She bent down just as I did, her face only inches from mine.
When she looked up, it was directly into my eyes.
We were only inches away, and I had to fight the urge to lean in and close the distance.
To see if those beautiful lips tasted as good as I imagined.
But before I could do anything, the bell rang signaling that our class was over.
She cursed and stood up, slapping a paper down onto my desk and practically shoving the papers into the kid’s arms behind me.
Grinning at her practically sprinting out of the classroom, I followed at a more sedate pace behind her, enjoying watching her ass sway as she hustled down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
“What the fuck?”
I turned, finding my cousin Blue standing there staring at me in horror.
“Blue!” I yelled, taking two large steps and engulfing her in my arms.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Blue asked as she wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed.
It actually hurt seeing as she had a textbook in one hand.
I dropped her to her feet and looked at her with a scowl.
“Vance.”
One word was all that was needed.
“Fucker,” Blue said.
“Language, Ms. Spurlock.”
I blinked, looking at a rather large guy standing behind her.
At first I thought it was a teacher seeing as the motherfucker had a beard—though that wasn’t saying anything because I had a bit of one, too—but then Blue’s next words confirmed that it wasn’t.
“Go the fuck away, Titus.”
But Titus didn’t go away, he looked at me and offered his hand.
“Titus King,” he said softly. “You’re the new kid?”
Blue rolled her eyes.
“I gotta go. I have athletics next, and I don’t want to be late for volleyball, or Coach is going to kick my ass.” She started away but then turned to stare at Titus. “Titus, this is my cousin Banner. He plays football. He’s the ball thrower, whatever those are called. He could kick Alero’s ass.”
With that, she left, sprinting her way down the hall.
“Ball thrower.” Titus snorted. “She’s a hoot. You’re a quarterback?”
I nodded. “I am.”
“Tryouts were a month ago,” he said. “But I can get you in to talk to the coach. I have a free period right now. Usually I’m an office assistant but they let me do whatever. Coach is usually in the gym watching his wife during this period. Want to go now? I’ll introduce you.”
I looked at my next class and saw that I had an office assistant class for the next hour, too.
“I had an appointment later anyway, but sure, why not.” I paused. “What the fuck is an office assistant?” I asked. “And I at least have to check in since it’s my first day.”
Titus jerked his head toward me.
“I’ll go with. We’ll tell Mrs. Procell what we’re doing, then head to the gym,” he said.
I went with him, and like he said, Mrs. Procell, the office chick that I’d gotten my schedule from earlier, nodded at us both. “Just come back toward the end of the period in case we need anything.”
With that, we both headed toward the gym.
“I was about to kick your ass until I heard your last name,” he said conversationally.
“Why?”
He opened a door that led into the gym, and I looked around to see that we were in what looked to be an upper level of the gym, overlooking the basketball court. Or the volleyball court.
When I looked down, I saw one lone figure already out on the court.
It was Perry.
She was in tight black shorts that barely covered her ass and a tight black t-shirt that cupped her curves perfectly.
The exact opposite of what she was wearing earlier.
“Because I saw you hugging Blue, and I might’ve lost it a bit,” Titus admitted.
I looked away from Perry to Titus.
“Blue’s my cousin,” I said. “Though, that’s not to say I won’t kick your fucking ass if you ever hurt her.”
Titus’s grin was swift.
“As you should,” he said, eyes going down when Blue came running out onto the court.
Just as Perry served the ball, Blue bumped it back over the net, and then the two were playing an intense game of volleyball, one on one.
I hissed in a breath when I saw Perry jump to set the ball over the net, causing her breasts to jump right along with her.
“Gentlemen,” a deep, resounding voice said from behind us.
“Coach Beasley,” Titus said, offering his hand. “I wanted to introduce you to your new quarterback.”
Coach Beasley’s eyes turned to meet mine.
“Quarterback?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Tryouts were a month ago…” he said.
“I know,” I said. “I wasn’t intending to come here, but my dad made me,” I answered. “I’d like to play.”
He eyed me speculatively. “What’s your name?”
“Banner Spurlock.”
His head tilted.
“As in, Banner Spurlock from Benton, Louisiana? The same Banner Spurlock that scored twice as many touchdowns as any kid on your team in the state championship?”
So he’d heard of me.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “We didn’t have that great of an offensive team by the end. We had four players out due to injuries.”
He snorted.
“I watched that game, boy,” Coach Beasley said. “And trust me when I say you got skills. Practice starts at four. I have a starter but he’s a bit of a shit, if I do say so myself.”
Titus snorted beside me.
My gaze went to him, then back to Coach.
“I’ll try out just like the rest of them did,” I suggested. “That way, I earn the spot. Not have it given to me.”
Coach grinned and gestured toward the bleachers. “Come sit with me and talk. You, too, Titus.”
We all went to the bleachers and sat near the top, keeping our voices low so we didn’t interrupt practice.
