I scoffed at the memory, shaking my head as a huff of laughter slipped out.
Poor little loser. I’d actually felt sorry for her when I’d heard the intervention going on in the living room the other day. We all had. My little brother, sister, Tristan, and I had sat there cringing as Max and her friends made a mess out of what was a clearly well-intentioned but poorly executed plan.
I mean, I got it. Sort of. The moment I’d run into her—literally—I’d totally understood where Max and the others were coming from. There was something so very clueless about her. Something so naive or innocent. And the look in her eyes—it was like she was somewhere else. Like she was living in a different universe even though her body was here on earth. I could practically see her mind racing and I’d felt this overwhelming need to know what she was thinking about because there was no way it was anything normal.
Sure enough...
Souls.
She’d been thinking about souls.
“Is there something humorous about what I’m saying, Mr. Whittaker?”
My head snapped up. West Whittaker, that was me. My mom had apparently been big on alliteration. “No, ma’am,” I said, my smile still in place. “Just looking forward to hanging out with these science kids.” A sophomore in front of me snickered. “They sound like a blast.”
Margaret pressed her lips together in a censorious look.
I met it with a smile. One lesson I’d learned over the years...? Never underestimate the effects of a great smile. It was how I’d gotten Stella to go out with me, and the number one tool I’d used to get her help with my classes.
My smile faded fast at the memory of how my ace in the hole had deserted me.
It wasn’t that I was so heartbroken over Stella. In fact, I’d kind of forgotten that we were together, which was probably why she’d ended things, come to think of it.
But what was I supposed to do about my classes now? Most were easy enough that I could slide by. But there was no fudging it with BS essays in biology. Or my math class either.
I groaned under my breath as I sank down in my seat. Maybe I could get one of these science geeks to step in for Stella. Give me a helping hand just until I caught up...
Even as I thought it, Margaret started in on how responsible these geeks were. How very mature and blah blah blah. All I heard was, don’t even think about trying to get one of these nerds to help your dumb butt.
She didn’t say it, but it was implied.
“You all right, man?” Jay shot me a funny look.
I nodded. Yeah. Great. Just great. My life as I knew it was on a countdown to destruction, but other than that everything was hunky-dory.
He leaned over and lowered his voice to a whisper when Margaret glared in our direction. “Hey, you think any of these science geeks will be hotties?”
I turned to him with arched brows. “Are you insane?”
“What?” he said. “There could be some sexy librarian types in the mix.”
I shook my head with a scoff but once again...boom. Flash. There she was in my head again. That cute little weirdo from the other night.
So not a sexy librarian but she was...intriguing.
And apparently mega smart. And...
My brows drew down in concentration as I replayed some of that conversation I’d overheard. They’d been going on about her and some other loser that she had a crush on, poor kid. From the sounds of it, this guy didn’t know she was alive, but they were going somewhere together...
A science...something or other.
I blinked and I could have sworn I heard a click as I did. The pieces fell into place and I kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. They were coming here. For this competition.
They hadn’t said it outright, but it made so much sense. And then, as if on cue, my phone dinged with a text from Max. It was the first time she’d ever texted just me—occasionally I got caught up in a group text with my siblings and the new stepsister. Those texts usually entailed coordinating logistics for family dinners, which were my dad’s new favorite thing. But today it was a text from Max to me.
Max: Hey West. My friend Charlotte is going to be at your school this weekend. If you see her around could you help her out? She’s really sweet but super shy. We’re all a little worried about her being at a college campus on her own.
I laughed to myself as I typed back, I’m on it and hit send.
How could I have forgotten the little social outcast was a part of this ridiculous science weekend?
My head fell back against the seat and I laughed so loudly, all the stick-up-their-butt RA sitting around us turned to look at me.
“Sorry,” I said to Margaret, but my grin was back.
This was just too easy. I knew a science geek who could help me. And I knew exactly how I’d get her on board.
Why would she help a guy like me?
Because I knew exactly what she wanted.
3
Charlotte
Robert’s car was smaller than mine, but he’d insisted on driving. The silence between us was lengthy but not awkward.
This was the nice thing about Robert. Neither of us felt compelled to talk just to fill the air. He was relaxing to be around.
Don’t you want to know him better? Don’t you want him to know you?
It was Lulu’s gentle voice that nagged at me, far more persistent in my memory than any of the others, possibly because she hadn’t been trying to browbeat me into finding love, but speaking sense.
She hadn’t been trying to convince me to flirt or get a makeover or be somebody I wasn’t. She was just talking about forging a connection. I frowned out the window as the scenery whipped past.
Human connections weren’t exactly my forte, but her words made sense. The first step of any new relationship was learning more about the person and allowing them to get to know you. I would be remiss if I let this weekend pass by without at least attempting to forge a stronger bond between us.
I shifted so I could face Robert’s profile.
