Melody's Crush

Chapter 24

The final bell rang and I somehow made it to my locker feeling numb and emotionally drained. Not only had I let go of my first crush, I now had to face Kyle as if nothing ever happened. Somewhere inside me was a game face I could wear. I mean, I had been wearing one for the past three years hiding how I felt for Jake. So surly I could hide how I felt about Kyle, right?

Reaching my car, I settled in and was just about to pull out of my assigned space when a rapping on my window had me nearly crapping myself.

Expecting to see Jake, I rolled down the window and turned my chin up to face him but was met with an arctic stare that had my breath caught in my throat.

"K... Kyle." I was finally able to choke out my surprise.

He crossed his forearms over the window seal as he bent his knees dropping downward until his head and eyes were just below mine.

"Eh hem," he started. "My brother is heading home today."

I blinked a few times as I actually didn't expect his voice to be so casual. "Oh. Okay." I tried to smile but my lips didn't move upward. "So, why are you telling me this?" I was a little confused. Why tell me now? At school. Why not wait until we were at his house?

His lips pressed into a line. "He'll probably get there around the same time you do. So, I suggest you stay away from him," he said flatly.

My chin snapped back at the warning. Did he think I was going to attack his brother or something? My lip did an involuntary curl of disgust.

"He can be a bit of a snob," he said putting my mind at ease.

So he didn't think I was going to attack him. That made me feel a little better for some reason.

I sent Kyle a genuine smile. "Snobs I can handle."

Kyle actually chuckled causing my heart to start fluttering and my throat to tighten.

"Yes," he agreed. "That I know," he added sarcastically.

I didn't know if I should be happy he was teasing me or slap him for making a snide comment about me.

I decided to do both.

My popping his forehead took him completely off guard as his eyes widened in disbelief.

"What the hell was that for?" he growled as his hand came up to rub the spot.

"I don't know," I offered honestly. "It just looked tempting." I grinned.

He shook his head as he let out a snort but didn't move to get up.

My eyebrows went up. "Anything else?" I asked wondering why he hadn't moved.

"Yeah," he said under his breath.

I waited.

"About last night."

The air in my lungs evaporated and every muscle in my body tensed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... I didn't have a right to...to..." He swallowed hard and let out a dejected breath. "It won't happen again. I promise."

I blinked a few thousand times until my eyes felt like sandpaper rubbing against my lids.

My mind traveled all over the place but refused to settle on that statement. It didn't want to accept that promise.

But here it was clearly in front of me. Kyle Warner was basically admitting he wasn't interested... in me.

Deftly, I shook my head yes. "Okay," I choked out. "I'm sorry, too." I offered.