He gives me a half shrug. “Thank you for accepting. I don’t mind helping. You looked lonely, and the teacher did kind of require me to ask someone.” As if realizing what he said, he rushes to explain. “I don’t mean I wouldn’t have danced with you otherwise. You’re beautiful. Gorgeous, honestly. I just wouldn’t have normally had the gumption to ask you. I mean… look at you.”
I laugh lightly and squeeze his hand. “I know what you meant. Thank you for the compliment. I’m happy you asked me to dance with you. You shouldn’t be shy though. Any girl would be lucky to be your dance partner.”
The beam on his face tells me I did the right thing. And I meant what I said. He’s cute and seems to be a good guy. I can tell that by the way his hands don’t roam, unlike some of the other guys in the class, and the fact that he whispered steps to me through most of the dance so I wouldn’t look like a fool.
Jared goes to speak again but freezes as the song comes to an end. I almost ask him for another dance when someone taps me lightly on the shoulder. I gasp as I turn to find Reed standing behind me.
“May I cut in?” He phrases it as a question, but the look in his eyes says it’s a demand.
Jared immediately drops my hand. I turn to him and give him a tight smile. “Thank you for the dance. I hope you’ll save one for me at the ball.”
The dejected look leaves his face at my statement. “Sure. Can’t wait.”
With that, he turns and leaves with a smile. I watch him walk away before a throat clearing behind me draws me back to Reed, my own smile faltering in the process.
I consider declining his dance, but I decided I might as well get his daily humiliation done with. I move toward him, looking to the side as I hold my arms out in the same position as before.
“Really? You need a dance class. This form is terrible.”
My eyes fly to his, anger in them. Before I can respond, he takes his position and starts moving us. His pace is much faster than Jared’s had been. I struggle to keep up, stepping on his feet twice in a matter of minutes.
“Slow down,” I hiss at him.
“First time I’ve ever had a woman ask me to slow it down,” he quips.
I glare at him. “Unlike you, I don’t have the pleasure of years of dance and etiquette classes engrained in me from birth. Why did you even ask me to dance?”
He scoffs. “You should be thanking me. I saved you from Clark. That guy’s a loser.”
I stop in the middle of the dance and try to pull away.
“Ms. Miller, may I remind you that you’re being graded?” Mrs. Bonavich states.
I allow Reed to pull me back in, but I continue to glare at him. Once Mrs. Bonavich moves on, I tell him, “Jared is not a loser. He’s sweet and a great dancer. Much better than you.”
“Tell yourself whatever makes you sleep better at night. He just wants a piece of your ass. He heard the rumors too.”
“No need to be jealous, Reed. You know I’m too busy pining after your asshole ways to even look twice at another man. Especially one as handsome and sweet as Jared.”
My sarcasm isn’t lost on Reed. “Jealous? Yeah, right. You’re a used-up whore looking for a rider who doesn’t know any better. Looking for a virgin to defile?”
“That’s me. Corrupting the youth of the world.”
I step on Reed’s foot again, causing him to cuss lightly.
“You’re really bad at this,” he mumbles before pulling me closer to him. I can feel him start to lead me with his body, much like Jared did.
His face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath on the side of my neck. My own breath catches as he squeezes my hip, a shot of pleasure racing to my core.
My mind might hate the man, but my body craves the touch he provides.
Why couldn’t you want a nice guy like Jared? I reprimand my body.
Another jolt of pleasures rushes through me as Reed leans down to my ear. “Are you cold?”
His light laugh causes me to frown. Of course he knows his effect on me. It isn’t enough for him to be an asshole to me for no reason, but my body has to give him even more ammo.
I go to pull away once again, but he has other plans. He abruptly lets his arm drop, spinning me using his hand still clasped in mine. I stumble, disoriented, but he’s there to catch me, dipping me low.
Claps ring out around us, and my face heats. Reed pulls me back up, pinning me to his chest. He leans in, meeting my eyes. He’s so close that if I moved an inch forward, my lips would be on his. My eyes flit to his mouth without permission. I catch his slight smirk before he hides it.
“I bet virgin Jared doesn’t have moves like that.”
His words register a moment after he steps back from me, turning to move to the other side of the room.
As another song comes on, I numbly make my way back to my desk.
What’s with Reed Yates?
That’s the million-dollar question.
Chapter Five
The next day, it seems the whole school knows about our dance in finishing class. Rumors run rampant.
One rumor is that Reed and Jared fought over me. Reed won, of course, knocking poor Jared out in one punch for daring to touch the whore he deemed untouchable.
Another says Reed basically fingerfucked me in the middle of the dance floor while the teacher looked the other way. Reed, being king, of course got away with it.
There were many others, but the one I thought was most entertaining was the one saying that Reed and I are secretly dating and that his attitude toward me is our form of foreplay.
While the rumors are flying and stares are in overabundance, not one person has asked me for the truth.
It’s exhausting acting as if you can’t hear the whispers and avoiding the stares. Especially the leering ones from the guys. I really want to not care, but it bothers me that everyone is so quick to believe the worst. It reminds me again that my mother left this world for a reason. The longer I stay here, the more I want to make my own escape.
Walking into the cafeteria, I realize I should have skipped lunch altogether. All eyes swing to me as I make my way to the food line. While every nerve ending inside urges me to turn around and run, I force myself to hold my head high. I’ve never been overly shy, but all this negative attention makes me wish I were more introverted.
Before I can make it to the line, a cold feeling rushes over my spine. I turn, realizing the feeling is actually liquid running down my back.
“Oops. I can be so clumsy sometimes.” Ingram’s smile is far from innocent.
“What the fuck?” I shout.
The liquid is now dripping onto the floor as I hold my arms out.
“Sorry. Didn’t see you there.” She shrugs as if it’s no big deal.
Before I can respond, a teacher is standing beside me. “Go to the girls’ locker room and clean yourself up.”
I glare at Ingram before leaving the room. I make it a couple of steps down the hall when I hear footsteps behind me, echoing my own. I spin, expecting to see Ingram, but startle when I find Keaton instead.
“Hey, are you okay?” He shoves his hands in his pockets, looking guilty.
“Yeah. It’ll wash out. I’m just going to clean up.” I start walking again, and he falls into step beside me.