He shuttered his gaze. “What about it?”
“We have to get together and plan our project.”
“I’m busy.” He turned as if to dismiss her, but she grabbed his arm.
It was like grabbing onto a piece of granite rock. Dang, he was muscular. “We have to,” she said, trying to keep the whine out of her voice. “This project is worth half my grade. I can’t fail this class.”
He smirked. “Then you do it.”
She yanked on his arm again, although she kind of felt like a mosquito compared to him. “I can’t. You have to work on it with me. If I don’t prove we both contributed, I’ll fail.”
He turned back toward her and stared at her, and she tried not to pass out from the intensity of his gaze. After a moment, he seemed to soften. “All right. We can work on it after school. I’ll come to your house.”
Christian? At her house? Jessica faltered a bit. If he stole something, her parents would freak. “Um…”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What’s your address?”
How could she tell him she didn’t want him to know where she lived? She grabbed a strand of her hair, twisting it around her finger. “Can we work on the project at the library?”
Christian scowled. “I’m not allowed in the library.”
Not allowed in the library? What was up with that? “Why not?”
“Restraining order.” He looked like he was proud of that statement, which gave her a little chill.
Jessica’s mind reeled. Maybe she didn’t want to do this after all. Maybe getting an F in the class was the better choice. But if she failed, she would never get into Juilliard. She weighed her options before she blurted out her address.
His lips twitched before he shoved his fists into his coat pockets. “See you after school.”
Jessica swallowed. What had she done?
Continue on to read Jessica’s story in the next book, Don’t Fall for Trouble.
Don’t Fall for Trouble
Chapter 1
Jessica tapped her finger to “Sweet Home Alabama,” the current song playing in her head, waiting for her biology class to get out. It was Friday and she was ready for the weekend. And excited for the time she would have to finish the song she’d been composing at home.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she snuck a peek at the teacher. He was on his laptop, totally ignoring the class. She pulled out her phone and swiped to see who had texted her.
Destiny’s name popped up. Ugh. What did her cousin want?
Hey, I gotta talk to you. It’s important.
Jessica toyed with the idea of ignoring her. What could her boyfriend-stealing scum of a cousin need that was so important? They hadn’t spoken since last year. And if it were up to Jessica, they could go for the rest of eternity without talking. She huffed and texted back.
I can’t. I’m meeting my science partner to work on our project. I can’t blow it off. It’s worth half my grade.
The image of Christian popped into her head and her mouth grew dry. How she had the bad luck of being paired up with him, she’d never know.
Who is your partner?
Oh, no. No way was she going to tell Destiny that. It would get back to her father.
Nobody. The bell’s about to ring. I’ll text you tomorrow.
She stuffed her phone back in her pocket as the shrill tone sounded. Maybe she would text tomorrow. Or maybe she’d clean the toilet with her tongue. That might be more fun.
She left the school, climbed into her car and stuck the key into the ignition. Christian was going to show up at her house soon. Her hands grew sweaty just thinking about it. If her father knew…she swallowed down the lump in her throat. Not going to think about that. Her father wouldn’t find out. He was at work until late tonight. Her mother was out of town on tour. No one would know she invited the school delinquent over.
She pulled out of the school parking lot. All she and Christian had to do was think of a science project. If they came up with the idea, she could maybe meet him at the coffee shop or in the park to compare notes every so often. She didn’t have to spend a lot of time with him. Right?
Her pulse jumped as she saw his motorcycle parked in her driveway. Crud. He was early. She wasn’t prepared. She pulled up beside his bike, craning to see if he was standing on her front steps. She couldn’t tell. The shadows concealed him.
She cut her engine and grabbed her backpack from the passenger seat. A knock on her window made her jump. Christian stood outside her driver-side door. He wore his leather jacket and a metal band T-shirt.
Jessica swallowed and yanked on the handle. He stepped back to let her step out of her car. She shut the door. “Hey. I thought you’d take a while to get here.”
He hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets. “Why’d you think that?”
“I don’t know. Wishful thinking?” Gah. She was so dumb. Why was she so jumpy around him? He was just a kid from school. Maybe the rumors weren’t true. Maybe he wasn’t…dangerous.
The word replayed in her mind as he took a step closer to her. He almost looked like he was holding back a smile. Almost. He reached out and picked up a strand of her purple hair. His gaze traveled over her hair before snapping back to her eyes. “Are you ready?”
Her heart pounded as she backed away from him. Her instincts told her to run from him. That he was only there to mess with her. But her intense desire to get into Juilliard took over and she nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go inside. We can talk about our project ideas.”
He gave her a subtle nod and followed her inside. As she walked through the entryway, Christian looked around. “Man, someone here is a bit obsessed with music.”
Jessica was used to the motif, and she barely noticed all the paintings of musical instruments hanging on the walls. “My mother is a singer.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Famous?”
