Page 3 of Between the Flames

CHAPTERONE

Iwas hypnotized by his green eyes, full lips, and dirty blond hair. By the formfitting tee shirts he wore, showcasing his muscles that strained against the fabric and begged to be set free. His smile turned my insides into Jell-O. He radiated confidence, oozed sex, and caught the eye of literally every single female in this godforsaken school.

He wasn’t an ordinary crush, but we were definitely a classic cliche.

Ryder Thompson.

Quarterback of the football team. The star of campus. Everyone either wanted to be him, be friends with him, or sleep with him. Unfortunately, I was no exception to that rule. I couldn’t stop the reaction my body had every time I saw him. Hell, even when I thought of him. I wanted him so badly and I have wanted him for years. Almost four agonizing years, in fact. I vividly remember the first time I saw him, just moments after setting foot on campus the first day of freshman year. Noah had teased me about him possibly stealing a kiss from my high school sweetheart and I scoffed at that, but seeing Ryder had me wondering if maybe such a thing could happen.

Wrong.

I was so wrong.

Ryder never noticed me. How could he? I was the nobody nerd. I would maybe be remembered as the editor and photographer for the school newspaper. That’s if I’m remembered at all. Most people don’t even know me as that. I spend my time either in the computer lab working on articles, or in the darkroom developing photos.

I had yet to catch the attention of many guys, but when it came to Ryder, I was invisible. I might as well have stolen Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak and worn it daily, for as little as he noticed me. In fact, the only guy who I knew had taken an interest in me, much to my dismay, was the school’s resident playboy and walking talking STD, Tommy.

Tommy also happened to be Ryder’s best friend, but so far, that didn’t seem to do me any favors. Catching Tommy’s attention wasn’t something to be proud of either, considering he drooled after any and all females in our high school, including the cafeteria lady. Lucky for me, he was more of a “let her come to me” kind of dude, and as harmless as a fly.

I was pulled abruptly out of my thoughts when Noah tapped me lightly on the back. He pulled the chair out next to me, sinking into it. Clicking to minimize the photo of Ryder that I had pulled up on the screen, my cheeks burned with heat at the feeling of being caught staring. Although I technically had nothing to hide, since it was a photo for the newspaper, I probably shouldn’t have been staring at it for as long as I had been. Once the photo was minimized, I pretended to look busy by picking up my pen and staring at my notebook. Noah watched my every move, cocking an eyebrow with a silent question, but thankfully said nothing about my guilty behavior.

“How are you?” he asked, slouching down in his chair. He removed a Reese’s out of his backpack and unwrapped it, tossing me his famous sideways grin—the one that made all the girls, except for me, swoon. Noah had been my best friend since we were three and a half when our moms forced us to play together at the park. What they really wanted was a friend for themselves, someone they could drink coffee and gossip with, but they ended up forging a ride or die friendship between the two of us.

“Oh, you know, just trying to think of an angle for this article.” I enlarged the webpage again, peering back at Ryder’s concentrated face on the screen, admiring his features. Frozen in time, he glanced over his shoulder, smiling at who knows what.

How could I get him to notice me?

My thoughts were running away with me again. Suddenly, I felt a cold and clammy finger brush against my chin before it moved upward toward my bottom lip. I flinched and pulled my body back as he burst out laughing.

“What the hell was that for, Noah?” I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Just checking to see if the drool had escaped your mouth yet,” he said, a knowing look in his eye. “Isn’t that article supposed to be in tomorrow’s newspaper? Cutting it a little close, huh?”

I rolled my eyes and didn’t answer him, silently stewing. As I turned back to the computer in front of me, I heard the door to the computer lab slam, followed by a slur of giggles and the sound of wet kisses enter the room. I whipped my head around, ready to yell at the offenders and remind them that this was a computer lab and not a make-out spot, but before I could, my heart dropped into my stomach. Ryder and Lily, the newspaper’s lead photographer, were walking through the lab, mouths connected. Neither of them bothered to see if anyone else was in the room as Ryder fell into a chair in the corner and pulled Lily onto his lap.

