I was surprised she’d been so open with me. “Yeah,” I agreed, not that I’d know. From all I was aware of, she’d had a bad breakup with Carter’s friend Xavier at the end of the last school year. I had no idea of the details, but you could feel the tension between them every time they were in a room together. They were both talented actors, though—Xavier, surprisingly so, since he’d never shown any interest in drama until this year. Hopefully their acting skills would be enough to get them through, even though the play called for them to pretend to be in love.
Anyway, not my problem. If it wasn’t a situation like now, where I had to forcibly spend time with them, I’d stay as far away from Carter and his friends as possible.
“You’re all finished,” I told her. “I’ll get those alterations done ready for next time.” After making a note on my clipboard, I unpinned her, and she disappeared back into the auditorium.
“Why is he so obsessed with you?” I spun around to find Xavier Wright eyeing me, his gaze contemplative. My cheeks heated. I couldn’t deny it, I’d had a bit of a crush on him. Not anymore, but at one point I couldn’t even look at him without feeling all hot and flushed. He was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, dark, and handsome didn’t even come close. And his smile? Girls more or less swooned when he directed it at them. Imagine Tyrese Gibson’s smile and multiply it by ten, and you still wouldn’t be close.
I realised I’d been staring at him without saying anything when the corners of his lips curved upwards. “Still tongue-tied around me, huh?” He shook his head. “I just don’t get his obsession,” he muttered to himself. Then he stepped closer and cocked his head. “We doing these costumes, or what? I don’t have all day.”
Ah, yeah. There was a hint of that asshole behaviour. One of the reasons I’d quickly managed to get over my little crush on him. That, and the fact he was in Carter’s inner circle. “Y-yes. Could, you sit down, please.” I cleared my throat. “You’re mostly done, but I need to measure your head for the hat.”
He nodded, crossing to the chair and sprawling back in it, all long limbs and lithe, graceful lines. I grabbed the measuring tape from the workbench and came to stand next to him. “Keep your head still, please.” I carefully wrapped the tape around his head, idly admiring the swirling pattern shaved into the back, then returning my attention to the task at hand. “Hmm, your head isn’t as big as I thought.”
My annoying habit of vocalising my inner thoughts reared its ugly head, as I realised when he swung his gaze to meet mine.
Amusement glinted in his dark eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I guess I’d have to explain myself. “You know. You have a big ego.” I quirked my lips at him with a shrug, desperately trying to play it cool, although inside I was anything but. Attempting to joke around with anyone popular was so far out of my comfort zone, I didn’t even know why I was trying.
He stared at me in silence for a moment.
Then he gave me his signature blinding smile, and my heart skipped a beat. “That ain’t the only thing that’s big about me, baby.”
Now I was at maximum embarrassment levels. I fled into the safety of the costume racks, hearing his amused laugh behind me.
Fuck my life.
10
After waiting on the front steps for twenty minutes, I finally concluded that Carter had already left. I didn’t know why I’d expected him to wait for me after everything that had happened after the weekend. By this point, the student car park was empty, and the only people left were the cleaning staff. Scrolling through my phone, I debated between calling Lena or booking an Uber. It was a five-mile walk home, and part of the route was on a busy main road with no safe path to walk along, so that wasn’t an option. My thumb hovered over Lena’s name. Why was it so difficult to ask for help?
“I heard someone needed a lift.” A huge, matte-black SUV pulled up at the school entrance gates. An older guy with tousled, dirty-blond hair and a huge grin was in the driver’s seat, his inked arm casually resting on the window frame. As I stared at him, suddenly tongue-tied, his grin widened and he pushed his sunglasses up on the top of his head, revealing bright blue eyes that were sparkling with amusement. “Hey, Lena. I think your friend here’s been struck dumb by my good looks.”
“Fuck off,” I heard from inside the car, and then Lena was leaning around him to give me a smile. “Ignore my brother. He…gets a lot of female attention, so he automatically assumes everyone wants him.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, get in. We’ll take you home.”
“I didn’t know you’d be with someone when I called you. I can get an Uber.” I grimaced as I realised I was probably interrupting their plans.
“You’re not getting an Uber. Get in.” Lena gestured to the door, and with a sigh, I climbed into the car, collapsing against the cool leather seats. Lena turned to face me. “Raine, meet my brother, Cassius. Cass, this is Raine. My friend, not one of your groupies.”
Cassius laughed and winked at me in the rear-view mirror, and I felt my cheeks heat.
“Hi,” I managed.
He threw me another wink, before he started the engine and smoothly manoeuvred away from the school. After I’d given him directions, I sat back again, blowing out a heavy breath.
“You want to tell me why you were
