“Earth to Bailey,” Jenn said.
I shook myself. “What?”
“I asked you... never mind. You like him, don’t you?”
I tried to play it off. She must’ve thought I was nuts, pining after Carson when she’d seen Tate kiss me. Still, my cheeks heated, giving me away.
Jenn nudged me with her elbow and so I spilled. “I do. He was super nice to me my first day here and—” And he was a total fox.
“That doesn’t surprise me. He’s nice to every girl he comes across. At first, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
She craned her neck and glanced at Carson as he waited for one of the girls he was holding to open the door instead of being the gentleman, lowering his arms, and getting the door for them.
“I don’t mean to crush your dreams or anything,” Jenn said, “but getting a date with Carson would be like winning the lottery. Those two girls are twins. They’re completely loaded, and their dad can get you a spot on his TV show, which is probably the only reason Carson is even bothering.”
Whatever hopes I was holding on to deflated in an instant. I felt immediately foolish for even having them in the first place. Of course I’d never be able to get with a guy like that. Sure, my dad was loaded, but I had nothing...extra...to offer a guy like Carson.
“Oh my goodness,” Jenn said, changing the subject and tugging my attention back to the parking lot again. “Chloe won’t be too happy about that.”
I forced away my smashed hopes and attempted an inquisitive look. Jenn jutted her chin toward a tall, handsome boy with dark, spiky hair, dark eyes, and deep dimples peeking through as he smiled down at a petite blonde.
I wasn't sure what Jenn was talking about. Did she have something against smiling? “What’s wrong with that?”
Jenn’s mouth dropped. “Have you met Jovi yet? You know, her dad’s a rock star? That’s her big brother, Crue. He’s dating Chloe Davenport.”
“But that’s not Chloe, I take it?” I asked, trying to connect the pieces she wasn’t offering.
“Nope,” Jenn said, popping her lips on the P. “That’s Jovi’s BFF, Emery Slater, and Crue is looking way too interested in her for someone who has a girlfriend.” Sure enough, Crue’s smile broadened. He touched a hand to Emery’s elbow and leaned into their conversation as if he wanted to pull her into his arms.
We meandered past, talking about their dad's band, Louder. Jenn pulled out her phone and looked up some of his songs, which I’d heard on the radio before. We chatted a few more minutes about their drama, about how upset Chloe would be if Crue really did break up with her, and I soaked into their drama, attempting to let it help me forget my own.
THE NEXT DAY, I CLUTCHED my backpack strap against my shoulder and plowed my way across the green between buildings on my way to AP History when a hand hooked behind my elbow.
“Hey, Bailey,” Tate said. He struck out of nowhere like lightning—sharp, bright, and zapping me with electricity. The steel blue of his eyes burned against the rays of sunlight spearing behind him. My pulse quickened. My lungs pumped as though I were running. Why did he have this effect over me? “What’s up?” he added.
That was it? No apology for kissing me, no explanation? I stopped in place. “I don’t know how to read you.”
“What’s so hard to read?”
“So much,” I said, gripping my strap again and starting my trek once more. Tate hurried to keep up.
He hooked my elbow again, attempting to slow me down. “You’re mad, aren’t you?”
“Why did you kiss me?” I asked.
He lifted both hands in the air. “You came on to me. I was only responding in kind.”
I stopped and stared him down, hands on my backpack straps. “How is kissing a response to singing?”
He shrugged. “You took my breath away, so I wanted to take yours.”
Don’t give in. Don’t buy into it. Who even talked like that? Besides, thanks to Jenn’s warning on the field the day before, I knew Tate was full of hot air. He had no interest in me. The kiss was just a slam on his ex-girlfriend, post breakup. A gesture to rub in her face. Charly had yet to approach me, but I hadn’t missed her vindictive, tigress glares across the lunchroom.
“I don’t believe that,” I said. “Jenn Adkins told me you guys broke up, and you looked really distressed before I acted like a total idiot and serenaded you. So tell me, what’s really going on?”
