Looking at just her shell, I can see what drew Nolan to her. She’s gorgeous in a way that is different enough to never be lost in a crowd of beautiful people. Tall, long limbed and waifish, she has an oval face that sits on a swan like neck, large doe brown eyes that still manage to have a cat eyed slant, full lips with a pronounced cupid’s bow, and long black hair that hangs to her waist. Her clothes scream of wealth and privilege. In other words, she’s a female Nolan.
Unlike Nolan, where I see lightness and humor inside him, there’s nothing but a rotted dark core inside of her. For the first time today, I feel truly on edge. Not annoyed. Not anxious. Not the fear of fighting my past. I feel affronted by her very presence.
“Whom I choose to spend my time with is none of your concern,” Nolan replies, sounding bored. “We broke up, remember.”
She purses her lips, and the passive glide of her fingers turns into a possessive grip on his shoulder. She looks at me like I’m something disgusting stuck to the bottom of her shoe.Right back at you.
“Which was a terrible decision on your part,” Gina says flippantly, and all the guys tense.
Murder is being promised in Connor and Donovan’s eyes, while something more creative is cooking in Kaleb’s.Holy crap!
Nolan’s cool cracks with a flash of fear that is quickly buried under the playboy smirk. It’s the fear that makes me snap. I stand up and rip her hand from Nolan, surprising the boys.
“It’s time for you to leave,” I snarl, throwing her arm back at her. Dark clouds all of sudden come rolling in, along with a booming sound of thunder.
Gina looks up, startled, then gives me a calculating sneer. “You’re going to regret that,” she promises, before turning and storming off.
I watch her go, vibrating with an energy I don’t understand. “What did she do to you?” I ask just above a whisper.
Nolan looks at me with dead eyes. “What all witches do; she cast a spell.”
This time I’m not upset that he doesn’t explain more, and within moments the heavens open, and rain pours in unforgiving sheets.
Chapter 6
Nolan
The US History classroom feels like a shitty sauna, the air muggy from the heater and drying clothes. Most of my classmates look like drowned rats. The rain was so sudden that few could escape unscathed. Magic will do that to people.
I take in Callie sitting next to me. She’s moved her desk close to mine so that we can share my textbook. Unlike a lot of my classmates, drowned rat looks good on her. Her long, thick hair is twisted over her right shoulder, exposing her slender neck and striking profile. Her clothes are soaked and stick to her like a second skin, showing off the subtle curves of her small, compact body. She manages to be both cute and hot all at the same time-- not an easy feat.
I would totally go for this girl if one, Felix didn’t look so damn smitten-- dead or not, I don’t go after friends’ girls, two, I dated at all-- Callie doesn’t strike me as the casual hookup type, and most importantly, three, I hadn’t sworn off witches after the train wreck that was my relationship with Gina.
Yep, learned the hard way that messing with witches only gets you royally screwed. I broke up with Gina because I couldn’t take her two-faced bitchery, and she made sure I would suffer for that decision the rest of my life. Then again, her fucking obsession with me gives me all the ammunition I need to make her suffer right along with me, and she only has herself to blame.
I notice Gina glowering from across the room. Unlike the rest of the class, Gina’s clothes are dry and her makeup and hair are perfect-- almost as if by magic.It was definitely magic.
Thanks to Connor’s long ass legs under my desk and between my feet, my right leg is close to Callie, and I let it relax against her. I lean slightly into her as well, throwing my right arm over the back of her chair. At first she stiffens then seems to consciously relax her body, something I noticed earlier. If I were a gentleman, I’d probably take that as a hint to back off, except I get the feeling if she wanted me to stop, she’d tell me. She certainly made her feelings about Gina perfectly clear, which was both amazing and slightly terrifying. For a girl that didn’t know she was a witch that was an intense piece of magic.
Which makes me wonder what the hell I’m doing with Callie in the first place? I swore off witches, and here I am flirting with one. Except Callie is completely clueless about the world she just stepped into, and she also isn’t trying to claw her way into my pants. Probably should be insulting, but it’s rather refreshing. This morning felt like a test that I didn’t realize I was giving her until she started laughing instead of sighing and fluttering her eyes at me. It’s a sexy laugh, too.
Poor Felix. The perfect girl really did fall in his lap, and he’s a ghost. Which is the other reason I’m warming up to Callie. Felix obviously likes her, and from the little I’ve observed, she seems to like him back. Maybe not in the same way, but again, he’s dead so he’s not really in a position to start anything.
Callie glances up at me then looks at Gina, sees the fiery death glare, snorts, and goes back to reading the textbook and taking notes. God, this girl is fun, too. She clearly has some of her own issues to deal with-- don’t we all-- but she’s enjoyable to be around and seems to fit with the rest of us. Hell, Connor even likes her. It was hilarious to watch her get riled up by Connor’s uh, brief answers, but what she doesn’t know is, if he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t have said anything at all.
I sigh, my breath playing with the fine strands of hair on Callie’s neck. At this point, I’m more looking over her shoulder than simply sitting next to her.
She softly elbows me then writes at the top of her notes, “Having fun?”
I laugh silently, my breath twirling more of her hair. She also smells really good-- some girly, fruity, flowery smell. I wonder if Connor can pick that up over whatever leaking magic smells like. Sometimes, I’m really grateful that I’m not a wolf shifter.
With my left hand, I write on my blank notebook paper, “Very much.”
She shakes her head. From her profile, I can see a hint of an amused smirk. It’s funny. Her lack of interest in me makes me want to flirt and touch her more. Not because I can’t handle her being uninterested, but more because it’s friendly and fun-- something that’s been pretty much impossible for me. Doesn’t hurt that it pisses off my ex at the same time.
I strike through my last comment, then write, “Want to come over to my place after school?”
She turns and looks up at me when she sees what I’ve written, both fine brows raised. The humored light hasn’t left her pretty grey eyes. Damn, whoever she does choose to date will be extremely lucky-- assuming Donovan or Connor don’t scare them off for fun.