She shrugged. “Sort of. Sings folk. She’s kind of a name in that arena. She’s on tour right now.”
“What’s her name?”
“Veronica Sharp.”
“I haven’t heard of her.”
“I’m not surprised.” Only people obsessed with folk singers knew who she was. Jessica led him into the living room and pointed to the chair. “Have a seat.”
Christian walked past the chair and sat on the leather couch, then propped his feet up on the ottoman. His gaze met hers in a silent challenge, and she knew what he was saying. I dare you to sit by me.
Jessica steeled her nerves and stepped over his legs to sit on the couch beside him. No way was she going to admit to him that he intimidated her. She dug her notebook out of her backpack and opened it. “Now, I’ve been thinking of some projects we could do. I like the idea of testing out what playing music while doing homework would do.”
Christian shook his head. “That sounds boring.”
“Music isn’t boring.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “No. But doing homework is. What’s your next idea?”
She held in an eyeroll. What was he even doing here? “All right,” she said, making sure her voice stayed measured. “We could test the effects of music while working out. Different types of music affect the brain and—”
“Why are all your ideas about music?”
She straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “I’m applying to get into the top music school in the country.”
“Why?” He stared at her, and she felt like he was dissecting her. “Are you looking for your mother’s approval?”
She scoffed. “No.”
“Then why?”
Irritation wormed its way through her. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“It is if we’re choosing a science project together.” Christian leaned closer to her. “I want to know why you’re insisting on including music in the study.”
Jessica should have explained how important getting into music school was to her, but he was being impossible and she didn’t want to g
ive him the satisfaction. “What about studying the water quality of the bay?” she blurted out.
He leaned even closer and a strand of his dark hair fell onto his forehead. He was inches from her. She could smell his soap. “Do I make you uncomfortable?” His voice came out low.
She let out another scoff. “No.” Then to prove it, she rolled her eyes. “I just want to pick a science project so we can get this over with.”
His dark brown eyes threw daggers at her. “Because you want me to leave,” he said quietly.
She swallowed. Yes. But she didn’t want to admit it. “No.” Even she could hear the lie in her voice. “I have other homework to do.”
He let out a mirthless chuckle. “You’re a terrible liar.”
Jessica wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Do you have any ideas, then? Since you hate all of mine.”
He moved even closer. “Why don’t we study my effect on you?”
She pushed him away, her hand on his chest. Dang, he was a solid wall of muscle. “Stop it. This isn’t a joke. I need this grade.”
“Lighten up, blondie. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Jessica stared at him. “How did you know my hair was…?”
Christian stood up and crossed the room to the fireplace mantel. He pointed to one of the pictures. “You? About five years ago?”
He was eerily accurate. That photo had been taken five years ago, at the lake. Before she started dyeing her hair. She nodded.
“Who is this with you?”
“My cousin.” Her dirty-rotten, no good cousin.
He picked up the framed photo and studied it. “You look happy.”
“Are you implying I’m no longer happy?” What was up with this guy? Why did he make her disarmed one second, then completely angry the next?
He set the photo back down. “Just making an observation.”
“Yeah, well, can you make an observation about what kind of science project you’d like to do? Because you’re wasting my time.”
He chuckled. “You’re used to getting what you want, aren’t you?”
“I’m used to my study partners actually studying with me,” she said under her breath. Then she met his gaze. “Why are you even here?”
A look crossed his features, then disappeared. “You begged me to come.”
“Well, that’s an honest answer.” She clutched her notebook to her chest. What was she going to do with this guy? He was never going to help her with the project. She was delusional to think so in the first place.
He picked up another photograph and examined it. “You know how to rock climb?”
“Are we done here?” She stood. “Because you can leave if we’re not going to do this thing.”
Metal scraped as he put the photo back and turned to her. “I’m ready.”
“Good. Because I really need this grade.” She eyed him, unsure if he was ready to talk science project, or if he was messing with her again.
“We can study how music affects you while working out.”
She exhaled. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He flexed his muscle. “I need to work on my biceps, anyway.”
She saw nothing wrong with his biceps, but she kept her big trap closed about it. “Good. Then let’s set up the parameters. We can work out separately, then compare notes after thirty days.”
Christian’s gaze snapped to hers. “No.”
“No?” It came out weak, and she flinched at how mousy she sounded. What was wrong with her? Why was she letting this jerk make her cower like this?
“If we’re going to do this, we’re doing it together.”
Visions of her father finding them in her basement working out on his equipment flashed through her mind and she involuntarily shuttered. “We can’t.” At the look on his face, she added, “Not here.”
“Then come to my house. You did say we had to do this project together, right?” His slightly raised eyebrow issued her a challenge.
She squared her shoulders. “Yes. Fine. Give me your address and I’ll come over tomorrow morning.” She unlocked her phone and handed it to him. As he put his info in, a wave of unease ran through her. This kid was a juvenile delinquent.
