VA 2 - Blood Jewel (41 page)

“I’m not arguing how ridiculous it
is, but can we at least get ahead of him so I don’t have to explain
why we’re walking in together?” I pleaded.

She huffed and said, “This is
friggin’ ridiculous, you know that, right? Your life might revolve
around what Forbes Henderson wants, but mine doesn’t.”

When Payton didn’t move fast enough
to suit me, I scrambled out of her car, leaving her behind. I
watched a cigarette butt fly out of the new guy’s driver’s side
window and then his door swung open in front of me, preventing my
escape. He stepped out of his truck, looked down at me and grinned
as he said, “Pardon me, Princess. I didn’t mean to block your
way.”

His voice was velvety smooth, but I
didn’t mistake its coolness as his tone conveyed his contempt for
me. His unmistakable disdain for me immediately raised my hellcat
flag because he had nothing to base his aversion on since he didn’t
know me.

This was our first time face to
face and up close. The other times I saw him was when I stole a few
glances during cheerleading practice over the last two weeks when I
was certain Forbes wasn’t watching me.

I realized he was so much more
handsome than I originally thought now that his face mask wasn’t
obstructing my view. His hair was as black as I expected, and
spikey, and his pale blue eyes were piercing. The contrast of their
paleness against his dark hair was almost shocking and I had to
force myself to avoid becoming lost in them.

I was angry with him for making
assumptions about me, but I was more furious with myself for
finding him so captivating. I tasted my bitter reaction as it
formed on my tongue, but couldn’t stop myself from blurting out,
“Asshole.”

He placed his hand over the left
side of his chest where his heart would be and said, “I felt that
straight to my heart.”

I watched him shut his door while
he waited for my counterattack and I pushed past him as I said,
“Screw you and my name is not Princess. It’s Claire, so if you’re
going to insult me, at least have the decency to get my name
right.”

“Hmm, I think I’ll stick with
Princess. It seems to suit you better,” he said to my back as I
walked away.

I couldn’t be certain flames
weren’t coming off the heels of my boots as I practically ran away,
but Payton managed to catch up with me and said, “I’m totally
disgusted by you, Claire.”

“And why would that be?” I almost
yelled.

“That was one of the best displays of
underthinking
I’ve ever seen. He bested you and I
know I taught you better than that. You basically rolled over. How
can I call you my best friend when you caved so easily? And by the
way, you’ve got something on your ass.”

I spun around to look at the back
of my dress as I pulled the skirt part around to look and said,
“What is it?”

“Hot New Guy’s eyes.” She died out
laughing and said, “Sorry, Claire, but you walked right into that
one.”

I narrowed my eyes and pursed my
lips as I said, “Maybe you’re the bigger asshole of the two of you.
You should definitely be a couple.”

“That lacked creativity and it’s
insulting to me as your slander master. We have to work on your
comebacks because you are seriously letting me down,” she said,
then added, “I wish you could see your face right now. Whatever he
just did to you has you clueless. You can’t decide if you should be
pissed off at him or hot for him.”

I turned to look at this crazy
person I called a bestie standing next to me. “I’m jealous of
whatever you are smoking because it has you completely reality
challenged.”

“He got it all wrong when he
called you Princess. He should have called you Queen of Denial
because you’ll never admit what’s going on here,” she
accused.

It was just like Payton to draw a
conclusion with no real evidence to support her theory. “I have no
idea what kind of nonsense you’re talking about.”

“I hope he got plenty of rest last night because
his legs are gonna be
real
tired after he
runs through your mind all day,” she laughed, making me
livid.

I noticed myself stomping as I
walked toward the school entrance. “You must have taken your
sleeping pill this morning instead of last night because you are
definitely dreaming.”

“When you look back on this moment months from
now, don’t forget the one word I’m about to say to you, Claire
Deveraux.
Foreplay
.”