First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) (34 page)

I really cannot deal with his shit this morning.

“The same warm-up I wore last Friday, why?” I grit out.

“Because you have the hottest tits and ass in this school, that’s why!” His voice is much closer now.

My fingers itch to punch his foul mouth. Instead, I push my hands that already rest on my hips toward my stomach. The pressure eases the pain somewhat.

“I don’t want Eddie seeing you like this,” he murmurs.

I open my eyes and turn to find him standing right next to me, coffee cup in hand. He’s wearing a weird expression.

“He saw me in it last week. I already regret telling you anything. You obviously still don’t believe me. Don’t make it worse. Go implement your Dream Girl program. Get out of here,” I sneer at him, my teeth ground together to keep the vomit down.

“Are you all right? Are you still sick?” His tone of voice softens with worry.

I’m too pissed off to care. Maybe if he hadn’t been so busy checking out my “tits and ass,” he would’ve noticed I don’t feel well. Funny what a difference a week makes. Last week, it made me feel slightly empowered that he was checking me out in this exact same outfit. Knowing what I know now about Dream Girl only makes me feel sicker. Jocks are all the same. No matter who they want or might be in a relationship with, their dicks rule their minds. I’m still not entirely convinced he didn’t screw Sabrina.

“I have cramps. Now. Go. Away.”

He sets the coffee cup on top of my locker and holds a hand out to me. “Evie, do you trust me?”

“No. Go annoy your Dream Girl. I can’t deal with you today.”

“I’m sorry, Evie.” He pulls me into him.

Resistance is futile. He splays his left hand over the small of my back, holding me against him tightly. The glorious pressure and warmth from his body eases my cramps. With his right hand, he runs his knuckles up and down the length of my spine in a slow, relaxing motion. I melt against his chest, close my eyes, and release the breath I held when he first touched me.

Holy God. I’m wrapped up in Rob Falls. My head rests on his hard chest. The sound of his heart beats steady and strong in my ear. His unique scent surrounds me, more calming than lavender. And I’m absolute butter.

“Feel better?” He mumbles into my hair, his face resting on the top of my head.

My only answer is a whimper. God, this is good.

“I’m sorry. I’m being an ass, and I know it. I’m just so pissed off about…everything. I shouldn’t have said that to you, and I’m…” He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry.”

I breathe him in as deeply as my lungs can expand. My nausea abates. Rob Falls is an other-worldly experience.

His chest rises and falls against me with each breath, fanning softly over my hair. Then he presses a kiss to the top of my head that lasts longer than a kiss from him should. I’m vaguely aware that all of our classmates must be watching us right now. Frankly, this is another selfish risk to his image I’m willing to take in the name of menstrual cramp relief.

“Rob,” I moan. “Everyone can see us, including Dream Girl.”

“Shh,” he whispers into my hair. “I don’t care.”

“That is in direct violation of the code of Operation Dream Girl. You should care.” Ten more seconds of bliss, and then I’ll step away.

“I did not agree to a code of conduct,” he laughs.

“Seriously though. All you have to do is give her a taste of this, and she’ll be putty in your magical hands. No joke.”

“Are you putty in my hands, my girl?”

The husky tone of his voice floods my girly parts with something other than shed uterine lining, but I shake my head. No way do I want him to know anything about that.

“Evie,” he whispers. His voice sounds unsure, a little tortured. “You believe me about Sabrina, right? Nothing happened, I promise you.”

I moan against his chest as I hear Kerri getting into her locker beside me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful for her presence. This morning, it means that I won’t have to think about or respond to Rob’s question. She’s going to have a shit fit over this little scene. She’s been very vocal so far this year about her designs on Rob. I would know. I have to sit and listen to it. Every freaking morning in homeroom, she rails against me about The Bio Effect.

“Rob,” she giggles. “What are you doing with
Eva
?”

The way she says my name makes my skin crawl. God, she is such a bitch. I was so glad when Rob said she wasn’t Dream Girl.

