“Come on, Addie. Don’t be like that. I just want to carry your bag and walk you to class.”
Despite the charm oozing off him, his smooth line didn’t have the desired effect.
As I pushed through the double doors, I headed straight for my locker, keeping my tone polite. “I said I wasn’t interested, Owen.”
He didn’t take the hint, so I swiveled the dial on my locker with a six-foot, stocky-bodied shadow behind me. I briefly considered shielding the lock from him, but his persistence had annoyed me past the point of caring.
Owen Anderson was a senior on the high school football team, and I’d been warned ad nauseam about what senior boys wanted, especially from sophomore girls.
Even though I took most of what my twin brother, Adam, said with a grain of salt, Owen still gave me the creeps.
If he saw my combination, I’d deal with that later.
After flinging open my locker, I hung my backpack on the hook inside. Then I faced the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, self-proclaimed “god” amongst my peers.
“See. Backpack secured in locker. No help needed.”
He raised his eyebrows, his eyes traversing my body to land on my chest. “Perfect. Now your hands are free.”
Pursing my lips, I didn’t respond to that or point out his leering gaze, even though he’d fixed it firmly on my cleavage. If I gave him any attention, I’d only open the door for him to comment on my newly filled out figure.
I hated to say it, but Adam and Blake had been right.
Ever since starting high school, my brother and his best friend, Blake Hawthorne, had shared stories from the locker room like two broken records. Warnings to “protect my virtue” played on a loop in our home, even when I begged them to shut up.
Whenever Blake hung out at our house, which was practically always, it got worse.
He loved to provide evidence, sharing overly specific exploits from the football team, as if presenting a closing argument in a court case.
“Tina Summers gave Owen a blowjob behind the bleachers last week, but everyone says Marnie Phillips has the best DSLs. So, Adam isn’t just being a protective older brother, Addie. And yes—I know that’s what you were thinking.”
I’d refused to admit he was right.
I’d also been vaguely horrified over the prospect of learning a new sexually transmitted disease from my lifelong crush, but I’d asked what DSL stood for anyway.
And I regretted that decision instantly.
Having predicted my disgust, Blake had been smug as he leaned in so my parents wouldn’t overhear and whispered, “Dick sucking lips.”
I both shivered and wrinkled my nose at the memory.
Teenage boys were the worst.
Owen proved it. “Want to take a walk with me during lunch? See what sort of trouble we can get those hands into?”
I scoffed. “Don’t be gross, Owen. It’s unbecoming in a young man to leer like a creep.”
Grabbing the books I needed for my first class, I shut my locker. While slightly annoyed with myself for taking the bait, thoughts of Blake always had that effect on me. I shook my head to clear it as I turned away from Owen to head to class.
His hand snagged my upper arm.
Before I could tug it free, Owen had my back against the lockers. He planted his hands firmly on either side of my head and brought his face close to mine, his mouth hovering over my lips.
“It’s rude to call people names, Addison Barrow.” He smiled, his canines gleaming. “Maybe someone should teach you that lesson.”
My shock cleared, and I glared as he sneered down at me, bringing my knee up swiftly.
I rammed it into his groin.
