Aubrey’s sudden silence brought my attention back to her once more.
Aubrey was rarely silent.
“What’s wrong?” I snapped my locker shut and shifted the books in my arms. I was still casting glances behind her, trying to spot the tall, hulking mass of angst.
“Don’t look now,” she said in a low ominous tone that made me stiffen.
“What?” That’s when I realized she was no longer looking at me, but past me, like I’d been doing to her.
She started talking without really moving her lips. That combined with her low tone made it nearly impossible to understand what she was saying. All I caught was, “coming over” and “heading this way.”
“What?” I turned my head to follow her gaze.
Oh.
Something in my chest lurched uncomfortably at the sight of Connor Matthews walking toward us.
Toward me.
My eyes met his and I couldn’t look away from that brooding glare. Yeah, he was definitely coming for me.
“What does he want?” Aubrey’s whisper held a note of panic and it snapped my brain back into action. I shook off the stunned feeling that came with being the object of his glare.
There could only be one reason why Connor Matthews was seeking me out. It had to do with our failed chat yesterday. What did he want? Didn’t matter. This was the chance I was looking for. “Um, we both have Mrs. McKenzie for Spanish. He probably needs my notes.”
I turned to Aubrey but she was still gaping at Connor, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
“Aubrey,” I said, my voice a little too sharp.
That woke her from his glowering spell. She looked to me and I forced a smile. “Could you give us a minute?” He’d almost reached us and there was no way in hell I wanted her to overhear this conversation. It was bad enough I had to beg, I did not need an audience.
I saw a flash of confusion cross her face. Then doubt. He was nearly at our side but a stream of students walking past us formed a temporary wall.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I gripped my books harder to resist the temptation to shove her. Instead I smiled. “I’m sure.” When she hesitated, I added, “I’ll see you at practice.”
She finally turned to go and a split second later Connor was standing in her place. “Hi,” I said. No, I chirped. Yet again my voice came out abnormally cheerful and I winced slightly at the abrasive sound.
He didn’t seem to notice; he was looking past me like I was too boring or inconsequential to even look at. “About yesterday,” he started.
This was my chance. “Please,” I said quietly.
He stopped talking, his gaze meeting mine so suddenly I could feel it like a jolt of electricity. His awareness of me was a physical force.
“Please,” I said again, not even trying to hide the desperation, in my voice or in my eyes. “I really need your help.”
He quirked his brows up ever so slightly and some of the darkness lifted from his gaze. I was pretty sure I saw a flicker of confusion before he looked away quickly. Maybe he was embarrassed on my behalf. “I was coming over here to tell you—”
“I’ll do anything.” Yes, I really said that. He was just as surprised as I was. I’d planned to beg but that sounded melodramatic even to me. At that particular moment, I didn’t care. All the panic I’d been trying to suppress for the last twenty-four hours since Mrs. Abney had spelled out just how dire my situation was—it all came rushing to forefront and I thought I might—
Oh God, there they were…
“Are you crying?” He sounded so horrified, it might have been funny if I wasn’t suddenly battling tears in the middle of a crowded hallway while begging a guy who clearly hated me for help.
Why did he hate me?
I shook my head, blinking rapidly as I did. Now was not the time to be worrying about Connor’s feelings. I had my own emotional meltdown to get under control.
I felt another person stop beside me but my eyes were too watery to see who it was out of my peripheral vision, and if I shifted my gaze I had no doubt the tears I was just barely holding back would spill over.
“Jules, are you all right?” I recognized Matthew’s voice as I blinked frantically. Dammit. Matthew was a friend, one of the guys from the basketball team who my girlfriends and I hung out with sometimes on the weekend. He was a nice guy and all but so not the person I wanted to see me cry in the hallway. But how to explain why I was clearly emotional, and why I was talking to Connor and—
“She’s fine.” Connor bit the words out in a voice so harsh it sounded like he might punch the next person who asked.
I could feel Matthew still hovering uncertainly by my side. Nice guy that he was, he wouldn’t leave me alone until I said it.
I drew in a deep breath and forced a smile. My tears had finally gone into remission a bit so I could turn to face him. “I’m fine.”
He still hesitated but at my incessant smiling he started to back away. “I’ll see you in class?”
He and I had English together—the only class I wasn’t in imminent danger of failing thanks to the fact that I actually liked novels and Mr. Overland prioritized class participation.
“See you there,” I said.
Then we were alone again. Well, we were alone aside from the hundreds of students filing through the hallway around us. I didn’t exactly relish the idea of facing Connor’s harsh glare again but I pulled up my big girl pants and looked up.
His brow was furrowed but he’d dropped the glare. His gaze was dark and inscrutable instead. Big improvement. “You okay?”
Man, that voice was sexy. I nodded, drawing in a deep breath, steeling myself for some more humiliating embarrassment. “I know you said you wouldn’t tutor me, but—”
“I’ll do it,” he said quickly. He looked around the hallway as he scratched the back of his head, like he was nervous we’d be caught talking. “That’s what I came over here to tell you.”
