Page 96 of The Rivals' Touch

I laugh as I read his latest text message.

Zayd: In that case, I’ve never been in her bedroom.

Me: Neither have I.

The dots appear and disappear.

Zayd: I’ve never been in her bed.

Smiling, I glance up at the clock above the door. Ten minutes until class ends. The teacher is boring everyone to death with his monotone voice.

Me: She has a bed?

Zayd: You make me hard!

I suppress a laugh.

Me: I don’t know what you’re talking about, Zayd?

Surrounded by her friends, Legacy watches me across the room. I’ve found myself in a confusing situation, attracted to so many people at once.

Zayd: I can’t stop thinking about that day in the bathroom.

Neither can I. Fuck, I want a repeat. The mere thought has me squeezing my thighs together beneath the table.

“Do you want to copy my notes?” Abigail asks next to me.

I look up from my phone. “What?”

She taps the end of her pen on the empty sheet of paper in front of me. “The notes on the whiteboard. You haven’t written them down. Do you want to copy mine after class?”

“Oh, right. Yes, please.”

She smiles, leaning in close. “I think Legacy is jealous.”

“Wha…?” I drift off as Abigail brushes my blonde hair off my shoulders and peers behind me with a sly smile. “She’s about to combust.”

“Legacy?” I give a breath of laughter, following her line of sight, but Abigail guides my attention back with a finger on my chin.

“You’ll thank me later when she drags you into the janitor’s closet for angry sex.”

“I’m so confused.”

“Legacy is possessive. She might be tolerant with some people”—she looks pointedly at the phone in my hand—“but she’s not with others.”

“Others?”

Abigail leans in, brushing her lips over my jaw in a move designed to piss off the reigning queen bee. “People like me.”

I sit frozen as she giggles against the sensitive spot below my ear. “You’re a shit-stirrer!”

“Maybe,” she admits teasingly, running her fingers through the strands of my hair. “It’s a rush to piss off the queen bee, isn’t it?”

“You forget something.” I point out, leaning back. “She’s not the only queen bee anymore.”

The bell rings and Abigail winks at me, collecting her books. She scoots her chair back and stands up.

“You’re in so much trouble,” I sing-song, nudging my head to Legacy, who’s on her way over with her posse of friends.

---