His forehead creased. “I don’t mind walking you the rest of the way.”
“She’s a big girl, Cade. She can get there on her own,” Chloe said, sidling closer to him. “Besides, you don’t want to be late for student government. Why don’t you walk me to my next class since I’m going that same direction?”
He kept his gaze on me, frowning as she pulled him in the opposite direction. “I’ll be in touch,” he said.
“Sounds good.” I bit my lip to keep from smiling as Chloe practically yanked on his arm to get his attention. Cade arched an eyebrow at me, fighting a smile of his own before turning and walking with Chloe. After they’d walked a few yards, he glanced over his shoulder at me again. This time I couldn’t hold back the smile. I grinned and gave him a little wave. His eyes narrowed playfully before he and Chloe turned the corner and disappeared.
“Was that Cade I just saw walking with Chloe?”
I turned to see Lacey standing beside me, her mouth twisted in contempt as she placed a hand on her hip.
“Seriously? That guy really is a player,” she said.
“Actually …” I clasped my hands behind my back. “He came to find me after my last class, and Chloe sort of butted into our conversation—so I made up an excuse to get away.”
She turned to give me a disbelieving look. “You left him alone with Chloe?” She shook her head. “Harsh! What were you thinking?”
I lifted my hands. “You know what she’s like. She literally pushed herself right between us and dominated the conversation. It was completely awkward … and honestly a bit scary.” I wrinkled my nose. “Every time Cade talked to me, I could practically feel the jealousy pulsating from her. I’m sure she already knows he took me out last night.”
“Everyone knows,” Lacey interjected, touching my arm. “I promise I didn’t tell anyone about your date—even though it nearly killed me to keep it quiet,” she added. “But hot gossip like that spreads like wildfire around here. I’ve had at least a dozen people ask me about you and Cade today.”
I shook my head. “Figures.” RLA was a fairly big school—except when it came to who was dating whom. Between living on campus and social media, it was nearly impossible to keep anything a secret for long.
Lacey gave me a sympathetic look. “Well, at least if you’re being gossiped about, it’s with someone like Cade Carlisle. He is so hot.” She fanned herself. “Even if it doesn’t last long, I’m still hoping you end up kissing him at least once so I can hear all about it.”
My heart squeezed. “Is that what people are saying? That it won’t last long?”
Her eyes bulged, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I totally said that out loud, didn’t I?”
I smirked. “I guess that’s my answer.” I blew out a breath and tilted my hip. I couldn’t blame people for speculating, especially with Cade’s track record. But it still stung. Maybe agreeing to go out with him again was a mistake.
Lacey pointed at me. “I can see what you’re thinking, but you should at least give him a chance. You’re smart, Tia. You’ll know whether he’s playing you or not.” She clasped her hands. “But the way you light up when you talk about him?” She shrugged. “It’s adorable. I’ve never seen you like that before, and Cade definitely seems into you, so I say just roll with it and see what happens.”
I bit my lip. “And if I get my heart broken?”
She crossed her arms. “I’ll bust his chops.”
We laughed, and I gave Lacey a quick hug. “You’re the best. We’d better get to class before the bell rings.”
“Uh huh.” She pulled away and waggled her eyebrows. “Especially because it’s my class with you-know-who.”
I gave her a knowing nod. She looked forward to her history class every day because it was the only class she had with Oliver. “Are you going to talk to him today?” I asked, raising both eyebrows in a challenge.
“We’ll see.”
I smirked. It was the same answer she always gave. “Maybe you should take your own advice and ‘roll with it,’” I said.
She lifted her shoulders. “We’ll see,” she repeated, and she waved.
I waved back and made my way into my tech class. Unlike Lacey, I dreaded this hour. It was a painful reminder of why I should never go into a field like tech development. Even worse, because of Dad’s company, my teacher seemed determined to categorize me as some kind of tech whiz, and I was constantly disappointing her.
I sank into my seat and tapped the space bar on my computer to wake the monitor. My phone buzzed with a text. Since the bell hadn’t rung yet, I checked the screen. My heart hammered when I saw that it was from Cade.
That was brutal.
I bit my lip to hide a smile. What was? I typed.
You know what I’m talking about. I’m hurt, Radcliffe … I thought we were friends.
My smile grew. You didn’t enjoy your little chat with Chloe?
Please don’t ever leave me alone with her again.
I covered my mouth to hide a giggle. I thought most guys liked spending time with her.
She’s definitely not my type … not artsy enough.
My stomach did a little flip, but I ignored it. He was a flirt. It didn’t mean anything.
Also, I’m more into brunettes. Preferably ones with names that rhyme with “Gia.”
I laughed out loud, earning a look from my teacher. My face straightened, and I set my phone on my lap as the bell rang, typing a quick reply. Sorry, class started. I itched to see if he would reply again, but it would have to wait.
Chapter Five
After classes were over for the day, I made my way to my dorm. My bag felt heavier than usual, loaded down with an excessive amount of assignments I needed to work on. I planned to drop off some books, regroup, and then head to the library for a serious study session, but as soon as I opened the door to my room, my plans changed.
