to fight on weekends, I’d have plenty of opportunity to observe anyone suspicious.
My car would easily keep up with a sedan. I jumped in and took off after it. My yellow Viper wasn’t exactly low profile, so I kept a safe distance without losing them.
With little else to occupy it, my mind wandered to Tessa.
Christina would be pissed that I invited an outsider to her party. But if I hung out with Tessa, at least a little bit, she’d gain social acceptance which translated into the guys not harassing me as much over talking to her now and then. Their joking and ribbing had grown old.
Mostly, it annoyed me that they had so little respect for her… or girls in general. Not that I’d been a saint, but at least with me, the girls always knew where they stood. I didn’t talk about them to the guys and they wouldn’t wait by the phone for me to call. I always made it my policy to lay that out for them ahead of time.
That kind of honesty would get me nowhere with Tessa — and I wanted to get everywhere with her. Even so, I refused to resort to deception to get what I wanted from a girl.
Just because I wanted her didn’t mean that acting on it was a good idea. My spontaneous invitation to the party had been a stupid thing to do and I hoped she’d think better of taking me up on it.
On the other hand, if she made the wrong choice, I’d have an opportunity to get her out of my system. I didn’t think it would take much — a taste would be enough.
* * * *
Thursday morning, I arrived at school earlier than usual, hoping to get a glimpse of the drivers that shadowed Tessa. But I had as much luck as the night before. None at all.
I leaned my foot against the bumper of my car and waited for Tessa. She parked close by and exited the Scion. Her golden hair was pinned up. Thin wisps escaped whatever she used to secure it and fell around her face. She wore a white sundress that revealed more skin than I was used to seeing on her and the skirt swished around her thighs as she walked.
“Hey.” She smiled in a way that told me she suspected I might have scales under my clothes instead of skin. Good. I had nothing to offer a girl like her who would want the old-fashioned everything.
“Hi.” I stared into her green eyes, searching for something more to say.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Just thought I should be here when you arrive.”
“Oh.” She averted her gaze. “You usually avoid talking to me in public.”
I scanned the parking lot. “There’s hardly anyone here yet.”
She narrowed her eyes. “But if you don’t have anything to say, why bother?”
“Just making sure you’re safe and that we’re still meeting in the library after school.” I knew we were since we hadn’t agreed otherwise, but I wanted to keep talking to her.
“Yeah, sure. Why would that change?”
Right… time to switch the subject. “Meeting with Agent Phillips later?”
“No. Not today.” Her gaze wandered past me. “I need to go to my locker.”
I felt myself being pulled to her like gravity. This had to stop. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
She smiled, relief evident by the renewed spark in her eyes. I squashed the welling disappointment and determined, yet again, to keep my distance. Damn. I needed a good hard make-out session with her, so I could get on with my regularly scheduled life.
Chapter Eight
Tessa
“Hayden asked me if I was going with you to Christina’s party tomorrow.” Nadia’s tray banged as she laid it on the lunch table. “What the hell’s that all about?”
“He asked me too.” Corinne used her index finger to push her eyeglasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t you tell us he invited you?”
I groaned and popped a French fry in my mouth, hoping neither of them would be interested in going to the party.
“Why do you think he’s telling us about this party? Is it
My car would easily keep up with a sedan. I jumped in and took off after it. My yellow Viper wasn’t exactly low profile, so I kept a safe distance without losing them.
With little else to occupy it, my mind wandered to Tessa.
Christina would be pissed that I invited an outsider to her party. But if I hung out with Tessa, at least a little bit, she’d gain social acceptance which translated into the guys not harassing me as much over talking to her now and then. Their joking and ribbing had grown old.
Mostly, it annoyed me that they had so little respect for her… or girls in general. Not that I’d been a saint, but at least with me, the girls always knew where they stood. I didn’t talk about them to the guys and they wouldn’t wait by the phone for me to call. I always made it my policy to lay that out for them ahead of time.
That kind of honesty would get me nowhere with Tessa — and I wanted to get everywhere with her. Even so, I refused to resort to deception to get what I wanted from a girl.
Just because I wanted her didn’t mean that acting on it was a good idea. My spontaneous invitation to the party had been a stupid thing to do and I hoped she’d think better of taking me up on it.
On the other hand, if she made the wrong choice, I’d have an opportunity to get her out of my system. I didn’t think it would take much — a taste would be enough.
* * * *
Thursday morning, I arrived at school earlier than usual, hoping to get a glimpse of the drivers that shadowed Tessa. But I had as much luck as the night before. None at all.
I leaned my foot against the bumper of my car and waited for Tessa. She parked close by and exited the Scion. Her golden hair was pinned up. Thin wisps escaped whatever she used to secure it and fell around her face. She wore a white sundress that revealed more skin than I was used to seeing on her and the skirt swished around her thighs as she walked.
“Hey.” She smiled in a way that told me she suspected I might have scales under my clothes instead of skin. Good. I had nothing to offer a girl like her who would want the old-fashioned everything.
“Hi.” I stared into her green eyes, searching for something more to say.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Just thought I should be here when you arrive.”
“Oh.” She averted her gaze. “You usually avoid talking to me in public.”
I scanned the parking lot. “There’s hardly anyone here yet.”
She narrowed her eyes. “But if you don’t have anything to say, why bother?”
“Just making sure you’re safe and that we’re still meeting in the library after school.” I knew we were since we hadn’t agreed otherwise, but I wanted to keep talking to her.
“Yeah, sure. Why would that change?”
Right… time to switch the subject. “Meeting with Agent Phillips later?”
“No. Not today.” Her gaze wandered past me. “I need to go to my locker.”
I felt myself being pulled to her like gravity. This had to stop. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
She smiled, relief evident by the renewed spark in her eyes. I squashed the welling disappointment and determined, yet again, to keep my distance. Damn. I needed a good hard make-out session with her, so I could get on with my regularly scheduled life.
Chapter Eight
Tessa
“Hayden asked me if I was going with you to Christina’s party tomorrow.” Nadia’s tray banged as she laid it on the lunch table. “What the hell’s that all about?”
“He asked me too.” Corinne used her index finger to push her eyeglasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t you tell us he invited you?”
I groaned and popped a French fry in my mouth, hoping neither of them would be interested in going to the party.
“Why do you think he’s telling us about this party? Is it
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