As much as I valued having Adrian by my side, I doubted she was ready for that kind of trouble. And that was ignoring the fact that anyone who had it out for me back home probably wouldn’t be coming at me with their bare hands.
“Well, I hope you got the answers you wanted. Hunter and Jax were in such a hurry to meet up with Wes that we didn’t even get to have much fun.”
I rolled my eyes as Adrian pouted. It wasn’t like I’d been the one who’d called them away. If she was that annoyed, she could go bitch at Wes. Or bitch at Hunter and Jaxson for that matter. It wasn’t like they had to drop everything and come running whenever Wes called them. He wasn’t actually royalty, no matter how much people seemed to bow down to him around here.
“I’m sure you can find plenty of time to be the cream in their Oreo,” I promised Adrian. Then, I immediately tried to unthink that thought and get that image out of my head. “Just, you know, don’t share the details with me. There are certain things I just don’t need to know about my friends.”
“Are you sure? Because Jaxson can do this thing with his tongue....”
I slammed my locker shut, then turned and walked off, fingers in my ears as I made a show of not listening to her. It didn’t matter how good Jaxson was with his tongue or any other body part. I really, really, didn’t want to know what the three of them got up to together.
Christ, what was it with rich kids and always wanting to overshare? Was it some kind of coping mechanism from not having been hugged enough as a kid?
“Oh, look, if it isn’t the trailer trash out for a walk again.” Paisley sneered as I walked in her direction. Her liberal application of makeup this morning made it look like she was in the running to be the new Ronald McDonald. Did she apply it in the dark or something? “Did you get lost on your way to the garbage can? It’s back that way.”
“Aren’t you late for a boob job?” I retorted as I rolled my eyes. I was really starting to think that blonde hair dye of hers was leaching into her brain. Or maybe it was all the fumes from the makeup that were giving her a secondhand high. “Or did your Mom steal the appointment again? I’m sure your Dad wants her to stay nice and perky. Otherwise, he might have to find someone younger and less... plastic.”
Paisley stepped in front of me, glaring as she got right up in my face, which wasn’t hard since she was a few inches taller than me. But no matter how tall she was, it was hard for her to scare me with her clown makeup and botox lips. “You say something, trailer trash?”
I looked up and met her gaze, not backing down even an inch. If she wanted to go, I was more than happy to oblige. I still had more than my share of tension inside me and beating the shit out of Paisley would’ve been an excellent way to let it all out.
“Why, did they accidentally get some silicone in your ears? Do I need to speak louder for you to hear me?”
Paisley’s face turned red even through her ample layers of makeup. Her body tensed like she was getting ready to take a swing at me, and I waited for it. I wasn’t going to hit her first, but if she threw a punch, I was going to make damned sure she regretted it.
The girls back in Compton weren’t the only ones who knew how to fight.
I just hoped she’d gotten the accidental damage insurance on her last nose job. Then again, I was sure her plastic surgeon wouldn’t mind the extra stack of money he’d get paid to fix it all right back up for her.
“Come on, Paisley,” Charlotte said, appearing beside Paisley. She grabbed her friend’s arm and started pulling her away. “She’s not worth it. You’ll just end up getting suspended from school. Or, worse, suspended from the cheerleading team. And you know the coach will flip her shit if that happens.”
For a moment, Paisley just stood there, still glaring at me. Then, she let Charlotte lead her away while I just stood there smirking. She sure liked to talk a big game, but in reality, she didn’t have nearly the balls she thought she did.
That was the difference between Forest Grove and Compton. In Compton, you didn’t start shit unless you were prepared to finish it right then and there. She wouldn’t have lasted an hour in my old school, but it sure would’ve been fun to watch her try.
“It’s never a dull day, is it?” Adrian asked, standing beside me again. When I turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, she grinned and shrugged. “What? Just because you want to beat the shit out of Paisley doesn’t mean I feel like getting into it. My parents would flip their shit if I got suspended for fighting.”
Letting out a sigh, I rolled my eyes. And this was the girl who wanted to go to Compton with me? But she wasn’t wrong either. I could only imagine the fit Lucas would throw if I actually did get suspended. No doubt Wes would be on my ass about it as well. I still hadn’t figured out what their relationship was now that he’d set his sights on me.
“You’re right,” I said, at last, nodding and returning her smile. “But you can’t deny how good it would’ve felt to break her nose. Especially since she probably paid more for it than most people make in a month.”
Adrian laughed and threw her arm around my shoulders. She may not have been eager to get into a fight beside me, but I had no doubt she was my friend. And I was glad to have her by my side. Besides, I didn’t really need her help in a fight against Paisley and her minions.
And it would be more fun to beat them myself. Then they’d have to live with the constant shame of having gotten their asses beat by some Compton Trash.
Especially since there was no way, I’d let them forget it either.
Chapter 11
A knock on my door made me look up from my textbook. The door was half-open, and Wes’s body stood there, blocking the hallway as he smirked at me. I smiled back at him, glad for a distraction from my calculus homework. I was getting to the point where the numbers on the page were all just swirling around in a big jumble.
“Hey. How was practice?” I slid my notebook into my textbook, and then closed it. I’d been working on my calculus homework since I’d gotten home and was well overdue for a break. Sliding off the bed, I stretched, keenly aware of Wes’s eyes locked on my body.
He stepped into the room and closed the door. In seconds, he was right there in front of me, pulling me into his arms. When he kissed me, I melted against him, moaning into his mouth. All thoughts of calculus and school went right out the window for the next couple of minutes.
When he broke the kiss and grinned at me, we were both breathless. “Practice was good. I’d have rather been wrestling around with you, though.”
I giggled as heat rose to my cheeks. I wouldn’t have minded that either, but Wes and I still hadn’t crossed that line just yet. There wasn’t any particular reason we hadn’t, but it just hadn’t ever seemed like the right time. I may not have been saving myself for marriage, but I did want my first time to be something special, not a quickie in the school bathroom.
“Adrian was pissed at me today, you know,” I told Wes with a grin. “Something about you calling Jax and Hunter and having them rush over to help you with something. She seemed quite pissed over it. Should I be worried? Are you cheating on me, Wesley Cabot?”