He frowned at me, moving so close I could smell his aftershave and feel the heat of his body. I took a quick, shaky step backward, cursing Daphne for suggesting I wear heels.
“And you think that I can?” he asked, honest confusion warring with a bitterness I’d never seen before.
That made me stop and hold my ground. “Yes,” I said simply. “I think you can.”
A silence fell between us so overwhelming I could hear my own heart beating in my chest.
“If you don’t have student council president on your applications, you’ll still get in to any school of your choosing,” I said, trying and failing to keep my voice calm and rational, but really—this was everything I’d always hated about this guy, and the fact that I had to stand here and spell it out made years’ worth of injustice and anger rise to the surface. “You have all the sports and extracurriculars, and I know for a fact that you have the grades, and even if you didn’t…”
His brows drew down when I trailed off. “Go ahead,” he said, his voice eerily calm. “Say it.”
“Even if you didn’t, you have connections,” I said. “You have money.”
His jaw worked. “So…what? You think I should just sit back and have my dad buy me a spot at a good college?”
“No, that’s not what I…” I heaved a sigh. “All I’m saying is, you don’t need the scholarship money, and you don’t need every extra credit project and every club and—”
“Is that what you think of me?” His brows drew together in disbelief. “Is that what you think? That just because I can buy my way through life, that I will?”
My lips parted as I searched for the right answer. I wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction. He was furious, clearly, but worse than that…I had a horrible feeling he was hurt.
“I—I don’t know what to think when it comes to you.” It was the truth, but it didn’t help. His eyes grew wide—crazed, even.
“Yeah, you do,” he said. “You clearly made up your mind a long time ago. So just tell me, Kate. Do you think I’m just another rich jerk who’d rather buy a spot at college than earn it?”
When I hesitated, he thrust a hand through his hair with a little growl. I’d never seen him lose his cool like this. But that wasn’t the shocking part.
The shocking part was…he kissed me. More precisely—he crushed his mouth to mine, his hands on my cheeks and his breathing heavy as I froze beneath him. I went hot all over in the heartbeat it took for my lips and skin to register the feel of his firm lips over mine.
And then he was gone. Letting me go just as quickly as he’d grabbed me.
I wasn’t sure who was more surprised when we stood there gaping at each other.
“What was that?” I managed to sputter when at last my lungs remembered how to work.
“Sorry.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I don’t know what came over me. I just…” He exhaled harshly and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling. “You just drive me crazy sometimes.”
I touched my fingers to my lips. I drove him crazy? “I drive you crazy?” It was all I could manage, and the idea was laughable. Especially right now when I was standing there, floored and totally twisted upside down because he’d kissed me.
Miller Hardwell had kissed me. Not a big kiss—not some crazy sweet kiss or even a passionate French kiss.
Although there had been passion. Just…not the right kind. Just anger. The same anger that raged between us every other day of the year. Me wearing different clothes didn’t change that. It didn’t change anything.
I was still me, and he was still him, and we were once again at each other’s throats.
Somehow that thought had tears stinging my eyes. Ludicrous. Totally stupid. It wasn’t like I wanted Miller Hardwell to have feelings for me. I was just confused, that was all.
That was what happened when I went from dancing with my arch nemesis to fighting with him to being kissed by him…all in the course of one hour.
My head was spinning, that was all.
“Are you…are you crying?” He sounded so horrified, it might have been funny. You know, if I wasn’t verging on tears.
“No,” I snapped. “Of course not. I’m just…I’m just pissed, that’s all.”
“I said I’m sorry—”
“No.” I jabbed a finger into his chest. “You don’t get off that easy. Not this time. You don’t get to avoid a conversation by kissing me.”
“This is not a conversation,” he shot back. “This is accusations, by you, about me. And I’m pissed too, because I thought you knew me better than that. I thought…” He shook his head and thrust his hands into his hair in frustration, and I found myself dying to know what he’d been about to say.
“You thought what?” I said, some of the heat gone from my voice because curiosity was taking its place. I’d never seen this Miller—I’d never seen him so sincere about anything in my life. He was angry, sure, but beneath that was a sincerity that was disarming. Alarming, even.
“I always knew you didn’t like me, but I thought you understood me,” he said. “I thought…” He exhaled loudly in exasperation. “I thought we understood each other.”
I sniffed because…yeah, maybe he had a point. “We’re both competitive,” I said. “And we’re both over-achievers, but that’s where the similarities end.” I crossed my arms and looked around at his pool house. His pool house. “We come from different worlds.”
“Right,” he said, his voice low as he studied me. “And in my world, everything comes so easily.”
I didn’t miss the sarcasm, but I couldn’t argue with him. “Doesn’t it?”
He met my gaze steadily and for so long, I started to feel the weight of it in my chest, like I was feeling his emotions even if I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say.
“How long did it take you to study for last week’s bio quiz?” he asked.
I blinked stupidly in the face of that non sequitur. “Um, I don’t know…” I shrugged. “A couple hours?”
He let out a humorless laugh. “I studied every night for two weeks straight. After football practice and on top of the other extracurriculars.” He looked away before turning back to me. “What about your speech this week? It’s done, right?”
