T is for...he's a TOTAL jerk (Grover Beach Team #3) (18 page)

He looked gorgeous concentrating while his eyes switched back and forth between his drawing and my face. His mouth became a thin line. Sometimes he even chewed on his bottom lip. But during those rare seconds when he locked gazes with me, his expression softened every time and made my heart flutter.

From the movement of his hand, I could tell when he was finished and writing something on the drawing. His signature, I assumed.

“Can I see it?” I asked when the bell rang and there was no more time to show our pictures to the teacher or discuss them with the rest of the class.

Tony ripped the paper out of the sketchpad and handed it over, upside down. “You can keep it,” he told me with a warm smile, then picked up his backpack and left.

I gazed after him until he was out of the classroom, bewildered once more by his checkered behavior. Shaking my head at myself, I turned the sketch over.

My breath caught in my chest. Dear Mary, what had he done? I saw the exact likeness every day in the mirror, but there was something about this drawing that brought out a beauty I hadn’t seen in myself before. It seemed like Tony had captured a very obvious and very raw emotion I couldn’t quite place.

Then my glance fell on the line he’d scribbled where normally his signature would go.

This is your ‘I’m in love with you’ look.

My palms turned sweaty where they lay on the desk and a rush of blood shot to my face. Right now I was more than happy Tony had left already, so he couldn’t see me baffled like this. Was it really that obvious? In my look? Oh my God. If I’d gazed at him like this yesterday, no wonder he’d thought I was waiting for him to kiss me. It was there written all over my face.

Gah
!
I clapped my hands over my mouth, cutting a glance at the ceiling. This was spinning out of control. I didn’t want to be in love with Tony Mitchell. Not when the feeling was one way.

Where the heck was the off switch?

I tucked my stuff into my schoolbag and walked home, mentally banging my head against a wall to rid my mind of Tony. What I needed was distraction, so I danced away the afternoon in my uncle’s gym. It helped…temporarily. But as long as I kept myself occupied with little things, I was safe. A long, hot shower, homework, and later loud music and some drawing. I just couldn’t afford to let my thoughts wander back to that place in the forest and remember the feeling of his lips on mine.

When someone tapped my shoulder, I jumped in my chair, ripping the headphones out of my ears. Pamela had nearly given me a heart attack. “Gosh, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” I panted.

Pam gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but you didn’t hear me knock or shout with the music on.”

“What’s up?” I asked her then, because it was too early for dinner and she’d sure come to my room for a reason.

“Did you perhaps use some of my painting utensils last week?”

What a weird question. If I had, I would have asked her before. “No. Why are you asking?”

“Two of my marten-hair brushes are gone. I can’t find them anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t take them.”

“Okay.” Pam sighed. “I’m sure they’ll turn up eventually.”

Hopefully for her.
But wasn’t it strange? The second time something had gone missing since last weekend. Like there was suddenly a poltergeist in this house. But then, the brushes had probably just rolled under the couch.

I blew my bangs out of my eyes and continued with my drawing. As long as my stuff didn’t start disappearing, everything was fine.

Susan came over that evening, and we watched some reruns of
Teen Wolf
together. It was funny how she sneaked inside, trying not to be seen by neighbors. Oh, it would have been her worst nightmare if people thought she was actually friends with my cousin. I could only shake my head at that and laugh.

Glad for any distraction, I made her stay until it was time to go to bed. This way it meant less thinking about Tony for me.

Unfortunately, that intention was kicked to the gutter as soon as I entered the school’s cafeteria the following day. Tony wasn’t there. And obviously nothing kept one thinking about somebody like that person’s absence.

“Where’s Tony?” I asked Liza between bites of my burger.

She shrugged, and Ryan answered, “Gone home. Said he forgot something for his Arts class.”

I frowned at my burger, wondering what that could be. All he needed for AVE was paper and a pencil or charcoal, and I knew Miss Jackson had enough of them on the shelves in class for those who forgot their stuff.

Unless…he wanted to avoid me again. What if he hadn’t forgotten anything, but just didn’t want to sit with me through lunch? Could that be it?

I dropped that thought as Allie came over to our table and told us girls that cheerleader training was going to be delayed until later in the afternoon today. Apparently, she had some doctor’s appointment, which reminded me that I should go see Ryan’s dad again soon. But then the wound had healed really well by now, and it didn’t seem necessary at all to have a vet take a look again.

