“I hear she stabbed Rob in chem. Violent psychopaths belong together.”
“Somebody warn Abel that his brother’s hiring out for assassins.”
“Look at those legs. No wonder Cain left the Musketeers for her.”
“Where did she come-”
The furious whispering around Tess came to a halt, again, but this time it wasn't because of her. The nun cleared her throat like a lioness vocalizing dominance. She slammed down the ruler she had in her hand on some helpless student’s desk. The soundless retreat of the undamaged hands onto the student’s lap, straightening up in her chair and paying attention, told Tess this wasn't the first time that technique had been employed to settle the class down.
“Yes, I’m Tess.” How this new teacher knew her name preference was unclear, but she didn't feel like questioning it right now. “Where should I sit?” seemed like a more relevant query to get her out of the line of fiery gazes and whispered gossip.
“Wherever you can find an empty seat. We don't keep assigned desks here. It’s better to sit somewhere new each class so you can get to know everyone better,” the teacher said. “I’m Paula Santos and you may call me Paula.”
First name basis? It wasn't unheard of, but by grade 12 some of the teachers weren’t that far off in age from the students they were teaching. Most of them would prefer to be addressed more formally, maintaining that professional distance. It didn't really mean the teacher was smarter or knew more than the students, but the implication was there. Any title was better than none.
“Thanks,” Tess said, not quite able to make herself address Paula so casually out loud yet.
She looked around to see where to sit. This was a big class, although not quite as full as chemistry had been. A lot of people looked away from her, and others stared—not with an ounce of niceness—making Tess nervous about picking somewhere to sit. It was her first day and this was only her second class, but it felt like the end of a day full of tortures and now she was being asked to strap herself into the stocks for all the villagers to laugh and point at her suffering.
“Tess, come sit here,” called someone. She turned to face the back and easily spotted the big, hulking black kid seated in the last row, right against the window side. There was an empty desk beside him. All the desks were paired up, probably to facilitate the communication that Paula had hinted at, but this teenager was big enough in the shoulders to need the extra room having an empty seat beside him provided.
“Splendid, War. Please take a seat, Tess,” Paula directed.
War? There could only be one guy in this school going by that name. Just her luck, the only non-science core class she takes—because it was a school requirement—and there’s one of the four guys she signed up to tutor in it. And she gets picked to sit next to him. That last bit was doubtful to be coincidental. Gossip travelled fast in school and War had called her over. He might know that she was with Kade this morning, but the tutoring bit should be secret.
She gave War a watery smile. He was a looker, as she got closer, all that smooth dark skin over muscles that, although large, rippled like a big cat’s strength revealing his toned lethality with lazy confidence. Power that was displayed as a thing of beauty. He wasn’t bulked like a steroid-popping lifter. It was natural strength that showed off how he kept himself in top form.
The effect was making her feminine side perk up, imagining how she would feel underneath his body. Petite as she was, she liked her guys big, and War was ripped enough to burst out of the big and tall mould.
Hot damn. Did the principal mix up the top scholastics in this school with the top lickable guys? She was going to find tutoring challenging for reasons she wouldn’t have suspected. It was going to take a lot of coffee to keep her focus, preferably ice cold to freeze her libido.
“Hello, lass.”
Oh my gawd. He had the sexiest Scottish accent to go with those muscles. It rumbled across the foot separating them and made her want to purr back.
“I’m Tess,” she said, putting her backpack down on the desk and taking a careful seat. The sweater did help but she wasn’t taking any chances of flashing others again.
“I heard,” came his deep voice. “I’m Warrick, but most people call me War,” he said. “Is Tess short for something else?”
She told herself to not melt and turned in her seat to face him. “Theresa, but not even my mother calls me that.”
Light brown eyes startled her. They were almost yellowish, definitely not what she was expecting. Amber might be the best description.
“War. Tess. Keep your conversation low while the rest of the class does silent reading of the first five pages of chapter four,” the teacher said from up front.
“Yes, Miss Paula. I’m just getting to know my newest seatmate.”
“That’s perfectly alright, War,” the teacher replied. Either War was a teacher’s pet or Miss Paula was one of those teachers with unique teaching methods.
“Do you think it’s weird, calling her by her first name?” Tess asked, whispering it.
“Not really. Miss Paula’s first lesson was about classes, social structures and titles, and how all of these methods of differentiation between people add unnecessary layers. She showed us some pictures of isolated tribe people in Peru and held a debate on what it costs to be happy.”
Definitely different. It wasn’t bad, though. Tess had a feeling she was going to enjoy Miss Paula’s classes the best. For one, it wasn’t going to reiterate material like her core science and math classes, and it would be interesting from what War was saying.
“It’s my first religion class,” Tess admitted. She kept that to a whisper, too.
War leaned close to her. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” he whispered back.
“So, should we get our textbooks out and read chapter four?” Tess said, pulling back a bit to get some breathing room. War smelled of a minty kind of soap, fresh and bracing. She shouldn’t be melting into something meant to wake you up in the shower, but nonetheless, she felt herself relaxing as she breathed in the refreshing scent
“After you tell me about what got you and Kade dragged in front of Henderson so early this morning,” War said.