I feel him lift his head, but his chin still rests atop mine before he answers. “Makin’ my girl feel better. How are you this fine morning, Kerri?”

I pinch him in his side for that infraction. He jumps, chuckling above me, but doesn’t release his grip or stop his ministrations.

“Your girl? Oh, you mean your biology partner. Such a shame that you were forced into that against your will. And then to have to tutor her in calculus too? You’re already so busy with football and everything. It really isn’t fair for you to have to take on more than you can handle. And the rumors going around about you two are such a shame. Obviously not true.”

I almost want to stay plastered against him just to spite her. My whole body itches with the desire to wrap my arms around his waist instead of leaving them hanging limply at my sides, but I don’t dare make this look too mutual and cozy in case Dream Girl is floating around nearby.

I feel him shrug. “I don’t mind.”

“Well, what’s wrong with you this morning, Eva?” I open my mouth to answer, but she immediately drones on. “Should you even be so close to her, Rob? She wasn’t here yesterday. What if she’s contagious? We can’t afford for you to miss the game tonight!”

I’m surprised she stopped to breathe.

He laughs, a deep throaty sound that sends reverberations through me. “I’m pretty sure I can’t catch it.”

As much as I hate to break my sweet cocoon, I put my hands up to his chest and press against him so he’ll let go.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Enough.”

He releases me without question.

Kerri is on him faster than I can step away, running her finger down his chest. “You’re so sweet, always thinking of others. We’re going to be playing some senior games at the pep rally today. Wanna pair up?”

He shrugs and takes a step back. “We’ll see. Who’s all playing?”

“I guess you’ll have to wait and find out.” She winks at him and steps back over to her own locker.

I fight the urge to gag.

Jess walks past moaning. She’s in the same predicament as me although maybe not as severely. Since we used to spend so much time together, Jess, Alyssa, and I all cycle at the same time. It actually works out nicely. We commiserate, and people know to collectively not annoy any of us for about a week. Rob steps behind me to let Jess into her locker that he was leaning against. She shoots him a confused look.

“Quite the slave driver, aren’t we, Falls? Making the poor girl work on math first thing in the morning? Trust me, this is not the week to bother her.” She turns to swirl her combination into the lock, shooting me a sideways glance.

I pretend not to notice and grab my calc books since it’s the first class of the morning. Joy.

“I am well aware of that, Miss O’Brien, but I’m just so damn good at getting under her skin that I can’t resist the temptation. It’s entirely too much fun.” He squeezes my shoulders and calls out as he’s leaving, “Enjoy your latte, Evie.”

I don’t miss the pointed look that Jess throws my way over his word choices, but I’m too busy figuring out the caffeine riddle.

Latte? What latte? My eyes sweep the area and find the container still on top of my locker. Oh. I thought that was his. I pull it down and take a sip. Nope, not his. This is my favorite drink again. Okay, he’s forgiven for the tits and ass comment. That whole T&A thing is genetically programmed into guys, anyway. He probably didn’t mean to be offensive.

As I suck down a healthy gulp of liquid happy, Jess stares at me, waiting for something. “Yes?”

She always wins the stare downs. I can’t take it.

“You lucky bitch!” She squeals and slaps my arm, causing me to nearly spill the hot drink all over myself. She grabs the container from me, swallowing down a large gulp. “He even got your favorite!”

As I watch her suck down
my
latte, I’m spun around by the arm to face an extra bitchy Kerri. Her eyes narrow at me dangerously. “What game are you playing, lucky bitch?”

Jess steps up to us. I can tell already that she’s gunning for a fight. It’s that time of the month after all.

“I’m not playing any game, Kerri. Calm the fuck down.”

“Yeah, it’s not her fault that Rob can’t fight The Bio Effect and wants to tutor her in
everything
.” Jess wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Are you holding out on me, Evie? Are the rumors true? Are you two
together
?”