Before we left the cafeteria, I flanked Ryan and said, “Could you tell your dad thanks again and that my leg is all right? He asked me to come back after a few days, but I don’t think he needs to see it again.”

“Sure,” Ryan answered, looking happy about that news. “He’ll be glad to hear it.”

I stole Liza from him then, and we hurried to the gym, where it was badminton again. Not really my kind of sport, but at least I didn’t get sweaty today, so I could skip the shower afterward and be early at AVE. I hoped to get a hold of Tony before the lesson started and see what had kept him away from lunch.

But when Tony walked into the classroom, his backpack casually strapped over one shoulder, he held his chin low and focused on the floor. He seemed totally untouchable, which kept me silent as he passed me. Damn, a simple look or just a ‘Hi’—was that expecting too much from him?

With anger rising inside me, I wanted to turn in my seat and shout that he was a jerk and that I refused to deal with his crap any longer. Luckily, Caroline Jackson walked into the room after him, and my impulsive idea was cut short. I knew I would have regretted it for the rest of the year if I really had given him that piece of my mind.

Instead I came up with something different, and no less stupid. I tore off the corner of a sheet and wrote two words on it:
You suck!
Then I scrunched that thing into a tiny ball and tossed it to the back of the room, where it landed right in front of him on his desk.

Tony gave me a funny look,
then unscrewed the paper. Slowly, his gaze returned to me, his right brow arching in question. I said and did nothing other than trying to kill him with a lethal scowl.

He seemed untouched by it. All he did was
scrunch up the paper again and toss it into the bin in the corner. Then he concentrated on Miss Jackson, totally ignoring me for the rest of the hour.

Back home, I slipped through the door, not wanting to talk to or even see anybody. If I had learned one thing from all the crap with Tony it was that my every emotion was apparent for everyone to see. And that sucked.

Trudging upstairs, I hung my head, ready to spend the remainder of the day in bed, reveling in my misery, with loud music blasting all thoughts of Anthony Mitchell out of my mind. But then I remembered that I had cheerleading practice later this afternoon, and the prospect of dancing and looking like I was having fun, when I only wanted to bawl, made me heave a deep sigh.

Dropping my schoolbag to the floor, I flopped onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow. But a knock on the door pulled me out of bed a moment later. I opened it and found Cloey standing on the threshold with a pile of my laundered clothes in her arms. She took an aggressive step toward me, which had me backing off.

Her face
in mine, she hissed, “This is my house, my school, my town, and you’re hanging out with
my
soccer team. I told you not to get between me and my family. But getting involved with Anthony Mitchell was your worst mistake so far.” She pushed at me until I felt the edge of the desk at the back of my thighs. “I swear I’ll find a way to get rid of you,
little cousin
.”

I could only stare at her mad face, speechless.

She turned around and headed toward the door, then spun on her heel once again and tossed the laundered clothes at me. “Here’s your stuff.” A moment later, she was gone and the door banged shut behind her.

A mess of clothes lay scattered at my feet, but I couldn’t bring myself to pick them up. With the heels of my palms pressed to my temples, I glanced helplessly about the room. Why couldn’t I have my old cousin back?
The one who loved to play Alice in Wonderland and who would have never accused me of stealing her parents or her friends. What had happened to Cloey to make her turn into this monster? What did I have to do with it?

I couldn’t cope with this any longer. If only the four months could be over and I could move into my new home with
my
family. Starting to hate this house and the room I was trapped in, I grabbed my gray hoodie from the rack and shoved my arms through the sleeves, then I rushed downstairs and out of the Summers’ villa.

Unsure where to go, I walked down to the beach, where I tossed stones into the waves for what seemed like hours. Not a very productive task. The need to talk to somebody grew inside me. Susan had soccer training today, so my next best option was Liza. With my hands tucked in my pockets, I ambled off to her place.

Saratoga Avenue was quiet; not many cars and next to no pedestrians at this time in the afternoon. The tree in Liza’s front garden came into view long before her house did. I slowed down when I reached it, but instead of crossing the street and ringing the bell, I stood rooted there for several minutes, gazing at a different house.

