Page 21 of Wallflower
I rolled my eyes. "At least I'm not an ass."
"Yeah well, at least I don't smell like one."
That. That right there stung a little. I'd always been more sensitive about hygiene since working at the shelter, and even though I knew he only said it to get under my skin, Penn's comment rankled.
Dare hummed—and then he slowly leaned in, pulling me to him and putting his nose in my hair, right next to my neck. I gasped as he breathed in.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Checking something," he murmured so only I could hear. After another breath, he straightened, staring down Penn as I tried to get my heartbeat back under control.
I couldn't forget the feel of the air hitting my neck as he spoke, the shivers it sent down my spine. One thing was certain: Dare Frost did indeed have moves.
"Actually, she smells amazing," he said with a completely straight face. "Kind of like fresh rain with a hint of lavender."
Penn scoffed.
"Unlike you guys. Your stench is a potent mix of sweat and cowardice."
"Dare, come on," Rex said. "It wasn't like that."
"Wasn't it?" he said.
"What do you care?" Penn asked. It was the million dollar question, and I waited to hear Dare's answer like the rest of them.
Dare stared at me a beat, then looked back to him and shrugged. "I just do," he said. "Don't pull that crap again."
Penn snickered. "Or what?"
"Well, we could fight—and I'd win. It'd be a pleasure to wipe the floor with your sorry asses." Dare tapped his lips like he was thinking as Penn, Rex and Jimmy tensed. "But I'd rather not get suspended again. Had enough of that freshman year. Plus, Coach is always telling me to control my temper. I guess I could report you to her dad, who I'm sure would love to suspend you for harassing his daughter."
Dare stared them down for another second before Penn forced a laugh.
"Yeah, whatever," he said. "Let's go guys."
"That's what I thought," Dare said.
Penn flipped him off as he and his friends walked away.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Dare turned to me. "Okay, that was fun. Do you know how hard it was for me not to bark at them as they left? How long has that BS been going on anyway?"
I blinked, wondering what the heck had just happened.
"Hey, I meant to ask. Did you want to hang out later?"
Okay, that was the last straw.
"Come with me," I said, taking hold of his shirt and dragging Dare along with me past the library doors. I didn't stop walking until we were well into the stacks, hidden amongst the shelves, the books protecting us from anyone else's prying eyes and ears.
"Dang, flower," he said. "No need to be pushy. We're both in this class, remember?"
I decided to get straight to the point.
"You need to tell me what's going on," I said. "Right now."
Dare pushed his hands into his pockets. "Well, we're currently in this place called thelibrary," he said like I was a child. "It's mostly used for studying, reading and, of course, my personal favorite, making out."
A flush rose to my cheeks at that, but I didn't let it distract me.
