. And I still hadn’t said yes to moving to a whole other state with him.
“Yeah, but you have a job interview at a ballet academy in Austin tomorrow. Don’t wanna be late, yeah? Bad first impression and all.”
Jaime knew. He knew I pocketed this dream in the back of my jeans, but still danced every day in front of the mirror. That I carried it in my heart like a little souvenir, and that I wanted the memory to become something real, now more than ever.
Just then, a horn honked in the distance, and I heard Vicious grit behind his fancy Mercedes steering wheel. “Tell her to move her ass, or I’m sending you both to the airport in a cab.”
These high school kids.
They had planned it all along.
They outsmarted Mrs. Followhill and me.
I laughed, collapsing into my boyfriend’s arms. “Damn you.”