A handful of students in matching uniforms made their way toward us. Tate huffed and yanked my arm toward the main building’s window. He waited for the other kids to pass by before lowering his voice. “Look. Charly cheated on me.”
My mouth fell open. If this had gone any other way, I might have felt the same pity that had spurred me to sing to him as planned, but Jenn’s words resonated all over again. “She was right, then. You used me.”
I shouldn’t be that upset by it. I kind of did the same thing to him, though it hadn’t worked. Carson stopped to watch me sing along with everyone else, but then Tate landed his lips on mine and spoiled any possible conversations thereafter.
“Don’t act so shocked. You looked gorgeous and a kiss was the first thing that popped into my head. Is there something wrong with that?”
I blinked at his blatant admission. Gorgeous? Did he know who he was talking to? No guy had ever called me that before. “Only about a thousand things.”
“Name one. Oh, wait. I’ll name him for you. Carson Bedford.”
I rounded on him. “What?”
He gave me a mischievous grin. “I see the way you watch him, Bailey. I know you’re into him, but I also know he has exactly zero interest in you.”
The pronouncement stung like a fork to the chest. “Sugar coat it, why don’t you?” I turned away from him, wanting no more of this stupid conversation. He kissed me. So what? So what if he robbed me of a completely breathtaking, magical first kiss moment from a guy I was actually into?
Except that his kiss had been completely breathtaking and magical. That made me cringe all the more. I’d reimagined it a thousand times since, soaring on the sensations it had instilled in me, wishing for a replay, though I’d never admit as much to him.
Tate laughed—laughed!—and ran after me. “Look, I have an idea.”
“Me too. You take your idea and stuff it.”
He shuffled in front of me, cutting me off before I made it into the building. “Go out with me.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Come on, hear me out.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t really want to hear how I’m your rebound. Either that, or I’m your way to get even in whatever battle is going on between you and Charly.” Cheating on him was so not cool of her. But I wasn’t about to be his source of revenge.
He walked backward, folding his arms across his chest and keeping his gaze right on me. “What if I really like you?”
“You don’t. You don’t even know me.”
His grin could stop traffic. The shape of his mouth and the gleam of those pearly whites did a number on my heart. I swallowed, cursing myself. He was not sexy, and those muscles along the edges of his shirt were nothing to gawk at. “Then let me get to know you by dating me. Yes, I’m doing it to stick it to Charly. She cheated on me.”
“You said as much. With who?”
He hung his head. Though he spoke casually about it, I got the impression he was pretty hurt by her behavior, and no wonder. “I don’t know, some kid with black hair. I saw them coming out of the movies the other night. I was supposed to have met her, but she told me she didn’t feel good. The next thing I knew, I saw them strolling out together, hand in hand. They went to some car in the alleyway, and he hogged her face before sliding into his truck.”
“Let me guess. He didn’t open her door.”
His smirk made an appearance. “Total loser, right?”
My sympathy wasn’t completely lacking. My earlier pity swelled. “I’m sorry, Tate. I’m
sure that really hurt you to see that.”
He sniffed, stuffed a hand in his pocket, and glanced away as though posing for Pristine, the magazine Camryn was obsessed with. “Yeah, it sucked. In any case, we’ll be helping each other out.”
I scoffed. “I highly doubt that.” I tried moseying around him and making for the door. He may not care about being late for classes, but I wanted to not only keep my grades up, but my reputation right along with it. Call me a teacher’s pet, but I lived to please my instructors.
He shot out an arm, halting me again. “Look, I know Carson. Kissing you the way I did out there, right after you sang like a goddess, I made you look desirable, Bailey. Carson was watching.”
“You say that like it’ll affect his feelings toward me.”
“He and I have this faceoff between us,” Tate said. “It’s a man thing, but he tends to want what I have.”
I stiffened inside, not liking the possession in his tone. “Are you saying Charly cheated on you with Carson?” So much for first impressions. Carson had been the nice one to begin with. Now the tables were turning, faster than I expected.
