Studying Boys (13 page)

Huh.

Okay.

I started dancing with him. He looked about twenty, had blond hair cut short. He was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, a total prep. Nothing like my bad boy Theo in his black clothes and shaggy haircut. This guy was way more my type. Probably did his homework and everything.

Then Theo grabbed my wrist and turned me back toward him, immediately anchoring his hands around my waist and hauling me against him. "You're here with me," he said firmly.

"This is true." Why not? I threw my hands around his neck and danced. "You're arrogant."

"I don't share my woman."

I laughed then, feeling empowered and delicious. "I am so not your woman."

"They why are you dancing with me?"

"Education." I couldn't stop the grin that came over my face at his sullen look. "What? Did you think I wanted to get in line for the make-out-with-Theo-and-then-get-dumped parade?"

He frowned. "How do you know I'd dump you?"

I twisted my fingers in the hair at the base of his neck. "When have you ever not dumped a girl?"

His scowl deepened and he said nothing.

"See? That's what happens when you hang with an intelligent girl, Theo. She's too smart to get sucked into your scheme."

He kissed my forehead. "I always knew there was a reason I hated anything to do with studying. What good are girls who are too smart to fall for my lines?"

Okay, so now my forehead was on fire from his kiss. Maybe I did want to get used and dumped by Theo after all. Or not.

Then he kissed my nose, and I started to forget to keep moving with the music. "You're a jerk," I said.

"Not always." Then he kissed my left cheek.

"And you treat girls badly." Oh, God. It felt so good. I didn't want to stop him this time. I really didn't. I wanted my first kiss. I wanted it to be right then. And I wanted it to be with Theo.

"Not always." He kissed my right cheek.

"I'm not one of your women," I whispered. "I'm really not."

"I know." And then he kissed me on the lips. A real kiss. Lips, tongue and everything. And I kissed him back. Hard. And I couldn't hear the music anymore. I didn't feel any of the other dancers bumping against us. All I could feel were Theo's hands on my back, moving and caressing. And his lips on mine. And his tongue in my mouth.

And I never wanted to stop. Ever.

His hands were on my shoulder blades, then my lower back, then one was on the back of my neck, and then on my butt.... My butt!

I wrenched myself away from him and backed away.

My legs were shaking, I could barely breathe, and my heart was racing. Racing!

And Theo didn't look smug at all. Good thing, or I totally would have kneed him in the groin. He was looking a little confused and dazed, exactly how I felt. I drew in a rattled breath and touched my lips.

Unbelievable.

That had been amazing.

Theo held out his arms and I backed away again.

"Where are you going?"

"You grabbed my butt."

He grinned, back to his cocky self. "I know."

Oh… I liked that confused and dazed expression so much better. I didn't want to see that arrogant one. I sighed. "You had to ruin it, didn't you?"

He didn't look contrite. "Grabbing your butt ruined it?"

"No." It just scared the hell out of me. "You ruined it by getting that arrogant look on your face, like you just won by getting me to kiss you." And he had. For a minute, I thought he'd felt all the same emotions that I'd felt from that kiss. But now, he looked cocky and arrogant, like I was another one of his conquests. "But that's okay. I wouldn't want to forget what you're really like."

I needed some water. To dump on my head. Or his head. One or the other. Didn't really matter which. Just something to get myself to stop thinking about Theo's kiss and his arms around me.

So I turned and walked away.

Theo caught up to me in about two seconds. "Where are you going?"

"To get some water." I didn't look at him. How could I? I was so confused right now about how I was feeling and how I was supposed to feel and about who he was.

"I'll get it."

I shot him a glance. "You're still a jerk."

"Apparently."

That was the first time he hadn't at least partially denied the accusation. Not sure what that meant.

He stopped next to an empty table. "Save this table. I'll be back with drinks."

I sighed and agreed. For a scumbag, he was being awfully nice.

But he was still a butt-grabbing, arrogant jerk.

It took Theo almost twenty minutes to get our drinks and return, giving me plenty of time to forget about his kiss and his touch. I even had the opportunity to do some crowd-watching.

Theo set my water on the table and sat down next to me, not trying to touch me or anything.

Which was fine.

"So," he said.

"What?"

"I guess we should talk."

About the kiss?

"About The Homework Club," he said.

"Oh, yeah."

He took a sip of his soda. "That's why we're here. For The Homework Club."

"I know."

"So, did you enjoy the kiss?"

"What?" I promptly sprayed the water I'd been drinking all over the table. Theo just grinned and handed me a napkin.

"The kiss? Did you enjoy it?"

"What kind of a question is that?" I wiped the table and tried to keep from falling off my chair out of shock. Wasn't that against kissing etiquette to ask me if I liked it? I mean, what was I supposed to say? If I said yes, then it would feed his ego even more and I'd lose all chance of getting his help and his respect. If I said no, then that would be a lie, and we both knew it.

He leaned back in his seat and fixed his gaze on me. "The point of tonight was to make you understand how much fun girls and guys can really have. Assuming you agree that tonight was fun, I'm hoping you understand that you can't ask guys and girls to study together and not have any fun. Would you really be happy just sitting down with me and a book, and having that be it?"

Um, no. But I wasn't going to admit that to him. "You don't count."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't."

"So, you didn't enjoy the kiss?"

Why was he pushing the kiss thing? "It was fine."

"Fine? I gave you the best I had."

