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“Nothingdidhappen, Matthews,” he drawls. “I’m well aware if I’d so much as tried to touch you last night you would have slapped me.”
I try not to think too hard about his words. Not to imagine him touching me. Because I’m not sure that Iwould havestopped it. And that’s highly concerning.
“You’re missing the point, Winters. No way am I ending high school being considered one of your groupies. Anyone asks, shut it down.”
“I get the point, Lennon.”
“Good.” I grab my bag and swing the passenger door open, preparing to leap down onto the asphalt. “Uh—thanks again.”
“For the sex?”
I slam the door on his grinning face. Hard. Forcefully enough that if we’d been in the farm’s old jalopy, the spotless blacktop would be littered with flecks of rust.
I stride toward the front doors without looking back at the black truck. My irritated stride eats up the pavement quickly. I’m almost to the front doors when I hear Cassie’s voice.
“Beautiful morning, huh?” she asks, appearing next to me.
I grunt, eyeing Cassie’s bright smile suspiciously. It’s warmer than it’s been and the sun is out. But I think she’s referring to something I’d rather not discuss.
“Anything interesting happen?” she continues, confirming my suspicions.
“Nope,” I insist. Cassie lets out a maddening humming sound. I sigh. “I’m not a groupie.”
“What?”
“We were working on…” Belatedly, I remember I haven’t told her about the interview for the paper. “We were working on our English project before school.”
“Hmmm,” Cassie hums again, her eyes glinting mischievously. “Interesting.”
“It wasn’t, really.”
“Okay.” Cassie drops the subject, reminding me why she’s my favorite person at this school. We talk about the trip her family is planning for spring break until we reach my locker. I’m barely focused on our conversation, paying closer attention to all the stares aimed my way.
Right as Cassie’s about to continue on to her own locker, I crack. “How often does Caleb drive girls to school?”
She stares at me, eyebrows raised. “That I’ve seen? Never.”
Never.
“Would you? Have…seen?”
“Yeah. I always get here pretty early. Only person I’ve seen him arrive with is Colt Adams.”
I look away, fiddling with the lock. “I didn’t think people would see. We were working on the project, and it made sense to drive together. How the hell was I supposed to know everyone loiters around the parking lot?”
“I guess you wouldn’t,” Cassie acquiesces. She knows I usually walk and come in through the back entrance. “But Caleb knows.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I reply.
Caleb knew we’d been seen together, and didn’t care. I’m not sure why that matters to me so much, but there’s a strange warmth in my chest that remains even as I catch more than the usual amount of stares the rest of the day. These aren’t contemptuous. They’re intrigued, maybe a little awed.
Everyone seems to think something might have changed between Caleb and me. I hope they’ll quickly realize that’s not actually the case.
Me, most of all.
CHAPTERTEN
LENNON