“I don’t know who the dude was, but I would have recognized him if it’d been Carson. Carson has blond hair. Anyway, I can help you get his attention. I’ve just helped you get the attention of the entire senior class.”
I wanted to stomp my foot. I’d been praying for a few friends. To fit in at school. The courage to step out of my own skin for a few minutes. Boy, did I get what I asked for.
My mouth began to go dry.
“Believe me, Carson was watching. And he’s going to keep watching—” Tate swooped in and captured my hand in his. “Especially if you become my girlfriend.”
His skin was soft, and the touch did something to my joints. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn’t bring myself to. “You are out of your mind. What about our parents?”
He burned the air between us with a smoldering glance. “That’s just it. We know each other. We’re not related, Bailey.”
My pulse picked up speed. “I know that. But you’re my...” Stepbrother. Any reference with the word “brother” in it was off-putting, to say the least.
“No one cares. Heck, I’m not even sure anyone knows. All they know is that you hit on me first—”
“I didn’t hit on you.”
“And I reciprocated. You couldn’t have picked a better time. The pieces are already in motion. I guarantee you this much, Bailey.” He lifted our joined hands to his chest. “You play this off with me and Carson will be your boyfriend by Christmas.”
My mouth dropped. “Christmas?”
“You got it. Then we break up. I get back at Charly. You get your guy. What do you say?”
I pondered over this, needing to think, to talk it over. My eyes flicked to meet his and I found myself swallowing. Was he right? Would this get Carson’s attention?
I was never one for dishonesty. My mom raised me with Christian values, and honesty was definitely forefront among them. Lies made me think too much of my dad. He’d told us for months how much he missed us, how he just had one more job, one more project, one more business trip. Then he revealed his true colors.
Could I be that low? Dating Tate would be a total lie.
Then again, I wasn’t promised to Carson in a married-people kind of way. My heart showed interest, but that was about it.
Then there was the matter of Chravis back home. How could I have ever thought we could make this long-distance thing work? People changed along with their surroundings.
“Could we just be good friends?” I asked.
“No go. Gotta have benefits.”
Heat struck my cheeks. “What—you’re saying you want to...” Kiss again? Indulge in make out sessions like the one I’d interrupted my first day here? I couldn’t say it again. I didn’t want to put words in his mouth.
“I at least need to be seen holding your hand, Bailey.” He allowed his fingers to trail down my bare arms. The resulting tingle wasn’t exactly unpleasant. My attention plastered to him and his hands made their way to my waist. “The occasional hug.”
Hugging and hand holding. I could handle that. My brain began to detach itself under the weight of his stare. I wanted to pull away, but I lost any thinking capacity whatsoever, except to add, “No more kissing.”
His lips lifted into that cocky grin. “Don’t tell me you didn’t like it.”
Flame throwers. Right to my face. “You mean me not liking that you stole my first kiss from me?”
“You’ve never been kissed before that?”
I shushed him and darted my gaze around. A few eyes watched us with curiosity, but the majority of kids were doing their own thing as they passed between the dorms and the main building. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones running late.
Tate leaned one shoulder against the brick, smiling like the thief he was, and went on. “So how was it?”
“Mortifying.” I gave him the first word that came.
He laughed and brushed a knuckle under my chin. “Glad to hear it. Think it over, Bailey. You know I’m the right man for the job.”
For the Carson-catching job. I wanted to grind my teeth. Just how badly did I want Carson’s attention? Tate pulled out his phone, got my number, and then bobbed his chin in my direction. “I’ll see you later.”
“I SAY GO FOR IT,” CAMRYN said the minute I filled her in. Well, I didn’t tell her about the kiss. For some reason, I couldn’t. Saying it out loud made me feel too guilty over kissing a boy when I hadn’t ended things with my boyfriend first.
“You remember your manager, right? Chravis?”
“Bailey, don’t hold yourself back. You’ve got to live where you’re living. You can’t exist while a part of you is missing.”