Why couldn’t Tony make up his mind? Be a nice guy or a jerk. Like me or not.
Simple things. My gaze fixed on the tips of my boots as I hung my head and sucked in a deep breath. It would be wise to go home and forget all about this boy, but I couldn’t. And when the front tire of a mountain bike appeared in my peripheral view, I knew it was too late.

“Wondering what my room looks like,
Summers?” I heard him say in a mocking tone that made the hairs on the back of my neck bristle.

Slowly, I looked up. “No, I’m actually wondering how a guy with a nice mom like yours could become such a dismissive jerk.”

“Dismissive?”
He lifted his brows and propped his forearms on the handlebar, his feet placed in a wide stance at either side of his bike. He wore his light blue soccer jersey, and his hair was a sweet mess. “If I remember it right, I traded partners with Robert yesterday just to be in a team with you. How can you call that dismissinve?”

I cocked my head.
“And what about today? You couldn’t even say hi.”

Laughing, he replied, “Today…
sucked
.”

Oh, he was mocking my message? Two could play this game. “Since you seemed so conversant with each of my
looks
yesterday, tell me, which look is this?” I gave him a fake smile and flipped him the bird as I started off around his bike.

“That’s your ‘
I’m hurt because Tony didn’t talk to me
’ look,” he whined, cutting a glance skyward, and reached for my arm. I was too slow to evade his grip. He pulled me back to his side. “Now, don’t run away.”

“I’m not running away. I’m going to see Liza.”

“Liz isn’t home. She came to watch us at training and left with Hunter. Since his car is nowhere around, I suppose they went to his place.”

I wrested my arm free.
“Fine. I’ll go home then.”

“Why didn’t you call her instead of wandering all the way to our side of town, anyway?”

“Because it wasn’t intentional. I just needed to get away from…” Cutting off midsentence, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Ah, forget it.” Crunching on my molars, I spun on my heel and trudged off.

“From your cousin?”
Tony said behind me. His understanding voice made me stop.

I pivoted to him.

“You look like you need someone to talk to. And this isn’t me catching your emotions again, Sam, it’s just plain obvious. So if you’ll give me five minutes to shower, you can come in with me, and I’ll make good on what I missed with you today.”

How could he be such a dickhead all day and then again get me with just three stupid lines? This was unfair!
And totally frustrating. Tony left me no choice. Coming forward and laying one arm around my shoulders, he wheeled the bike with the other hand.

Because I really didn’t want to go home right now, my protest died as he led me across the street. However, I didn’t accept his arm around my shoulders and pushed at his chest. “Go away. You stink.”

Tony hugged me tighter, pressing me against his sweaty side. “Aw, as if you aren’t dreaming of this scent day and night, Summers.”

I was not. Not of his stench of sweat anyway. But he made me giggle.

Tony leaned his bike against the white façade of the house. He pulled a key out from under the doormat, unlocked the door, and entered. I followed him inside. I had glimpsed the hallway once before but was dying to see the rest of the house, especially Tony’s room. He ushered me past a spacious kitchen, which was built into an oriel, upstairs and through the first doorway on the right.

Tony strode into the room, taking off his shirt and tossing it onto the bed, which protruded into the middle of the room from the wall between the window and door. I hesitated on the threshold, suddenly feeling a bit shy and uncomfortable when he stood in front of me half-naked. I tried not to stare—or drool—but his bulging muscles were an eye-catcher, all right.

“Music?” he suggested as he walked to the wide desk to the left of the window. There were two monitors on it, a silver-gray compact tower, and lots of drawings scattered around the place. Pushing the start button of his computer, he gathered most of the drawings and made them disappear in a wide but low drawer right underneath the oak-white desktop.

He turned around and glanced to where I stood in the doorway and tried to relax as my eyes threatened to pop out at the stunning view of him. “Come in. Make
yourself comfortable,” he offered. “I’ll be back in five.”

He grabbed fresh clothes from the wardrobe, which was made of the same light wood as his desk, and brushed past me, giving me a little push into his room.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I would have left him alone in my room if I was in his place, but he seemed fine with it, so I reluctantly walked toward his bed and sat down at the very edge. By the time his computer had booted up, gentle music drifted from all corners at the ceiling. He probably had a random playlist on auto-start. I wondered if he listened to music when he was drawing, like I did.