What was she doing?
Chapter 2
Christian wasn’t sure why he was at this girl’s house. Maybe because she had the gall to talk to him at school when most girls wouldn’t even look at him. Maybe because her boldly dyed purple hair intrigued him. Or maybe it was because he was bored and wanted to see how far he could push her before she would run from him like everyone else.
And if he were being honest with himself, a part of him wanted to help her get that good grade that seemed to matter so much to her. He let out a short breath. What a sap he was. He finished entering his address and phone number into her cell and handed it back to her. “Don’t show up before eleven.”
“Why, do you need your beauty sleep?”
He sneered at her. Spunky. He liked that. “Just don’t.”
She shrugged. “All right.”
He didn’t want to go into the details of why it wasn’t a good idea to show up at his house while his mother’s boyfriend was around. The creep. He clenched his jaw. Just thinking of Michael made his blood boil. He took a step closer to the girl. She didn’t even flinch. He liked her even more. “See you tomorrow.”
He let himself out of her front door and walked to his motorcycle. He slipped on his helmet and swung his leg over the bike. His freedom. Without his bike, he would go crazy. It was his only possession, and soon, he would be using it to leave this town behind. He just had to get his little sister to safety.
Jessica let go of her guitar in exasperation and let it hang on the strap. She’d ignored the pinging noise for too long, and now the texts were coming at her fast and furious. She grabbed her phone and sat on the edge of her bed. It was her cousin.
I know you hate me, but we need to talk.
Please text me back.
Jess—I need you.
Text me.
Now.
I’m not going to stop.
Answer me.
It’s about Jack.
Jessica let out a scream and punched in a response. I don’t want to talk to you about Jack. He’s your boyfriend now. You deal with it.
Her answer came back quickly. I think he’s cheating.
She didn’t mean to laugh. Really. But it came out, anyway. Was Destiny serious? She wanted to complain to Jessica about her cheating boyfriend, the boyfriend she stole from her? Of all the—she couldn’t even think of a good word—things her cousin could do, this took them all. She fired off three quick texts.
Not.
My.
Problem.
There. Maybe Destiny would leave her alone now. She turned off the ringer and tossed her phone onto her nightstand. She couldn’t care less about Jack and Destiny’s issues. She needed to finish figuring out this song before it drove her insane. And then she had to sneak out and go to Christian’s house.
Jessica wondered what it would be like if her father were the one on tour all the time, and her mother was the one at home. Her mother once packed up the family and drove them all to Nashville because she needed to “thaw her bones” from the freezing Wisconsin winter. Her mother did what she wanted, when she wanted, and didn’t care much about anything other than music.
Her father, on the other hand, was a deputy county attorney and made her sign out in a notebook when she left the house to go anywhere other than school. If she didn’t print where she was going, and the time she was going to be back, he would lecture her for an hour when she got home. No one else’s parent could beat him when it came to his lectures. Don’t even ask about the whiteboard on wheels that would come out when he wanted to write down all his color-coded points.
And she was sure he knew Christian.
He knew all the kids who had been sent to juvie. If he found out she was spending any time with him outside of school, he’d be pulling out
the whiteboard so fast, her head would spin. Heaven help her if he pulled out the red marker.
Jessica strummed a chord, trying to get back into her song. She’d been working on it for over a month. Some songs came to her quickly. A flash of inspiration she couldn’t get down fast enough. Others, like this one, were a slow birth. She could almost hear the final version in her mind, but there were holes and she couldn’t put it together.
Her phone vibrated. Someone was calling. She sighed and swung her guitar strap over her head, laying the instrument on her bed as she picked up her phone. Her mother’s face showed on the screen.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetie, how are things?” Her mother’s breathy voice came through the line. Sounds of conversations over loud music filtered in the background.
“Just fine. I’m working on that song again.” She ran a finger across the strings of her guitar, wishing she’d been able to finish it.
“Oh, really? That’s nice. Hey, listen, I’m calling because my tour got extended. I won’t be home in two weeks like we’d thought.”
Jessica swallowed, her throat closing on her. “You’re going to miss my birthday?”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I know you’re looking forward to it. It couldn’t be helped. But I’ll be home in eight weeks. We can celebrate then.”
She dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands and blinked back the moisture. She would not cry. “That’s not until Thanksgiving.”
“After, actually. I’ll be home the beginning of December. But it will be perfect because we can go Christmas shopping together.”
December. Her mother would miss her birthday month altogether. She sucked in a breath, then nodded, even though her mother couldn’t see it. “Okay.”
“I know you’re disappointed. I’m sorry, honey. But when I come home, we’ll party, just the two of us. It will be epic.”
“No one uses that word anymore, Mom.”
“Then it will be happening, or whatever it is you kids say these days.”
“Nice try.”
A Young Adult Romance Collection Page 17