There was the wake-up slap she needed. Almost as good as coffee.
“You’ll find out at lunch,” she cryptically answered. “Now, the first thing you should learn about me is that I always take my classes seriously.”
“Nerd?” War teased.
“Jock?” Tess shot back.
“You’ll find out at lunch, I suppose,” War replied. “I assume you’ll be at our table.”
“With bells on,” Tess said, opening her bag.
“A Pumpkin with bells? Seems you’re mixing up Halloween and Christmas to me.”
She froze, the religion text half out of her bag and flicking her gaze back over to War. “You know? You know!”
“Lunchtime, Pumpkin.”
She couldn’t complain now when she was the first one to propose he would have to wait to hear what was really going on. So she sucked up her curiosity and finished pulling out the textbook even though she knew her unfocused mind would never let her read the chapter and absorb it properly while thinking about what Kade might have told his friends about her.
It was a good thing she packed a light lunch. Her stomach was already full of butterflies.
KADE WAS TEXTING ON his phone when Tess got to her locker. He stood out from the rest of the students, a head taller than many of them. The crowd rushing through the halls gave him plenty of space. Students almost ran into each other trying to avoid walking on the same side as he stood, moving lanes like cars trying to get around something too dangerous to risk hitting.
He wasn't paying attention to any of it, engrossed in whatever he was typing, thumbing his phone like a pro. Tess didn't actually have a typical smartphone like most people her age. They were expensive and the plans required either a credit card or a down payment that she didn't have, plus t
he payments were inflated to cover the cost of the increasingly complex and pricey newest gadgets.
She didn’t need a fancy camera or the latest gyroscope to play an interactive game. Her phone was merely a tool for communication. It was big and bulky, with a keyboard of tiny letters for typing instead of a touch screen, but it had been given to her for free, and with a pay-as-you-go plan, it had been all she needed to get the job done.
That didn't mean she could see someone with the latest iPhone without lusting over it a little. Kade seemed to have a simple case over his phone, but there was a tell-a-tale open circle where the Apple icon would be at the back. Having met Kade’s rich, self-important father and knowing a ton of wealthy kids herself from her old school, she figured Kade had a phone she would love to trade for her ancient equipment.
“So you're a tattletale?” Tess said, walking up to him. “I should have guessed that you blabbed all about me to your pals, but did you really have to kiss and tell about my chapstick? I thought there were rules about that sort of thing, cross your lips or something.”
Kade looked up at her right away and smiled, flashing those dimples as he quickly pocketed his phone. He reached up and snagged her chem books off the top of the lockers, handing them back to her. “Who has loose lips?” he asked.
“You, apparently, but also War. He seems to think my name is Pumpkin.”
“Did you just have religion with Miss Paula?”
Tess started pulling books out of her backpack. “I think you're missing the point here.”
“Avoiding it, actually. The rules of kiss and tell are void when you never think you're going to see the girl again. It's like telling somebody else the story of a really good dream so you can remember it a little longer after you wake up, but eventually, it’s going to fade away. Sue me, I wanted to share you with my friends.”
Was Kade comparing meeting her to a really good dream? She tiptoed to grab her lunch from the top shelf, a Tupperware of leftover Kraft Dinner and a refillable water jug, then turned a little to face him properly, meeting his eyes. “What kind of dream, exactly?”
Kade’s eyes widened and he actually stuttered out his denial. “N-not like—It was all PG-13. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were witnesses.” He straightened up from his slouch against her locker and his embarrassment changed over to annoyance when she laughed. “I don't even think I could get a boner with Mrs. Watson around. She is the church choir leader. I've sung enough hallelujahs in her hearing.”
That last, raunchy piece of information was purely payback. Boner, seriously? Two could play this game. Tess closed her locker, hooked the padlock and clicked it in place, then swung her backpack on and gave Kade the dirty look his comment deserved. “I don't really need to hear about your equipment malfunctions,” she said, heading in the direction she remembered to go for the cafeteria.
“Let me take your bag,” Kade said, hovering behind her.
“All I have is my lunch and textbooks in it,” she replied, but let him pull it off her shoulders. Honestly, she didn’t mind the extra help. The cheap backpack had narrow shoulder bands that had been digging into her.
“Does this mean you’re not interested in my equipment, or you only like to play non-ball sports?” Kade asked as he came up beside her.
She nearly tripped. How could he ask her that so casually? Returning his raunchy comment had been a big mistake.
“It doesn't mean either of those things. We barely know each other, and I promised your father there would be no funny business. I'm being paid to stimulate your brain, and hopefully, you're not thinking with anything down below,” she said.
“Let’s not bring up my father when we’re talking about a pretty girl like you, and whether you have even a flicker of interest for me to fan once we get to know each other better,” Kade said. He leaned over her, whispering. “I liked your pumpkin lips and the way you stood up to the Watsons. I like you, Tess Sinclair.”
Somehow she managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Having a confession whispered in her ear by one of the hottest boys she had seen in school on her first day, the same rebellious biker that she had wanted to crawl all over in a fantasy the first time she saw him, was steamy enough to wilt her on the spot. All the strength was leaving her legs and pumping blood elsewhere.
