Page 14 of Out of Bounds

"If you’re scared, no shame in—"

"Dammit. I’m not fucking—fuck." He rubbed the back of his neck, anger crackling off him like the tension between us. "I knew it was going to be like this. It could be so easy but you make everything so damn difficult. All I wanted was to come here and apologize."

"Yeah, but…you could apologize from the stage."

Boy, when Ryan Cross wanted to intimidate somebody, he absolutely could. It was just the two of us in a good, old-fashioned standoff. The background noise didn’t matter. The guys asking Ryan about his team’s plan with the KYU game didn’t matter. The students gawking at him as they stumbled in didn’t matter. The only thing that barely punctured through was Zariah, a broken record of questions besides me.

I pretended to be busy with my phone again. "Like I said, it’s been a blast. Feel free to take your exit."

6

Kassie

To Eye Fuck A University GI Joe Doll

Ryan passed by and I counted down the seconds. He had to be judging his options. It all boiled down to a single question for him—was his meeting that important?

He shifted to the right and stepped on the stage.

Holy shit. It must be.

Yanking the back of the chair, Ryan took a seat, surrounded by the gaping students around us.

"What wasthat?" Zariah whispered the moment I returned.

"Getting a model for Mr. Ishisaka," I replied, trying to be casual about it. But I knew the moment I looked up, Ryan would be staring at me again, discontent, irritated, a metaphorical tiger pacing behind iron bars.

Mr. Ishisaka clapped his hands and gave an excited introduction about our less-than-enthusiastic model. With aquick tap of the board, he reiterated the Five Lines Rule, the one he swore by. Anybody could be drawn and recognized. All it took was five specific lines of that person.

Oh, shit. I actually have to draw Ryan.

The moment I looked up…yep, still staring at me, still aggravated, and wanting me to feel every second of that. Fine. That wouldn’t stop me from earning my twenty participation points.

I danced the end of the pencil back and forth between my thumb and my pointer finger.

Five lines.I needed the base and five lines to complete it.

A rough sketch started to form. His base was easy enough.

Ryan sat on that chair like a throne, his long legs stretched before him, always taking up the most room. Even sitting so tense—straight, hard lines, no softness—there was an ease I couldn’t deny. He was angry, but he wasn’tuncomfortable.

Big difference there.

He fit in well. Anywhere. Everywhere. It was like you could’ve dropped him into any place in the world and he just belonged, no effort required.

Five lines.

Thick eyebrows—a man’s eyebrows. The jaw, I couldn’t draw the jaw clean enough. If anyone broke that during a game, they’d be sued by the school. His messy hair had a curl to it, something that stuck him out of the crowd. The nose…that was four lines.

Those intense, dark honey eyes.The fifth.I wasn’t drawing in color and I didn’t need to. The slant below his eyebrow’s bone, the intensity…my pencil stilled over the paper. There was a catch in my throat.

Ryan gazed right at me.

Keep going, that traitorous little voice murmured in my brain.Maybe he’d be down for some nude modeling later?

"Wait," Zariah whispered. "What the hell is happening?"

I accidentally cracked the lead of my pencil. "What?"

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