“Nope,” Jax said with a shake of his head. “No way, no how.”
Rose and I exchanged a look of surprise at his vehemence. I stiffened. It was one thing to not love the idea of a pseudo little sister dating, but if it made her happy—
“Why not?” Rose snapped.
Jax widened his eyes like Rose had just asked a crazy question. “Why not? Because he’s not just an idiot, babe. He’s a total player.”
I froze in the middle of eating, one hand hovering in front of me as those words sank in.
“A player? Are you sure?” Rose asked.
Jax gave an exasperated sigh. “I’ve seen this guy with girls. Let’s just say he doesn’t treat them well. He’ll say whatever he needs to say to hook up and then forgets all about them the next day.”
“Gross,” Rose said.
Jax just gave another sigh. “Do you see why I was embracing the fact that Simone has a crush on that guy?”
“Did you tell Simone that?” Rose asked.
“I didn’t have a chance.”
Silence fell over the table, and I set my fork down slowly as my gut churned with an unfamiliar emotion. I push my chair back.
I needed air.
“Should I tell her?” Jax asked.
“I don’t know,” Rose said slowly.
I did. He shouldn’t. Because even if Jax told her, she wouldn’t believe him. I wasn’t sure at what point I’d started to understand Simone, but I knew this just like I knew why she’d been so hurt by Jax’s response.
Anything he said she’d twist around to fit her current world view. To support her insecurities. She’d think he was steering her away from Tony because she didn’t stand a shot with the guy.
I pushed my chair back further as that uncomfortable sensation grew into something seriously unpleasant. My gut was roiling with an anger that was entirely out of character for me.
I didn’t get pissed. I was focused. I only cared about things that mattered.
But right now, all that mattered was making sure Simone didn’t get hurt by some loser with an ego problem and a bass guitar.
Without even meaning to, my gaze found Simone on the other side of the crowded cafeteria. She was laughing over something that Max girl was saying.
She was cute when she laughed.
That smile made her look sweeter than ever.
Like magic, that smile turned this ugly churning sensation into something else. Something close to rage but far more primal.
Protectiveness.
Maybe even...possessiveness.
There was no way I’d let some idiotic player ruin this girl’s first taste of romance. I’d make sure she steered clear of danger….even if I had to date her myself.
8
Simone
I tried to ignore Andrew the next day, but it was nearly impossible to do when he sat beside me in the library during my study hall.
I’d murmured a greeting when he’d arrived but I’d kept my head buried in my book.
Why?
Because it was bad enough that my worst fears were confirmed when Jax had acted so horrified by my crush. The fact that Andrew had witnessed it had only added fuel to the flames of mortification.
He made it impossible to ignore him.
Flip. Flip. Flip.
The sound of pages turning next to me finally had me lifting my head to see what he was doing.
I gasped, my eyes widening in horror as I saw what he was flipping through.
A magazine. A dumb girlie magazine that had telltale sticky notes all throughout it marking Avery’s favorite parts.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, rudely snatching it away from him to see the cover. It wasn't the same one I had in my bag. Not that I really thought he was a thief or anything...
“One of your friends leant it to me when I told her I needed it for research,” he said.
I lifted my head to meet his heavy-lidded stare. Man, his eyes were so pretty.
Boys shouldn’t have such pretty eyes. It was wasted on him, just like those long lashes. He already had the sharp jawline and the sculpted features, the perfect lean body and the ridiculously sexy grin. Did he really need the pretty baby blues too?
I thought not.
Life was so unfair sometimes.
My gaze moved from those pretty eyes to the magazine, which sported a bikini-clad reality TV star I vaguely recognized and a headline promising to teach me how to lose ten pounds before swimsuit season. “You needed this for research,” I repeated. Without even meaning to, my eyes moved over his perfect chest and his sculpted arms. “You need to lose ten pounds by summer, do you?”
His grin was sudden and breathtaking.
Like, literally. My breath left me in a whoosh at the sight of that thing.
He slid the magazine out from beneath my fingers gently and flipped it back open to one of the marked pages. “I meant for your research,” he said. “I figured I should see what sort of nonsense you’re reading if I’m going to help you with this ridiculous plan.”
“It’s not a ridiculous plan.” I said it more out of reflex than because I believed it. When his gaze met mine, I relented easily. “Okay, fine. Maybe it’s a little ridiculous.”
I was rewarded with another grin. “You seem too smart for something like this,” he said, holding up the magazine. “Actually, I know you’re too smart. You’re in all those AP classes and I have a hunch that you’re getting straight A’s in this history class. Am I right?”
“When you’re right, you’re right—and you? You’re always right!” The Spaceballs quote just...slipped out. I clamped my mouth shut. Gah, I really hated myself sometimes.
He stared at me with a blank expression. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I pressed my lips together as I nodded, a little afraid of what new stupidity might come tumbling out if I opened my mouth. Like I’d said, my tendency to quote movies and do terrible impersonations grew exponentially worse when I was nervous, and right now…
Well, Andrew didn’t make me nervous, exactly, just…
Yeah, okay, he made me nervous.
I bit my lip as I studied this perfect male specimen. Maybe
