Page 12 of Protect

Why am I so awkward?

“See ya later then, King. Oh, and we’re having a party after the game at Carm’s. You should totally come,” Kyleigh adds as she turns to walk away, purposefully giving him the view of her ass in her skinny, ripped jeans.

“Yeah, I’ll see what the guys wanna do,” he answers, picking up his phone to answer a text. “See ya,” he adds, then sets his phone down and looks up at me.

“Sorry about that.” His smile is genuine. “Kyleigh doesn’t know hownotto be invasive.”

I laugh as I pull open my planner.

Almost everyone in this school acts like I’m invisible, but Rowan is always nice and treats me sort of like his little sister. He has all through high school, even though we’re in the same grade.

“She obviously likes you,” I observe as I tap the end of my pen on my notepad.

“Meh.”

He leans in and the scent of his standard spicy cologne hits me. Sandalwood and mint. He holds a hand up to his perfect lips as if he’s gonna tell me a secret.

“I’d have better luck pairing up with this chair as a study partner,” he jokes, patting the back of the chair beside him. I give in and laugh too.

“Yeah, maybe, but she sure is pretty,” I say, watching her and her two friends fully disappear through the library doors.

“She’s alright, but trust me, I made the mistake once of thinking she was nice. She’s not.” He shrugs. “And that’s kind of a big stipulation for me.”

I didn’t think it was possible for me to crush on my brother’s best friend any harder than I already was ten minutes ago, but apparently it is.

“So, what do we have so far?” he asks, resting his forearms on the table. For five long seconds his navy blue eyes transfix me, and I have to physically force myself to close my mouth. I look down to my notes.

“Pollutants,” I fumble out awkwardly. “Types of mutations, artificial vegetative propagation…” I explain the basis of our project where we’ll have to go find all the relative air, water, and soil pollutants common to our area.

We spend an hour going over the plan, places we’ll visit for samples and how we’ll lay out our presentation. It’s worth 20 percent of our final grade and we have four weeks to do it. We map out a schedule of when we’ll get together, and I’d be lying if I said spending three days a week with him for the next month wasn’t making those butterflies in my stomach flutter wildly.

Rowan pulls his phone out and checks the time. “Shit, I gotta go.” He stands and starts to gather his books, pausing to look down on me. “Hey, uh, Vi, thanks for doing this with me. I really need us to get an A on this…or, um…I might not pass this class. I hate science, if I’m being honest. I have a hard time even understanding protons and electrons.” He laughs.

My mouth falls open. “You couldfail?I had no idea,” I mutter, leaning back in my chair. I don’t tell him electrostatic connection is chemistry, not biology.

“Yeah, I don’t exactly broadcast that shit. Give me trig, calculus, algebra any day and I’ll ace it. This just isn’t mything, and the truth is, if I don’t pass, I won’t graduate. But no pressure,” he adds quickly, probably seeing the worry on my face. “I’m gonna pull my weight and then some. I promise.” He smirks at me, holding his hand over his heart. His full lips have a way of turning up in an almost lopsided curve that gives you the smallest preview of his gorgeous smile. It showcases the dimple he has in his left cheek.

“No problem,” I say, a little starstruck. “I love biology. You can put your weight on me,” I blurt out. “Theweight!” I correct, feeling the heat of embarrassment creeping up my throat for the second time this afternoon.

He smirks even bigger, and the underside of the table is looking better by the second. “We’re good to get together for this over the next few weeks?” he asks.

“I’m free every day but Thursday.” I shrug. “Breakfast club prep,” I remind him of the club I head up as part of the National Honors Society. It even gives me special access to the school so I can prep meals for kids who aren’t lucky enough to have a good healthy breakfast at home. At least every Friday, they get one.

“Oh yeah, club pres, right? That’s cool.” He smirks.It is?

“See ya tomorrow, Vi.” He chuckles, slinging his backpack over his shoulder waving at someone across the library as he goes. I watch him shamelessly under the curtain of my hair.

His walk is an easy steady stride, everything about Rowan just oozes swagger and confidence, and he doesn’t even try; it’s why everyone likes him and all the girls want him.

I sigh as he disappears out of sight.

I wonder if there willeverbe a day that I don’t drool over Rowan Kingsley.

PRESENT

“Knock, knock. Who’s there? Po-wer piggy! Knock, knock. Who’s there? Tough little turt-le!” Hollie’s sweet little voice wakes me up.

I open one eye then immediately close it. It’s not even light out yet. The TV is still on because I fell asleep watching some cheesy rom-com. I was doing anything and everything I could to push Rowan Kingsley from my mind for the second night in a row. Trying not to remember the current that rushed through me when we touched. A current that just served to piss me off. Seeing him the other night at Shifty’s left its mark, and I haven’t been able to get that damn lopsided smirk out of my head since.

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