I furrowed my brow. Of course, it was done. I didn’t even need to answer, because he knew it.
“Of course, it’s done. I’ve been agonizing over a blank piece of paper for a week,” he said.
“What’s your point?” I asked.
His smirk lacked all humor. Instead it held a derisiveness that I hated, mainly because I felt like it was aimed at himself. “I’m saying I might have the money and the parties, but when it comes to everything else, nothing comes easily.”
I tried to hold back my scoff of disbelief, but it slipped out, and I watched his eyes darken with intensity again.
Goodness gracious, my heart sped up exponentially when he looked at me like that.
“I’m serious, Kate. You have no idea how jealous I am of you—how jealous I’ve always been.”
“You,” I repeated in blatant shock. “You have been jealous of me?”
He widened his eyes. “I’ve never been good at anything in my entire life.”
“Oh, please,” I interrupted.
“I’m serious. I get good grades, but only because I work my butt off to catch up to people like you who seem to pick everything up instantly.”
“I don’t—” I started to protest, but he was on a roll.
“Take football,” he said. “I’ve never been naturally athletic. My whole life I practiced longer and harder than anyone else, and I’m still second string.”
I blinked in surprise because I’d thought…I mean, I’d just assumed he wasn’t first string because he hadn’t wanted it enough. I’d assumed anything he’d really wanted he got with a snap of his fingers.
Guilt had me gnawing on my lower lip, b
ut I wasn’t ready to agree with him. Two years of frustration wouldn’t disappear in a heartbeat just because he wasn’t as untouchable as I’d thought.
“Oh yeah?” I said, not loving the immature note of challenge in my voice. “Well, try staying on top of classwork and leading every club…all while working part-time as well.” I took a step closer so I was in his face. “Do you have any idea how much free time I have?”
He opened his mouth, but I was too quick. “None.” I held up a zero with my fingers. “None at all. So while everyone in school is talking about how much fun they had at your latest party, or hanging out at the game, or going to the movies…I have to sit there and try not to yawn because my every available evening and weekend hour is spent making money so I can contribute.”
His brows fell as he studied me and—ugh. I hated that look. Pity was there in his eyes. I hurried on before he could say something patronizing about my part-time job. “And friends,” I hurried on, gesturing to the crowd of people outside. “You came here and in minutes you were the king of this school. And you’re telling me that didn’t come easily?”
His expression turned jaded. “No, that’s the one area where money has gotten me something.”
I cringed at the self-deprecating tone. “You don’t really think that,” I said. “You strut through the school—”
“I strut?” he interrupted.
“And everyone fawns all over you. Every girl wants you, and every guy wants to be you and—”
“Because I throw parties,” he said like it was a no-brainer. “Because I can spring for a limo or a night out at a restaurant.” He shrugged. “Really? Is that what you’re so jealous of?”
“Yes! It’s just one of so many ways you have it easy. You’re liked by everyone—”
“And you’re likeable!” he shouted.
I stared at him, and we shared a moment of awkward silence. “Was that supposed to be an insult?” I asked. “Because it wasn’t a very good one.”
He huffed and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “It’s not an insult. I wasn’t at this school for more than a minute before I realized that everyone loves the sweet, kind, smart, reliable Kate Andrews.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, they love me so much that no one has ever invited me to a party.”
It slipped out before I could stop myself, and as soon as it did, I wished I could call it back because something in Miller’s expression shifted again and it made me furious.
“Don’t look at me like that! I’m not looking for pity,” I said with a sneer.
“You could have fooled me,” he said.
I gasped with outrage. “You’re one to talk. Boo hoo, I have to work hard for my grades.” I jabbed a finger at him again. “You and I both know that even if you slacked off, it wouldn’t matter—”
“But I don’t,” he shouted. “I never have. I’m not going to pay for the things I want rather than earn them. That’s how my dad rolls. That’s the way my mom lives. I’m not going to be like that. I’m going to work for the things I want. I’m going to earn them.”
I blinked in shock at the vehemence in his voice.
“You know better than anyone that I have never slacked off, and I never will—even if it means you have a fight on your hands for your oh-so-precious student council president job.”
I clenched my hands at my sides. “You don’t even want it.”
“What?” he said. “Of course, I do.” But his flinch gave him away.
“No. You don’t,” I said the words slowly, over enunciating like he was an idiot. He wasn’t an idiot, but right now he was acting like one. “That’s why you can’t finish your speech—you have nothing to say.” I knew I was right as I was saying it, because I knew him. We might not have been friends, but I’d gotten to know him as my enemy, and that meant I knew him even better than a friend in some ways. I’d studied this guy like a textbook for two years. I knew how he worked—even if he did manage to surprise me tonight with that kiss.
A rush of heat hit me all over again as my brain tried to follow down that path and remember the sensation. Not the time, brain! We could obsess over that later. Right now, I had a battle to win, and battling with Miller? This was something I knew how to do. That was second nature.
