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“You’re a terrible liar.” He chuckles, digging his fingers into my sides and tickling me. I squirm, trying to get away, but he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me against him and continuing with his assault. “Come on, just admit it. You totally want me.”
“What? So I want you now, huh?” I giggle, still trying to make my escape, but he keeps me locked to his side. “How did it suddenly go from me liking you to wanting you?”
His hand stills, giving me a moment of reprieve, then he shrugs his shoulders. “They automatically coincide with each other.”
I arch my brow. “I don’t have to like you to want you.”
“But you do like me.” He smirks, leaning in closer and making my heart pick up speed, “and you also want me. So that makes you… totally smitten.”
He starts tickling me again, and I let out a squeal. “Oh my god! You’ve completely lost your mind.”
“Nope! Just calling it like I see it.”
With his arm locked tight around and nowhere for me to go, my only option is to retaliate. Digging my fingers into his ribs, I manage to target his ticklish spot, and we erupt into an all-out tickling war.
Trying to keep quiet when someone is tickling you to death—so we don’t get busted by the grumpy Ms. Fletcher—is no easy feat, and feeling out of breath, I put my hands up in surrender. “Mason,” I gasp, “We have to stop… Ms. Fletcher.”
He stops and puts his arm around me as both our chests heave with exertion. The air around us shifts, and feeling his hot breath fanning across my face, I suddenly realize how close we actually are.
Peering up at his eyes, I watch as they roam over my face, examining every detail with a distinct fascination. Using this opportunity to do the same, I take in the beauty of his smooth pale skin and how the contrast of his deep-blue eyes has changed with the light streaming from the window. His eyes land on my mouth, and I look down to his, watching his thick lips part as he pulls in steady breaths. Heat surges through my body as the temptation to close that gap and press my lips to his almost becomes too hard to resist.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispers.
The sound of his voice is like a bucket of ice-cold water, shocking me back to reality, and realizing what’s just about to happen, I quickly pull away. What the hell am I doing? My head is a mess and jumping into another relationship is the last thing I should be doing right now. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.
I shift out of his embrace and move to create some distance between us. He exhales a long sigh and sensing his disappointment, I quickly come up with a diversion.
“Should we read for a while?” I suggest, pulling my book out of my bag.
He does the same, and we settle into a somewhat comfortable silence as we read. Well, he reads. I’m not able to read a damn word. My mind is still reeling over that moment we shared and how, for a moment there, I felt completely lost in it.
After a while, I finally calm my raging thoughts enough to actually read the words in front of me, when I sense his eyes looking my way and his deep gravelly voice softly speaks, “Just so you know. I like you too.”
ChapterEight
MASON
“Mason, wait up!” Grant hollers from down the hall, and I stop to let him catch up.
“I haven’t seen much of you lately,” he says when he reaches me, and we head in the direction of the class.
“Yeah, I’ve been pretty busy working on that English paper with Ava.”
“You are one lucky man. I would give my right arm to be paired with her. Not only is she beautiful, but she is smart too. Hey, you know if you are interested, I would be happy to swap partners,” he suggests and wiggles his brows.
“Not a chance in hell,” I grind out, and he chuckles.
“Can’t blame a dude for trying.”
Grant never forgot the day Ava helped him clean out his trash-filled locker—courtesy of the football team, of course—and to be honest, I think part of him was glad it happened. He’s never got attention from a beautiful girl before, and even though it was nothing more than an act of kindness on her part, it definitely was the highlight of his day. And he hasn’t hidden the fact he’s been completely smitten by her ever since.
“Logan is a complete and utter tool for screwing things up with her. If she was my girl, I would worship the ground she walked on,” he continues. “The guy is more dick than brains. She’s better off without him, but it sucks she got hurt.”
Grant was furious when that shit went down with Logan and Hadley. It was all over social media the night it happened, but because I’m not a huge fan of Facebook, Instagram, or whatever other internet shit everyone is into, I didn’t find out about it until the next day when Grant came over and filled me in.
“Aww, would you take a look at that? They make such an adorable couple, don’t they, boys?” Logan’s condescending voice calls out, and I glance up, spotting him, Connor, and Hunter smirking at us as we walk past.
Grant’s face blanches, and his body recoils. He has been on the receiving end of Logan’s relentless torture ever since he made the fundamental mistake of accidentally bumping into him in the hall one day. Obviously, Logan never got taught to pick on someone his own size. While he is tall and muscular, Grant is short and skinny as a rake. Logan could squash him like a bug, and he seems to thoroughly enjoy reminding Grant of this each and every day.