Lily was a friend of mine, but I never told her about my devastatingly lame crush on Ryder. There was no way that I could. Not only were they dating, they were perfect together. Their relationship was the whole high school quarterback dates the head cheerleader type of romance, except for Lily wasn’t a cheerleader. Instead, she was the popular photographer for both the newspaper and the yearbook committee. Gorgeous in a totally understated way, with a curvy body, loose blonde curls, and big blue eyes. She wore stylish, formfitting clothes that showed off her assets. She was friends with everyone, and kind to all the teachers and staff. Everyone adored her—the school’s girl-next-door. No one was exactly shocked when she and Ryder became an item.

It had been a few months since that had happened and I still seethed with jealousy, even though I hid it from her.

No one ever suspected that I, Eloise Peters, secretly pined for the love of a boy who I didn’t stand a chance with. As far as everyone was concerned, my head was shoved so far into a book, or a computer, that my teenage hormones didn’t exist, and that was the way I was going to keep it. At least for these last few months of high school. I’d rather keep people at a distance than let them in. As soon as graduation happened, I was out of this town. The one person I ever let in was Noah. He had been my rock throughout my entire life and the only one to know the real me.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Noah said under his breath, pulling me out of my chair by my elbow. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as Lily’s giggles filled the air. I quickly gathered my notebook and the various pictures I had sitting in front of me for the article and shoved them into my folder. Noah’s tone of voice was sharp, and I was ready to get out of there, too. Pushing the folder into my bag without trying to organize it, I reached to grab the long strap and lifted it over my head to fit across my body. As I turned to leave, my eyes flicked to the corner of the room inadvertently. Jealousy and despair overtook my body, taking in Ryder and Lily’s bodies melted together, his mouth fused to hers. As my eyes traveled further up their faces, I gasped as my eyes met Ryder’s piercing green ones. His eyes bore straight into me with a heat that made my skin warm.

He’s staring at me as he’s kissing her.I was frozen, heart thumping wildly in my chest as my mind raced with a thousand thoughts and questions. He was staring at me with a look that I longed to have the ability to read and it made my chest heavy. A smirk pulled at his lips as his kiss continued to devour Lily, yet his eyes refused to unlock from mine. I lifted my chin slightly, not backing down from his gaze.

“Elle.” A familiar voice floated into my head and snapped me out of my train of thought, causing me to blink.

“Eloise.” The sound of my name being called again came through clearer this time. I turned in the direction the voice came from, finding Noah waiting with one arm firmly placed against the door, while his other arm held the strap of his backpack that was thrown over one shoulder. I could see the anger in his eyes.

“Let’s go, now,” he ordered, his tone sharp as he turned his attention to Ryder, staring him down. Following Noah’s line of sight, my eyes reconnected with Ryder’s. My stomach dipped as I walked backward, unable to pull my gaze away from him. Lily had come up for air and curled into him, oblivious that his concentration was elsewhere.

I bumped into Noah and he snaked his arm across my shoulders, turning my body with a nudge so that I was walking out of the door ahead of him. I ran my hand down my face in frustration. Sensing Noah following closely behind me, I quickened my pace to get us away.

“Dude’s scum,” he muttered under his breath, his icy tone making me shiver. I looked up at him, studying his face as we walked, noting how irritated the situation had made him.

Noah had grown quite gorgeous over the years. His light brown hair had turned dark like mine, but it had flecks of gold from the sun. His milk chocolate eyes and that sideways grin of his made for a deadly combination, one that made all the girls at our school swoon. While the thought of Noah as something other than my best friend may have crossed my mind a time or two over the years, his good looks didn’t make me want to drop my panties and ruin the only friendship I’ve ever known.

We had friend zoned each other years ago and were both perfectly content with that. I wasn’t his type, anyway. Sure, I was pretty, but I wore modest clothes and nerdy glasses that were obviously too big for my face—my mom refused to even think about getting me a new pair until it was absolutely necessary. I wasn’t the type of girl who had boys lining up at her door, but I also wasn’t a complete dud. At least I didn’t think I was. I was comfortable in my skin and didn’t feel like I was missing anything by not having boyfriends throughout my high school years.

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