"Kelce"
"Dick head" I shake Connors hand and pull him in to bump shoulders before taking a seat on the grass as we watch the rest of our class run around like losers. I'm all about working out, but in a gym with the big boys, not in a sports class surrounded by spotty, sweaty teenagers
"I saw you yesterday"
"Of course you did, we were in the same classes" I bite into my apple and then watch some of the girls as they run around in their tiny shorts and it's not long before I'm hungry for something other than fruit.
"No I mean I saw you yesterday
"And?"
"With your tongue stuck down 'Little Miss Giggles' throat"
Shit!
I run my hand through my hair and then focus on my apple. What happened with Taylor yesterday wasn't supposed to happen and one of my best friends seeing it definitely wasn't supposed to happen. I gaze at an imaginary object in the distance and then speak
"It wasn't what it looked like"
"Oh so it wasn't you about to fuck her up against the bike shed?" If only he knew how close I had come
"Of course not. I hate that girl. It's just a game. João Furtado gave me some very interesting information yesterday and I'm just using it to my advantage"
"Do tell" Connor leans back on the grass and stares at me as though I'm the most interesting guy in the entire world. We have been friends since we were 8 years old, brothers to be honest but there's so much he doesn't know about me and my life. He looks up to me like I'm a God if only he knew how wrong he was.
"' Little Miss Giggles' as you call her is still in possession of her V Card"
He sits upright and stares at me in shock "For real? Someone as hot as her and no one's managed to hit it yet?"
He has a good point
"Exactly, that is until I come along"
"So you're wooing her in an attempt to grab the V Card and then you're out the door?"
"Exactly then I will move on and she'll be lying in the dirt"
"What a wicked, wicked plan. I like it!"
"Hi Travis"
I had been so busy selling Connor my tale that I hadn't noticed the blond creep up on us. Her hair is tied in a knot on top of her head, her burgundy t shirt, damp with perspiration clinging to her chest and her black shorts grip desperately to her curves as though they might lose control of them at any moment.
"Swift" I give Connor the side eye and he quickly catches on to the fact he's being excused
"Band practise? Tonight? My place?" I nod and he jumps to his feet, I don't miss the way his eyes scan over her body and I make a mental note to have a word with him about what he can and can't look at when it comes to Taylor.
"See you later" I say, my eyes never leaving Taylors face, some hair has escaped her knot and is clinging tightly to her forehead, her cheeks are pink and her lips are just begging to be kissed but I have a mission, a plan, any thoughts that don't go along with that need to be squashed... now!
"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday"
Ah, fuck! Yesterday, the day that shouldn't have happened, the last thing I want to talk to her or anybody about right now.
"The things I said... I was out of line, I'm so sorry"
Oh, so that's what she wanted to talk about, not our make out session, the fact she had said something cruel to me, fuck all the cruelness I have thrown her way for days before that.
"No problem" I throw my Apple core across the field and then lay back on my arms trying not to make it too obvious how much I'm checking her out
"I was angry with you and you deserved it..." I can't help but smile at how true that is "But I was cruel and I don't want to be that girl so I'm sorry"
I should just accept her apology and let her walk away, forget about any sick game that's playing and replaying in my mind but I can't, she's the last thing I need in my life right now but the only thing I want.
My words to Connor lie like a weight inside my stomach, weighing me down, condemning me to feel nothing but the sickness that's coursing through me.
Taylor heaves a breath through my silence and plops down next to me .
Her body is so close to me I feel the heat, followed by the now familiar rush of blood.
"Even though you were a dick to me I didn't want to stoop to your level and be a bitch"
I nod as though I'm taking in her words but in truth I'm just imagining putting my lips back on hers
"Bitch Taylor is pretty hot though"
I hear her gasp at my words and I can't help but love the way just a sound from her throat causes my blood to rush south and my mind to head straight to the bedroom
"How come you get to skip class?"
"I threatened to break the teachers nose if he made me take part" I grin with pride but she just shakes her head in disappointment and I can't help but blush with shame
"Aren't you worried about all your perfect little friends watching you talk to the big bad wolf?" We both look across to where her two 'shadows' are huddled together watching as though we were animals in a zoo
"No, I'm talking to a human being, if they can't see that then shame on them" she reaches behind her head and releases her hair from its restraint, shaking her head and allowing her curls to cascade over her shoulders and I have never so desperately wanted to push someone's hair aside and just stare at what lies beneath it.
"So I um... I took the Instagram post down, it was pretty immature"
"Much like yourself"
I turn in surprise at her sass and catch a mischievous glint in her eye that I like
"Wow, it didn't take you long to get over your fear of me"
"I was never afraid"
"Really?"
"Just cautious, you're pretty unpredictable"
I nod, knowing she's just being kind and wondering once again why she's determined to show such kindness to me, a man that had gone out of his way to hurt and humiliate her
"You know if you followed me on Instagram you would know I had deleted it"
"Well maybe if you followed me on Instagram I would have to follow you back" she flirts and then flashes me a smile before pushing herself back to her feet
"Swift"
She brushes down her shorts whilst looking to her friends and gives me a great view of the ass I had my hands all over yesterday. She turns around to face me again
"Your friends were wrong, I haven't kissed a ton of girls, sex is one thing but kissing is another. I save that for the special ones" I wink as her cheeks blaze red and then she jogs back to her friends and I see Connor walking back towards me, grinning at me like I'm a badass and holding his thumb in the air.
I sigh as a million thoughts flood my already overcrowded brain.
"Nice work Kelce" he pats my back and sits next to me again. "I assume 'Operation Wicked Plan' is go"
