Page 16 of Student Seduction
5
Emersyn
The next morning Drew moved in for the kill.
I wore one of Stacy’s dresses to school. Nothing fancy, just a navy and white thin-striped halter-style with my white Converse because it was warm and my shorts were all dirty. Between washing mom’s bedding and Ethan’s baseball uniforms and practice clothes, I was behind on my own laundry.
Just before first period, Aiden was standing outside his classroom beside my locker, speaking with the young, female art teacher. Miss Copeland, or Lisa, as I heard him call her. She was new this year like him, young and attractive. Free-spirited with an infectious laugh. She’d had several books of her art and poetry published and honestly, I enjoyed her class and kind of hoped to be her when I grew up. But watching her flirt with Aiden stirred something ugly in me.
Jealously.
His reaction was different from when Kelsey and the others annoyed him.
He was enjoying the attention. Smiling until his illusive dimple showed. Laughing. Ducking his head in this charming way he had. Flirting back.
It had me picking her apart like a lion polishing off a gazelle carcass. Her neck was too long and the colorful scarves she wore didn’t hide it. Her ass was wide and her chest was as flat as a twelve year old boy’s.
And I was a terrible, despicable human being.
She was adorable and petite and I needed to calm the hell down. Stupid, petty, estrogen overload.
I had no right to be getting so emotional over the exchange, but I was. I looked around for a distraction, for anyone or anything to take my mind off what was happening before I stooped lower, like making a desperate play the way Kelsey and her minions did to interrupt his conversation. Before my eyes landed on anything substantial, I was in the air, being spun around by someone with their hand on my ass.
“What the—”
“Morning, baby,” Drew said loudly. “Damn! You look good today.” He leaned in and planted a damp kiss on my cheek. “That dress is going to look ah-mazing on my floor later.”
Several students laughed on the way past us and a few of his lacrosse teammates whooped at him.
“Drew,” I hissed at him once he’d put me down and our audience had moved on. “I thought you said we weren’t doing that this year? What was that for?”
We’d staged similar encounters intentionally last year when some guys starting getting suspicious and calling Drew names. But this was completely unplanned and uncalled for.
“Just leveling the playing field, sweetheart.” He nodded at Aiden who watched us intently before patting me on the ass once more.
Aiden eyes tightened, the woman next to him forgotten as questions flashed across his face. Maybe I was imagining things, but his flawless facial features seemed contorted in a mask of anger. Or possibly pain.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one wrestling the green-eyed monster after all.
“Mr. Echols,” he addressed Drew as we headed toward him when the bell rang. “In the future, please keep your public displays of affection private.”
Drew grinned. “Come on, Mr. S. You see her. If she was yours, would you be able to keep your hands off her all day?”
He might as well have slapped him across the face. Aiden’s mouth opened for a split second but no sound came out. His eyes widened, then narrowed.
I stood there in shock as Aiden glanced from him to me and back again. He was speechless. So was I
All I could do was meet his stare and hope he could read my mind.See? How do you like it?
“Take your seats. Both of you,” he bit out eventually.
Drew waggled his eyebrows at me and mouthed “told you so,” as he took his seat.
I kept my head down for the entire period, as if I couldn’t get enough of the random profane graffiti that had been etched into my desk over the years.
Watching him flirt with Miss Copeland had sucked, for sure. But I was nowhere near as angry as he was.
He gave an impossible pop quiz, then made us all study our notes in silence for the last twenty minutes of class when everyone failed it.
