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I let out a sigh of my own and instantly Dominic’s eyes shifted to me in the rearview mirror. I glared at him, knowing he was keeping something from me. If there was a way to get rid of the Hanleys I wanted to know what it was.
When we pulled into the parking lot, Dominic parked in the teacher’s area. I hunched over as we piled out, feeling conspicuous riding with him. It didn’t matter that Anna and Caleb were with us, it still felt wrong somehow. Dominic went to the back of the Jeep and tugged out his gym bag, ignoring me completely.
“Practice is until four today,” he announced, his eyes flickering to me for the briefest second. “You can wait in the bleachers for us.”
I stared at him in disbelief then turned to Anna for support. She lifted her eyebrow curiously and I turned to Caleb.
“It’s freezing,” I stated, just as a cold wind sliced through my jacket. The weather had been mild but a cold front had blown through and they were calling for snow. “I’m not sitting outside during practice. Are you nuts?”
Their puzzled expressions cleared as they exchanged quick glances. I noticed for the first time that none of them wore a jacket and seemed perfectly comfortable. I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets as I shouldered past them.
“I’ll wait for you in the library after school,” I muttered, feeling more than a little irritated at being out of their little secretive exchanges – even if it was at my demand.
Dominic must have felt I was safe enough at school because he didn’t demand I eat lunch with the Pack, but there were more than a few lingering glances from them. Enough to make Leah question me.
“What’s going on?” Leah demanded, the arch in her eyebrow expectant.
“Uh, school?” I guessed, having been lost in thought when she poked me.
She huffed and pointed to the tables centered in the middle of the room. “No, girlie. The looks being directed this way. I swear every one of them has glanced over at least once.” She stared at me as I pasted an innocent expression on my face. “And don’t even deny they’re looking at you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I denied, strictly out of habit.
“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes but let it go and I let out a sigh. My eyes strayed over to the tables, my gaze immediately finding Dominic only for our eyes to connect. For once, neither of us glanced away immediately and as our gazes lingered on one another, the rest of the room faded. With each thump of my heart, our connection deepened. There was a pull between us, one that only seemed to grow with our continued proximity, and at the thought I felt my chest tighten, similar to how a noose might feel around my neck.
The bell rang and with a pop the room came back into focus, and I was able to lower my gaze. Pain in my hand caused me to glimpse down and I saw I had clenched my fists so tightly I’d cut off circulation. The tingling sensation of pins and needles distracted me as blood rushed back into my fingers, and I stood as the others left the cafeteria, trailing after them automatically.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the final bell rang and not a moment too soon. The teacher gave me a lingering stare, which I pointedly ignored. She’d made a variety of cutting remarks the entire hour, all aimed at me. It was clear she’d seen me arrive with Dominic this morning and had taken issue with it. I didn’t know what her problem was and at the moment, I didn’t care. Luckily, she didn’t say anything as Anna came to stand next to my desk. I had been sure she was going to talk to me after class, and I didn’t have the patience to play nice.
“Let’s go,” Anna said, hurrying me along as she saw how fed up I was. “We don’t need to make it worse.” Her stare warned me to keep my cool and I nodded. They were protecting their own secrets and now me. I’d already realized how dangerous the attention Dominic showed me was, and drawing more attention to it would only hurt us both.
The library was empty when we arrived, but after a minute the librarian shuffled from the office to greet us.
“We just needed to do some research,” Anna explained and the librarian nodded in approval as Anna dragged me to a table in the back. We were still in eyesight of the librarian but not earshot. “You’re right, it’s much warmer in here.” Anna’s tone was reconciliatory as she glanced at me through lowered eyes. I tugged one of my books out to start on my homework, grateful I didn’t have any rooms to clean this afternoon.