And when Coach Beasley’s wife came out, I was more than a bit surprised to see her so heavily pregnant.
“How much longer she got?” I questioned, wondering if she was in danger of popping one out right then and there in the middle of the court.
“She still has about a little less than two months to go,” Coach Beasley snorted. “Sadly for her, babies in my side of the family run big. They’re measuring my boy in at nearly six pounds. And they say that they gain a half a pound a week toward the end of the pregnancy.”
I winced.
If she still had two months to go, that meant the baby might weigh in at ten pounds. If not more.
I shook my head, a grin tilting up the corner of my mouth.
“I was ten pounds myself,” I admitted. “My mom said that I was by far her worst birth.”
Coach Beasley grimaced, his concerned eyes going to his wife.
“That’s what makes me worried,” he admitted.
My eyes took in the gym, stopping on the banner that declared the Lady Bulldog volleyball team as two-year running state champs.
On the banner was an entire list of girls. Perry and Blue being at the top.
“They good?” I asked, gesturing to the team.
“The best in the area,” Coach said.
“Right on,” Titus said. “My sister played for them last year. She said her college team isn’t nearly as good as her high school team was. And luckily for us, we have all but two players back this year.”
“My wife is quite happy about that,” Coach said. “Especially when it comes to Echo, Blue, and Perry.”
Titus made a grunting noise that could’ve been agreement or disagreement.
My mind was preoccupied, however, as I kept my eyes on Perry
as she expertly passed the ball, then spiked it from the back row.
“She’s good,” I said. “I’ve watched a few volleyball games in my time, but none of them had someone of her caliber.”
“Just wait until Perry and Echo get onto the same side,” Titus said.
I watched the girls practice, but a red shirt caught my eyes.
“What’s the red jersey mean?” I asked as I watched another girl come onto the court.
“That’s Rebel Allen,” Titus answered. “She’s the libero. The girl that comes in and only plays defense.”
“What’s so special about them?” I questioned.
The coach and Titus then taught me about the libero’s special set of skills, and when she could and couldn’t enter the game.
But, eventually, not even their rather interesting explanation could keep me from staring once again at Perry.
“Well, boys.” Coach stood up. “I gotta get to the football field. It was good talking to you, kid. I’ll see you after school.”
Coach left, leaving the two of us.
“We should probably go, too,” Titus admitted. “Make sure there’s nothing we need to do.”
Reluctantly I got up, still keeping my eyes on Perry as I climbed the bleachers.
It was only as I was leaving that she finally looked up and spotted me.
Even when she wasn’t paying attention to what was going on in front of her, she managed to make a save.
“Tell me about Perry,” I said as I walked sedately through the halls with him.
“Perry’s the leader of her band of misfits,” Titus answered. “Her, Rebel, Echo, Blue, Flo, and Temperance.”
“I haven’t heard the names Flo and Temperance,” I said.
“They’re on the cross-country team with them,” he said. “The six of them are the jocks of the girl world. And the cheerleaders hate them.”
I snorted.
“Sounds like typical high school life,” I said as we turned the corner of the hallway that would lead to the office. “Why don’t they like them, though?”
“Perry shunned the cheerleaders when she first moved here,” he said. “She tried out, made the team, and then found out that they were a bunch of douchebags to her new uncool friends, so she quit.”
Perry sounded like my kind of girl.
I didn’t like bullies. Not at all.
Especially now that Vance had turned into the asshole that his father was.
The office door opened and Titus announced us loudly to Mrs. Procell once again.
She looked up with a smile on her face.
“I don’t have anything for you,” she said. “Feel free to head to lunch early, boys.”
Titus grinned and turned us around. “Let’s go.”
Shoving my hands into my leather jacket, I walked through the nearly empty halls of the school and kept up with Titus as he gave me a rundown of the school.
Chapter 3
Pizza slut.
-Perry’s secret thoughts
Perry
“Did you see them watching us?” Blue asked as she stripped out of her sweaty shirt.
I snorted.
“They weren’t watching us,” I grumbled to her retreating back before she disappeared.
At least, I hoped they weren’t watching us.
“They so were,” Rebel admitted. “I had plenty of bench time today. Trust me when I say, the new guy couldn’t take his eyes off of you.”
I blushed profusely at the idea, wondering if it was a good thing or a bad thing to have his attention.
“He looks bad,” I admitted. “As if he gets in trouble. And trouble is the last thing that I need, and you know it.”
Rebel shrugged her shoulder unrepentantly.
“I know,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that I can’t find him attractive.”
I snickered and reached for the hem of my own shirt, pulling it up and over my head as I tossed the dirty clothes into the large hamper near the door.
Our clothes were laundered by someone, and I was honestly glad that I didn’t have to wash it myself, because three-quarters of the time I would find myself with no clothes to work out in.
Which would really suck, because I loved working out.
I loved volleyball even more, and I was extremely bummed that I wouldn’t be playing at Kilgore High next year.
