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"What do I keep telling you?"
I look at him with annoyance. Kobe loves women so much that he thinks he should sample every single one of them before he dies. He's all about keeping things interesting, a new girl every day of the week. He might be my best friend and has been since we were kids, but I don't share his same views on that.
"I don't know, something about taking advantage of what God gave me. But you don't understand. I don't want just some random pussy, I need her." And I do. From the moment I saw her again, it's all I have been able to think about. While I was away, I could block her from my memory, pretend she didn't exist and that what we had was just a fling. But seeing her every day is a constant reminder of just how wrong I was. She is burrowing under my skin and taking over my life with her sweet-smelling hair and sassy little smirks. I need to get my obsession for her under control or it's going to mess with my plans for this year.
"For as long as I’ve known you, I have seen you go after things that others said weren't achievable. Some of them damn right impossible. Like getting a football scholarship and getting signed to a professional league getting paid millions a year to do what you love. But you didn't care about any of that, did you. You're like a fucking dog with a bone."
"So?" I huff, getting frustrated. What's his damn point? I don't need a history lesson on my life.
He looks at me like I'm thick. "So, we’re back here this year to prove something, right?"
He's right about that. This town doesn't know what's about to happen, but we do. Our plan has been in motion for years, and right now is the perfect time to bring it to life. "Right," I agree.
"The wheels are in motion for everything else. Make this happen as well. Right the wrongs from your past. I don't care if she hates your guts. You want her, then work out how to get her."
He might have a point. I roll out of the ring, needing water. And to have my head examined if I'm actually thinking about taking advice on women from Kobe. But he is right about one thing—I don't normally let anything get in my way when I want something. And after this week, I know one thing for sure.
I want little miss Harper.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CASSANDRA
ScarletandIhaveducked into the ladies’ room at the end of our lunch break to get ourselves ready for this afternoon’s staff meeting with our headmaster. It’s our chance to explain what plans we have for greatness this year. Palm Springs High is known for their cheer squad and dance troupe, and our school’s outstanding reputation is resting on our shoulders. Nothing like a bit of pressure to help us be our absolute best—well, for the girls anyway, the boys need to sort their shit out.
It’s week three of school, and since the outdoor movies, things have settled down a little in our staff room. Miles has backed off with the flirting, and I have to wonder if it’s because Brandon went all caveman on him, making it look like he has some sort of say in my life. And Brandon is all but ignoring me, tail between his legs, because he knows he fucked up again. I, for one, couldn’t be happier about it. I have formed a nice routine here at school, and for the first time in a long time, I’m starting to sense a small amount of control over my life again. The thoughts that normally drown me are subdued and under control.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror as I apply my nude lipstick. This is the shade I wore last Friday night before Brandon kissed me. I don’t know why that thought is entering my head right now, but I close my eyes briefly and let the feeling of his kiss wash over me. Why am I even indulging myself in the memory? I try to shake it away, but it’s still there, settled in my chest. Another memory set to cloud my judgment when he’s around.
What in God’s name made him think I wanted his lips on mine? Everything I was saying to him was telling him I hate him. But he didn’t read me wrong. I wanted to taste him just one more time. I needed to know if it was true. The feeling I’ve been having in my chest was justified because there is something real between us. And when our lips met, I felt it. It was like it was back then. As if we had transported back in time.
For a split second, I craved him. I needed to feel alive again with him, even if it was just for a flash of time. I knew if I let myself slip into his kiss, just that one special moment with him, I would be able to feel again. That being with him would move me so much that I could get lost in the passion and deep desire we once shared.
But I realized my mistake almost as soon as I allowed it to happen. I don’t want to experience any of that again. It’s not real, it’s just fucked-up lust, and that shit shattered my dreams, so I made the only logical decision I could and got the hell away from him. Like I should have the first time he kissed me when I was just seventeen, but I was too infatuated with him to know the danger that loomed back then.
Scarlet closes her compact and turns her attention away from the mirror and toward me. “So, what happened at your sister’s bachelorette party on the weekend? I would kill for a night out in LA.”
I raise a brow, giving her a little sassy smirk for show. “The guys there, wow, they were off-the-charts hot. Like they’re all soccer players and buff as hell. I was in my element,” I tell her, and I was, it was like a buffet of hot man candy. Sports man candy. One I wanted to sample, but every time I got even remotely close to anyone, I would come up with an excuse to walk away. It should have been easy to find a friend to go home with for the night, have a little fun. I spent the entire time I was in college doing exactly that. Emotionally unattached sex with a stranger I would never have to see again. Perfect recipe for momentary happiness, and it worked like a charm. But I was off on Saturday. Like Austin Powers says, I’ve lost my mojo.
“So, you had a taste of a soccer star?” she pushes me for more information.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” I say, shoving open the door to the restroom. Scarlet follows behind me, joining me in the hall. “But let’s just say I had a fun night, and I’m glad I escaped Palm Springs for the weekend to hang with my sisters. I think the four of us needed it.”
“I’m happy for you. You certainly have a little more pep in your step today. The weekend away must have done you some good.”
"How was date number two?" I ask her.
"So good, I really like him. He’s sweet." She looks smitten with him, it's so cute.
I smirk back at her. "He sounds perfect for you."
"He actually is." She gives me a strange glance, and then looks back in front of her.
“What?” I give her a confused look back.
“I was just wondering before we head into this meeting if you and Brandon have had a chance to talk. Things last week seemed a bit tense.” She winces like it was uncomfortable for her to watch, and I feel bad. The last thing I wanted to do was be the new girl in the staff room causing trouble, but really, he was the one who started the problem. If he had just left me alone in the first place like he said he would, then we wouldn’t be having an issue right now.
“Things between us are just fine.” I sigh, trying to downplay the situation that is anything but fine. We walk through to the common room, and I realize the boys are already here, seated with our principal. And all eyes come to me. “Sorry,” I say. Sometimes I have a way of drawing everyone’s attention, even when I don’t mean to. I’m just a little too loud or too showy. It comes with the hair, I think. Most of the time it’s a part of me I quite like, but sometimes I’m too much and I know it.
