Page 6 of Between the Flames

“I stand by what I said,” I told her, slipping through the door and letting it close behind me. While I sauntered down the hallway, I shook my head, not believing I just had the balls to admit my attraction to her.

* * *

The restof the week moved at a painfully slow pace, my boredom and irritation with everyone and everything floating on the surface and threatening to overflow. Elle invaded my thoughts at every waking moment, and now she infiltrated some of my dreams.

As if sensing my anger, Lily was becoming increasingly clingy as the days progressed. I knew I needed to stop prolonging our breakup—I wasn’t even sure what was holding me back but I kept up the boyfriend routine of frequent text messages, holding her hand, and walking her to almost every class.

Which is what I was doing now.

We walked in an awkward silence, unbeknownst to her, until we reached her Spanish class. I leaned down and pressed my lips quickly to her cheek, pulling away before she could pull me in for more.

“Adios, babe.” I smirked, unsure of why I was still turning on the charm. She is still technically my girlfriend, even though old habits die hard, and I had hopes of staying on good terms with her after we broke up.

Turning to walk away, I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that she was headed to class, fully turning in my tracks as I spotted those fucking nerd glasses. I watched Elle through narrowed eyes as she scanned her surroundings before darting across the street toward the path that led into the woods.

Instinctually, I started moving in the direction that she had headed, hearing Lily’s voice calling out after me. I ignored it, not caring that she would wonder why I had gone in the opposite direction of my class. Picking my pace up to a light jog, I quickly reached the corner and could see straight down the path. I had expected to see her, but Elle had disappeared. I gave myself no less than half a second to decide—cross the street and find her or head to class. While I couldn’t afford another no show to Auto Shop, I refused to not know what the hell she was doing. Elle wasn’t the type of girl to skip class and wander into the woods alone… but then again, maybe that’s exactly who she was. How does the saying go? It’s always the quiet ones to watch out for.

Screw it.

I crossed the road and headed down the path, my eyes scanning the tree line as I walked. There was no way I would risk not spotting her if she had veered off the path. I walked for a few minutes before stopping and turning around in a slow circle, my hands fisting my hair before I clasped them together behind my head.

Where the fuck was she?

My phone buzzed from inside my pocket and I blew out a breath, reaching to take it out. The vibration pulsated in my hand as I stared down at it, seeing LILY INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE light up my screen. I groaned under my breath and I clicked the notification.

Lily: Babe, where’d you go?! Tommy said you never made it to Auto.

Fucking Tommy.

Rolling my eyes, I made a mental note to punch Tommy upside the head when I got to the shop. I couldn’t even come up with a good response to explain why I was out here in the woods like a fucking creeper, so I just locked the home screen and slid my phone back into my pocket. As I looked up, I saw a dark wave of hair falling over the side of a backpack at the base of a tree to my left. I smiled to myself.

Found her.

Granting myself permission to stare for a minute, I fell into a trance as I watched the way her hand tapped a pen against her thigh. The movement mesmerized me. I incredibly turned on by the risk of being caught by her. Licking my lips, I made the cursory decision to approach her—it was now or never. My movements were slow and calculated as I carefully avoided stepping on anything that might make a sound. My intent focused on seeing what the good girl did when she was caught.

I rounded the tree she was lying next to and saw that her eyes were closed and her headphones were in. My shoulders sagged in momentary defeat, but another feeling tore through my veins faster than a wildfire. Anger.

She was out here in the woods alone, with her eyes closed and her headphones in. She was either an idiot or she just didn’t care that she had made herself an easy target if some shady fucker came along. I’ll admit that my intentions with Elle weren’t of the purest variety, but I liked my women consenting, so lucky for her, it was me who had found her out here.

I kicked the sole of her Chuck Taylor, my arms folding over my chest as I watched closely for her reaction. Laughter roared out of me as she nearly jumped out of her own skin, her big eyes flying open as she yanked her headphones out of her ears. To my surprise, she didn’t scream—most girls would have added the scream for the extra drama. It’s a shame, I was looking forward to hearing her scream out my name.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Her words had come out in a slur of panted breaths, forcing me to bite the inside of my cheek as I pictured her panting for a completely different reason. The image of Elle writhing beneath me in bed, fisting the sheets, was one that I couldn’t ignore, and a smirk played at the corner of my lips as her eyes raged with fire.

“It’s not fucking funny, dude. You scared the shit out of me. What the hell are you doing out here? Wait, did you follow me?”

“Dude?” I chuckled, raising my eyebrow with mock confusion.

Her cheeks reddened under my gaze, but her anger flowed out in waves. I guess I could throw her a bone.

“If you must know, I was looking for a place to chill and roll a blunt.” I was lying, but she didn’t know me well enough to know that I didn’t get high like the rest of the idiots at this school looking for their next thrill. I had actually never touched a drug in my life—too focused on my grades and football. My eyes were on the prize. I was determined to get the hell out of Shadow Hills.

As quickly as fucking possible.

Elle’s lips pressed into a thin line as she eyed me thoroughly, assessing my answer. I offered nothing additional; I just kept my focus locked on her, refusing to be the one to break the eye contact. The longer we held each other’s stare, the more my body hummed. I never felt more alive than when I was in the presence of this girl. My fingers twitched at my sides, desperate to reach out and touch her, but I refrained.

I had an image to maintain and while I was a lot of things, a cheater wasn’t one of them. But when she stood suddenly, pulling her backpack with her and tossing it over one shoulder, a sinking feeling consumed me as she walked away.

---