This had been my life for three years now.
I just hoped that when next year rolled around, I could find a volleyball team at the college that I chose to play for.
“Whoa,” Echo said, walking up to me and poking me in the hip bone. “That’s gonna be a good one.”
I looked down at the bruise forming on my hip from my dive to stop a ball from hitting the floor, and grimaced.
“No joke,” I murmured. “It already hurts.”
Like a bitch, actually.
It hurt so bad that I was considering putting ice on it instead of running to the cafeteria for lunch like I usually did.
“I say fuck it,” Blue said, arriving back to hear the tail end of our conversation and echoing my thoughts. “It’s gonna hurt whether you put ice on it or not. And today is pizza day.”
I turned and stared at her.
“It’s not Friday. Only Fridays are pizza days!” I cried out.
She grinned and shrugged into her shirt, followed shortly by her pants.
I looked down at my sweats that were on the floor, my bra covering my breasts, and yanked my t-shirt off the top of the pile.
After shoving my feet into my shoes, I picked up my sweats, my backpack, followed by my phone.
Then I hauled ass.
Rebel, Echo, and Blue’s laughter followed me out.
It didn’t take long for them to catch up, and before long they were all running right along with me to the cafeteria.
In fact, we were running so fast and hard that even when the bell rang, we didn’t slow down.
There were a couple of really awesome things that kicked ass about being in cross-country as well as multiple sports—and one of those was having the ability to run to lunch from all the way across campus and not get winded.
By the time we arrived in the cafeteria, we were one of the first kids in the entire large room.
And, like normal Flo and Tempy arrived hot on our heels.
Breathing slightly heavy, I smiled at my favorite cafeteria lady and waved.
“I’d love to have four pieces of pizza.” I smiled.
I got my four pieces of pizza and moved until I was behind the rather large guy in line in front of me.
At first, I didn’t notice who he was because I was too busy eating my first slice of pizza to care.
And when I got to the end and heard his voice as he talked to the cafeteria lady taking payment, I stilled.
That voice sent shivers down my spine.
Even worse, I wanted to reach out and touch him to see if he was real.
I looked down at my plate, a blush lighting up my face like a Christmas Tree.
Banner moved and walked to a table that was in my peripheral vision.
“Four slices today?” the lunch lady snickered. “Nice.”
I shrugged and typed in my code, smiling at one of my favorite people in the world.
“You’re gonna need a check tomorrow, dear,” my mom said. “Don’t forget to remind me, okay?”
I winked. “Okay, Mom. Love you.”
My mom winked. “Love you, too, baby.”
Then I was moving to my usual table in the back corner of the room.
Only, my usual table was now filled with… men. Guys. Boys.
Big high school seniors.
What. The. Fuck.
I stared in shock as six sets of eyes watched me walk toward them.
I shook my head, wondering if I was seeing things.
“What the fuck?” Blue said. “This is our table.”
The
re were amused snorts that filled the air.
“New year, new table,” Titus said. “Unless you care to join us.”
I knew the moment that Blue took the challenge.
“Fine,” she said. “But just know, if those cheerleader skanks follow y’all over here, I’m going to lose my shit.”
Blue practically slammed her tray down onto the hard tabletop and roughly pulled her seat out before planting her ass into it.
I looked helplessly around the room, watching as the students rapidly filled the area and took over all the tables.
“Scared?”
I blinked, turning my eyes back around to stare at the new guy.
I knew those words had just come from him.
“No,” I said, placing my tray down and pulling out the chair, trying to feign as if I had it all under control when I didn’t. “I’m just wondering if it’s worth it to have to deal with the Bitch Squad’s shit. I really like to keep a low profile and…”
The biggest bitch of all the Bitch Squad used that moment to walk over and try to take my seat.
But my ass was already in the downward arc toward it.
Symphony—yes, that was really her name—yanked the chair out from under me and I just knew that I was about to eat tile floor with my ass.
Except a hard, rather large, strong hand wrapped around my waist and held onto me before I could make it all the way down to the ground. He shifted my entire body’s momentum until I was sitting in his lap.
Then he growled low in his throat.
“If you do not put that seat back in five seconds, I’m going to force you to,” Banner snapped, letting his gravelly voice send venom-laced words toward Symphony.
Symphony did as she was asked, moving the chair back into place almost on autopilot.
The moment that it was back, she narrowed her eyes.
“Who do you think you are?” she hissed.
As if she was fucking royalty or something.
The stupid whore.
Well, I didn’t know if she was actually a whore. But the way she flirted with every boy at this school? My suspicions were that she was.
But I did my level best to make sure that I stayed far, far away from Symphony Albertson and her cheer squad.
“I think that I’m sitting at this table, and I actually want her here,” Banner said. “The same cannot be said for you. And if she’d have hit that floor, I’d have lost my shit.”
Somethin' About That Boy Page 2
