My Know-It-All Nemesis: Sweet Mountain High

by Dallen, Maggie

  “No. I’m a train wreck.”

  “What? What happened?” His expression was one of comical confusion, but this was not the time to explain about the hair issues and the skirt disaster and, perhaps, most important—the way I’d been reeling from his kiss for nearly two days.

  “I don’t want you to step aside,” I said in a rush.

  “You don’t? But you said—”

  “I know what I said, but I was wrong.” There. I’d said it. And in my rush to get that out, I’d reached out so now I was resting my hands on his chest as he held my arms and…woah. Did the hallway just get really narrow?

  I couldn’t breathe. Memories of that kiss were zinging around in my brain, and that was when I realized that I was staring at his lips. I lifted my gaze quickly, only to find that his gaze was on my lips too.

  Well, great minds think alike, right?

  That thought had me fighting a hysterical urge to laugh. I squelched it, but he must have seen something in my expression because his eyes lit with amusement and his lips quirked up in a smile that was so sexy, the butterflies in my belly went berserk.

  “What made you change your mind?” he asked.

  I drew in a deep breath. “You.”

  He arched a brow. “I was in your head this weekend, huh?”

  I felt heat creeping up my cheeks because…yeah. I’d thought of little else but Miller ever since that night. I waited for a cocky smirk, a laugh at my expense. But all I got was a satisfied smile as he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, either.”

  I tucked some of the hair that was falling out of my ponytail behind my ear, feeling more shy than I’d ever felt in my life. I cleared my throat when the silence grew to be too much. “Yeah, well, I was thinking about everything you said. About how…” I bit my lip as emotions swept me up in a tidal wave. “About how you respect me and how you think I’m…” Ugh, this stupid blush was going to burn me alive. “How you think I’m fierce.”

  “I don’t think it, I know it,” he said automatically. “You’re the strongest person I know. Not to mention the smartest.”

  My heart melted. Sure, it had been awesome to hear him call me sexy—multiple times. That had been a massive ego boost. But this…this was being acknowledged by someone, other than my mom and Daphne, for the things I liked most about myself, and that felt unbelievably good. It made me feel seen in a way I’d never even known I needed to be seen.

  “Yeah, well,” I continued with an embarrassed shrug. “Strong people don’t ask for a win by default. I’m sorry I did.” He was about to say something, but I interrupted. “I don’t want you to stop challenging me. Ever.”

  He blinked in surprise at the earnestness…or maybe at my use of the word ever. That sounded like a long time. Like…forever.

  “You want me to be your rival,” he said, his tone asking for confirmation.

  I nodded. I did. I really did. I might not have appreciated it before, but his challenging me all the time had made me better. Not only that, it kept life interesting. “I…I kind of like having you as a nemesis, Miller.”

  His grin was adorable. Sweet and sexy at once. “Good, because I love having you for a rival.”

  I found myself returning his grin, so much so that my face was starting to hurt, and this moment was bordering on goofy. A few students walked past us, and Miller nodded toward the auditorium. “I guess we should go do this then, huh?”

  I nodded. I supposed. But I didn’t want to. I had no desire to stand up there and make promises that would be next to impossible to complete. All I really wanted to do was find a quiet place with Miller. Somewhere we could finish the conversation we’d started the other night, and maybe…maybe even steal another kiss.

  I didn’t want to go give a speech, and really, when all was said and done…

  I didn’t want to be student council president.

  It was the oddest thing, but admitting that to myself felt like a giant weight was removed from my shoulders.

  And now…I knew what I had to do.

  I started to turn away, but Miller caught me by the arm and tugged me back toward him. I went breathless as I found myself in his arms. Pressed against him, his arms wrapped tightly around me…

  This. This was what I wanted.

  He leaned down, and my lips parted with anticipation. Would he kiss me again? Here? Now? Where anyone could walk by and see us?

  He leaned in further until his lips brushed against my ear. “I have a confession.”

  I found myself grinning like an idiot at his teasing tone—the same one that drove me mad just last week. Granted, it still drove me crazy, just…in a totally new way. “What’s that?”

  He squeezed my waist in a quick, tight hug. “I was never going to let you win.”

  I let out a shocked laugh as I leaned back and swatted at his arm. “You jerk.”

  “You just said you didn’t want me to!” He was laughing as he caught my hand mid-swing and clasped it in his, bringing both of our hands to his chest. To his heart, to be precise. “I knew you wouldn’t want to win like that,” he said. “And there was no doubt in my mind that you would win.” He leaned in close. “You deserve every win, fair and square.”

  My smile felt shy. “You deserve yours too,” I said. “I get that now. Neither of us has it easy all the time.”

  He nodded, his eyes thoughtful. “Yeah, but you were right that a lot of my actions lately have been for the wrong reason. They’ve been about proving something to other people and not about what’s right for me.”

  I felt a sense of awe at the sincerity in his tone. Who knew the great, cocky Miller Hardwell had it in him to be earnest? “Funny,” I said. “I was thinking something very similar myself this morning.”

