Chapter 2 #2
I arrive early and wait at her locker. Fifteen minutes pass before Mira rounds the corner to the hallway.
The pressure weighing on me these last two days lifts at the sight of her. I want to grab her and press her to my chest, but then she sees me and my nerves return.
Mira walks up to her locker. Her gaze cuts briefly to me, shyly touching on my face. “Hi.”
I had a pretty good idea something was wrong after she left me in the bedroom with my pants down. Now I can’t deny it. It’s written all over her face.
Making love to Mira was my first time. I don’t feel like it went badly.
Yes, she seemed nervous, but the sounds coming from her when I kissed and touched her indicated she was into it.
And when we were actually…Well, she had this dazed, sexy-as-hell look on her face, like she really enjoyed that part.
And believe me, I was paying attention.
But I wanted her to feel amazing. I wanted our first time to be perfect.
“Hey,” I say gently. “I tried to call you a bunch of times. Is everything okay? Because the other night—”
Her face softens as she looks at me, then Holly Walker steps up out of nowhere and squeezes my arm.
I look back at Mira, but her face is no longer soft and open, and she’s staring at Holly’s hand on me. If it wasn’t so rude, I’d shake off Holly’s grasp. Holly is pretty and popular, and she’s been driving hard to the hoop all year. I’m not into her at all. I made that clear, but she won’t give up.
The only girl I’ve thought about for the last year and a half is the one standing in front of me with her hands shaking as she switches out books from her locker.
“So, Mira,” Holly says. “You and Tyler?”
As far as I know, Holly has never spoken to Mira. Holly keeps to her pack of Tahoe beach club kids. Everyone was at her party Friday night; I wasn’t surprised Mira went too. But Holly approaching Mira at school is a surprise.
“Heard you walked out of a guest bedroom Friday night with just-fucked hair. Isn’t Lewis your boyfriend? Or are you hooking up with both of them? Oh shit—did you mess around behind Lewis’s back?”
Mira’s body tenses, the apples of her cheeks going rosy.
I’m momentarily too startled by Holly’s ugly suggestion to react.
One of the reasons I never acted on my attraction to Mira is because I was never sure what was going on with her and the guy she lives with.
Lewis is a senior like me. Quiet, but always with Mira—when I’m not tutoring her.
Mira is friends with Zach too, but Zach gets around.
I don’t think Mira has anything other than friendship with Zach.
It’s never been clear what she shares with Lewis.
Mira’s eyes harden as she glares at Holly. “What’s it to you?”
“Settle down, I’m just curious. The two hottest guys in school? Damn greedy if you ask me. If Tyler was only a hookup, I want to know. I have plans for him.”
Mira’s eyes dart to me.
But I’m too busy mentally rehashing everything I’ve ever heard about Mira and Lewis. And thinking about the other night…Mira came on to me out of nowhere, and darted out of the room…Is Holly right?
Mira didn’t return my calls. Why the fuck didn’t she call me back? Is she brushing me off? Was she trying to keep what happened a secret?
There’s a flash of vulnerability on Mira’s face as she searches my eyes. Her head eases back as if she doesn’t like what she sees. She looks away and swings her backpack over her shoulder, closing her locker door. “I wouldn’t know if Tyler’s available. I’m not his keeper. Ask him.”
Only Holly doesn’t. For some reason, she is determined to corner Mira. “So it was a hookup?”
Holly is putting Mira on the spot. I should do something, say something, but doubt fills me.
“He can see whoever he wants,” Mira says.
Her words are like a punch to the gut.
“Awesome.” Holly turns to me. “So what do you think, Tyler? Want to go to prom?”
Mira storms off.
What is Holly’s problem? How many times does a guy have to say no? I sweep past Holly and grab Mira’s backpack gently. She stops in the middle of the crowded hallway and turns to me.
“Looks like you have a prom date,” she says, glancing over my shoulder. “Better not leave her waiting. Answer the poor girl.”
“Is it true?” I tug at the T-shirt I’m wearing that suddenly feels too tight, too hot. “Was it a hookup you don’t want anyone knowing about?”
She swallows, the pulse at her throat hammering. Her eyes go soft again. “I—”
“’Sup, Mira?” Chad from my varsity soccer team nods to Mira in passing, checking out her ass.
I’d like to punch him in the face. What’s with the possessive look he’s giving her?
“Are you sleeping with him too?” I whisper harshly, regretting my words the moment they’re out of my mouth.
Mira’s jaw drops. She slams it shut and breathes in deep, holding it.
Fuck. I let Holly mess with my head. “Mira, I didn’t mean—”
She turns and smiles at Chad.
My smile.
The secret, sexy smile she reserves for me. It doesn’t last the way it does when it’s aimed at me, but it’s enough of a flash to make my stomach pitch.
“Hey, Chad. Wait up?” she says. “I want to ask you a question about prom.”
Chad stops a few feet away, his brow rising in interest. I glare at him.
“He’s all yours, Holly,” Mira calls down the hall, her voice shaky, eyes avoiding mine. She turns and loops her arm through Chad’s.
My head pulses, ready to explode. I watch Mira walk away with Chad, her shoulders strangely curled in, and I can’t move my legs. I don’t know what just happened, if I ruined everything, or if the path was already set.
Someone slaps me on the back.
“Rough one, dude,” Jake from my team says, and I stare at his back as he keeps going down the hall.
Does everybody but me know about Mira and other guys?
I should say something, do something, but the message is clear. What Mira and I had meant nothing to her.
I’m the idiot who thought there was more between us.