It was one I was very familiar with considering all the time we spent sitting next to one another at the lab table. Sharp beakish nose, broad forehead, and a rounded jaw that sort of faded into his neck at a soft angle.
I knew his profile so well I could easily describe him for a sketch artist if he ever committed a crime.
Not that he ever would. Robert would never do something bad enough to warrant an arrest. How did I know? Robert was a good guy. Nice. Reliable. Smart.
Like me.
As I watched him stare at the road, I realized that Lulu might have had a point. This was the sort of opportunity that could push our relationship from friendly lab partners to partners of a different variety, and I’d be a fool to let it slip by without at least attempting to create some intimacy between us.
If there was one thing I was not, it was a fool.
“Are you looking forward to this weekend?” I asked, breaking the silence and making him start.
“What?” He glanced over at me, his eyes wide with surprise. Probably because neither of us had spoken much since we’d started this trek an hour ago from school. “Oh, uh, yeah.”
He turned back to the road and I did, too.
Well, it was a start.
I made a mental note to tell Emma and Lulu that I’d tried. It would make them happy.
Robert and I had received permission to leave school at lunchtime for our science weekend. My friends had taken it upon themselves to walk me out to his car, peppering me with advice on how to flirt as we walked.
Emma kept trying to shove a magazine in my face with promises that it would teach me everything I needed to know.
I was all for learning, in principle, but the idea that I would gain valuable insight on human psychology from a garish magazine that also promised to teach the reader how to reverse aging seemed illogical in the extreme.
Although, these magazines had seemingly worked for several of our other friends, so...maybe
I was too quick to judge.
It hardly mattered now, though. It was too late to study flirting techniques since I was already alone. With Robert.
I looked out the window.
And I had no idea what to say.
Oddly enough my mind flashed back to that awkward run-in with Max’s new stepbrother. The giant parading around like a Greek statue that had come to life.
What are you thinking? he’d asked.
It had seemed like a good question when he’d asked it of me. Why beat around the bush when you could just ask a person to tell you what was on their mind?
I nodded at nothing in particular outside my window. I approved of the handsome god’s ways.
I turned back to Robert. “What are you thinking right now?”
He blinked at the road. Then he blinked at me. “Pardon me?”
“What are you thinking?” I asked again.
“Oh, uh...” His hands shifted on the wheel, clenching and unclenching. There was a moist spot when he moved them which indicated that his palms were sweaty.
Was he nervous?
I eyed his profile again to evaluate.
Was he nervous about being alone with me?
The thought made my lips twitch up at the corners.
“I was thinking about our competition.”
My lips fell. “Oh.”
“Do you think we’re ready?” he asked.
I nodded. “I do. We’ve gathered all the data to back our thesis and our final report is as thorough as we could expect.”
He nodded again.
He still seemed tense so I felt compelled to remind him that we won the last two qualifying rounds which was why we were headed to St. Archer’s this weekend. This was the next level and we knew very well that our project was not only a winner but that we were well able to present it.
Neither of us were great speakers but we were both confident in our material and if the delivery was a bit boring, that in no way affected the effectiveness of our lab work and the ensuing data.
I said all this to him, explaining why he had no reason to be nervous.
He nodded the entire time.
And yet, when I finished speaking he still looked nervous.
“Is there something else bothering you?”
His hands adjusted on the wheel and he glanced over at me. “It’s just...” He cleared his throat. “We’ll be on a college campus.”
I nodded. This was true.
“Alone.” He cleared his throat again, a nervous tic I’d only seen once before, and that was when he’d attempted to explain our findings to a cheerleader named Erica who’d given him a blank stare of boredom throughout his explanation.
Once again I had to wonder. Was he nervous about being alone with me?
The thought was heartening and it gave credence to Lulu’s theory that this weekend could be a turning point for me and Robert.
I reached into my bag at my feet to pull out our notes so we could review but my hand fell on something less sturdy than my binder. With a frown I pulled it out.
That magazine.
I let out a laugh under my breath. Emma must have slipped it in when I wasn’t looking.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly as I stuck it back in. I should toss the thing in the garbage when we got there. I’d seen enough to know that the suggestions were ridiculous. Drinking hot beverages together so he would equate warm feelings with me?
So silly.
The only one that had made any sense at all was evoking a sense of jealousy. I wasn’t a big fan of psychology—it wasn’t a hard science and the nebulous aspects surrounding the field made me uneasy. But I knew enough about the topic to know that there was at least some merit to the idea that jealousy could evoke primal instincts within the male segment of the species.
I sank back in my seat as my mind turned the matter over.
It wasn’t the worst idea. Theoretically.
I glanced over at Robert and discarded the idea. It was fine in theory but there were surely other ways to attract his romantic attention.
Like flirting. That had worked for our friend Simone. I frowned over at him.