  He arched a brow in question.

  “I think I need to take a long look at how much I’m living for the future.” I licked my lips as his gaze grew intense. “I’m starting to see that maybe I’ve been missing out on things.”

  “Things,” he repeated, a mischievous glint in his eyes as his hold on me tightened. “What kind of things?”

  “Um…you know, parties,” I offered, a laugh bubbling up in me at his darkened gaze and his knowing smirk.

  “And?”

  “Friends,” I offered.

  He nodded. “Friends are good.”

  “I heard there are a lot of good shows on Netflix,” I said, trying not to laugh as his expression grew exasperated.

  “And?” he said again, his voice little more than a growl.

  I started to laugh, but he cut off my laughter with a kiss that stole my breath.

  Maybe even my heart.

  By the time we came up for air, I was so not laughing. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure I was standing on my own two feet. “And that,” I managed to say as I caught my breath.

  “Good answer.” He laughed, his forehead pressed to mine. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

  Another bell rang, and we pulled away from each other reluctantly. “We should go,” I said. “We shouldn’t be late.”

  He nodded. “We are the whole reason they’re holding this assembly.”

  And yet we both continued to stand there. Maybe we both realized that once we entered that auditorium we’d be rivals again.

  Which was fine by me.

  I kind of loved our rivalry, even if he drove me nuts.

  “Shall we?” he asked.

  I nodded, but much as I loved our rivalry, I still knew what I had to do because I wasn’t about to fight for something I didn’t want just to win a battle. That would be just as bad as winning by default.

  Our relationship, if that’s what you could call it, was based on mutual respect, and that was what I loved about it. If Miller really wanted this position, then he deserved it.

  More than that, he’d do a great job with it, which was more than I could say since my every second was already eaten up with other obligations. When we reached the
main hallway and the entrance of the auditorium, I slipped my hand from out of his and started to back away.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  I smiled. “You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you. There’s just something I have to talk to Mr. Gentry about.”

  “Okay.” He swung open the doors and headed in, turning back to give me an infuriatingly cocky wink. “See you on the battlefield, Andrews.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I was laughing as I turned away to seek out Mr. Gentry.

  12

  Miller

  I already had the crowd eating out of the palm of my hand when I saw Kate slip through the side door offstage.

  Good. Just in time.

  “Now,” I said, looking down at the flash cards I wasn’t reading from. “With all that being said…I think we can all agree that my leadership is essential at this school.” I cocked an eyebrow and flashed the crowd a smile. “Some might even say I’m indispensable.”

  As predicted, I got an appreciative chuckle for my hubris. I caught Kate rolling her eyes, but she wore the cutest little smile as she did it.

  My heart swelled in my chest at the mere sight of her. I’d never felt luckier than I did at this moment. I might have worked hard for good grades, and fought to win a position on the football team, but none of that compared with knowing I’d earned the respect and trust of the girl I most admired.

  A girl who was watching me now with a knowing smile because she got it—I wasn’t nearly as confident as I liked to pretend. I didn’t have it all together, and while I was one lucky son of a gun, not everything in my life was as easy as it seemed.

  But the same went for her. And that made me appreciate her all the more.

  Let’s face it—I more than just appreciated Kate Andrews.

  It was possible that one day in the not too distant future I might even use the L-word when it came to this girl. But for now…

  Well, for now, it was time to do some serious introspection.

  “With all that being said…” I looked back to the crowd. “I’m no longer running for student council president.”

  I heard some gasps and whispers, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to look over at Kate. Not yet.

  “See, here’s the thing,” I said, shuffling my useless flash cards as I took a deep breath. “There was one simple question on the application that I struggled to answer. Why do you want to be president?” I shrugged. “I didn’t have a good answer. The best answer I could think of was—I want to beat Kate Andrews.”

  This earned a big laugh, and I risked a glance over at Kate and saw that she was laughing, but her eyes were fixed on me intently, trying to understand.

  See…here was the thing. I’d meant it before when I’d said that I wasn’t going to back out. Not because she’d asked me to. That wouldn’t have been fair to her, you know? It would have been disrespectful, somehow, to assume that she couldn’t win with me going against her.

  She could.

  She absolutely could.

  But it wasn’t until she admitted she didn’t need me to back out that I realized…I wanted to. Not for her sake, but for mine. I wasn’t going after this role for the right reasons, and I never had been. Would it look good on my applications? Sure. Did I need it to get in to any school of my choosing? Probably not.

  And more than that…did I want it? Did I actually have ideas on how to make this school a better place?

  No and no.

  I’d barely even given it a thought, too focused on winning to consider what I’d get if I won.

  A job I didn’t want. One more obligation that would eat into the time I so badly needed to study and be a part of the football team.

  It would cut into the precious little remaining free time I had to, you know…date. I glanced over at Kate.

  Without having to think about it, I knew what my priorities were, and Kate was at the top of the list, just above grades and the team. And being student council president? That didn’t even rank.