“Oh.” Yes, oh. What more was there to say? This was awkward, to say the least. “So all that pleading,” I added, trying to add a note of levity to my humiliation. “That was unnecessary, huh?”
I thought I caught a flicker of amusement on his face, there and gone so quickly I might have been mistaken. Then he was looking past me again, like he was already bored by this conversation. “When do you want to do this?”
“Um, as soon as possible?”
His gaze flicked back to me, but he didn’t comment.
“I have basketball practice after school, but maybe after that?” I offered. “I mean…if you’re free.”
I shifted my books and watched him, trying not to notice the crowds of people around us. They probably weren’t staring as much as I thought they were. I was probably just being paranoid. But that thought didn’t make me feel any more comfortable.
“Yeah, sure,” he finally said.
I let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My relief was ridiculous. There was every chance that Connor would be an even worse tutor than my last guy. In fact, considering the fact that he seemed to dislike me, along with everyone else in this school, it was hard to imagine he’d invest much time or energy in helping me. But he was the best option I had, and it was worth a shot. Desperate times called for angsty measures.
The silence between us stretched well past awkward. We were in a whole new unchartered territory beyond awkward that had yet to be named. He was still avoiding eye contact with me while I was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone else.
I was trying to think of a solution as to where we could meet. The school would be closed, and it wasn’t like I could invite him over to my house without facing a million unanswerable questions about why on earth I was bringing home some tattooed badass with an attitude problem.
I’d be trading one parental concern for another. They might still be in the dark about my failing grades, but one look at Connor and I’d no longer be allowed to see the light of day.<
br />
My parents were overprotective like that. Or at least, I was pretty sure they would be if I ever had a guy over. I’d never had time for a boyfriend, and I didn’t plan on having one anytime soon so that was one area, at least, where my parents and I got along swimmingly.
It was just everything else that was the problem.
But the point was, he couldn’t come to my house. Not tonight when they would definitely be home. Maybe a coffee shop? My mind was scrambling to come up with a place where we wouldn’t be seen. But it seemed Connor had already come up with a solution. He’d pulled a pen out of his back pocket and reached out for my arm.
I don’t think it would be exaggerating to say that his touch was a shock. Like, a literal shock went through me. Not static electricity, but something…more. Something far more interesting, and way more powerful.
Something that had me staring at him with wide eyes as he wrote his number on my hand.
“What—”
He was already shoving his pen back in his pocket and had dropped my hand when I started to speak.
Squeak, actually. My “what” had come out as a squeak. I tended to look on the bright side, and at least I’d stopped chirping like a bird, right?
He was looking past me and already moving away. “Text me,” he said. “I’ll text you back with my address.”
Oh. Um, okay. He didn’t wait for me to reply and I sure as heck wasn’t going to call him back. Once he was out of sight, I saw that I was still the center of attention.
Nothing to see here, folks. Just swapping digits with the big bad wolf.
And, oh yeah…later today I was going to his house.
Alone.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
Chapter Four
Connor
Juliette was obviously nervous when she showed up at my house that night. Why? I couldn’t really say. I mean, sure, I knew I had something of a bad reputation, but she’d been the one to seek me out, not the other way around.
Why did she ask me to tutor her if I scared the crap out of her?
I sighed as I held the door open for her. One more question to add to the running list. Between her odd behavior in the hallway today—I mean, there were tears, people. Legit tears. But between that and the fact that she was coming to me for help…Juliette was turning out to be something of a mystery. This was surprising since she didn’t exactly seem like the mysterious type.
She seemed pretty cut and dry, actually. What you saw was what you got. Nice, smart, good basketball player, volunteered to work with kids. One of those nauseatingly well-rounded goody-two-shoes types.
She ducked her head slightly as she came into the house, clutching books to her chest, just like she’d been doing in the hallway. As if she could ward off my dangerous ways with some textbooks.
I smirked down at her. It was cute, really.
Gina rounded the corner and came barreling down the hallway toward Juliette, tackling her with a hug that made Juliette laugh. It also made her drop two of her books as she went to hug my sister back.
I scooped up the books and glared at Gina. She grinned at me from around Juliette’s waist.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Gina said. Then she proceeded to talk for a minute straight without stopping to take a breath. When she did, I stepped in.
“Gina, don’t you have homework to do?” I used my best bossy big brother voice, as Gina called it, and she rolled her eyes.
It worked though because she was already backing up, heading back the way she’d come in. But not before giving Juliette a sweet, toothy grin. “Don’t mind my brother, he sounds like a grouch but he’s really pretty cool.”
I was standing behind her but I heard Juliette choke on a laugh. Either that or she was literally choking on something. But judging by the way she was pressing her lips together to stifle a laugh when she turned around, my bet was on the former.
Wonderful. Two minutes in and my new student was laughing at me. I’d have to thank Gina later.
I nodded toward the dining room and followed her as she walked in and sat down at the table.
“So,” I said, leaning forward to see what books she’d brought. Everything. She’d brought everything. I was pretty sure I was looking at her entire course load right there.
“So,” she repeated.
