Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
MADELINE
“You’re insane,” Georgia says all while fighting a giant smile.
“There are worse things to be,” I tease, but my mind is still back on Luke. Which is annoying as hell. Last night, I even had a naughty dream about him. It has to be strictly because he’s hot, nothing more.
We grab a seat toward the back of the classroom. Georgia and I only have a couple of them together. She’s got a few classes that would kill me. My best friend is a smarty.
“You should have seen Lana’s face.” I should have, but my eyes were glued to Luke. There’s something about that man that draws my attention. Besides him being hot, that is. I’ve never been curious about anyone the way that I am him. I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m drawn to him.
Hitting Lana with jabs was nothing to me, but with Luke, I wanted to see his reaction. His face is always blank. It’s now become a challenge to me to see if and how I can get under his skin.
“The first time anyone has snapped back at her?” I ask.
You can tell with the way Lana walks down the hallway that she’s the queen bee. I have to say, the walk is full of confidence, and I wish every girl possessed it. Lana only has it because she pushes people down to acquire it. It has to come at the sacrifice of others.
“Probably, but I don’t spend much time around her. She’s always—” Georgia’s words evaporate from her lips as Lana enters the classroom, followed by Luke.
Lana is speaking to him, but I can’t make out what she’s saying. He steps back, and she keeps walking as he turns to go down another row of desks. Lana realizes and turns back to follow after him. You can see the annoyance on Luke’s face.
You can tell she irritates him, and he’s dismissive of her.
I know they’ve slept together. Is that simply how he treats girls he’s been with?
Lana was more than happy to share all of who she’s slept with on the hockey team.
Luke’s name was at the top of the list she rattled off.
Pretty sure she has a punch card she needs to clear by the end of the year.
Luke takes one of the desks one seat back to my left. There are five million other desks; why does he have to sit there? Now I’ll have to fight not to peek back at him. It’s becoming a real problem for me to not stare at him. I kind of hate myself for it.
I would rather not be one of those girls that are drawn to assholes, but here we are.
It might be a good thing he sat there. The more he pissed me off, the quicker my brain and body could go back to being on the same page.
Hopefully, whatever this is passes quickly and I can get back to my normal life.
The teacher soon enters the classroom, and the room falls silent as he starts to go over the curriculum and does introductions. Private school is vastly different than public. This place fully acts like a college. There aren’t bells, and you don’t raise your hand to use the bathroom.
It’s been a task trying to keep my eyes on the front of the room.
I can feel Luke’s gaze like a physical touch on my skin.
I’ve almost turned to look at him a dozen times, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.
He’s trying to intimidate me with those stares.
It’s not going to work, or I’m not going to let him know that it is.
The first class is rather uneventful. You have four classes a day. They call it block scheduling. Georgia and I have to split for our second class and agree to meet up afterward for lunch.
My next class is French. I took it at my old high school, but I get the sense I’m going to be way behind. Georgia grew up speaking different languages. I still struggle with English most days. I grab a seat in the back.
My stomach tightens when Luke comes strolling into the classroom.
He walks with an unhurried pace. The strides are slow and long.
Our eyes lock, his intense gaze drilling into me.
If I were smart, I’d glance away, but I’m guessing that’s what everyone does.
I stare right back and then force a yawn. That should piss him off.
Thankfully, Kory enters the classroom behind him. I give her a small wave, and she heads in my direction. As does Luke. I expect him to do the same as before, but this time he drops down in the seat right next to mine.
“Hey.” Kory slides into the chair on the other side of me.
“Hey,” I say back.
“I’ve been talking to a few of the girls.” She glances around to make sure no one is paying attention. Luke has gotten his phone out and is playing with it.
“How is it going?”
“Good, but they are timid about it. You’re new here, and Lana’s control goes beyond the walls of this school. A lot of our parents run in the same circles.”
“This is all very Arkansas,” I joke and see Luke’s fingers pausing momentarily out of the corner of my eye. Is he paying attention to our conversation? Most importantly, is he a rat? The next time he bangs Lana, will this be pillow talk?
I don’t see Luke as the type to stay in bed and cuddle; in fact, I don’t see him having sex in a bed at all. It’s all too personal. He’s probably more of the back seat of the car kind of guy.
Kory laughs at my comment. “You know, you’re not wrong, I suppose, but yeah.”
“So it’s a no-go?” Even if I can get the coach to do a private vote, I might have to call in a favor from my sister. I don’t want to do that.
“If you can get a positive vote in, but Coach does like Lana.”
“Really?” I don’t get how anyone truly enjoys her company, but hey, maybe I’ve only gotten to see one side of her. Kory shrugs.
“Besides, who would you want it to be?”
“You.”
Kory brows rise. We’ve only had a few practices, but she is the best on the ice, if you ask me. Not only that, but she talks to everyone and isn’t an asshole. “She needs to be knocked down a few pegs.”
“And you’re going to be the one that does that?” Luke asks. Kory presses her lips together and leans back in her chair, not bothering to glance toward him. He really must be an asshole.
“How about you mind your own business?”
“Maybe Lana is my business,” he tosses right back at me. The comment shouldn’t bother me, but it does. A flash of anger licks across my skin, but I shove that shit down. I slowly turn to face him. He watches me intently.
“Go be a snitch then,” I snip at him. “Because I’m not your business, so it would be great if you stayed out of it.”
“How about you—” Luke is cut off by the teacher. I inwardly let out a sigh of relief. But I know Luke is far from done.