A part of me was already missing and had been my whole life. There on the field, surrounded by praise and admiring eyes, I wasn’t invisible. In that moment, that missing piece slid into place. People were kinder than I gave them credit for; they talked to me now, waved to me in the halls, shared pictures on their phones. Something told me there was no turning back now.
I didn’t want to lose the part of myself I’d found out there on the field today. I’d thought over Tate’s offer, and while he was right and I did think Carson was cute, this wasn’t only about finding Carson. This was about finding me.
“Thanks, Camryn. I think I know what I have to do.”
“Good luck,” she said.
Once I hung up, I called Chravis. Much as I hated to admit it, he was on a different plane from me. I had ambitions. Despite what I told my dad, I wanted to pursue something of value. Maybe it would be singing, maybe it would be science. Either way, I wanted to dive into all that life had to offer, and today I knew life had so much more than I ever thought.
While I cared about Chravis, he seemed to be content to remain the manager at Café Pizza, the gas station back in Rexburg. Was it snobby of me that I wanted more? That I wanted someone with some ambition?
“Hey, there,” Chravis said. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d spoken on the phone, but his voice no longer held a dreamy effect over me. I took that as a sign. “How’s that school?”
We exchanged small talk, but I think he sensed why I called. A string of unease looped between us, across the miles, adding more distance than there had been since we attended the winter formal back home together and he refused to be seen with me because he didn’t want people to think we were together.
“Remember before I left, how you mentioned you’d wait for me to come back to Idaho?” I said.
“Yeah. I still mean it.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. That made this harder. My lower lip began to tremble. “I don’t...I don’t want you to wait for me anymore, Chravis.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
My throat thickened. I’d always heard breakups were hard, but this was my first hands-on experience. “It means things are different. I’m hanging out with new
people and having new experiences. I’m not sure it’s fair to you to keep your life on hold when I’m not.”
“I get it,” he said. “You met someone.”
Words were harder to come by. “I’m meeting lots of new people here, Chravis, that’s all I’m saying. I’ll always care about you—”
“You can stop now.” He’d always fumbled through his feelings. I used to find it endearing. Now his lack of communication skills made my mouth drop.
“Thanks for showing interest in me,” I said with sincerity, shaking my thoughts back into place. “I don’t think I’d have the guts to reach out to anyone here if you hadn’t.” Which was entirely true. Because of my parents’ divorce and the multiple moves my mom had made afterward trying to find a permanent job and a guy she could rely on, my self-esteem had been in shambles. Thanks to Chravis and Camryn, I was able to stand on my own two feet and feel okay about it.
“Glad I could help.” Chravis had always been reserved and sarcastic. I’d never minded before, but his snide comment only confirmed what I already knew. What Mom and Camryn had been telling me all along. I both wanted and deserved more. No one else would hand it to me but myself.
What if I could have a completely new start here? Be a new version of myself? No longer the shy, fold-into-herself Bailey, but a strong, confident, take-on-the-world version of myself. I could make some new friends. I could even get the attention of a guy like Carson Bedford.
If that meant relying on Tate’s help, then so be it. I couldn’t navigate all the jeers and rumors without him. I could watch how he handled attention from people.
Maybe this was who I was meant to be.
Chapter Seven
I had to build up my courage before finding Tate. Fresh air always helped with that. The minute classes were over, I scrambled outside, ready for a gigantic gulp of it.
There was one thing to say about Billionaire Academy—the view wasn’t awful. Situated on an island as it was, the campus’ edge offered a view of the lake water pooling at Mt. Rainier’s base. This private school’s funding came from wealthy benefactors, and whoever was in charge didn’t chintz out. The landscaping was top notch, from the manicured flowerbeds to the trimmed walkway. I trudged to the collection of brush in a semi-garden standing circular on the lake’s edge speckled with orange autumn flowers.
Don't Kiss the Quarterback: Billionaire Academy YA Romance Book 5 Page 6