My gaze focused on him. That was why he was running for student council president. The realization smacked me in the face, and as I met his gaze head on, I knew I was right. “I don’t know who you think you need to prove yourself to, but it’s not me.” I shook my head, frustration making my throat feel choked all over again. “It was never me, Miller.”
The silence that followed was unbearable. I felt like I’d said too much. Or maybe I hadn’t said enough. I didn’t know, I just hated whatever this was between us. Like two years’ worth of animosity coming to the surface, and it was making me rethink everything, making me doubt everything I thought was true.
Making me see him in a whole new light.
I took a step back. I didn’t know if I wanted to see him in a new light.
He seemed to be reading my mind, because his shoulders slumped as he met my gaze. “Of course, I had something to prove to you,” he said. “Because you’ve always looked at me like this.” He waved a hand in my general direction. “Everyone else was impressed by parties, they like me because I’m on the team or because I pick up the bill when we go out. But you…” He shook his head. “Nothing I do impresses you. Nothing I do ever earns your respect—”
“That’s not true,” I interrupted with a frown. “It’s not that I don’t respect you.”
He arched his brows in disbelief, and I shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s not,” I said. As I said it, I realized it was true. I might not have liked the guy, or his methods, but I’d never thought he wasn’t a worthy competitor. “You’re smart, and you work hard.” I shrugged. “You’re an excellent rival.”
He stared at me for a long moment. “Are you serious right now?”
I felt my lips twitching up in response, more because his laugh was kind of infectious when it wasn’t at my expense. I shrugged again. “Yeah, I am. You are a worthy competitor, Miller Hardwell.”
He tilted his head to the side as he considered me, and I found myself holding my breath. The guy was hot, and he knew it. But there were times when he wasn’t just handsome, he was…compelling. Times like this when he was looking at me like he saw me. Like he got me.
Times like this when he was walking toward me slowly, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I felt a nervous laugh bubbling up the closer he got. “It’s definitely the nicest thing I’ve ever said to you.”
He smiled that sexy lopsided smile as he stopped just inches away. “Thank you.”
I blinked in surprise because…he was serious. He was actually grateful that I’d acknowledged that he was smart and ambitious. As if there was any question. But that was when it dawned on me. He’d wanted my respect—he’d wanted to earn it. Because…because…
“You respect me.” What a stupid thing to say, and it sounded even lamer because it came out all breathy, filled with awe.
His brows shot up. “Was there ever any doubt?”
I echoed his words unintentionally. “Are you serious right now?”
He frowned in confusion. “Of course, I respect you.”
“You make fun—”
“I tease,” he interrupted. “It’s what I do. But Kate…whether you’re dressed like this—" He let out a loud exhale. “Which is hot as hell, by the way. Or whether you’re sporting pigtails and a hoop skirt—”
“I don’t wear—”
“Either way,” he said over my interruption. “You are the fiercest person I know.”
He took a step closer, and I held my breath again because the scent of him was going straight to my head like a drug, addling my senses. Or maybe that was his voice, all low and sexy. Or maybe it was the look in his eyes as he drew so close I cou
ld touch him. “You, Kate Andrews, are stronger, smarter, and more ambitious than anyone I’ve ever met. And that is…”
I was getting lightheaded, but I couldn’t breathe. Not until he finished that sentence. That is…nerdy? Crazy? Freakish?
He reached out and brushed back a lock of hair. “That is so sexy.”
10
Miller
I shouldn’t do it. Once was bad enough, and I was still trying to figure out what I’d been thinking when I’d kissed her before. Don’t do it.
Too late I realized that the voice of reason in the back of my brain was fading fast. It was being drowned out by this overwhelming need to touch her. To hold her.
To kiss her.
Logic and reason ground to a halt as I watched her lips part on a gasp as I leaned forward. Her beautiful blue eyes were wide with expectation and…wanting. She wanted this as much as I did.
I groaned with defeat as I tipped my head down and kissed her. Again. But this time was completely different. This wasn’t rushed madness, or a crazy impulse.
This was deliberate. And it. Was. Perfect.
Her lips were warm and soft, her mouth sweet and welcoming as I brushed my lips over hers. Gently, and with excruciating care, I touched her hair, her face, her neck. Letting her get used to the feel of me, too, as her hands reached out hesitantly, fluttering over my chest and my shoulders, like she wasn’t quite sure where they should land. I pulled back slightly, hating the distance but needing to know. “Have you ever been kissed before, Kate?”
She blinked, her eyes sweetly dazed, but a wariness creeping in as my words registered and she shook her head.
She thought I was going to make fun of her. Crazy girl. She could have no idea how much that little shake of her head meant to me. How my chest ached at the knowledge that she was trusting me with her first kiss. That I was able to get this close to a girl who was honestly the most amazing person I knew.
I leaned down until my nose brushed against hers, hoping she could feel my sincerity as I said, “Well then, I’m honored to be your first kiss.”
I heard her inhale, I could practically hear her brain working trying to figure out if I was teasing or not. I held my breath for the heartbeat it took her to deliberate. “I’m not joking, Kate.”
My Know-It-All Nemesis: Sweet Mountain High Page 8
