“I need you to stay away from Bailey. I’m not sure what you’ve got on him to make him be with you, but I have much more. If you don’t step away, I will ruin him. That includes making sure he never plays football again. You can have Reuben; we have all beenthere.”She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled at me coldly. “Understood?”
She pushed past me as I stood frozen to the spot.
Ruin him?
What did that mean?
But before I could ask her, she was gone.
Later that day, although I sat in class physically; mentally, I was much further away. Ray kept glancing at me anxiously, so I gave her a small smile, hoping to reassure her. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I jumped, still not used to the intrusion a mobile phone provided.
Have lunch with me. Away from school if it’s easier. - B
How did he always seem to know what to say? I didn’t reply, remembering Elena’s warning. My phone vibrated again, and I saw another text.
Stop being a cliche. Answer me, hot geek. -B x
I hesitated before replying.
Fine. Away from school. X
I grinned to myself, and Ray raised an eyebrow at me inquisitively. I shrugged and glanced at the clock on the wall, twenty minutes until lunch.
I waited outside school awkwardly, wondering where he was. Then, I saw him jogging toward me, and my heart soared. He held his hands up in mock submission; his sleeves rolled up, revealing those tanned arms.
“Sorry, I had to deal with Elena.”
My heart dropped when he said her name, and he frowned at me, his blue eyes darkening.
“What?”
“Just, Elena.”
I looked around suspiciously as though she was going to jump out at us.
“She’s hard work. She’ll get the message eventually. Shall we go?” Bailey asked.
I bit my lip, and he stopped walking away, his hand reaching out to mine. I pulled it back like I had been burned, and he frowned at me with a puzzled expression.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” He demanded, his eyes narrowing as he
glared at me.
“You know how we spoke about cliches….” I began, twisting my fingers around each other.
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, Elena’s one too. She’s the bitch that comes between the jock and the geek.”
Our eyes met then, and he made a face.
“God, what has she said now?” He sighed with exasperation as he reached for me, his fingers lacing mine against his despite me trying to move them away. He pulled me towards him, so close I could smell the mint on his breath as he held me close.
“She said she knows some things about you...if I didn’t keep away from you, she would expose you. She said she’d ruin you,” I admitted.
I looked at him through my lashes and noticed his jaw clenching as he swore.
“She’s a fucking nightmare. She’s got nothing, trust me. What were you gonna do anyway, avoid me?” He looked at me with amusement, his hand tipping my head back to meet his gaze.