“Mom?” I blinked in surprise to see Mom standing near my closet, hanging up clothes from a pile she’d draped over a desk chair.
As soon as she saw me, she beamed. “Surprise! I was just dropping off some clothes I bought for you yesterday.” She turned and analyzed my closet, a small frown puckering her otherwise smooth brow. “I’m still disappointed about the closet space they provide for you here. I’m tempted to talk to Principal Anderson and see if we can’t do something about it.”
I smiled and shook my head. “We’ve talked about this before—I don’t need much closet space because of the uniform, remember?”
“How could I forget?” She wrinkled her nose as she eyed my uniform. “It’s such a shame. All of these beautiful clothes and you never get to wear them.”
“And yet you keep buying them,” I teased.
“I can’t help it.” She set the clothes down and opened her arms to give me a hug.
I accepted the hug, smiling as she squeezed. Mom wasn’t perfect, but her hugs definitely were.
“When I see something that I know will look cute on you, I have to buy it,” she said, pulling back but keeping her hands on my arms. “I miss you, sweetie. How are things going?” Before I could answer, she looked at me closer, her eyes going wide. “Tiara Radcliffe, don’t tell me you’ve been walking around school like that? You don’t have a stitch of makeup on!”
Busted. I dropped my boulder of a bag onto my desk, avoiding eye contact. “I was running late this morning, so I didn’t have time.”
She held up a finger. “There is always time for at a little mascara—at the very least. You have such gorgeous features, honey. Why not enhance them with a little something extra?”
I shrugged, knowing it was no use making this argument with my mom. The truth was, she wasn’t completely wrong. A little makeup did enhance my features, and done properly, it actually surprised me how pretty I looked. I’d even considered wearing some makeup today, hoping I would run into Cade, but my silent revolt against the pageants had won out in the end … that and the fact that I r
eally had slept in and had to rush to make my first class.
“Here.” She turned and dug around in her purse. “I actually bought an eyeliner for you. It’s a new brand called Lily O that everyone is raving about. Why don’t you try it and see what you think?”
“Sure.” I accepted the liner from her and moved over to the mirror above my dresser while she resumed the task of squeezing outfits into my closet. I watched her in amusement before leaning closer to the mirror to apply the liner. “Speaking of more room in my closet,” I began, even though we’d moved on from the topic, “I might be able to solve the problem.”
“Oh?” She turned, arching a curious brow. “You’re not thinking of going with a single dorm, are you? I thought you liked sharing a room with Lacey.”
“No, I love rooming with Lacey. But our school is having a charity clothes auction, and since I have more clothes than I could wear in two lifetimes, I thought it would be nice to donate some.”
“Oooo, I love that idea!” Mom turned and tapped her fingers together, her fake nails clacking together like castanets. “Will the students be modeling the clothes, like on a runway?”
I tipped my head to the side. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“They absolutely should!” Her eyes sparkled. “The students could model the clothes like a fashion show. Think how fun it would be!”
I smiled, finishing the last swipe of the liquid liner before turning to face her. Leave it to my mom to think of a way to involve a stage of some sort. As much as I didn’t love the spotlight, I admired her knack for visualizing and pulling off big events. “That’s actually not a bad idea, Mom. I’ll run it past Cade and see what he thinks.”
“Wonderful!” She paused with the little black dress she was holding halfway suspended to the closet. “Who’s Cade?”
Oops. I hadn’t meant to bring him up. I turned back to the mirror, applying mascara so she couldn’t read my expression. “Cade Carlisle. He’s our student body president and the one in charge of the auction.”
“Carlisle, as in the Carlisles who own Ascension Tech?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you talk to him often?”
I finished with the mascara and picked up eye shadow next. It felt so natural to chat with Mom while I applied makeup, just like I’d done hundreds of times in getting ready for a pageant … only this time I was using the routine as a distraction technique.
“Um, I’ve talked to him a bit lately,” I said. “Mostly about the auction. He asked me to design flyers for it.” Okay, so that wasn’t one hundred percent up front, but I didn’t dare say any more about him. If Mom knew we’d been on a date, she would for sure do something to embarrass me like follow Cade on Instagram or hound me with a million questions about him. Until I’d gotten to know him better to decide what my feelings were, it was best to play it off.
“That was nice of him … and apparently he knows you well enough to know that you’re an artist.”
I turned, stunned that she would mention my art. In all my years growing up, she’d always brushed it aside as my little “side hobby,” secondary to the all-consuming pageants. I was momentarily speechless. “Thanks, Mom,” I finally managed. I was about to add how much that compliment meant to me, when she shrugged.
“Of course. You have so many talents.” She smiled. “Speaking of which, I asked Gwendolyn if she could come over next weekend to help you run through your song for the pageant. You can come home this weekend, can’t you? It’s been too long since you’ve spent a weekend at home, and Dad misses you.”
I swallowed down the disappointment, hiding the hurt. When would she realize I didn’t care about the pageants? That they were her dream, not mine? But looking into her hopeful eyes, I couldn’t say it. It was just one more pageant. No big deal. Even with my voice instructor’s help, there was little chance I would make it to the next round anyway, especially when there were so many girls who lived for the crown.
