The Penalty Box (Greyford High #4)
Page 6
“It’s not like it’s a big deal,” I mutter. Avoiding her gaze, I switch my attention to the stack in my hand to make sure I have everything I need before closing my locker.
“Ummm, hell, yes, it is!” Her hand grips mine, stopping me from leaving. “How was it?”
The excitement overtakes surprise, making her brown irises twinkle.
Shame I’ll have to crush it. “Humiliating.”
“What?” Yup, I’m sure she didn’t see that one coming. “Isn’t that what you wanted since like forever?”
“Not like this!” How is it that she doesn’t see it? “He did it to prove a point, Jessy! I don’t know why he doesn’t like Noah, but for some reason, that’s the case. I guess he feels threatened by him or something and now it’s like he’s trying to mark his territory.”
I shake my head, letting the words sink in. This isn’t the first time they crossed my mind, obviously, but it’s the first time I uttered them out loud. It’s like saying it makes it more real.
“What if you’re wrong?” Jessy tilts her head to the side, her lips pressed in a tight line. “What if he actually realized—”
“I’m not,” I interrupt her, done with this conversation. “He’s acting like a baby when somebody takes away his favorite toy. I’m not in the mood to play games with him. Or anybody else for that matter.”
I can see Jessy wants to say something but holds her tongue. “What now?”
Softly, I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I’ve been holding. “Noah asked me on a date. He wants to take me skating and then to Andrew’s party and I said yes.”
Jessy’s eyes narrow and even before she opens her mouth I know I won’t like whatever she has to say. “Was this before or after the kiss with Liam?”
I swallow hard before pushing the words out. “Before. We had fun, and when he asked me out, I said yes. I really do like him, Jessy.”
As a friend, a little voice reminds me.
“Then go for it.” Jessy nods, but I can tell she isn’t happy with the turn of events. “If he makes you happy then you should do it.”
It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Not that I need her approval or anything like it, but I want somebody to understand me. She was the one who thought I should give up my silly crush on my best friend and give Noah a chance, and now she changed her mind? A part of me wants to lash out at her and get some answers, but the bigger part just wants to be done with the subject.
Switching topics, I ask her something about the Biology assignment as we walk toward our classroom.
However, the ache I was feeling before doesn’t go away no matter how hard I try to push it back and I can’t help but notice, I told her about Liam’s kiss, but I never mentioned Noah’s.
Chapter Ten
LIAM
“Bro, I’m serious, you have to stop scowling, you’re scaring people.”
I can feel the frown deepen between my brows as I narrow my eyes at Mike. The fucker glares right back at me. We stay like that for a while, eyes glued in a battle of wills until finally, Jake comes between the two of us.
“Oh, leave him be. He’s pissed Evie won’t talk to him.”
“Screw you.”
“If you continue oozing charm like this, you’ll win her over in no time,” he says dryly.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I grunt. “Who said anything about winning her over?”
At this rate, she can be happy if I ever decide to speak to her again. Out of all the irritating, infuriating things…
“Ummm… Your somebody-killed-my-puppy face?” Jack interrupts my thoughts.
“You’re delusional,” I say and start marching forward so I don’t have to speak to them any longer—not like we’re going in the same direction or anything—but the fucker can’t help himself.
“Keep telling yourself that,” he yells after me.
I hear snickering behind me, but I don’t turn back to acknowledge them. Instead, I throw them a finger over my shoulder and continue toward the gym. Since I needed to release some of the pent-up tension, I decided that squeezing a gym session before our afternoon skate is a must. Jack and Mike invited themselves along, but seeing how they’re only irritating me more, I’m starting to doubt that letting them join me was a good idea.
They’re still giggling like a pair of schoolgirls as we all enter the locker room and quickly change into our workout clothes.
“If you’re planning to gossip and discuss the latest nail polish trends, you might as well leave for the slumber party.”
“Oh, come on, Ward. That was low,” Mike protests.
Jack elbows him in the gut and shuts his locker. “Don’t you see he’s heartbroken?” Turning back to me, he throws his hand over my shoulder and urges me toward the door. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Ward.”
Greyford High has a decent sized gym for all the student-athletes to use.
The bright light illuminates space. Loud music and the sound of steady buzzing of machines and metal crashing against metal when the weights hit the rack accompanies usual taunts, laughter, and grunts. The smell of sweat and disinfectant is permanent in the air, so much so that at this point I barely register it.
A row of treadmills, a few stationary bikes, ellipticals, and rowing machines are on one side of the room. On the other, in front of the wall with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, are mats, benches, and weights.
“Twenty on the treadmill, and then we’ll switch to weights?” Mike asks as we enter the room, his joking demeanor changing instantly. The dude’s carefree attitude can be irritating AF, but that all changes as soon as he steps one foot inside the gym or rink. Then he’s all business.
Jack and I nod in acknowledgment and step on the machines. Pushing the earbuds into my ears, I tune them out. I start slow, but it doesn’t take long for me to speed up until I’m full-on running. But not even the fast pace of the machine can help chase away the demons hunting me.
Evie coming out of his car.