I steal my liquid crack from her greedy clutch and bang my locker closed.

“No!” I yelp, wiping the excess latte from my mouth with the back of my hand after my prodigious defense.

Kerri gets in my face, her hands on her hips, giving me her most menacing look. Which isn’t really all that threatening because I’m pretty sure I could take her. “You’re damn right you’re not. Why would Rob Falls ever be interested in someone like you? He’s out of your league, Eva. So don’t bother. He’s
mine
.”

“Actually…” I raise my eyebrows at her over the lid of my cup. “He’s not.”

I probably shouldn’t be sharing any information about Rob’s love life with anyone, but I hate Kerri so much that I just can’t help it. If he gets mad at me later, I’ll claim my brains rushed out of my vagina with all the blood. That should be sufficient cover.

“Yes!” Jess puts her arm around me, throwing shade at Kerri. “I knew it!”

I look over at her with a frown. “He’s not mine, either, Jess.”

I shrug, trying to play it off as no big deal. “He’s apparently been head over heels with the same girl since ninth grade. He’s making a play for her even as we speak. Rob’s actually kind of shy when it comes to girls.”

“And just where did you get this information from, hmm?” Kerri says a little too sweetly. That’s much scarier than her menacing voice.

“Straight from the horse’s mouth,” I answer calmly, tipping up my cup. Hopefully, that will be enough to get her off my back.

Jess whacks me on the back as Kerri huffs past us into homeroom. “You dumbass, it’s you!”

She’s loopy this month, that much is sure. “No, it’s not. We’re just friends.”

“Do friends bring you coffee in the morning and touch you affectionately?” She digs in her locker for her books.

“Yeah. That’s nothing you and I wouldn’t do for each other.”

“Uh-huh.” She rolls her eyes at me and slams her locker shut. “Then why are there rumors going around that you two are together?”

“Because of biology, duh. Seriously. He’s been hung up on this other girl forever, but was always just too shy to make a move. He and I have only been talking for a few weeks. It’s not me. Get over it.”

“It’s totally you, Evie.”

I sigh and lean against my locker, knowing she won’t shut up until I find some clear cut proof of this.

“It’s not me, Jess. What about this,” I gesture at myself, “makes you think that he’s been after me since ninth grade? You thought that was the reason he constantly defended me against Eddie, remember? If he were into me, he would’ve said so by now. It’s not like he hasn’t had plenty of opportunity. Since we’ve been paired up, he’s worked really hard to convince me that he’s not just trying to get into my pants because he thinks I’m easy. He’s a nice guy, I’ll admit, but he hasn’t shown an ounce of romantic interest. He’s made it clear he just wants to be friends.”

I take another sip of my latte. “So again, I ask you: where do you come up with this stuff?”

“Oh, I dunno…with evidence? Like the fact that Eddie showed up to one of their dumb athletic conferences last year right around the time you two called it quits. He was running his mouth about how you weren’t good enough to satisfy him. Rob laughed his ass off and said something to the effect of, ‘I know you’re a fucking liar Hinton because fucking her would be the best thing ever.’”

“Did you attend this athletic conference?”

Tamping down my returning nausea is a monumental feat. I’ve heard this song and dance before. A little something right before Rob blew a gasket at a bunch of mouthy-assed sophomore punks. Is this what they were referring to, and he was trying to keep it from me? I’m not sure I want to know. Then again, it could just be a rumor. Just like all the other news that travels through this school.

“Nope, but Ashton did.” She grins at me, convinced she’s won.

I roll my eyes into my aching skull and head into homeroom. Ashton is Jess’s boyfriend and would’ve given Jess a detailed account, true. The fact that she didn’t tell me about it last year right after it happened gives me pause. Why haven’t I heard this story from anyone else through the grapevine, either? Between the nausea, cramps, and my aching head, I push my confused thoughts aside. I have a calc quiz to tackle before I can think any more about this.