I forced a smile. “Yeah, I can come home this weekend. I miss Dad too.” Part of me wondered about that second date with Cade, but he hadn’t mentioned anything specific. Chances were he’d already forgotten he’d asked me.
Mom beamed and gave me another hug. “I can’t wait to have you home again, sweetie! I’ll be sure to have Eduardo serve something extra special on Friday night to celebrate, and how would you feel about getting mani-pedis on Saturday after your practice with Gwendolyn?”
I pulled back and smiled. “It all sounds great … just make sure not to schedule too much. The way my teachers are piling on assignments, I’m going to need time for homework.”
“Of course.” She nodded, still smiling as she made a cross sign over her heart. “I promise not to overdo it … too much.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. Mom’s version of “not overdoing it” was on a different scale than most.
A knock sounded at the door, and we both turned. “Are you expecting someone?” she asked.
“No. Maybe Lacey forgot her key again.” The doors automatically locked for security purposes, but for the day-to-day living part, that got old fast. Most of us just left our doors partially open when we were hanging out, but in my surprise over seeing Mom, I’d forgotten.
“Coming!” I called, hurrying to the door and opening it wide. My breath hitched and my heart bounced up into my throat when I saw Cade standing on the other side.
Chapter Six
“Hey,” he said with a crooked smile. He wasn’t wearing his sweater or the tie anymore, and he looked irresistibly hot in his white uniform shirt with a few collar buttons unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up. “I got the print for the flyers and thought I’d bring them by.”
“Oh, thanks.” I pulled the door closer to me, wishing with everything in my being that Cade would suddenly run away before my mom came to the door. “I’ve kind of got something going on, so—”
“Hello there,” Mom said, opening the door wide.
Even though she was behind me, I could literally feel her reaction to Cade, could picture her smile growing to monumental proportions when she saw that the boy at my door was the cutest boy in school.
“Hey,” Cade said, offering her a dazzling smile as he reached to shake her hand. “I’m Cade.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Cade,” Mom said, shaking his hand. “I’m Raquel Radcliffe, Tiara’s mom. She was just telling me about you.”
“Tiara?” His gaze landed on me, his eyes curious.
“It’s my full name. But no one but my mom calls me that,” I said, casting a desperate glance over my shoulder at Mom and willing her to make an excuse and give us some privacy, but no such luck. She was too busy beaming at Cade to notice my face growing hot.
“I just dropped by to bring Tia—” She paused just before adding the rest of my name. “Tia some clothes. Won’t you come in?” She opened the door wider.
Cade smiled. “I’d love to, but boys aren’t allowed in the girls’ dorms.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Of course. As it should be. And how good of you to keep the rules. Tia told me you’re the student body president, so I’m sure it’s important for you to set the example.”
Ugh. Please. Stop. Talking, I silently pleaded.
Cade met my eyes, one corner of his mouth lifting. “Really? What else did she say about me?”
“I was telling her about the clothes auction,” I blurted, desperate to make it clear that I hadn’t been talking about him beyond that. “That’s how your name came up.”
His smile deepened as if he saw right through my excuses. “Did Tia tell you I asked her to design the flyers and posters?” he asked, his eyes lingering on mine a moment before he looked at my mom. “She’s an amazing artist.”
“She did tell me.” Mom nodded. “And in fact, I have a few suggestions for the auction if you’re interested.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Definitely. What were you thinking?”
Mom made a show of checking her watch. “Oh dear … I�
��d love to discuss it, but I’m afraid I’m late for an appointment.” She gave Cade a little shrug. “I’ve just invited Tia home for the weekend. How would you feel about joining us for dinner on Friday night, and we can talk over some of these ideas then?”
My throat made a little squeaking sound, and it took me a second to find my voice. “Mom, I’m sure he already has plan—”
“I’d love that,” Cade interjected. “In fact, I’d be happy to drive her there on Friday.” He gave me a questioning look. “If that works for you?”
My mouth opened as I faltered for words. “Um …” How was anyone supposed to say no to those captivating brown eyes … not to mention the dimple? I swallowed, finally nodding. “Sure, I guess.”
“Excellent!” Mom clapped her hands. “Let’s say seven o’clock. Tia can give you directions. It was so nice to meet you, Cade.” Mom’s smile was something to behold on a normal day, but she was outdoing herself. I almost needed sunglasses.
“It was nice to meet you too, Mrs. Carlisle,” Cade said, matching her smile.
She grabbed her designer clutch from the table by the door. “Call me Raquel. I look forward to seeing both of you on Friday.” She gave me a peck on the cheek. “Bye, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Mom. Thanks for the clothes,” I said. Even though I may never forgive you for this, I silently added.
“You’re welcome, sweetie. Bye, Cade.”
“See you.”
She looked between us with unmasked delight before turning and walking down the hall, the clacking sound of her heels echoing off the walls.
Cade turned to me with a teasing glimmer in his eyes. “So … you talked about me, huh?”
My pulse spiked at the look in his eyes, but I smirked to hide how much he affected me. “I told you, your name only came up because of the fundraiser.”
Don't Kiss The Heartbreaker (Billionaire Academy YA Romance Book 3) Page 4