I looked up, and for an instant, I thought I heard a catch in his voice, like he'd dropped all pretense and was actually serious. Theo, worried about his kisses? Like he had to worry. My knees wouldn't stop trembling for a week. Not that Mr. Arrogant needed to hear that. The more I ignored him, the nicer he was to me. "But I will acknowledge that tonight was fun in general."

"But not the kiss?"

I almost laughed. He was insecure. Good to know. Some of my hostility toward him faded, and I patted his shoulder. "So, tonight makes me realize two things. One, yes, there can be some serious fun when guys and girls get together. And two, if someone was in the mood to ... ah ..."

"Kiss?"

"Yes. Anyway, if someone was in the mood to do that, it would take more than me to stop them." There, that was as close as I'd come to admitting that kissing held a certain amount of appeal.

"So, you did enjoy the kiss?" he pressed.

Yes, Theo was definitely obsessed. "So, I'll adjust The Homework Club as long as you promise to help. A compromise."

He turned to face me, his expression serious. "Why won't you admit you liked the kiss?"

I ignored the question. "So, is it a deal?"

He shook his head. "No deal."

I eyed him, almost amused by his intense expression. He wasn't looking arrogant right now. He was looking serious and concerned, and my heart softened toward him. Theo might not be the nicest guy to the girls he dated, but underneath, he was a good guy. I knew it, because I'd known him forever. Maybe it was time to remember the Theo I knew, instead of the Theo he showed to everyone else. "Now what?"

"I'll help you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You go on a real date with me."

I choked on nothing. If total panic and shock can be called nothing. It took almost a minute to stop coughing. "What?"

"A date. Not an education thing. A date."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're just mad because I won't tell you you're a good kisser."

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"I'll be grounded after tonight."

"For about a day, until you bring home a perfect grade on another test."

True. Good grades counted for an awful lot in my house. "Are you going to grab my butt again?"

"No." He didn't hesitate. "That didn't go over so well."

I grinned. At least the boy was learning. "Let's have a study date."

His face contorted into a grimace. "A study date? That's not what I had in mind."

"Tonight was your world. It was fun and I'd do it again." And I would. It rocked. Even the kiss. Especially the kiss. "But I still have to study and stuff. So you come to my world this time."

"A study date?"

"Yes." I stood up. "You can think on it. I need to get home."

Theo shook his head in disbelief about the study date the whole way back to the car.

And when we got to my house, with the front porch lights blazing like searchlights looking out for me, he put the car into park and rested his arm over the back of my seat. "Study date?"

"Emphasis on study." Was he going to kiss me good night? And if he tried, should I let him? Or not?

The front door of my house slammed open and my mom came out on the doorstep. So much for the kiss. "Theo, will you do me a favor?"

He lifted a brow. "What?"

"Walk me to the door. If my mom knows I was out with you, she won't freak so badly. You're like my brother."

He twirled his fingers through my hair and gave a long look at my mouth. "For the record," he said. "I'm definitely not your brother."

My skin began to prickle. "No kidding."

My response must have mollified him, because he turned off the car and got out, catching up to me before I'd taken two steps from the car. And the whole way up the walk to my mom, he had his fingers barely touching my lower back. A touch to say he was there to support me, that he was on my team, that he wasn't going to abandon me to my mom's wrath. And I loved it.

I stopped in front of my mom. "Mom."

She didn't smile. "Frances."

I gestured to my escort. "You remember Blue's brother, Theo?"

My mom eyed Theo. "Yes, I do."

"Good evening, Mrs. Spinelli." Theo shook my mom's hand and met her gaze. The guy was facing down my mom for me. That might, just might, make up for the butt-grabbing incident. And if it did, where did that leave us? Back with the amazing kiss and the invitation for a real date?

Oh, wow, I so had to get out of being grounded. I really did. I managed my most respectful smile. "Theo gave me a ride to their house tonight, and then back." I took a deep breath. "I decided to study with Blue."

Theo didn't flinch. Simply smiled innocently at my mom, like he had nothing to hide. He'd obviously lied to parents before. Me, on the other hand? I felt like I was going to pass out from terror and guilt.

"Studying? With Blue?" My mom looked doubtful, and a touch relieved.

"Yes." I tried to look sullen. "I was mad at you for not letting me date George tonight..."

Theo coughed and shifted beside me, which made me laugh. I was pretty sure Theo had been a little bit bugged by the fact I had a date, and I liked that.

But first, I had to deal with my mom. "So I left and went over to her house." I sighed and looked very apologetic. "I shouldn't have done it, but I was too upset to study. I figured that Blue would help me calm down enough to get some work done."

My mom's face relaxed a little more.

"But," I said, knowing that she'd believe me only if I was still mad. "I think you're being unfair to treat me like I'm a child who can't handle a date. His mom would have been there, and he's a straight A student. We met in the library and he's helped me so much with my work. I think he's even more studious than I am, and it bothers me that you don't trust me enough to choose well. He's the perfect boy for me to date."

Theo made a strangled sound, and I stepped on his toe. "I always make the right choices," I continued, "and you still don't trust me. That got me so upset tonight that I couldn't deal." I looked her in the eyes, a little amazed at how easily the words were coming. I think it was because they were all true. I was upset they didn't trust me, and George was the perfect boy for me to date. These weren't lies, and they felt much better to say. "So, I'm sorry I left. I should have just talked to you."

Well, that was a lie. I wasn't sorry I'd left, not at all. I would have done it a thousand times over to get that kiss from Theo.