Evie standing all pretty, with flushed cheeks on her front porch.
Evie’s stormy eyes turning toward me.
My lips on hers.
My tongue in her mouth.
Evie pushing me away.
Grunting softly, I push myself harder. I raise the incline on the machine to make it more difficult. The sweat is dripping down my face, and I can feel my shirt stick to my back.
Fucking Evie. Messing with my head.
I barely register the time, but after a while, from the corner of my eyes, I can see the guys starting to slow down until they come to a complete stop. Following their example, I do the same. Picking the towel I draped over the handle, I swipe it over my sweaty face.
“Oh, damn…” Mike says, interrupting whatever the hell Jack was talking about. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, fidgeting.
I scan the space, looking for the source of his distress, and it doesn’t take long for me to find it. Find him.
My hands clench into fists by my sides. Teeth gritting.
Noah Russell and his posse. I’ve never been a fan of football players, but looking at them snickering on the other side of the gym only confirms my original thoughts. They’re just a bunch of pussies.
“Ward, you have to chill,” Mike hisses in my ear in a warning, his hand landing on my shoulder.
“Oh, I’m all chill,” I say, ripping out of his grip and striding across the room, my eyes glued to one person, and one person only.
“Dammit, Liam!” I’m not sure if that comes from Jack or Mike. Maybe both, but I don’t look back to confirm it.
Noah sees me coming, his half-smile tipping upward.
“What the hell’s your deal with Evie?” I hiss as soon as I’m in the hearing distance.
His friends look over their shoulders at me, moving slightly so they’re not in the way. You see? Pussies. If the situation were reversed, my boys would close ranks before he was even halfway across the room.
“I don’t see ho
w that’s any of your business, Ward.” Noah’s nonchalant voice pisses me off.
“She’s my friend,” I grit.
Noah shoots before I can even finish completely. “But she’s going out with me.”
His words are like a punch to my gut, but I do my best not to let him see it.
“If you hurt her…” I say, moving closer. So close I’m in his face. My voice is low, icy. The warning clear.
“Hurt her?” He huffs a laugh. “The only one hurting her is you!”
The jab makes me stumble back a step. There is a knowing glint in his eyes, and something else, something I can’t quite pinpoint. Noah is the one who steps closer this time around, whispering in my ear so I’m the only one who can hear him.
“You should do her a favor and let her go. Your indecisiveness is only making her miserable. Either man up or get the fuck out of my way, Ward.”
With those words, he steps back and goes to his friends, leaving me alone in the middle of the gym.
Chapter Eleven
EVIE
The short rasp on my doorway startles me and almost makes me stab myself in the eye with a mascara wand. Inhaling sharply, I turn around, said wand still in hand as if it’ll help me fight my intruder. But it’s not an intruder who I find leaning against my doorway, it’s somebody much worse.
“L-Liam,” I breathe, looking at my best friend.
His dark eyes take me in from head to toe. I can see his throat work as he swallows, his gaze settling on my face.
“Evie.” I will never understand how one word can rattle you to the core, but it’s exactly what happens. It’s like everything we’ve ever been, all the feelings, all the moments we spent together are compiled into that one word. And it hurts. It hurts so much knowing that all we had we destroyed and we’ll never be able to get it back.
“You look…” Liam shakes his head, unable to form the words. Tense silence settles over us, making my skin itch uncomfortably.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, changing the subject when I can’t take it any longer.
“I—” he starts, but then stops. His tongue peeks out, wetting his lips, those same lips that were pressed against mine only days ago, lips that still haunt me in my dreams. “I needed to see you.”
I feel the hope I didn’t even realize started to bloom deflate.
“Well, now that you have, you can go back to your business.” I turn around abruptly. If I look at him for a moment longer, I’ll lose it. And I can’t lose it. Not in front of him. But of course, Liam doesn’t just do as he’s asked.
“Don’t go out with him,” he pleads, his hands landing on my shoulders. My whole body jolts at his nearness. He’s so close heat radiates off his body and into mine. His hands slide down my arms.
“Liam…” My voice is barely a whisper, but I know he can hear it.
His arms wrap around me as he pulls me into his body. A lump forms in my throat that makes it hard to breathe, much less think. His chin lands on my shoulder, his grip on me tightening. “Don’t go, Evie.”
My head falls down, waves I spent last hour making shielding my face. With shaky hands, I grip his fingers. I can feel my lip wobble, but I bite the inside of my cheek, hoping the pain will help me hold in all the emotions.
“You can’t keep on doing this, Liam.”
“Evie…”
“You can’t,” I insist, shaking my head. “If you ever want us to be friends again, you have to let me go.”
“But—” He starts, but I cut him off before whatever he says can destroy what’s left of our friendship.
“Please, Liam. Go.”
He inhales on a shaky breath, his arms now holding on to me so tight I’m sure it’ll leave a mark. For a moment I’m afraid he won’t listen, but after a few tense heartbeats that feel like forever, he finally lets go and storms away.
Without his hands holding on to me, my legs wobble underneath me. I don’t even fight it, I just let go. My body crumbles on the floor just as the tears start to fall.
“You’re really good at this.”