With the door wide open, I could hear the splash of water in the bathroom next door.

Don’t! Just don’t let your mind wander over there
, I warned myself. But that was easier said than done. Tony naked under a spray of water…way too sexy. My throat went dry.

To distract myself from that fatal thought, I started inspecting his room instead, beginning with his bed. Plain dark-blue sheets covered his pillow and duvet. The bed was wide enough for two. To each side stood a small cube holding a lamp, comic books, and a remote for the huge TV attached to the wall. The window produced a big square of light on the floor in the center of the room, and also graced one corner of the bed.

I liked his place. It had air. Even the dark blue curtains fit perfectly into the light/dark style. But there was one more thing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Something that made this room amazingly appealing to me.

I wandered
around, skimming my fingers over the edge of the desk, then walked to the open window and gazed out. From here I could see Liza’s house, but her room was at the opposite side. I drew in a deep breath, getting a whiff of the white roses down in the garden. Suddenly, it hit me. I turned and walked to the middle of the room, taking another deep breath through my nose.

That was it.

The entire room smelled of Tony. Not nasty, sweating Tony, but the way he smelled every time I got close to him. A mixture of fabric conditioner and men’s shower gel. If only I could bottle a shot of that scent for later.

The water stopped next door. I quickly sat down on his bed again, waiting silently for his return. A minute later, Tony came in, barefoot and dressed in a plain white T-shirt and light blue jeans that were ripped at both knees. Two additional, fashionable holes sat on his right thigh. His hair was tousled, and he obviously hadn’t taken the time to thoroughly towel off, because water drops trailed down his bare arms and also at the sides of his neck.

I had never seen anything this hot,
ever
.

Tony crossed to his swivel chair, slumped down, and laced his fingers behind his head, planting his feet wide apart.

Our gazes locked for an infinite moment. My heart began to stutter. Slowly, a smile sneaked to Tony’s lips. “Never thought you’d actually find yourself in my room one day, did you?”

“This is crazy,” I croaked.

“Why is it?” Unlike mine, his voice was steady. Soft and intense.

I cleared my throat, hopefully sounding more confident when I spoke next. “You instantly hated me—and I still don’t know why, by the way. You were like the meanest guy I’ve ever met.” My voice dropped a notch. “You made me feel like a thorn in your side.”

“Or rather an abscess on my butt,” he mumbled, then laughed, taking his hands down and folding his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry, Summers. You were just hanging out with the wrong people when you came here.”

“That much I figured out myself. But I didn’t have much of a choice at the beginning. And Cloey wasn’t always like this. You should know.”

Tony arched a puzzled brow at me.

Rising from his bed, I walked to the window and looked out for a moment, then turned around and leaned against the windowsill, crossing my ankles. “I was quite shocked when I heard from Susan that you and Cloey had been a couple.” I knew I was going to hit a nerve with this, but I might not get another chance like this moment to drag more information out of him. It was worth a try.

Tony spun in his chair so he could look at me again, his expression blank. “I told you, we never were a
couple
. We dated for a while is all.”

“Because she dumped you after you slept with her?”

“Sam, I’m not up to talking about Cloey and me.”

“Why not?
It’s apparent something happened between you and her that causes
my
life to spin out of control.” Unintentionally, my tone had become harsh as I gripped the edge of the sill for support.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she knows you kissed me. And today she threatened to get me out of the way, whatever that meant. She already hates me because her mom and I get along so well.” I left the spot by the window and crossed to the opposite wall. Tony spun once more to follow me with his gaze. Leaning with my back against the door, I continued, “But the fact that you and I might be involved somehow ticked her off totally. And I want to know from you why that is.”

“It ticked her off, did it…
” Tony rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I thought it might.”

“You
thought
so?” My voice hitched. “But everyone said she dumped you. Why would she still care? I don’t get it.”

Tony pulled his left leg to his chest, placed his foot on the seat, wrapping his fingers around his ankle, and rested his chin on his knee. He looked at me for a long time, his lips compressed,
his eyes wide and soft. What the heck? Would he tell me what happened already?

“So…” I carefully prodded when it seemed he’d never say anything again.

Heaving a deep sigh, Tony licked his bottom lip, then began, “So…what would you think if I told you I never slept with her?”