When I glanced up from the books, she was biting her lip. I caught a groan just in time. Jesus, it wasn’t fair. This girl was too tempting by far, and she had to know it. I could only imagine how many guys would kill for a shot to be her tutor. And yet she’d picked me.
The one guy she would definitely not want hitting on her.
And the one guy who wouldn’t hit on her. I mean, she wasn’t my type. Long legs and lush lips withstanding. Yes, she was pretty—okay, gorgeous—but she was still in another league entirely.
She was beloved. She was a joiner. She was into sports, of all things. Worst of all, she was sweet. I straightened in my seat, gaining some much needed physical distance to help get my mind back on track. “Where do you want to start?”
“Um…” She bit her lip again and I averted my eyes. I would not find her appealing. I would not. She was just another girl.
Just another girl who’d looked so sad and vulnerable by her locker this afternoon it had taken everything in me not to pull her in for a hug. When that Matthew guy had come over I’d been tempted to shove him away from her. Couldn’t he see she’d needed a minute to get a grip?
I had no idea why she’d gotten so emotional about freakin’ tutoring, but even I could see she’d needed some space.
She toyed with the stack of books, pulling out one in the middle. “Um, I need help with all of these, but—”
“All of them?” I couldn’t help it. I mean, when she’d asked for help, I’d assumed she had one test coming up that she was worried about. “That’s, like…”
“All of my classes,” she finished with a rueful little scrunch of her nose.
I stared at her for a minute trying to see if she was serious. But why would she lie? Unless this was some weird prank. But joiner or not, popular or not, this girl didn’t strike me as the mean girl type. She might not have wanted to be seen talking to me in the halls—that much had been stunningly obvious—but I couldn’t imagine her staging some sort of Carrie-esque humiliation scheme against the new loser in school. Which meant… “You’re serious.”
I watched as a blush crept up her cheeks and she shifted uncomfortably in front of me. “Afraid so.” After another pause, she hurried to add, “Not English, though. I’m doing okay in that class.”
She looked down at the stack in front of her, clearly uncomfortable as she toyed with the edges of the books.
Well, crap. I’d thought this was going to be easy. Maybe one uncomfortable hour helping her brush up on the latest chapter so she could ace a test. I stared at the stack. It seemed I had severely underestimated the magnitude of this new job.
No, not job. If this were a job I would be getting paid.
I looked up to see Juliette biting her lip again as she gave me a sheepish look. She’d gone from toying with the books to playing with the long red ponytail that fell over her shoulder. “Look,” she said. “I know this is a big ask. And I probably should have mentioned before just how hopeless I am, but—” She stopped and licked her lips.
She was seriously killing me here.
Her gaze met mine and I forgot all about the inconvenience, all about how bizarre it was the Briarwood’s Little Miss Perfect was sitting in my dining room. I forgot about everything except for those big blue eyes.
Her voice lowered and she gave me a rueful smile. “I guess it’s obvious but…I’m kind of desperate here, and you are my only hope.”
I had no idea what to say. My instinctual reaction was to make a snarky reference to Star Wars and tell her that she’d butchered Leia’s speech, but it was hard to be sarcastic in the face of someone who was so genuine and earnest.
And vulnerable.
God, I don’t think anyone outside of my immediate family had ever just…opened up like that. Not to me, at least. I didn’t exactly scream confide in me. Maybe it was the tattoos, or maybe it was my “grouchy face,” as Gina called it, but I wasn’t exactly considered warm and cuddly.
Shocking, I know.
So I just sat there, staring at her in stunned silence, and watching in horror as her blush deepened until it looked like it must be painful. “Maybe this was a mistake,” she said. “If you’ve changed your mind then I’ll understand but….” She stopped, widening her eyes and once again I caught a flicker of that panicky desperation I’d seen earlier. “But please don’t change your mind.”
I sat back in my seat with a heavy thud. Nothing about this tutoring session was going according to my expectations. It was rapidly becoming clear that I’d taken on more than I’d realized, but far more alarming than that was Juliette’s desperation.
Aside from maybe Gina, no one had ever needed me before. And she was waiting for me to speak. I was probably supposed to say something reassuring but I had no idea what. I ended up asking the question that had been plaguing me for the past twenty-four hours. “Why me?”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
I leaned forward, crossing my arms on the table and met her wide-eyed stare. “Why me? I’d bet money that half the school would raise their hand to help Briarwood’s beloved star basketball player.”
She flinched at my bitter tone. I hadn’t actually meant to sound so caustic, it was just second nature. “Um, well, see that’s the thing….” Her gaze met mine and there was that pleading look again. Puppy dogs everywhere hung their heads in shame as she stole their signature look and nailed it. “I was kind of hoping no one else would find out that you’re helping me.”
Those words hit me like a punch in the gut. Oh, of course. Just like she hadn’t wanted anyone to see us talking together in the hallway. I shook my head. That didn’t make sense. “If you don’t want anyone knowing about us—” Ah hell, that sounded bad. Like I thought there was an us or something. “If you don’t want anyone knowing you’re here with me, why not go to someone else for help.”
The Perfect League Page 3