She nodded, a brief look of concern on her face before she shook that off. “Sorry, how rude am I? Molly, this is Nick. Nick, this is Molly.”
Her introduction broke the ice, and we shook hands. I wondered if this was her boyfriend. He was older than her, but not massively so. Maybe the same age as me?
“Love the accent. British right?” Nick said with a boyish grin.
“Right,” I agreed with a smile.
The car they were lounging against was an Audi Q5 and expensive. Nick didn’t look old enough to drive.
“Nice wheels,” I complimented him.
“Yeah, it’s my brothers.”
I was then fired with questions, and it wasn’t so bad. It felt like someone was interested in me again. No one had talked to me much at school since Hudson had given me that thumbs down in the lunch room.
As we started to chat about the arcade inside Langs, I could tell from how they kept glancing at each other that Nick and Harper had a thing. The adoration in her eyes was clear. Was it rude to ask if they were going out?
Harper was explaining that Nick went to school on the other side of the city and how Harbor Heights and St Andrew’s kids didn’t get along. She likened her and Nick to Romeo and Juliet, which made me smile, although she did say that in theory, as ‘we’re not together,’ which told me they weren’t a couple. Yet. She wanted to be.
There was a loud click, and then the driver's door of the Audi opened, making me jump. I watched as smoke filtered out of the car and into the air.
And then he appeared, a tall boy with dark hair and silver blue eyes. He had that,I do what the fuck I like, bad boy vibe and my breathing faltered.
Whoever he was, he was good-looking, and my heart fluttered in my chest. He wasn’t a high school boy. I would say maybe early twenties. His hair was short at the sides and longer on the top. It was messy, which suggested he ran his hand through it a lot.
Jumping down from the car, he closed the door behind him. Those steely eyes tangled with mine as he dropped his cigarette onto the floor and stubbed it out with his boot.
And then he looked at me like I was his next meal. It didn’t bother me as I was used to that reaction from men.
“I would have said something about you being a sight for sore eyes, but I’ve never really got what the hell that meant,” he threw out there as casually as anything.
With a head tilt, I answered truthfully. “Me neither.”
“British?” He declared with a knowing smile on his face.
I grinned and pretended to assess him before firing back. “American?”
A huge smile covered his face, highlighting how pretty he was. “Wow, you’re better at this than I am—name’s Xander,” he added, holding out his hand.
I shook it whilst replying. “Molly.”
“Sorry for hiding in the car, I was just messaging my father. Well, and finishing my smoke. I wasn’t sat in there doing any crazy stalker shit.”
“It’s fine, I was just surprised there was anyone in there. With the windows being so dark, I couldn’t see you.”
“I know. It’s so no one can see inside and steal my secrets,” he said with a grin.
And then the banter flowed. At first, we all started to talk about school, touching on the rift between The Heights and St Andrew’s before changing to discuss my old school in the UK. Eventually, Nick and Harper started talking about parties and a mutual friend of theirs who couldn’t take their drink. Xander and I ended up leaning against his car and talking about his father’s nightclub in the city.
As I explained how I wasn’t the type to go clubbing, Xander watched me intently. It didn’t give me the butterflies like Hudson’s stare, but something was causing chaos inside me.
We must have been standing talking for at least half an hour, and I started to feel cold. I checked the time on my phone before pushing it back into my shorts.
“Well, Molly. Are you going to give me your number?” Xander suddenly said.
Releasing a low chuckle, I raised my eyebrows and pointed out. “Goodness, that was fast. It’s a bit soon for me to be handing out my phone number.”
Uncurling his arms, Xander stroked his hand across his jaw. “But how will I plan our wedding if I don’t have it?”