Looking over my shoulder, I offer a weak smile at Noah. “I’ve been doing this for a while.”
Ice skating has been a part of me just like Liam, even though he’s acting like a jerk right now. Although I’ll never be as good as him—no skating backward or doing fancy pirouettes on the ice for me anytime soon or more like ever—I do enjoy skating and have been doing it every winter for as long as I can remember.
“I can see that.”
“This is the first time I’ve skated in a while, though. I kind of missed it.”
Greyford usually puts an outdoor skating rink in late November and keeps it open all winter long. And while I could ask a certain someone to find a way to sneak me into the arena, I kind of like it out here more.
There is always a lot of people, and the crisp winter air bites at your cheeks while the twinkling lights illuminate the night.
I sigh, longing, happiness and, if I’m being honest, traces of hurt still lingering, and swirling inside me. Damn, Liam and his unreasonable, caveman behavior.
Ugh… I’m doing it again. But it’s not like I can help myself.
Why does he have to be like that? So bossy and unbearable. Why did he have to come today out of all days to my house? After a whole week of zero interaction—if you don’t count a few lingering looks across the yard or hallway, which I don’t—why did he choose today?
He’s messing with your head.
Don’t I know it. I shouldn’t be thinking about him now that I’m with Noah. I shouldn’t be thinking about him at all, but it seems the harder I try not to think, the more he appears in my thoughts.
Shaking my head to clear my mind, I don’t see a boy coming in my direction until it’s too late. Shrieking, I try to move out of his way, but his shoulder grazes against mine, making me stumble on my feet. My hands fly in the air, trying to find some sort of balance as my feet slip on the icy surface.
This is going to hurt, the thought rushes through my mind as my body readies for the crash.
But as I linger in the air, strong hands grip my shoulders, steadying me. Taking one deep, shaky breath I lift my gaze to Noah.
He smiles at me, his white teeth flashing brightly. “I’ve got you.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, my cheeks flushing. This is so embarrassing.
“Little punk should be watching where he’s skating,” Noah says loud enough for the kid to hear him. He looks over his shoulder and mutters an apology as he flies past.
So much for that… I want to be angry at him, but I can’t. Not really anyway. He reminds me so much of… Nope, you’re not doing it again, Eves. I reprimand myself before my thoughts can go in the wrong direction. No thinking about You-Know-Who.
“It’s not a big deal.” I wave it off.
“He should be more careful.”
“He’s just having fun.” I shrug. A shiver runs through my body. Although I’m wearing a pair of jeans and a thick jacket, we’ve been out for a while and now that I’m not moving anymore the cold is finally setting in.
Noah notices it and asks, “Ready to go?”
Giving one final look at the ice rink, I turn toward him with a smile. “Sure.”
“Are you sure you don’t want one of those?” He dingles a Solo cup in front of my nose, a bit of beer spilling over the rim.
I watch as one lone drop slides over his hand. “Nah, I’m good.”
I don’t like drinking, but more than anything, I don’t like beer. I can still remember the first time I drank it. Liam and I were barely twelve. Our parents went out for a double date, leaving us home alone. Liam found his dad’s beer stashed in the pantry and brought it out for us to try. I barely got the first swallow down my throat. It was warm, foamy, and tasted so bitter and heavy on my tongue I really considered spilling it out on the spot. Liam, on the other hand, loved it. He ended up drinking both of our beers as we watched the latest Fast & Furious. I even think h
e got a little drunk that night. Not like he’d ever admit it out loud.
I sigh. Here I go again, thinking about Liam.
Noah shrugs, taking a long pull from his cup. His free hand curls around my waist, pulling me closer as he starts moving to the music blasting from the speakers.
When we got to Andrew’s house we grabbed the first round of drinks and went in search of his football buddies.
I don’t know what is it about athletes, but they tend to stick in their groups, not mingling with the rest of the people. And where the football players gathered there were also cheerleaders, including Jessy and her two friends Mila and Tammy.
We all hung out for a bit, but then “Despacito” came on and girls squealed loudly, pulling me on the dance floor.
I gave in, reluctantly, and we danced for a few upbeat songs until strong hands wrapped around me from behind.
“I love the way you move,” Noah murmurs in my ear, his hot breath touching my skin. A shiver runs through my body.
“I’m not really good at it,” I whisper back, my hands clenching his shoulders tighter. The familiar flush rises on my cheeks, but thanks to the darkness clouding the room, I’m sure Noah can’t see it.
“I beg to differ.” This time it’s not just his breath that touches my skin, it’s his lips. They’re pressing against my skin, kissing me softly as he talks. Just a gentle press between the words, but I can’t escape the feeling that it’s wrong.
His lips.
His kisses.
The way he makes me feel…
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
His mouth traces my chin, but when he’s about to kiss me, I turn to the side, making it impossible for him to do so.
Something flashes in his eyes, just for a second. It’s gone so fast I can’t be sure if it was real or not.
“N-Not here.” I swallow hard, hoping my words will placate him without hurting his feelings. That’s the last thing I want, but suddenly I realize there will be no escaping it. I should have never agreed to this.