  “Here’s the thing,” I said to the crowd. “Kate Andrews deserves this position. She’d probably win even if I was still in the running, but she shouldn’t have to go up against someone who doesn’t want anything more than a win.”

  I glanced over at her, and her eyes were wide. So freakin’ adorable. You know, when her claws weren’t out.

  I looked back at the crowd. “I know everyone here loves Kate, but let me tell you something you might not know. The girl is fierce.” Laughs filled the air. No one saw cute-as-a-button as fierce, but they had no idea. “She’s strong, and she’s smart, and she actually cares about this school.” I nodded toward the crowd. “She cares about you. And for that, we should all be grateful.”

  When I glanced over, she was beaming at me, and it was impossible not to smile back. I had to tear my gaze away to look back over the crowd. “So, much as I absolutely love to fight with Kate…” I shot her a sidelong look, complete with the smirk she loved to hate. “I’m going to have to sit this round out.”

  Someone in the crowd made a sound of disappointment, and someone else shouted out, “But we love to watch you fight.”

  I started to laugh and saw that Kate was too. “So happy to know that we amuse you,” I said. “And don’t worry. Something tells me we’ll be giving you all ample fighting entertainment once Kate agrees to be my girlfriend.”

  The chaos that ensued in the crowd made it impossible for me to continue—but I was done up there anyway. In three long strides, I was off the stage and heading toward her.

  Kate was grinning, but her eyes were full of tears when I reached her.

  “Please tell me I didn’t embarrass you so badly that you’re crying,” I said.

  She leapt on top of me, her arms wrapping around me to give me the best hug I’ve ever gotten in my life. “That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me,” she said thickly. “Or done for me.”

  I held her tight, burying my face in her neck and soaking up the scent that had been driving me wild for two years. “Does this mean you agree to go out with me?”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I think I can fit you in.”

  I grinned as she slid back down my chest and stepped away. My heart felt like it might explode I was so happy. “Yeah? You don’t think you’ll be too busy…” I nodded toward the stage. “What with your new presidential responsibilities and all?”

  She gave me a funny little grimace. “Yeah, about that…”

  Her voice trailed off as Mr. Gentry took the stage and fiddled with the mic.

  I looked back at Kate, and she winced. “I, uh…I sort of just backed out of the race, too.”

  I arched my brows. “You’re serious,” I said.

  She nodded. “That’s where I ran off to when I left you before, I just…” She shrugged and let out a sigh. “I realized pretty much the exact same thing that you did. I wasn’t running for the right reasons. When I thought about getting this position without a fight from you, it became very clear to me that I didn’t really want the job at all.”

  Mr. Gentry started to speak. Explaining to the crowd that the special election was off. Which meant…

  Oh no.

  “Wait, so Tim Pfieffer is going to be student council president?” I said.

  Kate’s face scrunched up in horror. “It looks that way.”

  “This poor school,” I muttered.

  “What have we done?” she added.

  I wrapped my arms around her. “We’ll all be fine. You know why?”

  She arched her brows in question.

  “They have us. Two amazing leaders among men who will help to guide this school.”

  She tried to squelch a grin and failed. “You have an awful lot of confidence in us.”

  I gave a falsely modest shrug. “I’m pretty impressive, and my new girlfriend…” I leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “She is absolutely amazing.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and tilted her head to the side. “So,
how exactly do we do this? What comes next?”

  I was humbled when I realized that for all her intelligence and all her drive, being in a relationship was just as foreign to her as it was to me. Maybe even more so since I’d at least dated before.

  I toyed with a strand of hair that was falling out of her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. “We can take it slow if that’s what you want.”

  She nodded. “I think I have to. I mean, I’m glad we’re doing this,” she said with a blush. “But I know I have a lot to figure out right now.” Her expression grew thoughtful. “I need to figure out who I am when I’m not always trying to win and get ahead, you know?”

  I nodded because I did know—maybe better than anyone. “I need to figure out who I am when I’m not trying to prove something to everyone else.”

  She nodded, her lips pursed in thought. “Maybe that’s what college is for. You know…figuring ourselves out. What we want, where we belong…”

  “Maybe,” I said. “For right now, all I know is that I’m happy I get to be with you.”

  She grinned as she went up on tip-toe, planting a kiss on my lips. “And I might not know much, but I know I like you,” she said. “I like that you challenge me. That you don’t let me win. I like that when you look at me you see more than smiles, and cheerfulness, and good old reliable Kate.”

  I had to laugh at that description. “Oh trust me, Kate. I always knew you had claws beneath that sugary sweet exterior.”

  She grinned. “I like that you knew that and still wanted to get close to me.”

  “And I like that you made me earn your respect.”

  She smiled. “So. We know one thing then…we like each other.”

  “We definitely do,” I said as I pulled her in closer. “All the rest we can figure out together.” I’d said it with finality, thinking that was the end of the conversation, but I should have known better. Kate would never put off until tomorrow what she could do today. Sure enough…

  “Maybe we don’t have to wait until college,” she said with an optimistic little grin. “I mean, we are a couple of overachievers.”