The only way to answer a confession like that was to provide one of her own in return. “Kade, I wanted to bite your ear and ask for you to show me any tattoos you were hiding under your leather jacket the first time we met,” she said. He inhaled quickly and she added before he could respond, “As you said, it was a dream of a guy I didn't think I would ever see again. In real life, there are fathers, mothers and expectations of a job that I didn't think I would get but I could use all the same. So please, don't screw this up for me.”
“Oh, Pumpkin, you don't really expect me to pretend I didn't hear that, right?” Kade said as they turned the corner to enter the lunchroom.
“How about we take it really slow? I could use a friend more than a one-night stand,” Tess said, feeling her nerves ramp up as she searched for War. He was the only other one in the group she knew, although Kade’s twin probably looked like him. Twin angels.
“You’re going to have your hands full with four friends pretty soon, but don't forget I was the first one to tell you that I like you, Pumpkin.”
Competitive much? If she hadn’t been told he was a twin, then that little lunge to get ahead of the others would have hinted strongly at it. Her younger siblings were always competing about everything and even though they had the power to separate themselves in their classes now, they still did their best to stick together, just so they could see who would come first.
“Is this guy bothering you?” came a voice that Tess didn’t recognize from her left. A hand on her shoulder followed, stopping her progress forward into the cafeteria.
Blue eyes, a prominent alkaline nose meant for looking down on others and blonde bangs that just teased his slightly darker, golden eyebrows. He was squatting a bit to get to her level so she got a close-up of his face and not much else in her vision.
Tess squeaked in surprise for the second time today, trying to back up into Kade.
“Bastion, get out of her face,” Kade ordered behind her.
Oh, this was her third student. He straightened up and let her get the full effect of that proud nose, definitely looking down from his vantage. Why were all of these guys so tall? It was a good thing most tutoring was done sitting down. She might have to shout to be heard otherwise.
How’s the weather down there, shortie?
Bastion winked at her, ruining the noble impression he had been giving. He shoved a cup of takeout coffee at her. “This is Tess?”
“I can talk,” Tess said, snatching the coffee before he could take it back.
“Really, Pumpkin?” Bastion said. “From what I hear, you’re best at getting into trouble. First in front of Kade’s brain doc and then in chem? I hope you plan on keeping the explosions to a minimum in physics. Kade said caffeine actually calms you down.”
Tess sipped the coffee, just a little cream and sugar, absolutely perfect. “I wouldn’t want to wreck your concentration in physics so I’ll be on my best behaviour,” Tess promised after swallowing the hot mouthful. Pure heaven. She took another sip. “You do need all the help you can get, from what I’ve heard,” she taunted, turning around and looking up at Kade for what direction they should head.
“Where is my thanks? It was $1.50, by the ways.”
She had the change but that meant no bus home tonight. Sipping another delicious swallow of caffeinated perfection, she figured it was worth it.
“Stop being so cheap, Bastion,” Kade said, followed up by the sound of a smack that had probably landed somewhere on Baston’s back.
“We’re paying for trouble now?” Bastion mumbled, but Tess heard him.
“You’re paying for my mind, not my diabolical plots. Those cost more than a cup of coffee. I only acce
pt blood and virgins, and there are no refunds,” Tess declared.
Kade snorted a laugh. It sounded hilarious, so she chuckled too.
“I sold my soul to the devil a long time ago, Pumpkin, and my blood goes with my sweat and tears to get out of this place before it steals what’s left of my black heart. I guess you’re shit out of luck,” Bastion retorted.
That sounded rather dark for such a bright looking prince. Bastion’s golden looks should make him the king of the school. Senior with smarts, looks and money? It was the holy trinity to high-school girls. At least he didn’t claim to be a virgin.
“Yeah, don’t worry, your daddy’s paying. I’m sure that’s not new. You can keep your black heart,” Tess said, refusing to fall down the rabbit hole Bastion was digging by asking how he lost his soul and heart. He was being dramatic and a boy like him probably didn’t know what a broken heart felt like, even if he had put enough cupid arrows through others.
“Ouch, Bastard, she’s got you pigeon-holed. Did you use that Prince Charming line about Cinderella only having one night? I told you before, girls don’t like to hear you’re going to run away at midnight.”
Another voice and she was turning again, seeing Kade’s twin standing up from the chair he had been sitting at one of the lunch tables with War. They really were identical twins, although Kade had done his best to vandalize his half of their shared looks. There just was no masking the dark blue-grey eyes and the unique ethnic mix that honeyed their skin tones and raised their cheekbones.
“She’s sitting beside me,” Kade told his twin, pulling out a chair on the opposite side from his twin for Tess.
Uh, oh. Tess knew this game. “You’re going to have to learn to share, boys,” she said, taking the offered seat. “You heard what your dad said, Kade. No hanky-panky and I can’t show favouritism. Them’s the rules. I may not have set ‘em but I gotta obey ‘em if I want to be paid.”
“What is she talking about?” Keir asked, giving her his own dimpled smile. It was delivered with the kind of confidence from someone that knew he was a heartthrob.
Impetuous (Victory Lap Book 1) Page 8