It was just that...I had no idea how to do that. I thought back to the lessons that Simone had passed along from her time spent studying the topic with Lakeview High’s lead actress, Rose.
The only lesson I could recall entailed getting him to talk about himself and finding common interests.
I tried it. By the time we pulled into the campus parking lot I’d attempted to strike up a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to his interests outside of school—there were not many to speak of—our mutual classes, and his upcoming plans for college next year.
The conversation flowed easily, I supposed, but as we unloaded our overnight bags and headed to the dorm where we were to meet our guide, I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d just conducted an interview more befitting a guidance counselor than a flirtatious potential date.
We walked into the dorm in silence as I stewed over what I’d done wrong, my gaze fixed on the speckled floor at our feet and then...that was when it happened.
Again.
“Oof.” I let out a grunt as I bounced off a brick wall.
I glanced up at the guy whose back I’d accidentally bumped into and—
No.
No way.
This could not be happening...again.
Gorgeous green eyes sparkled down at me with amusement. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
I blinked up at the god in shock. This could not be happening. “West?”
“You guys know each other?” Robert asked at my side.
West stuck his hand out to Robert and I felt the loss of his eyes on me in the weirdest way. Like all at once I could breathe again but my whole body felt deflated.
There had to be some explanation for the effect the guy had on me but I couldn’t figure it out in this particular moment because West was introducing himself to Robert and his words jarred me back to the moment with a start.
“...great to meet you. Thanks for getting my girl here safe and sound.”
His grin turned to me and I froze.
No, I melted.
I didn’t believe in magic, but if I did, I’d say his eyes had it in spades. They had some sort of effect on me that left me standing there like an idiot, my eyes wide and blinking like an owl.
My girl, he’d said. Clearly he was talking about someone else. Confusion had my brows drawing together as I stared up at him. “Who?”
He ignored my question, turning back to Robert as he clapped another guy on the back. I hadn’t even noticed the tall, handsome dark-skinned guy next to him until that moment when West’s hand on his back brought him into the conversation and into our little circle. “My boy Jay here will show you to your room, Robbie—”
“It’s Robert.”
West ignored him. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna steal my girl away for a bit, but we’ll meet up with you later, yeah?”
West didn’t wait for Robert to reply and Jay didn’t either. Jay headed to the elevator bank to the right. “Come on, man. I’ll show you around.”
Robert cast me one quick questioning look before chasing after Jay, whose long legs were already threatening to leave Robert in the dust.
I stared at West who was still grinning down at me in this weirdly familiar way.
My girl. He’d said it twice and neither time made sense to me.
We’d met once. I’d run into him twice. Neither of these facts made us friendly acquaintances, let alone intimate friends.
My boy. My brain started to function, slowly and grudgingly as he leaned forward and snatched my overnight bag from my shoulder to sling it over his own.
He’d called Jay ‘my boy’ so maybe that was just the way he talked...?
He glanced over at the elevators where Robert was standing. Watching us, I realized. Robert had a line between his b
rows as he watched me and West, clearly ignoring Jay who was saying something.
West’s arm fell on my shoulders, a heavy weight that made my heart jolt in my chest.
“What do you say, babe?” he said, his voice a little too loud in this already too-loud lobby. “You ready for a one-on-one tour?”
4
West
Charlotte was clearly shocked.
Not that I could blame her.
But when she turned to me, I grinned. This was going to be fun. Did she have any idea how cute she looked when she was gaping at me like that?
Probably not.
“What...I mean, why?” She frowned. “Babe?”
I laughed as I led her toward the elevator banks on the opposite side of the lobby. “Come on, let’s go drop off your stuff and I’ll explain.”
“Explain?” She hurried to keep up with me. “Explain what?”
“My plan.”
“I don’t...” She shook her head with a little huff of exasperation. “Why do you have a plan?”
“Because I believe you and I can help each other.”
“Why...what...who...” She took a deep breath and adjusted her glasses as she followed me into an open elevator.
When the doors shut, she turned to me with a scowl that was cute and reminded me of what Jay had said about sexy librarians.
I tilted my head to the side. Yup. There was hope for this girl yet. She wasn’t just adorably geeky, she was kind of cute if you looked past the unattractive clothes and hair.
There was definitely enough to work with here. I nodded. “Yeah, I can make this believable.”
Her scowl intensified, which made my smile grow. “Would you please explain what is going on here?”
“It’s simple,” I said, leading the way as the doors opened to the third floor where she’d been assigned to a single room. “We both have things we need and we can help each other.”
“I am so lost,” she muttered behind me as she followed me to the door.
I keyed her in and gestured for her to go on ahead of me. I gave her a minute to take in the sterile little room, with its standard desk and the no-nonsense single bed.
First Kiss with the Quarterback (How to Catch a Crush Book 4) Page 3
